InMotion Hosting Review

With over 15 years in the web hosting business, InMotion Hosting is one of the most recognized names around.

I first started up with them when I was offered a free shared hosting account in 2009. I loved them so much that I stayed on – as a paying customer.

A decade later today, I make use of InMotion  VPS hosting plan and I’m sure I’ve dug around in almost every facet of their resources at some time or other through the years.

Let me share some of what I’ve learn about them with you, so that you can make an informed decision on the pros and cons of hosting with them.

About InMotion Hosting

• Headquarter: Los Angeles, California
• Established: 2001
• Services: Shared, VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting

Summary: What's in this InMotion review?

Pros of InMotion Hosting

1. Excellent Hosting Performance: Uptime > 99.95%, TTFB ~400ms

Among the web hosting service providers I have encountered so far InMotion Hosting servers are some of the top performing ones in the budget category. Their uptime is mostly well above the industry standard of 99.95%.

More importantly, I have tested performance from multiple locations, all of which are able to boast Time to First Byte (TTFB) of below 450ms.

The proof, however, is in the pudding as they say. Let’s take a look at the test results I’ve compiled on InMotion Hosting over the years since 2013.

InMotion Hosting Speed Tests

Server Speed Test at Bitcatcha

Time-to-First-Byte (TTFB) Based on Webpage Test

Years of InMotion Hosting Uptime Data

Jan 2019: 100%

Sep/Oct 2018: 100%

Jun/Jul 2018: 100%

Old Records (2013 – early 2018)

* Click to enlarge image. 

2. Great Customer Care and Live Chat Support

Standard support procedure at InMotion Hosting includes:

• Unparallel 90-day money back guarantee
• Multiple support channels (ticket system, Skype, phone, live chat, emails)
• Easy refunds or account cancellations

Well known for its customer service, InMotion Hosting Inc. has been BBB Accredited since 2003 and has an A+ with BBB Busines Review. It’s frequently highly rated by hosting review sites and therefore, also has high expectations to live up to, especially in after-sales service.

When I conducted an undercover test of customer support channels back in August 2017, their live chat came up as one of the best in the field. First response time was in less than 60 seconds and my queries were quickly addressed.

Recent experience with InMotion's live chat support

I again repeated a test on their support system in 2018 to update this review and I’m glad that it has not degraded at all.

Other user comments

Obviously, I’m not alone in my love for InMotion – others think they’re great as well, especially in terms of customer support.

InMotion user feedback on Twitter

3. Free Site Migration Service for New Customers

No matter which hosting plan you’re taking up with InMotion Hosting, they offer all new customers free site migration.

How to request a free site migration from InMotion?

InMotion Hosting can help you migrate our websites, so why do all the heavy lifting? Click click to request.

Click here to request.

4. One-stop Solution: All Hosting Features You Need in One Plan

As is usual, InMotion Hosting carries a complete range of shared plan types to address multiple scenarios. From the most basic starter sites to heavy e-commerce users, there’s something for everyone.

Some critical features included:

Free SSL (the default in cPanel)

There’s obviously a difference between free and paid SSL, but for most of us, the free version is fine. To activate your free SSL (VPS or dedicated hosting users), look for the option in your WHM.

Unfortunately, InMotion Hosting doesn’t support the auto installation of Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates (unlike SiteGround or A2 Hosting). You are given root access and you must install it on your own. You can find the detail instructions in this tutorial.

Managed WordPress Hosting

InMotion managed WordPress platform comes with free CDN, Jetpack Personal / Professional, and built-in WP site builder – BoldGrid.

Host and send your emails from InMotion Hosting 

Email hosting at InMotion Hosting is easy and painless to manage.

You can manage all email related tasks from either your Account Management Panel (AMP) or cPanel.

Pre-Installed CMS (Joomla, WordPress, Drupal)

Time-saver – Get InMotion Hosting to install CMS or cart applications for you when ordering.

* Note: Shown in the .GIF image are old prices. InMotion Hosting has increased their price to $3.99/mo in June 2018.

