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Hostwares vs Namecheap

Hosting and domains, without the monthly penalty

Namecheap does two things we also do - shared hosting and domain registration - and does them cheaply. Stellar is $2.28/mo on a yearly term, Stellar Plus $2.98 and Stellar Business $4.98. The detail worth knowing is what month-to-month costs: the same plans are $5.88, $7.88 and $11.88 respectively, roughly 2.6x the yearly rate. Hostwares prices monthly at the annual rate divided by twelve, so choosing flexibility does not cost extra.

HostwaresHostwares

AI-powered cloud hosting

$1.25/mo equivalent

N

Namecheap

Shared hosting + domains

$2.28/mo (Stellar)

Feature by feature

8 dimensions compared, August 2026

6

Hostwares

2

Namecheap

FeatureHHostwares
N
Namecheap
Yearly rate$1.25/mo equivalent$2.28/mo (Stellar)
Monthly rate$1.25/mo - same as yearly$5.88/mo (Stellar)
Monthly premium over yearlyNoneAbout 2.6x
Free trialNo30 days
Domain registrationYes, from $9.58/yrYes - a major registrar
Container apps (Node, Python, Go)Yes, from $3/moNot on shared hosting
Managed Postgres, Redis, MongoDBYesMySQL on shared hosting
AI DevOps agentYesNo

Sources: namecheap.com pricing page & docs, August 2026. Vendors change pricing - confirm on their site.

Namecheap pricing vs Hostwares pricing

Namecheap Stellar is $2.28/mo billed yearly, Stellar Plus $2.98 and Stellar Business $4.98, each with a 30-day free trial. Month-to-month the same plans are $5.88, $7.88 and $11.88 - about 2.6x - which is how the yearly discount percentages are constructed. Hostwares derives its monthly rate from the annual one, so a monthly customer pays the same per month as an annual customer and simply forgoes the longer-term discount and the free domain.

hostwares cost --compare namecheap

$ scenario: Entry shared hosting, paid month to month for a year

N
Namecheap

+Stellar at $5.88/mo
total / month$70.56/yr

HHostwares

cPanel StarterPack at the monthly rate
total / monthAnnual rate / 12, no monthly premium

- flat. same price in your biggest month.

The honest verdict

Choose Hostwares if…

  • You want to pay monthly without paying a premium for it
  • You want container apps and managed databases beside the shared hosting
  • You want an AI agent that handles deployments and incidents
  • You want one account for hosting, domains, databases and services

Choose Namecheap if…

  • You want the cheapest yearly shared-hosting price and will prepay for it
  • You want their domain marketplace, WHOIS privacy and registrar tooling, which are excellent
  • You want a 30-day free trial before paying anything
  • You are buying domains in volume - their registrar pricing is hard to beat

Why teams switch from Namecheap

Monthly is not punished

Their monthly price is roughly 2.6x the yearly one. Ours is the yearly price divided by twelve - commitment earns a discount rather than flexibility incurring a penalty.

More than PHP

Shared hosting runs WordPress well. When the project needs Node, Python, Go or a real Postgres, that is a pack on the same account.

Operations handled

The AI agent deploys, reads logs and diagnoses failures - not something a shared-hosting control panel does.

Their registrar is genuinely good

If domains are the main event, Namecheap is a strong choice and we will say so. We sell domains too, but that is their home turf.

Frequently asked questions

Is Namecheap cheaper than Hostwares?

On a yearly prepaid term Stellar at $2.28/mo is very competitive. Month-to-month it is $5.88 against our equivalent rate. Which is cheaper depends entirely on whether you prepay.

Why is Namecheap's monthly price so much higher than its yearly price?

It is how the discount is constructed - the yearly rate is the discounted one and the monthly rate is closer to list. That is normal in shared hosting; we simply chose not to do it.

Should I keep my domains at Namecheap?

If they are working there, there is no urgency. We register domains from $9.58/yr and manage DNS for domains in our account, but Namecheap is a strong registrar and we are not going to claim otherwise.

Does Hostwares offer a free trial?

No. Namecheap's 30-day trial is a real advantage if you want to test before paying. Our entry price is low enough that a month costs little to try.

How much does Hostwares cost?

Resource packs are $2/mo for Micro (0.25 vCPU, 256 MB, 5 GB), $3 for Starter (0.5 vCPU, 512 MB, 10 GB), $7 for Standard (1 vCPU, 2 GB, 25 GB), $18 for Performance (2 vCPU, 4 GB, 50 GB) and $35 for Business (4 vCPU, 8 GB, 100 GB). One pack runs one deployment - a site, a database or a service.

Is there a free tier?

