Formed in 1997, Names.co.uk (often known as Namesco) has lengthy been one of many prime domain registrars within the UK. However, it additionally affords an entire number of web hosting options aimed toward all types of web-based ventures. Headquartered in Worcester (the UK), the corporate employs round 180 consultants in numerous fields. Most of them have been with the corporate from the get-go, which means they’ve gone by way of all twists and turns along with the trade.
Nowadays, Names.co.uk exists as part of the group.blue, a European “tech powerhouse” that originated from the merging of Combell Group, TransIP Group, and Register Group in 2019. group.blue operates in additional than 15 European nations and acts beneath a handful of brand name names together with Combell, Hosting Ireland, TremendousHosting, TransIP, and Simply.com.
Names.co.uk’s knowledge facilities can in all probability be discovered within the UK, however because the firm is stubbornly (and suspiciously) secretive in regards to the actual places we are able to’t be certain whether or not or not they’ve knowledge facilities within the UK.
The official web site is designed with simplicity in thoughts, which makes navigating round as straightforward as it may be. It additionally affords loads of details about its merchandise, though the identical can’t be mentioned on the subject of the details about the corporate itself, its infrastructure specifically. The web site encompasses a weblog bursting with ideas and tips, but it surely hasn’t seen any updates or new content material because the summer season of 2021.
Fans of social networking websites can discover Names.co.uk on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Plans and pricing
Names.co.uk goes into overdrive to cowl all of its could-be clients by offering an entire number of internet hosting options together with shared hosting, email hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS (managed or self-managed) internet hosting, reseller hosting, and dedicated server hosting. It additionally affords area title registration, Microsoft 365, SSL certificates, SiteLock, web site constructing instruments, internet design, administration, and on-line advertising providers.
All plans are offered in handy comparability tables, one subsequent to one another, with all their key options listed under. The most pocket-friendly possibility is a cPanel shared internet hosting plan referred to as “Starter” and for £5.09 ($6.80) per 30 days (going for an annual or biennial plan will drop the worth) it can provide you with a single web site, 50GB of cupboard space, limitless bandwidth, two 500MB databases, ten electronic mail accounts, and a free area title (with yearly contracts). Unfortunately, if you need an SSL certificates, you’re anticipated to pay additional for it.
Names.co.uk does not supply an upfront money-back assure, however in accordance with the Consumer Contracts Regulations from 2013, you may request a refund inside 14 days upon your buy, and there’s a good probability that you just would possibly get it.
Names.co.uk accepts funds by way of bank cards (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, and American Express), direct debit, examine, and BACS. Unfortunately, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay should not supported.
Ease of use
Refusing to give attention to a particular buyer base, Names.co.uk strives to be a jack-of-all-trades, which has its professionals and cons (largely cons, to be sincere). Nevertheless, earlier than coming to any additional conclusion we had to take a look at one in all their options for ourselves.
After selecting one of many cPanel hosting packages, we have been prompted to decide on between Linux and Windows as our OS. Then we would have liked to determine what to do in regards to the area title, register a brand new one, or use an outdated one. Most domains are moderately priced and if you happen to go together with a yearly internet hosting plan, you may get one without spending a dime for the primary yr (nonetheless, you may select between .co.uk and .uk).
The area proxy service will come pre-selected by default, so if you happen to don’t need it, be sure you deselect it. In any case, this service is relatively moderately priced (it’s £5.99) contemplating that it covers a complete yr, and it’s at all times sensible to remain on the secure aspect. After this, you’ll be supplied to incorporate a number of extras for an additional worth, and after we mentioned “extras” we truly meant “web site necessities” since backups and an SSL certificate are one thing each first rate internet hosting plan ought to embrace. Nonetheless, an SSL certificates can price you something from £65.99 ($87.80) per yr, which drives the entire price a lot larger that the plan gained’t look pocket-friendly anymore.
To full the acquisition, you’ll should create an account with Names.co.uk and it’s as easy because it will get, though you’ll have to offer a bit extra data than standard (a memorable phrase included). After the cost has been made, you’ll be transferred to Names.co.uk’s easy-to-use dashboard the place you may handle your account, billing, and bought providers, search buyer help, and flick thru different providers on supply. We must also observe that Names.co.uk is implementing some adjustments to its dashboard as we write, so some elements of it have modified its look whereas others will accomplish that anytime quickly.
