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Best for Long-Term Savings
Best for Resource-Intensive Websites
Namecheap offers the best cPanel hosting for most users. It delivers great performance, generous storage, and a 100% uptime guarantee, all at a fraction of competitors' prices. In our hands-on testing, Namecheap scored 99/100 for performance and kept its 100% uptime promise, making it an easy recommendation for blogs, portfolios, small business sites, and light ecommerce stores.
For users with heavier resource demands, InMotion Hosting is the better pick. Even its entry-level plan includes 100 GB of storage, which is more than some hosts’ top-tier plans. It also comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee, providing you with ample time to test the service. The tradeoff is a higher price tag and an aggressive upsell experience at checkout.
Keep reading to learn more about both options, and about Hosting.com, which sits in the middle ground between the two as the best cPanel host.
Compare the best web hosting services for cPanel hosting
Namecheap: Best for long-term savings
InMotion Hosting: Best for resource-intensive websites
Hosting.com: Best for features
Is cPanel good for hosting?
Bottom line: The best cPanel web hosting service
FAQs
The best cPanel hosting providers
Compare the best web hosting services for cPanel hosting
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| Best for | Best for long-term savings | Best for resource-intensive websites | Best for features |
| Star rating | |||
| Starting price | Starts at $1.98/mo | Starts at $3.49/mo | Starts at $1.99/mo |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 30 days | Yes — 90 days | Yes — 30 days |
| Uptime guarantee | 100% | 99.99% guarantee from tier 3 Power plan | 99.9% |
| Monthly visits | Unmetered | 20K - 500K | Unlimited |
| Number of websites | 3 - unlimited | 1 - 40 | 1 - 100 |
| Storage | 20 GB - unmetered SSD* | 100 GB SSD - 300 GB NVMe | 15 GB - 100 GB NVMe |
| cPanel hosting options** | Shared, VPS, dedicated server, reseller | Shared, WordPress, VPS, dedicated server, bare metal server, reseller | Shared, VPS, virtual dedicated server, reseller |
| Free SSL certificate | On all plans, but only for the first year | On all plans | On all plans |
| Free domain for a year | On all plans | On all plans | On all plans |
| Learn more | Get Namecheap | Get InMotion Hosting | Get Hosting.com |
** Higher-level hosting (above shared) varies in terms of how cPanel is installed. Managed plans sometimes include it automatically or make it an optional paid add-on, while unmanaged plans will usually let you install it, but technical management is up to you.
Namecheap: Best for long-term savings
What we liked
Ultra-low pricing: For those on a shoestring budget, the $1.98/mo entry-level Stellar plan offers a very affordable way to get started.
Generous mailbox allowance: The Stellar plan includes 30 email inboxes, while the Stellar Plus and Stellar Business plans both upgrade you to unlimited mailboxes.
AI tools: With Namecheap, you can speed up website creation with an AI website builder that generates images and text. It’s available to use with WordPress and some other platforms.
What we didn’t like
Free SSL for only 1 year: Namecheap offers free SSL certificates on its EasyWP managed hosting plans, but you have to pay to renew them after the first year on its cPanel hosting. What’s more, the process of renewing the activation is rather cumbersome.
Test results
We recently spent some time hands-on testing Namecheap’s EasyWP plans. After signing up for hosting and building a mock website, we ran a series of tests to check for general performance, reliability (uptime), and the ability to withstand traffic spikes.
The results were impressive. The overall performance score was 99/100, with FCP and LCP (the loading time for the first item to load on the page and the largest) both clocking in at 0.7 seconds. This meets Google’s recommendations for a positive user experience.[1][2]
Namecheap’s uptime remained steady at 100%, and its servers handled an influx of 250 visitors in 1 minute without issue.
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| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 150 ms |
| Did Namecheap pass the stress test? | Yes |
| Learn more | Get Namecheap |
Star rating summary
Our experience using Namecheap was excellent. The security, features, and performance are all great. There are certain minor drawbacks, though, like the fact that Namecheap doesn’t use modern NVMe storage.
However, Namecheap addresses these minor issues with features like a 100% uptime guarantee, which held up during our in-house testing. Support is initially handled by an AI chatbot that's surprisingly helpful, but if you need a human agent, you can always reach one (though there’s no phone support). Overall, it will be tough to find a better deal on cPanel hosting for the vast majority of users.
Namecheap earned a near-perfect star rating of 4.8 because it provides intuitive setup process (especially for beginners), various hosting types and security features, and reliable performance.
