NameHero Review: Faster LiteSpeed Hosting With NVMe Storage On Their US Data Center, Redis, MariaDB, And cPanel

Namehero review

3 years ago, I bought NameHero’s Turbo WordPress plan and would take it over SiteGround, Hostinger, Bluehost, GoDaddy, or any of those other “mainstream” hosts any day of the week.

If you compare NameHero’s specs to other shared hosts, you’ll see 3 key differences:

  • You usually get more CPU cores/RAM.
  • Their US data center uses NVMe (faster than most host’s SATA SSDs).
  • You get Redis + MariaDB which are also faster than Memcached + MySQL.

And since they use LiteSpeed, you’ll use LiteSpeed Cache + QUIC.cloud CDN (one of the fastest setups on a budget). LiteSpeed Cache is faster than both WP Rocket and SiteGround Optimizer with features like server-side caching, delaying JavaScript, and a faster way to remove unused CSS. Then you use it to connect Redis + QUIC.cloud’s CDN to improve TTFB with QUIC’s HTML caching. High CPU usage is also less likely since LiteSpeed is more efficient than Apache (what most hosts use). A faster site + TTFB, less CPU issues, and usually cheaper? Makes sense to me.

Ryan (NameHero’s CEO) is also a genuinely down to earth guy if you watch his YouTube videos. Their servers are reliable and typically have less downtime + scheduled maintenance on their network status page with solid support. For LiteSpeed hosting in the US, it’s hard to beat them.

 

1. LiteSpeed On All Shared Plans

NameHero uses LiteSpeed servers on all shared plans.

You’ll definitely want to read through my LiteSpeed Cache tutorial which shows you how to configure the settings and connect QUIC.cloud + Redis for optimal performance.

Litespeed vs nginx vs apache
LiteSpeed is faster than NGINX and Apache (source: LiteSpeed)
Litespeed apache cpu usage test
LiteSpeed generally has less CPU usage than Apache
Which web server do you use recommendLitespeed cache litespeed serverLitespeed litespeed cache quic. Cloud
Which web server do you useLitespeed on litespeed serverLitespeed cache vs. Wp rocket

 

2. NVMe SSDs On All Plans (US Data Center)

NameHero’s data centers are located in the US and EU (Amsterdam). However, only their US data center uses faster NVMe storage – that’s why I mainly recommend them for US-based sites.

If you need a closer data center to your visitors, look at ChemiCloud or FastComet. Both are similar to NameHero with LiteSpeed/cPanel, but ChemiCloud uses NVMe in 9/11 data centers and their Turbo+ Boost add-on scales CPU/RAM from 3/3 to 6/6 (so you’re not stuck with the same resources in case you get more traffic). On NameHero, you can also use QUIC.cloud’s paid plan which improves TTFB in multiple global locations by using QUIC’s 83 PoPs with HTML caching. Once QUIC is setup, test your TTFB in 10-40 locations using tools like KeyCDN and SpeedVitals.

FastComet FastCloud Extra NameHero Turbo WordPress ChemiCloud WordPress Turbo
Type Shared Shared Shared
CPU Cores/RAM 6 cores/6GB 3 cores/3GB 3 cores/3GB (scalable to 6/6)
Storage type SATA NVMe (US data center only) NVMe (9/11 data centers)
Storage 35GB Unlimited 40GB
Database MySQL MariaDB MariaDB
Object cache Memcached Redis Memcached
Data centers 11 2 (US + EU) 11
Server LiteSpeed LiteSpeed LiteSpeed
Cache plugin LiteSpeed Cache LiteSpeed Cache LiteSpeed Cache
CDN QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB) QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB) QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB)
Control panel cPanel cPanel cPanel
Email storage 2.048GB Adjustable Adjustable
Inodes 500,000 500,000 500,000
Major incidents 2022 DDoS attack on 3 data centers 2011 2-day node outage None
Migrations 3 free 1 free 200 cPanel + 10 non-cPanel
Support B B B
TrustPilot rating 4.9/5 4.6/5 4.9/5
Monthly price $5.49 (1-3 years) $9.98 (3 years) $5.99 (3 years)
Renewals $21.95/mo $19.95/mo $19.95/mo

