Namecheap free trials: hosting, Private Email, EasyWP and FastVPN

Namecheap has no permanent free plan, but four of its products come with a 30-day free trial: Shared Hosting, Private Email, EasyWP managed WordPress and the FastVPN 1-month plan. Each trial has its own limit on how many times you can use it, and the Private Email trial converts straight into an annual plan if you do not cancel in time.

Below we go through each trial using Namecheap's own product pages and disclaimers: what it covers, how many you can start, what you pay afterwards, and the code that cuts the price of Private Email if you would rather pay up front. We also point out the conditions that are easy to miss when you are clicking through a checkout.

Shared Hosting: 30 days free for a limited time

Namecheap is currently offering Shared Hosting free for 30 days. The banner on the hosting page calls it a limited-time offer but gives no end date. The lineup has three plans, Stellar, Stellar Plus and Stellar Business, and the free trial is limited to one per account.

After the free month, the plan bills at the rate you picked at checkout. The page lists up to 71% off with yearly and bi-yearly billing, so the billing period you choose on day one decides what you pay once the trial is over. Hosting buyers can also get up to 60% off .com and .net domains, which is useful if you are starting a new site and need the name as well.

1. Open Namecheap's Shared Hosting page and compare Stellar, Stellar Plus and Stellar Business.
2. Pick a plan and check that the cart shows the 30-day free period.
3. Set a reminder. Cancel before day 30 if you do not want to be billed.

Look at the billing toggle before you add a plan to the cart. Monthly, yearly and bi-yearly lead to different prices after the free month, and the trial does not change that choice for you.

Private Email: a 30-day trial on every plan

All three Private Email plans, Launch, Expand and Scale, come with a 30-day free trial of Namecheap Private Email. The trial rules are stricter than most, so read them before you start:

• Free trials convert to an annual (1-year) plan.
• Launch trials are limited to 5 per Namecheap account.
• Expand and Scale trials are limited to 1 per plan per account.
• There is one trial per domain.
• Some domain extensions are excluded from the trial.

The annual conversion is the part that catches people. If you forget to cancel, you are not charged for one more month. You are charged for a full year. If you are only testing whether business email suits you, put the cancellation date in your calendar the day you start.

1. Go to Namecheap's business email page and scroll to Plans and pricing.
2. Choose Launch, Expand or Scale and click Start free trial.
3. Enter the domain you want to use for your mailboxes, then sign in or create a Namecheap account at checkout.
4. Create your mailboxes in the dashboard. Cancel before 30 days if you do not want the annual plan.

Paying up front instead: code MAILDEAL

If you already know you want Private Email, the trial is not your only option. The code MAILDEAL gives up to 38% off Private Email on the first purchase of an annual or 2-year plan. The discount depends on the plan and the term:

The discount applies only to the initial purchase, and subscriptions renew at regular prices. It covers the default mailbox options, not additional mailboxes, so if you plan to add extra mailboxes later, those are charged at the normal rate.

1. Go to Namecheap's business email page and choose Yearly or Biyearly billing.
2. Pick Launch, Expand or Scale and add it to your cart.
3. Enter MAILDEAL in the promo code field of the cart.
4. Confirm the discounted price and complete the purchase.

EasyWP: 30 days of managed WordPress

EasyWP is Namecheap's managed WordPress hosting. The EasyWP free trial covers the Monthly Starter plan only and runs for 30 days. It is limited to one plan per business or household, which is a tighter rule than the one-per-account limit on Shared Hosting. A second account at the same address will not get a second trial.

Namecheap says the offer is available for a limited time, and that no introductory offers apply on renewal after the trial. In plain terms, once the free month ends you continue at the regular Monthly Starter price.

1. Go to Namecheap's managed WordPress hosting page.
2. Select Monthly billing and pick the EasyWP Starter plan.
3. Sign in or create a Namecheap account and complete checkout for the trial.
4. Set up WordPress from the EasyWP dashboard. Cancel before 30 days if you do not want to continue.

If you are deciding between Shared Hosting and EasyWP for a WordPress site, the trials make that decision cheap. Shared Hosting is general-purpose hosting, while EasyWP is built only for WordPress. You can try one for a month, and if it does not suit you, cancel and try the other.

FastVPN: 30 days free, or $1.00 a month for a year

Namecheap's VPN has two entry offers, and they suit different people. The FastVPN deal gives you a choice:

• The 1-month plan is free for 30 days, then costs $7.88 a month.
• The 1-year plan costs $1.00 a month, 65% off, billed as $12.00 up front. It renews at $34.56 a year.

If you are not sure you need a VPN, take the free month. If you already know you will use one for a year, the 1-year plan is the cheaper start, with a single payment of $12.00. Either way, note the renewal figure. The second year of the 1-year plan costs $34.56, not $12.00.

1. Go to Namecheap's FastVPN page and scroll to Choose your best VPN plan.
2. Click Get 1-year plan for the discount, or Try 30 days free for the monthly trial.
3. Sign in or create a Namecheap account and complete checkout.
4. Download FastVPN on your devices and log in.

All Namecheap trials in one table

Which trial to start with

If you are launching a new website and do not yet know what it needs, Shared Hosting is the natural starting point. It covers ordinary sites, and the domain discount for hosting buyers helps if you have not registered the name yet.

If the site will run on WordPress and you would rather not manage the hosting side, try EasyWP instead. Remember the one-per-household rule if several people in your home or business are setting up sites.

For business email, decide how sure you are. If you are testing, use the 30-day trial and set a reminder before it converts to a year. If you have already decided, MAILDEAL on a 2-year plan gives the largest discount on the first purchase.

For the VPN, the same logic applies. The free month is for finding out. The 1-year plan is for people who already know they want one.

Common mistakes and what happens after the trial

• Letting Private Email convert. The trial becomes an annual plan, not a monthly one. Cancel before 30 days if you are not staying.
• Running several trials at once without a list. It is easy to start hosting, email and a VPN in the same week and lose track. Keep the end dates in one calendar.
• Expecting MAILDEAL prices at renewal. The code applies to the initial purchase only. Renewals are charged at regular prices.
• Forgetting the EasyWP renewal rule. No introductory offers apply on renewal after the trial.
• Reading $12.00 as the yearly VPN price for good. The 1-year FastVPN plan renews at $34.56 a year.
• Using an excluded domain for the email trial. Some extensions cannot use the Private Email trial. Check the disclaimers on the email page if yours is unusual.
• Moving a live site onto a trial without a backup. If you cancel, you need your files somewhere else. Keep a copy of anything you upload during a trial.

All current Namecheap offers, with the source page and the date we last checked each one, are on our Namecheap tool page.