No hard limit for inodes on Business Hosting plan

Note that InMotion Hosting does not set a hard limit on inodes count.

While most others (at similar price range) limit 100,000 – 250,000 inodes per account.

Web design service at a reasonable price 

Time-saver for businesses: Get InMotion (during checkout) to you design and build a one-page website in 2 days for $99.

5. Plenty of room to grow

When running a website, one thing you always must keep in mind is room for expansion. You might be getting 50 hits a day today, but in a year or two that might easily exceed 1,000 or so daily, perhaps even more.

Thankfully, InMotion Hosting has a very wide range of plans that you can incrementally upgrade to as you grow. There is also the option of switching to VPS or dedicated hosting plans if you feel the shared plans are still too restrictive for you.

Feeling confused? Which InMotion Hosting plans to go with? 

Being faced with too many choices can also at times be a headache. If you’re not sure what you need, here’s my 2 cents;

Decide if you’d prefer Shared, VPS or Dedicated Server hosting.

For those who need server root access or special requirements such as custom software, you might like to consider VPS hosting for start.

For everyone else, it’s likely that one of the shared plans will do fine for you (it’s usual to buy in at the lowest tier first).

InMotion has three different tiers of Business Class Hosting – Launch, Power, and Pro.

While similar in nature, each higher tier offers more features, such as more addon domains, parked domains or something else. The most important thing to note is how many websites each plan supports – if you only need to run a single site, just go with Launch, the lowest package.

Remember, these packages can be upgraded at any time, all you’ll need to do is top up the price difference.

6. 90-day money back guarantee

Some web hosts might try to get away with no money-back guarantees or limit you to a ridiculous 3-day or 14-day period. InMotion Hosting offers one of the longest trial periods in the business – an eye-raising 90 days!

Anytime within those 90 days, if you feel unsatisfied with what you’ve bought into, you can request an account cancellation along with a full refund.

InMotion Hosting’s Service Terms & Guarantees

All 6 month and longer term hosting plans for our Business, VPS and Reseller Hosting packages are covered by our unmatched 90-day money back guarantee. All Dedicated Servers and all monthly billed VPS and Reseller Hosting packages are eligible for a full refund for 30 days.

– Source: InMotion Hosting Terms of Use

7.  Save 50% if you order InMotion Hosting now

InMotion’s shared hosting is usually priced at $7.99/9.99/15.99 per month for their Launch, Power, and Pro Plan respectively.

If you order via our special promo link, you’ll save up to 50%, paying only $3.99/5.99/13.99 per month on your first bill.

Click here to get this special discount now*

* Affiliate link

Cons of InMotion Hosting

Although InMotion is one of the few who have gotten a full five-star review from me, I still have to acknowledge that nothing is perfect.

Let me share with you some of the not so encouraging points about them.

1. After the initial sign up, prices go up

When you’re just signing on with InMotion Hosting, that what I call the honeymoon period. You pay cut-rate fees and both you and the host are happy. Unfortunately, that only lasts the length of your first contract. When it comes time to renew, you’ll be facing full-fee rates.

This means that for a 24-month renewal period, you must pay $7.99/9.99/15.99 per month depending on the plan.

The even sadder news is that this isn’t all about InMotion Hosting and is in fact an industry norm. The practice has gotten many complaints over the years.

If this is something that you REALLY object to, go to a host that doesn’t practice this instead, such as Interserver.

2. No instant account activation

To prevent fraud, InMotion doesn’t practice instant account activation. That means that you’ll need to be verified via phone before they will activate your account – a slight inconvenience for those living outside of the US, like me.

I’m in Malaysia, which is on the opposite side of the globe from the US. Given time gaps and poor call quality sometimes, it can be a real mess.

3. Server location in the United States only

InMotion Hosting users are limited to host their websites in the United States only. You do get to choose between Los Angeles (West) or Washington D.C. (East) when you order your plan – but that's it. For advanced users, you will need a content delivery network (CDN) or go with other hosting companies (Hostinger, for example, support 8 server locations in U.S., E.U. and Asia).

