NameHero vs A2 Hosting: The Key Differences

Table of Contents:

NameHero vs A2 Hosting: LiteSpeed Caching Features

Most web hosts use Apache as their webserver. It’s standardized, free, and works everywhere. Hostgator, Bluehost, SiteGround – basically all the big names in the industry use Apache. However, some hosts like NameHero and A2 Hosting try and squeeze more performance out of their servers by installing LiteSpeed instead.

LiteSpeed is a paid “drop in” replacement for Apache, that can handle more transactions, is more secure, and has a bunch of other benefits. Here’s a more thorough explanation of LiteSpeed web hosting.

Benefit: Server Based Caching

The biggest difference between Apache and LiteSpeed, is that LiteSpeed offers server caching out of the box without the need for any additional processing power. Without this, you’ll need caching plugins like W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket Cache, or others. But when the server itself supports it, it’s more efficient and doesn’t impact your resource usage.

In my article on server caching, you can see that NameHero is the only one that provides it for all its plans for free. A2 Hosting also provides this, but as mentioned, only with its advanced Turbo plan.

Why Doesn’t Everyone Use LiteSpeed?

Because it’s not free – nuff said. Using Apache is cheaper, and allows web hosts to maximize their profit margins. Or as with A2 Hosting, it allows them to sell higher priced plans that include LiteSpeed.

NameHero vs A2 Hosting: Pricing

The pricing between A2 Hosting and NameHero is comparable. But there’s one big difference.

A2 Hosting has better initial discounts, but higher long-term pricing
NameHero has lower initial discounts, but lower long-term pricing

NameHero also has renewal discounts when you purchase for longer time periods. A2 Hosting however, has no renewal discounts.

In short, NameHero is a cheaper web host if you’re searching for a permanent home for your business. A2 Hosting is better if your intentions are more short term. Though honestly, if you’re looking for short term hosting, there are better options than A2 Hosting. Hostgator has the cheapest 12-month hosting plans without gimmicks, so that’s probably a better deal for you if you’re focusing on price.

Winner: Tie

Customer Service

NameHero is a much smaller company compared to A2 Hosting, and so it feels a lot more personal compared to A2 Hosting. NameHero’s CEO Ryan Gray personally responds on forums and even blog articles. The whole atmosphere of NameHero has a very “family” sort of feel that’s difficult to describe. Ryan also posts regularly on his blog and creates Youtube videos, where he walks you through the company’s policies and more.

A2 Hosting on the other hand is a lot more corporate, and this means that customer service often slips through the cracks. Any web host will have both satisfied and unsatisfied customers, and A2 Hosting certainly has its share of the latter. By contrast, I would say that NameHero has hardly any customer service complaints.

Winner: NameHero

Data Center Locations

A2 Hosting has data centers in three continents. Namely:

• USA
• Europe
• Asia

Whereas NameHero has them only in two:

• USA
• Europe

So in this one matter, A2 Hosting beats NameHero because it has a datacenter in Asia, which might be important for you.

Winner: A2 Hosting

Free Domain

NameHero offers a free domain when you sign up for the Turbo or Business cloud plan. A2 Hosting doesn’t provide a free domain at all. So this is a straight up win for NameHero, no questions asked.

Winner: NameHero

Overall Winner: NameHero

As you can see, I’m heavily favoring NameHero is this matchup. A2 Hosting had one selling point – and that was LiteSpeed caching on its Turbo plans. But with NameHero offering this for free on all its plans, it’s clearly the superior choice.

Add to that the better long term pricing, free domains, and more personalized customer service, and there’s only one winner that takes the crown without a doubt: NameHero.