No. Entry is $2/mo for a Micro pack. New accounts receive free AI credits on signup as a one-time bonus, but there is no free hosting tier - if a competitor's free tier covers your project, use it.

Do you charge for bandwidth?

No. Packs are a flat monthly price and traffic is not metered, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one.

Are there per-seat fees?

No. You pay for resources, not for people. Adding teammates does not change the bill.

What is your refund policy?

Resource packs carry a 7-day money-back guarantee on first purchase. cPanel hosting is a pro-rated refund within the first 7 days if the account has not been used. Servers are a full refund within 48 hours if not provisioned, pro-rated within 7 days. Domains are non-refundable per ICANN policy. Full terms are on the refund policy page.

How do I pay?

PayPal, Stripe (card) and bKash, invoice-based. AI credits are a separate balance and are only used for the AI agent, never for hosting.

Does the price change at renewal?

No. The price you buy at is the price you renew at. There is no introductory rate that steps up later.

How do I deploy an application?

Connect a GitHub repository and Hostwares detects the framework and builds it. Next.js, React, Vue, Svelte, Node, Python, Go, Ruby, PHP and static sites are detected without configuration. You can also deploy any Docker image or upload a ZIP.

Can I deploy from a private repository?

Yes. Connect your GitHub account and private repositories become selectable in the deploy panel.

Do you support Docker?

Yes. Deploy any public or private Docker image with a tag and a port, or let a Dockerfile in your repository drive the build.

What databases can I run?

Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Redis and MongoDB from $3/mo, with automated backups and a connection string. Each database occupies its own pack.

Do I get shell access?

You get a shell into your own container. You do not get root on the host - if you need kernel modules or arbitrary system packages, an unmanaged VPS is the right tool rather than a managed platform.

Can I run background workers and cron jobs?

Yes. A worker or scheduled job is a separate deployment from the same repository with a different start command, so it needs its own pack.

How long does a deployment take?

Most applications build and go live in about 60 seconds. Larger stacks - Supabase runs 14 containers - take a few minutes.

Are custom domains and SSL included?

Yes. Custom domains are included on every pack and SSL certificates are issued and renewed automatically once DNS resolves to us. There is no per-domain charge.

Can I register domains through Hostwares?

Yes, from $9.58/yr for a .com, with DNS management included for domains in your account.

Do you offer email hosting?

Email mailboxes come with cPanel hosting, which is a separate product from container packs and starts around $1.25/mo equivalent. Container packs do not include mailboxes.

How do I migrate an existing application?

Push the project to GitHub, connect the repository, move your environment variables across, and dump and restore any databases. For most standard applications this is under an hour. Detailed guides exist for Heroku, Vercel and Railway.

Will you help me migrate?

Ask through a support ticket. The AI DevOps agent can also perform much of the work directly - connecting the repository, setting environment variables, provisioning a database and diagnosing failed builds.

What is the AI DevOps agent?

An AI that operates your infrastructure through conversation - deploying from GitHub, reading build logs, diagnosing failures, setting environment variables, configuring domains and provisioning databases. It is available in the dashboard, from a CLI, and as an MCP server for editors such as Cursor and Claude Desktop.

Does the AI agent cost extra?

It uses AI credits, which are a separate balance from hosting. Chat starts at $0.10 and task execution at $0.50. New accounts get free credits on signup, and billing or support questions are free regardless of balance.

What support do you offer?

Support tickets from the dashboard, with the AI agent available for technical troubleshooting at any hour. We are a small team - if you need a contractual enterprise SLA with named contacts, we do not offer that today.

Are backups included?

Managed databases have automated backups. Verify a restore before you rely on it - that advice applies to any provider, ours included.

Where are your servers located?

Deployments run in a single region per container rather than across a global edge network. If your application needs multi-region placement or edge delivery close to users on several continents, a platform built for that is the better choice.

Do you have a status page?

Yes, at /status, showing real-time platform and infrastructure status.

Are you SOC 2 certified?

No. We have not completed a SOC 2 audit. If your procurement process requires one, that is a genuine reason to choose a larger provider.

How long has Hostwares been running?

Hostwares LLC was incorporated in Wyoming in 2026, so we are a new platform. If a long uptime track record is your main criterion, an established provider is the honest answer.

Can I export my data and leave?

Yes. Deployments are standard containers built from your own repository, and databases can be dumped with the usual tools. There is no proprietary format holding your application in place.

What happens if I do not pay an invoice?

Invoices are raised ahead of the due date so you can pay early. After the due date a grace period runs before services are suspended, and suspended services are terminated after 30 days of non-payment. You are emailed at each stage.

Deploy in 60 seconds.
From $2/mo, flat.

Connect GitHub, pick a pack, and let the AI DevOps agent handle the rest - deploys, debugging, and fixes included.