 

3. NameHero Has Better Specs Than “Popular” Hosts

Things To Note:

Bluehost Choice Plus SiteGround GrowBig Hostinger Business WP A2 Hosting Turbo Boost NameHero Turbo WordPress
Type Shared Shared Shared Shared Shared
Server Apache + Nginx Apache + Nginx LiteSpeed LiteSpeed LiteSpeed
Cache plugin x SG Optimizer LSC LSC LSC
CDN Cloudflare free SiteGround CDN ($14.99/mo) QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB) QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB) QUIC.cloud ($.02-.08/GB)
Full page caching x via QUIC via QUIC via QUIC
DNS Internal Blocked by Google for 4 days Internal / QUIC Internal / QUIC Internal / QUIC
CPU Cores/RAM Not listed Not listed 2 cores/1.5GB 2 cores/2GB 3 cores/3GB
Storage 40GB SATA 20GB SATA Not 200GB SATA Unlimited NVMe Unlimited NVMe
Object cache x Memcached Memcached Redis Redis
Database MySQL MySQL MariaDB MariaDB MariaDB
Resource limits Low resources CPU limits Low resources Efficient with LiteSpeed Efficient with LiteSpeed
Inodes 200,000 400,000 600,000 600,000 500,000
Control panel cPanel Site Tools hPanel cPanel cPanel
Email storage Adjustable 10GB 1GB Unlimited Unlimited
Major incidents Downtimes, Sitelock scams TTFB, DNS, CPU issues, controls Facebook groups Downtimes, scams, fake reviews, bad poll 2 week ransomware attack 2011 2-day node outage
Support C C F C B
TrustPilot rating 3.8/5 4.6/5 4.6/5 (fake) 4.4/5 4.6/5
Free migration “Qualified” accounts only $30/site Unlimited (but screws it up) Unlimited 1 free
Monthly intro price $5.45 (1 year) $3.99 (1 year) $3.99 (2 years) $6.99 (3 years) $9.98 (3 years)
Renewals $19.99/mo $24.99/mo $14.99/mo $22.99/mo $19.95/mo
Specs View View View View View

 
I’ve seen quite a few people move from other shared hosts to NameHero:

Namehero vs siteground feedbackSiteground to namehero support feedbackDivi with namehero
Namehero vs bluehost feedbackNamehero reviewSiteground to namehero scores

 

4. Reliable Uptimes On Network Status Page

Here is NameHero’s network status page. They usually have less maintenance/downtimes compared to similar hosts, although it obviously changes depending on when you check it.

I’m not doing another BS uptime test since it depends on which plan, server, and node you’re using. Most hosts should have an uptime status page showing scheduled maintenance + major incidents. Pretty much every host has a major outage at some point, so I like to look at 4 things:

  • How long was the outage?
  • How did they respond?
  • Do they have a network status page?
  • How “bad” is the routine maintenance on their network status page?

NameHero had a node outage in December, 2021 lasting 2 days. Ryan (NameHero founder) posted a detailed response. Read it yourself and make your own judgment. He takes full responsibility and it sounds like he worked as hard as he could, but that’s for you to decide.

Fun fact: On most host’s terms and conditions page, they state that scheduled maintenance does not count towards their uptime guarantee. You can advertise a 99.99% guarantee, then have as much downtime as you want as long as it’s scheduled.

How does NameHero’s uptimes compare to other hosts?

  • Hostinger’s status page usually has alarming amounts of maintenance/downtimes.
  • A2’s major outage was over 2 weeks. At that point, their response doesn’t mean much.
  • SiteGround’s DNS was blocked for 4 days. On Twitter, they said “there is no blocking on our end” but 2 days later, said they fixed it. They never advised customers to move to an external DNS. Google rankings dropped and some websites completely disappeared from search results. And SiteGround doesn’t have an uptime status page on their website either.