Considering that Names.co.uk affords a number of management panels (cPanel and Plesk included) if you’re a minimum of considerably accustomed to any of them you’ll be capable of handle all areas of your newly created web site and not using a hitch. All plans include the 1-click installer that helps over 100 useful apps together with WordPress, PrestaShop, Joomla, Drupal, and OpenCart. However, if you happen to’ve bought a WordPress internet hosting plan, then WordPress will come pre-installed.
Alternatively, you should utilize Names.co.uk’s easy drag-and-drop web site builder, and if you happen to’re brief on time, you should purchase the “Build Me a Website” service.
Performance
After placing the velocity of Names.co.uk’s official web site to the take a look at, we have been pleasantly shocked with fairly near excellent outcomes. According to our instrument of alternative GTmetrix, the positioning totally loaded in mere 2.0 seconds requiring a complete of 72 requests on the identical time, each of that are worthy of applause. In addition to this, all different very important speed-measuring metrics (largest contentful paint, whole blocking time, and cumulative format shift) have been properly above the common leading to an exemplary A (95%) as a closing GTmetrix grade.
When it involves uptime, Names.co.uk ensures 99.99% of it with all its shared internet hosting and managed devoted server options, and 99.9% of it with unmanaged and cloud servers. If Names.co.uk fails to attain the assured uptime, customers can declare 10% to 50% free credit score, relying on the quantity of downtime their websites have suffered in a given month. However, the 99.99% assure excludes outages attributable to scheduled upkeep, and doesn’t cowl downtime on account of {hardware} failure, community assaults, account suspension, or errors made by customers themselves.
In league with UptimeRobot, we monitored Names.co.uk’s official web site for 2 weeks and located that the outcomes, though not excellent, weren’t dangerous both. There have been two cases of downtime on our file (every of them lasting for 4 minutes) resulting in 99.95% of whole uptime.
Support
Whether you’ve encountered an issue with Names.co.uk’s merchandise otherwise you merely need to get your self knowledgeable, the very first thing to do is to go to the help heart. There, you’ll discover a knowledgebase chock stuffed with how-tos, a community standing web page, a hyperlink to the official weblog, and an choice to submit a help ticket. The how-tos themselves are written in a step-by-step fashion and often embrace appropriate screenshots. We must also point out the Names.co.uk’s YouTube channel as a result of it options a number of novice-friendly guides that cowl some frequent points and considerations.
However, if you happen to would relatively get in contact with Names.co.uk’s help agent, you are able to do it by way of UK-based phone and ticket-based help system. No, reside chat remains to be not an possibility with Names.co.uk. Another factor to notice is that customers can entry buyer/technical help straight from their management panel, which is usually a time-saver.
You’re additionally welcome to get in contact with Names.co.uk’s group by way of Facebook and Twitter, however the help you may get there may be restricted which is why we wouldn’t advise you to go there if you happen to search technical help.
The competitors
Fasthosts and Names.co.uk are UK-based hosts that provide a wide selection of internet hosting varieties, choices, options, and a few user-friendly site-building instruments for an inexpensive worth. On the draw back, with Names.co.uk you’ll should buy an SSL certificates individually, when you’ll should do the identical with Fasthosts’ entry-level packages, which might considerably drive up the fee. That being mentioned, Fasthosts’ less complicated internet hosting options include a 30-day money-back assure a minimum of, which means you may examine them out with out risking blowing your finances.
Easyspace is one other UK-based old-timer that refuses to offer a free trial or any refund coverage, which can flip away a few of their potential customers, notably new youngsters on the block. However, since Names.co.uk offers a novice-friendly cPanel and many one-click installs with its entry-level packages (in contrast to Easyspace), it can extra probably entice newcomers.
If having a number from the UK just isn’t very important on your imaginative and prescient, US-based HostGator and Bluehost are each prime selections. They supply all kinds of feature-packed internet hosting packages geared at rookies and site owners alike, and with a budget-friendly price ticket in addition. The solely draw back is the numerous worth spike that occurs after the promo interval, so don’t let it catch you unaware. Although you gained’t have to fret about this when coping with Names.co.uk, their pricing is a bit larger, to start with.
Final verdict
Although Names.co.uk just isn’t a nasty choose for UK-based enterprise house owners in want of all-in-one options to assist them run every little thing and not using a hitch, there are a number of drawbacks to think about earlier than making a closing resolution. The lack of SSL certificates and computerized backups with shared internet hosting options are prone to make newcomers assume twice earlier than giving them a go, and the corporate’s failure to offer an upfront money-back assure would possibly postpone everybody else.
There are extra engaging hosts from the UK (akin to UK2 and A2 Hosting), and if you happen to may really feel at dwelling with a US-based host, you’ll have a much bigger payoff with HostGator and Bluehost.
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