InMotion Hosting Plans

Shared Hosting Plans: Launch, Power, Pro

There are three shared web hosting plans at InMotion Hosting: Launch, Power and Pro. Here are the quick details:

* Note: U/L = Unlimited. All shared hosting prices based on orders with our special promotion and three-year subscription.

VPS Hosting Plans: 1000HA, 2000HA, 3000HA

Their three VPS hosting plan names sound like something out of star wars: 1000HA-S, 2000HA-s, and 3000HA-s.

Here are the main features for these plans:

* Note: All VPS hosting prices based on one-year subscription.

**Note – If you are interested to know more about the web hosting prices, here's our research on the cost of different type of web hosting plans.

InMotion Hosting Alternatives & Comparison

We’ve covered a lot of ground on InMotion Hosting so far, but for those of you still unimpressed, fear not – there are other options. BlueHost, SiteGround, and A2 Hosting are three popular alternatives. Personally, I would also recommend A2 Hosting and SiteGround. Both are big dogs in web hosting as well that offer comprehensive plans at competitive prices.

Alternatives #1: SiteGround

Established in 2004, SiteGround has offices in Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and the US.

Both InMotion Hosting and SiteGround have solid reputations based on their great server performance and customer support. InMotion Hosting is cheaper and comes with a 90-day money back guarantee. SiteGround however, has better features including a built-in cache, NGINX, etc. The latter also has a better spread of server locations, i.e. US, Europe, and Asia.

Learn more

• SiteGround review
• Detail comparison: SiteGround vs InMotion Hosting

Alternatives #2: A2 Hosting

The company A2 Hosting has been around since 2001. When it first hit the scene, it was known as Iniquinet. It was then renamed as A2 Hosting in 2003 as a tribute to the founder’s home town – Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The company has data centers in three locations, with the primary data center in Michigan and additional servers in Amsterdam and Singapore, Asia.

Learn more

• A2 Hosting review
• Detail comparison: A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting

Alternatives #3: BlueHost 

Another popular web hosting company is BlueHost. They’re often compared to InMotion Hosting although our research has suggested that InMotion Hosting is better in term of server performance and live chat support. BlueHost is, however, around 15% cheaper than InMotion Hosting over the long term.

Learn more

• BlueHost review
• Detail comparison: BlueHost vs InMotion Hosting

InMotion Hosting vs SiteGround vs A2 Hosting vs BlueHost

Frequently Asked Questions

Is InMotion Hosting good?

Yes, InMotion is a good web hosting company and offers a wide range of related products. Personally I pay InMotion several hundreds of dollars every year to host my important sites.

How much does InMotion Hosting cost?

There are three shared hosting plans offered by InMotion Hosting: Launch, Power and Pro. Launch – the entry level plan, allows you to host 2 websites and costs $3.99 per month for 3-year subscription. Power and Pro Plans cost $5.99 and $13.99 per month respectively.

How do I cancel InMotion Hosting after signup?

InMotion Hosting offers 90-day money-back guarantee, however, to cancel your services, you need to contact InMotion Hosting customer support.

What is BoldGrid?

BoldGrid is a WordPress-based website builder developed and offered by InMotion Hosting to its users.

Is BoldGrid free?

The base BoldGrid builder is free to use, but there are premium plugins and themes which may cost money should you decide to use them.

Where are InMotion Hosting servers?

InMotion Hosting servers are located in the US, both on the East as well as West coasts.

Verdict: Is InMotion a Yes?

I consider InMotion Hosting a very good web hosting company – the web host is included in WHSR's list of best web hosting, best email hosting, and best small business hosting.

If you are looking for a web hosting service provider that has a good reputation and offers solid performance and customer support– InMotion Hosting is the one for you. Also remember that they have the facilities to let you scale up your plans anytime you want, so future-proof as well.

Let’s have a short recap here on its pros and cons:

Who should host at InMotion Hosting?

I recommend it for:

• Small-to-medium size business sites
• Forums (Easy forum software installation)
• WordPress-based sites (New to even large sized)
• Joomla and Drupal sites

Order InMotion Hosting 

Click: InMotion Business Hosting Promo*