Namecheap's managed WordPress plans are fairly priced, but it uses older generation SSD storage and doesn't offer integrated AI tools.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 10% | 5.0 |
| Value and capacity | 18% | 4.6 |
| Performance | 20% | 5.0 |
| Features | 25% | 5.0 |
| Security | 20% | 5.0 |
| Support and reputation | 7% | 4.7 |
InMotion Hosting: Best for resource-intensive websites
What we liked
Massive storage capacity: InMotion Hosting’s entry-level cPanel plan includes 100 GB of NVMe storage, more than many competitors offer, even at their highest tiers.
High monthly traffic limits: InMotion Hosting’s top tier for shared hosting caps out at an impressive 500,000 monthly visitors. While Namecheap technically advertises unmetered traffic limits, in practice, it has an internal limit, and if you repeatedly cross it, they’ll likely contact you to purchase a higher-tier plan.
Comprehensive security: All InMotion Hosting plans include a free SSL certificate, malware and DDoS protection, and a web application firewall.
Agency features with top-tier plan: The Pro plan includes a dedicated IP address and additional features to help you manage multiple client sites on your account.
Extended money-back guarantee: The industry standard is 30 days, but InMotion triples it to 90 days. That’s more than enough time to test the service and decide if it’s right for you.
What we didn’t like
Aggressive upselling: The number of add-ons that InMotion adds to your shopping cart after you click to purchase a plan can be overbearing. Some hosts ask if you want additional services, and you can decline, but InMotion obliges you to remove the add-ons you don’t want.
Domain-related pricing is too high: Although all plans include a free domain name, it renews at $23/yr. Domain privacy is another $15.99/yr on top of that. That’s almost $40/yr just to keep a domain name with InMotion.
No uptime guarantee for the first two tiers: It’s disappointing that InMotion guarantees uptime only from tier 3 and up. This could mean that the cheaper plans run on more crowded shared servers, though there’s no way to know for sure. Still, offering an uptime guarantee on all plans would give customers more confidence in its reliability.
Test results
We used the same testing process on InMotion that we ran on Namecheap, running in-depth testing on its shared hosting plans.
The results were equally impressive, with an overall performance score of 99.6/100 and 100% uptime after 6 days of testing. FCP and LCP both came in at around the half-second mark. This is well below Google’s recommendations of staying under 2.5 seconds for LCP and 1.8 seconds for FCP. In addition, when we sent 250 users to our mock site in 60 seconds, InMotion handled the surge with no issues.
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| Uptime | 100% |
| Average response time | 173 ms |
| Did InMotion pass the stress test? | Yes |
| Learn more | Get InMotion |
Star rating summary
If you’re looking for cPanel hosting with top-notch security and performance and reliable customer support, then InMotion Hosting will not disappoint. That said, for the resources and features you get, the price is fair, but it’s certainly not cheap.
If you don’t need large amounts of storage and high monthly visitor limits, then it may be tough to justify the cost. On the flip side, if you’re running a high-powered operation, then InMotion Hosting is an excellent cPanel host.
InMotion earned a solid star rating of 4.4 because of its perfect performance during our testing, availability of basic features across plans, and having all the security essentials.
However, we had to dock InMotion in the experience category. The dashboard was difficult to navigate and it doesn't offer any guided WordPress tools.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 10% | 3.0 |
| Value and capacity | 18% | 3.6 |
| Performance | 20% | 5.0 |
| Features | 25% | 4.5 |
| Security | 20% | 5.0 |
| Support and reputation | 7% | 4.7 |
Hosting.com: Best for features
What we liked
Automated backups with 30-day restores: Backups themselves aren’t unique to Hosting.com, but automated daily backups do stand out. In contrast, Namecheap’s tier-one plan, for example, provides backups twice a week.
LiteSpeed servers: LiteSpeed optimizes PHP execution and database queries, resulting in a faster website and lower resource usage.
Strong security suite: All Hosting.com plans include a free SSL certificate, a web application firewall, brute force protection, malware scanning, DDoS mitigation, and encrypted SFTP access.
Transparent specs: One pet peeve that we have with some hosting companies is that their plan comparison tables contain a little too much marketing fluff, while omitting useful information about hardware. Hosting.com is very upfront about everything, from CPU cores to MariaDB databases, making it easy to know what you’re getting.
What we didn’t like
Unnecessary control panel complexity: Hosting.com’s native control panel is fairly robust, but it’s perhaps unnecessarily so, given that you can do 90% of what you need with cPanel. Hosting.com should consider building a lightweight version of its native panel that lets users toggle off all but the few features they can’t access via cPanel.