 

5. Support Is Better Than SiteGround

NameHero’s support is awesome, but something you should experience yourself. They have phone, live chat, and tickets, and are always been super helpful without insisting on upgrades.

Namehero vs siteground feedback

Namehero to siteground move

Namehero review

Siteground to namehero

Namehero fan

 

6. VPS Plans Are Too Expensive

NameHero’s VPS plans make you pay an extra $540/year for LiteSpeed, plus another $10-$25/mo for AlmaLinux or CloudLinux. I would either use Scala, Cloudways Vultr HF, or JohnnyVPS instead. Or if you’re willing to get more hands-on, RunCloud or ServerPilot. Like most Hostinger plans, they look good on the outside, but they’re not with lots of complaints.

Hostinger VPS 5 NameHero VPS (4GB) Scala Hosting Build #1 Cloudways DO Premium (2GB) Cloudways Vultr HF (2GB)
Type VPS VPS VPS VPS VPS
Server LiteSpeed LiteSpeed ($540/year) LiteSpeed Apache + Nginx Apache + Nginx
Cache plugin LSC LSC LSC Breeze Breeze
CDN QUIC.cloud QUIC.cloud QUIC.cloud Cloudflare Enterprise Cloudflare Enterprise
Full page caching via QUIC via QUIC via QUIC x x
DNS Internal / QUIC Internal / QUIC Internal / QUIC DNS Made Easy ($5/mo) DNS Made Easy ($5/mo)
CPU Cores/RAM 6 cores/6GB 4 cores/4GB 2 cores/4GB 1 core/2GB 1 core/2GB
Storage 120GB / SATA 60GB / NVMe 50GB / NVMe 50GB / NVMe 64GB / NVMe
Bandwidth 6TB/mo 10TB/mo Unmetered 2TB/mo 2TB/mo
Object cache Memcached Redis Redis Redis Pro Redis Pro
Database MySQL MariaDB MySQL MariaDB MariaDB
Dedicated IP
Full root access x x
Control panel hPanel cPanel sPanel Cloudways panel Cloudways panel
Email storage 1GB Adjustable 50GB x x
Support F B B C C
TrustPilot rating 4.6/5 (fake) 4.6/5 4.9/5 4.5/5 4.5/5
Free migration Unlimited 1 free 1 free 1 free 1 free
Intro price $23.95/mo (2 year agreement) $25.18/mo (1 year agreement) $29.95/mo (3 year agreement) $28/mo (monthly) $30/mo (monthly)
Renewals $79.95/mo $59.95/mo $46.95/mo $28/mo (monthly) $30/mo (monthly)
Specs View View View View View

 

7. Choose A Plan

I used to always recommend NameHero’s Turbo WordPress plan, but now that NVMe SSDs are used on all plans, you can get away with the Starter/Plus plan for small sites. Just keep in mind Turbo WordPress has higher connection limits (good if you have a decent amount of concurrent visitors), more inodes (good if you’re going to be using them for email hosting, more CPU cores + RAM, and RAID 1 instead of Raid 10. You can view this table on their regular web hosting page.

Namehero stater plan price

 

8. Request A Free Migration

Login to your NameHero account and fill out their migration request form. You get 1 free migration within 30 days, including local testing so you can see your site before it goes live.

Namehero migration request form

Change Nameservers – if you want to do this yourself, skip to 42:12 in their video which shows you how to change nameservers (only needed if you purchased a domain elsewhere). This is in your dashboard → domains → three dots → manage nameservers → use custom nameservers.

Install WordPress – login to cPanel in your NameHero dashboard and search “WordPress Manager by Softaculous.” Make sure to leave the directory field blank and use HTTPS (SSL is installed automatically). Click Install, add your WordPress login details, and install WordPress.

Namehero wordpress manager by softaculous

Namehero install wordpress

 

9. Setup LiteSpeed Cache

Once your site is moved, you’ll want to configure the free LiteSpeed Cache plugin.

