Editor's opinion
Lorienz Galarpe
I am a website designer and developer for over 7 years now, and I worked with several hosting companies in the past for each website project I handle.
First impression
NameSilo is an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar and web hosting provider from Phoenix, Arizona, that launched in 2010. It now hosts over 3 million active domain names, making it one of the 15 largest registrars on the market. Consumers are often initially drawn to NameSilo for its attractive prices and stay for its top-rated customer support.
Here’s what NameSilo offers:
- Domain name registration;
- Back-order domain names;
- WHOIS privacy protection;
- Web hosting;
- Email hosting;
- SSL certificates.
The process of registering a domain with NameSilo is straightforward. Its interface is modern and user-friendly with a simple domain name search bar front and center on its homepage. It gives users the option to see their desired domain with various extensions, as well as similar variations of their desired domain to help in the instance where the first choice is not available. What’s nice is that pricing is transparent, so there are no surprises upon renewal as it clearly displays the renewal rate for each domain, as well as all of the features and inclusions.
Trial period
NameSilo doesn’t offer a free trial on any of their web services though they do offer 60-Days Money-back but with conditions and eligibility policy.
Billing cycle
In a space where pricing policies can be, well, less straightforward than website owners may want, NameSilo’s clarity and transparency is refreshing.
You can choose Monthly, 1 Year, 2 Years, 3 Years, and more on any of their billing cycle options.
Control panel
Namesilo Hosting services comes with a simplified website and server management and cPanel features to manage all your web projects. Install Wordpress platform, create multiple email accounts, create web databases and FTP accounts as well as installing eCommerce applications.
cPanel provides the most reliable and intuitive server and site management platform. With a rich feature set and customer-first support, cPanel’s automated and configurable platform enables customers to focus on growing their businesses.
Limits
Just like any other Website Builder hosting providers, Namesilo has their limits too on their specific service plans.
NameSilo offers web hosting plans to help users get their site up and running at an affordable price. Plans start at $2.39 per month with annual billing for 20GB of storage, 100GB of bandwidth, cPanel access and two free business email addresses. While it’s very competitively priced, its hosting plans are not a great value compared to its leading competitors.
Price aside, storage is limited and it does not offer unlimited bandwidth on any of its plans. It also does not offer an uptime guarantee, which is a standard inclusion among web hosting providers. On top of that, it also does not include a free domain name with the purchase of a web hosting plan, though many of the top web hosting providers do.
Security
To help secure websites, NameSilo offers SSL certificates for as little as $9.59 per year. While this is affordable, it’s worth noting that web hosting plans often include a free SSL certificate so it may be worth choosing a host that includes a free SSL certificate rather than purchasing one. This also makes the installation process even easier, as it will generally integrate seamlessly when installed via your web hosting provider.
It also offers domain name security tools, such as two-factor authentication. This is not automatically enabled, however, it is very easy to activate it from the cPanel by navigating to ‘Account Settings’ from the left-hand vertical menu and then selecting ‘2-Factor Authentication’ from the horizontal navigation toward the top of the page.
OS
Namesilo offers Linux Operating System for their web hosting service.
Linux is a Unix-like, open source and community-developed operating system (OS) for computers, servers, mainframes, mobile devices and embedded devices. It is supported on almost every major computer platform, including x86, ARM and SPARC, making it one of the most widely supported operating systems.
Support
NameSilo has top-rated phone support that is available Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mountain time (11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET). Support is also available via live chat and email. While live chat support does reply promptly, the quality drops significantly compared to phone support. While it effectively answers questions, it is fairly vague or feels as though responses are often canned. This is worth keeping in mind for those who prefer to contact support online—especially those who are considering NameSilo for web hosting.
You may also contact them via Contact Form and with Email support.
Conclusion
Pros |
Cons |
- Affordable at $10.95 per year for a .com domain;
- Pricing does not increase upon renewal;
- Free WHOIS privacy protection;
- Ability to back-order a domain;
- Recall domain name search history;
- Highly rated customer support.
|
- Some domain extensions are expensive upon renewal (e.g., a .co is $24.99 per year);
- Web hosting plans do not have unlimited bandwidth;
- Money-back option has specific conditions.
|
NameSilo is a quality domain name registrar that offers competitively priced domains and top-rated customer service. While it’s not necessarily the cheapest registrar available, it is a good choice for those who are not very technical as its support is widely revered as one of the best in the industry. However, in our experience, its support quality needs improvement.
While NameSilo offers some complementary products (like hosting), they do not take an all-in-one approach like other domain registrars who include hosting, website builders, eCommerce, etc.
FAQ:
✔️Is NameSilo a good registrar?
NameSilo is a good registrar that boasts competitively priced domain names that include domain name privacy for free and highly rated customer service.
❇️Are there any reseller options?
They are frequently asked if they have reseller accounts that are available. It seems most people are asking either because they would like to be resellers of domains to their customers, or because many of our competitors offer their best pricing via their reseller programs.
❔What if I can't check the administrative contact authorization email?
As part of the transfer process, the Administrative Contact for your domain will be emailed with a link to verify your transfer request. The following reasons could be why you would want to re-send this verification email:
- The Administrative contact fails to act within the requisite time;
- The Administrative contact rejected the transfer request but will approve other future requests;
- You have updated the Administrative contact associated with your domain at your current registrar.