Test results
When we conducted our hands-on testing of Hosting.com’s shared hosting, we found it to be fast and reliable. In 8 days of testing a mock site, it maintained 99.989% uptime and received an overall performance score of 97.67/100 from Dotcom-Tools. This isn’t flawless, but it’s very strong.
Where Hosting.com really shone was in the stress test. It not only handled the 250 visitors sent in 1 minute without any problems, but also kept the peak response time during the rush at only 745 ms. This is significantly lower than competitors, including Namecheap, which peaked at 4625 ms in our testing.
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| Uptime | 99.989% |
| Average response time | 72 ms |
| Did Hosting.com pass the stress test? | Yes |
| Learn more | Get Hosting.com |
Star rating summary
Our overall experience with Hosting.com was very positive. Aside from the performance results mentioned above, both security and support were excellent. The longest we had to wait to get a response to a support ticket was about 3 hours. Hosting.com’s price tag is its only major drawback, but, like InMotion, it’s justified given everything the provider includes with its cPanel plans.
Hosting.com earned a high star rating of 4.6 due to its comprehensive plans for any budget, with a free domain for the first year, 99.9% guaranteed uptime, comprehensive security, and more.
| Decision factor | Weight | Verdict |
| Our experience | 10% | 4.0 |
| Value and capacity | 18% | 4.5 |
| Performance | 20% | 4.5 |
| Features | 25% | 3.5 |
| Security | 20% | 5.0 |
| Support and reputation | 7% | 5.0 |
Is cPanel good for hosting?
cPanel is a solid choice for most users who want complete control over their web hosting environment without working from the command line. It's an industry standard, powering over a million sites worldwide, so you'll find plenty of tutorials and support resources for it.[3] In addition, many third-party tools, like the popular Softaculous app installer, integrate seamlessly with it.
That said, it's not perfect for everyone. Complete beginners may find it overwhelming, and simpler options like Hostinger's hPanel or Namecheap's EasyWP offer an easier-to-navigate experience for first-timers. On the other end of the scale, advanced users comfortable with the command line might prefer unmanaged platforms like DigitalOcean or Cloudways, which offer more flexibility and often lower costs by omitting a control panel.
Bottom line: The best cPanel web hosting service
Namecheap is the best cPanel hosting provider for most users, based on our testing. It combines low pricing, excellent performance, and a 100% uptime guarantee, making it ideal for anyone running a standard website with minimal resource requirements.
If you’re running a high-traffic site or need more storage and bandwidth, you might be better off with InMotion Hosting. It costs significantly more (especially if you factor in domain-related expenses), but the powerful specs are justifiable for sites that need the horsepower.
Lastly, there’s Hosting.com, which falls somewhere between Namecheap and InMotion. If you appreciate daily automated backups, LiteSpeed servers, and a strong security suite, then Hosting.com deserves your consideration.
How we test web hosting services
We use our proprietary grading rubric to evaluate web hosts based on performance, ease of use, features, support, and overall value. Our hands-on approach ensures our ratings reflect how each service actually performs in the real world, so you can choose a host with confidence.
Our process starts with signing up for each service and setting up a real website, just like you would. We run page speed, uptime, and stress tests to measure reliability and performance under load. We also explore the dashboard, test security tools, and contact support to see how responsive and helpful it is.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full testing methodology here.
FAQs
Which is the best hosting provider for cPanel?
The best cPanel hosting provider for you will depend on the type of website or websites you need to host. For simpler websites that don’t have significant resource demands, Namecheap is arguably the best choice, based on our testing. It gives you more than enough capacity to run a blog, business website, portfolio, or light ecommerce store, and the prices are much lower than other cPanel hosts.
For more complex projects with heavy resource demands, InMotion and Hosting.com are strong choices, but you’ll end up paying significantly more.
How much does cPanel cost?
cPanel offers four plans, priced from $26.99 to $65.99/mo (plus WP Squared at $84.99/mo for WordPress-focused hosting). These prices reflect the cost of adding cPanel to a server, but the actual cost to the end user can vary significantly. For shared hosting accounts that offer cPanel, the cost is divided among all the accounts on the shared server and then added to the hosting cost. For higher-level hosting types like VPS or dedicated servers, the cost is typically passed through more directly.
Is cPanel free to use?
cPanel is not free; the cost of using it depends on your hosting provider and hosting type. For shared hosting plans that include cPanel, like Namecheap’s, the cost is almost always included in the plan price. For other hosting types, such as VPS and dedicated server plans, cPanel is usually offered as a paid add-on, though it may be bundled with the plan.