LiteSpeed Cache is generally faster than WP Rocket (and definitely faster than SiteGround Optimizer) with more features. For caching, you get server-side caching, Redis integration, and dynamic caching through QUIC.cloud. Plus, it has more features for image optimizations, Guest Mode (great for speeding up your site for first-time visitors, and a faster “remove unused CSS” since you can load used CSS in a separate file. See my full tutorial on configuring the settings.

Litespeed cache plugin

SG Optimizer WP Rocket LiteSpeed Cache
Price Free $59/year Free
Server-side caching x
Object cache integration x
Delay JavaScript x
Remove unused CSS x Inline Separate file
Critical CSS x
Host third-party code locally x x
Image compression x via QUIC
WebP x via QUIC
Image placeholders x x LQIP via QUIC
Add missing image dimensions x
Exclude viewport images from lazy By class/type Helper plugin Automatically
Lazy render HTML elements x x
Preload links x
First time visit optimization x x Guest mode
Control cache TTL x
Control preloading x
ESI (edge side includes) x x
Gravatar cache x x
Limit post revisions Delete all Delete all Keep some
CDN Google Cloud StackPath QUIC.cloud
CDN PoPs 176 73 81 (standard plan)
CDN price $7.49/month $7.99/month $.01-.04/GB
Full page caching x
Bandwidth Unmetered Very limited Unlimited
Frequent new features x x

 

10. Connect Redis + OPcache

Redis is like Memcached but generally faster.

It’s specifically good for speeding up and reducing CPU usage on WooCommerce sites. OPcache improves PHP performance and can also reduce CPU usage. Both can be enabled in NameHero.

Step 1: In NameHero’s cPanel, go to Select PHP Version → Extensions → activate both.

Redis memcached cpanel

Step 2: Activate object cache in LiteSpeed Cache’s settings, then select “Redis” for method.

Litespeed cache object cache

 

11. Connect QUIC.cloud’s CDN

QUIC.cloud was also designed for LiteSpeed and caches both static/dynamic content on 83 PoPs, improving TTFB by up to 500%. However, you should ideally use QUIC’s paid/standard plan which is $.01-$.08/GB (depending on the region) and usually ends up being cheaper/faster than most CDNs. It’s also needed for image/page optimizations to work in the LiteSpeed Cache plugin with several other benefits (like HTTP/3, Anycast’s smart routing, and DDoS protection).

Quic. Cloud cdn paid vs standard plan

QUIC’s pricing involves adding credits to your QUIC dashboard which are used for bandwidth and page optimizations. Bandwidth is $.02-$.08/GB depending on the region which is cheaper than most CDNs. You get 200 free credits/month since NameHero uses LiteSpeed Enterprise.

Quic. Cloud cdn pricing

Quic. Cloud credits
NameHero uses the “LiteSpeed Enterprise” tier which includes more credits/bandwidth
Quic. Cloud pop network
QUIC.cloud’s 83+ PoPs

Setting Up QUIC.cloud

Ryan from NameHero already made a video on setting up QUIC.cloud with LiteSpeed, but I listed the steps below as well. There’s a lot of good stuff there and I recommend watching it.

Step 1: In the LSC General settings, request a domain key and add your Server IP.

Link to quic. Cloud

Step 2: Enable QUIC.cloud in LiteSpeed Cache’s CDN settings (CDN Mapping should be off).

Litespeed cache cdn turn on quic. Cloud cdn

Step 3: In the General settings, click “link to QUIC.cloud.”

Link to quic. Cloud

Step 4: View the QUIC dashboard, sign up, and your domain will be added automatically.

Quic. Cloud domain

Step 5: Click your domain and go to CDN → Enable CDN.

Enable quic. Cloud cdn

Step 6: Choose a method for connecting the CDN: QUIC.cloud DNS, Cloudflare DNS, or CNAME (external DNS). QUIC and Cloudflare’s DNS are both fast (Cloudflare is usually a top performer on dnsperf.com), but QUIC’s DNS is the easiest and has benefits like more accurate geo-routing.

