Cloudflare Registrar vs Namecheap: privacy compared
Cloudflare Registrar and Namecheap are both rated in domain registrars against the same 13 public criteria. Cloudflare Registrar does better on independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests, Free WHOIS privacy, honest renewal pricing and transfer and registry lock. Cloudflare Registrar is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Namecheap is based in the United States (Five Eyes).
| Criterion | Cloudflare Registrar Our pick | Namecheap |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (66/100) | Grade F F (39/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | United States Five Eyes |
| Open source Is all the source code needed to run the product public? | No | No |
| No trackers or telemetry Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default? | No | No source |
| No ads or data sales Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Independent audit Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years? | Partial source | No |
| Transparency report Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds? | Yes source | No |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | Yes source | Partial source |
| TLS configuration Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Security headers Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better? | Partial source | Partial source |
| Modern web standards Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test? | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| Free WHOIS privacy Is registrant data hidden from public WHOIS and RDAP at no extra cost? | Yes source | Partial source |
| Honest renewal pricing Are renewal prices the same as, or close to, the first-year price? | Yes source | No source |
| Two-factor login Do accounts support two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or security key? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Transfer and registry lock Is transfer lock on by default, with registry lock available? | Yes source | Partial source |
Summaries
Cloudflare Registrar. Cloudflare Registrar scores 66 out of 100 (grade C) on the domain registrars criteria. It meets 8 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, Free WHOIS privacy, honest renewal pricing, two-factor login and transfer and registry lock. It partly meets independent audit and security headers. It does not meet open source and no trackers or telemetry. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+.
Namecheap. Namecheap scores 39 out of 100 (grade F) on the domain registrars criteria. It meets 3 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration and two-factor login. It partly meets tells users about requests, security headers, Free WHOIS privacy and transfer and registry lock. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, independent audit, transparency report and honest renewal pricing. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+.