  • QUIC.cloud DNS: QUIC.cloud’s DNS is easiest and also uses Anycast. They will copy your DNS records, then click “enable and add records” and they will assign you 2 nameservers. Login to your domain registrar and change nameservers to QUIC’s. Wait for QUIC to detect the change (i.e. 30 min.) and refresh the page. If successful, you’ll see “Using DNS” in QUIC.
  • Cloudflare: LiteSpeed has a video tutorial on this. You will change your CNAME in Cloudflare to the one provided by QUIC.cloud. To do this, go to Cloudflare’s DNS settings and delete the A records for both your www and non-www domain. Next, create CNAME records for www and non-www domains. Make sure you use “DNS Only.” If you have Mail or MX records which use your root domain, you will need to create a subdomain and point the MX record to it. If you have issues, it may be caused by redirects in your .htaccess file.
  • CNAME: copy the address from QUIC.cloud and login to your NameHerp cpanel. Head to the Zone Editor → Manage and find your domain (www.tomdupuisdemo.com). Click “edit” and change the record (tomdupuisdemo.com) to the URL from QUIC.cloud. Note this only works if your site is using the www version in your WordPress General settings.
Change nameservers to quic. Cloud
QUIC.cloud DNS: you’re assigned 2 nameservers which you’ll change in your domain registrar
Cloudflare cname records with quic. Cloud
Cloudflare DNS: delete A records for www/non-www in Cloudflare and replace with CNAME from QUIC
Cpanel zone editor
CNAME: paste QUIC.cloud’s CNAME record in cPanel → Zone Editor

Step 7: Verify QUIC.cloud’s CDN is working. You should see a confirmation message in your QUIC.cloud dashboard (i.e. Using DNS when using QUIC.cloud’s DNS). Eventually, you’ll see traffic is served through QUIC.cloud in the Analytics settings. You can also do an HTTP/3 Test.

Step 8: Activate the standard plan and select your regions.

Quic. Cloud cdn plans

 

12. Other Performance Tweaks

Here are a few extra speed tweaks that can be found in your NameHero cPanel under Select PHP Version (use both the Extensions and Options menu), Cron Jobs, and Hotlink Protection.

  • PHP 8+ – NameHero supports PHP 8.2 which you should use if plugins are compatible.
  • Brotli – faster than Gzip compression and can be activated in the PHP Extension menu.
  • Memory limit – Elementor recommends 768M for best performance (use at least 512M).
  • Hotlink protection – stops people from stealing your images and consuming bandwidth.

Namehero php options

Replace WP-Cron with a real cron job – reduce CPU usage by disabling wp-cron and scheduling a real cron job. First, disable wp-cron by adding the code to wp-config.php.

define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true);

Next, go to “Cron Jobs” in your NameHero cPanel and add the following code to “command line.” Set this to run every hour and replace https://yourwebsite.com with your actual domain.

wget https://yourwebsite.com/wp-cron.php > /dev/null 2>&1

Namehero cron job

 

13. Security

NameHero requires 2FA using Google Authenticator.

They also use Security Shield and Imunify360 , plus QUIC.cloud includes several security features. Between these three, you get a firewall, DDoS protection, and malware protection.

 

14. Green Friendly

In a blog article announcing NameHero’s Kansas City data center, they also said:

“Additionally we’re taking an enormous green initiative to be extremely efficient to help protect our environment.”

I emailed Ryan (NameHero CEO) asking for additional info. Here’s his response:

To start, we chose a location that is located underground, in what used to be an old limestone mine.  This not only provides protection from natural disasters (tornadoes not uncommon) but also natural temperature control (underground stays around ~68 degrees year round).

Inside our facility all systems are designed to be extremely efficient.  Even the lightning throughout shuts off automatically and only turns on with motion (i.e. someone walking in the hall or entering a room).

Our primary energy partner is Evergy whom we have a very special partnership with where a good portion of our supply comes from renewables (i.e. wind).  They’ve already committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2045 with 50% of all their energy being emissions-free.

We utilize Flywheel energy inside (instead of the “old school” backup UPS systems that contain chemical-based batteries):

Just some advantages:

  • Response – it can promptly store huge bursts of energy, and equally rapidly return them
  • Efficiency – charges/discharges are made with very small losses; as an electrical storage system a flywheel can have efficiencies over 97%
  • Maintenance – flywheels do not require cooling nor do they pose the chemical recycling/maintenance issues of conventional batteries
  • Lifespan – flywheels have a typical lifespan of about 20 years, while a lead-acid battery needs to be replaced every three to seven years – and even sooner for high cycle applications

Given we’re a cloud-based service provider, our entire infrastructure relies on virtualization, which does not use near the amount of equipment that “old school” dedicated servers use.  With over 300K sq foot expansion space possible, we don’t have to stack equipment as tight as most providers, eliminating a lot of the “dense racks” that virtualization typically creates.  This provides for even more efficient power/cooling usage.

We’re looking to create the “new age” of data centers by constantly optimizing our efficiency; utilizing what’s necessary, eliminating the unnecessary (i.e. always trimming the fat/bloat).  A good example of this is within our core network infrastructure, that utilizes new software defined network technology to operate in a spine/leaf fashion where we can collapse the “old school” three tier networking model, and thus eliminate many pieces of “old school” hardware that’s still utilized in many data centers across the country (a hypervisor can also serve as a router/firewall eliminating more hardware that utilizes power/cooling resources).

 

15. NameHero Pros & Cons

Pros

  • LiteSpeed, NVMe, Redis, MariaDB.
  • Cheaper intro prices for 1-3 years.
  • LiteSpeed Cache is a great cache plugin.
  • QUIC.cloud is also a great CDN, especially the paid plan.
  • Less chance of CPU spikes (LiteSpeed servers are efficient).
  • More cores/RAM for a better value compared to other hosts.
  • Storage can be adjusted to be used for your website or email.
  • Reliable servers with less scheduled maintenance or downtimes.
  • Support is helpful/responsive and the CEO (Ryan) is a solid dude.

Cons

  • US + NE data centers only, NVMe only in US.
  • Lowest 2 shared plans only have 250k inodes.
  • Must sign up for 3 years to get the cheapest price.
  • LiteSpeed license costs $540/year on their VPS plans.
  • High renewal prices after 1-3 years (standard with shared hosting).

 

Summary

NameHero’s great, I don’t get why people still use other shared hosts like SiteGround and Hostinger. I appreciate your support if you sign up with my aff link (but totally not expected).

Cheers,
Tom

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25 Comments...

  1. Thank you Tom sir, I’m going to take your word for it and go for it. Got caught by Hostinger and cancelled the subscription due to poor performance. Hope this doesn’t dissapoint.

    Reply
    • Let me know how it goes. I usually recommend ChemiCloud or NameHero as a SiteGround alternative, then Rocket.net for higher budget. All have some sort of trial or money back guarantee.

      Reply
  2. Unfortunately, namehero stated that they do not provide service to the country I am in (Türkiye). (This exclusionary behavior is not nice, by the way. I’m really sorry. ) I have a woocommerce store that is visited by 20 people a day. What would you suggest as an alternative for a low-budget startup? (shared hosting)

    Thank you

    Reply
    • FastComet’s highest shared plan and ChemiCloud’s highest shared plan are similar with LiteSpeed. ChemiCloid uses NMVe and MariaDB but you have to sign up for 3 years to get the cheap intro price. FastComet has more flexible pricing and more cores/RAM but uses Memcached and MySQL.

      Reply
  3. Hi Tom, thanks so much for the information! The time and detail that you put into your articles is much appreciated. I’m just diving into the webhosting/design world and you saved me from Hostinger!

    What do you think about NameHero from a security perspective? I’m building a website for a nonprofit that would deal with money transactions (donations). Also, I understand that they have offsite backups, which I’d imagine are particularly secure as well?

    Thanks again!

    Reply
    • Yes, I have aff links to FlyingPress and Perfmatters which are the main 2 paid ones I recommend. But if you’re going to move to NameHero, you don’t need FlyingPress since you’d be using LiteSpeed Cache which is free. You still may want to use Perfmatters for the script manager, bloat removal, and a few other things.

      Thanks again!

      Reply

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