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There have been whispers around the internet that InMotion Hosting, which offers both budget plans for beginners and high-end cloud solutions for enterprise clients, may have lost its way. Users complain of slow page loading speeds and worsening reliability. Is InMotion Hosting still worth the asking fee? Or could you get a better deal elsewhere?
I’ve never really been one for rumors, so I evaluated InMotion Hosting thoroughly, looking at every single hosting plan they offer and comparing them to the competition’s equivalents.
I was left with mixed feelings. Some plans offer a genuinely good deal – others are utterly beaten in value by competing hosts.
Thanks to InMotion Hosting’s impressive 90-day money-back guarantee, I was able to test its services for a suitable period of time. Read on to find out whether you can get a good deal from InMotion Hosting.
I was taken aback at the number of hosting plans offered by InMotion Hosting. In total, there are:
4 shared hosting plans
4 WordPress hosting plans
4 managed VPS plans
8 unmanaged cloud VPS plans
3 shared hosting reseller plans
3 VPS reseller plans
5 managed dedicated server plans
5 unmanaged bare metal server plans, plus the ability to build a custom server
3 customizable private cloud plans (infrastructure as a service)
Across this wide variety of hosting services, payment plans range from simple monthly billing to paying in advance for a three-year term. The exact payment plans on offer differ depending on the type of hosting. InMotion Hosting accepts all major credit cards, along with PayPal, cheques, and money orders.
Every hosting plan besides the Private Cloud benefits from a money-back guarantee. This is a 90-day period for all hosting services – except dedicated servers, where only the first 30 days are covered. Plans are relatively easy to cancel, but you will need to contact support to get your refund.
Beginners, enterprises, and any customers in between will likely find a suitable plan. However, be aware that some features are limited to premium plans. And as with many other providers, InMotion Hosting’s renewal fees tend to be high, and expensive add-ons may be pre-selected during checkout. Be extra careful when making a purchase!
Proprietary UltraStack technology stack with advanced caching optimizations
Proprietary UltraStack technology stack with advanced caching optimizations
Server type
Apache
Apache with NGINX proxy
Apache with NGINX proxy
Security tools
Patchman malware protection
Patchman malware protection
Patchman malware protection
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington DC
Los Angeles and Washington DC
Los Angeles and Washington DC
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
With shared hosting, you will be sharing a physical server with other users, and this is why shared hosting is the most affordable type of web hosting. It’s a good place to start for beginners, or those who are simply looking to run a low-traffic, small-to-medium-sized website.
The downside is that the speed and reliability of your hosting can be affected by the volume of traffic to other users’ sites on the same server. This makes shared hosting a poor choice if you require guaranteed performance.
Despite being InMotion Hosting’s cheapest shared hosting plan, Core isn’t stingy on resources. You get 100GB SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a maximum of two websites. As you’re protected by a 90-day money-back guarantee, you can freely cancel your plan within the first three months to get a full refund.
Every plan includes cPanel, a popular control panel that makes it easy to manage your sites and domains. It’s bundled with the Softaculous auto-installer, which lets you install hundreds of apps with a few clicks. Installing content management systems (CMSs) such as WordPress only takes a few short minutes.
Sadly, there are some drawbacks. Core is only available on an annual, biennial, or triennial payment plan – there’s no easy monthly billing option. It also lacks the speed-boosting technologies available with higher-tier plans.
The Power plan offers significant upgrades over the Core plan. Most notably, you’ll be getting unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts. This plan offers NVMe SSDs, which performs noticeably faster than standard SSDs. Power also offers advanced caching, though the exact optimizations provided are not specified.
Disappointingly, you’re still limited to annual, biennial, or triennial payment terms, so you will have to pay a sizable bill upfront. That said, the discounted price of the three-year Power plan is terrific for the level of server optimization included. You also get a free domain credit for a year for further added value.
Unfortunately, the speed enhancements may be dampened by InMotion Hosting’s inconsistent performance. During our tests, loading times jumped from impressive highs of 0.8s to abysmal lows of 5s. Plenty of budget hosts offer more reliable performance than this.
Pro is the only shared plan that features a monthly billing option, which makes it your only choice if you’re looking for shared hosting without a long commitment. Like the previous plan, all resources are unlimited.
The Pro plan seeks to guarantee overall reliability with a Pro Support service level agreement (SLA). This is a 99.99% uptime guarantee that’s rarely seen among competing shared hosting providers.
However, the Pro plan is expensive for a shared hosting plan. The SLA is a nice addition, but it’s not exactly a game-changer. Despite the high asking fee, this plan lacks important features such as automatic backups and access to a content delivery network (CDN). Hostinger includes both of these without the need to pay extra.
Is Shared Hosting Right for You?
InMotion Hosting offers some standout features with its shared hosting, but the inconsistent performance we recorded hurts its ranking. You won’t have to look far to find a host with more reliable performance, possibly even for a lower price.
The Power plan offers the best value, with impressive server optimization and plenty of room to grow. However, if your site starts getting consistently high visitor numbers, you may want to consider a VPS.
Optimized stack for WordPress, Varnish caching, FastCGI
Optimized stack for WordPress, Varnish caching, FastCGI, Jetpack CDN
Optimized stack for WordPress, Varnish caching, FastCGI, Jetpack CDN, dedicated opcode cache pool
Server type
Apache with NGINX proxy
Apache with NGINX proxy
Apache with NGINX proxy
Security tools
Patchman malware protection, web application firewalls, safe application rollback through Softaculous
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
If you’re looking to work with the popular WordPress CMS, it makes sense to choose a WordPress-specific hosting plan. These plans feature specialized server configurations that help speed up WordPress sites. You’ll also benefit from extra features such as free plugins, access to premium themes, and so on.
Beginners will find it easy to get started, especially as important tasks – such as installation and optimization – will be automated for you. That said, InMotion Hosting’s regular WordPress plans are on shared servers, so you may have to upgrade if and when the sites you are hosting get really busy.
InMotion Hosting’s WP-1000S plan offers the same unlimited bandwidth as the Core shared hosting plan, but that’s where the similarities end. You get unlimited email addresses as opposed to only ten of them, but you’re limited to a single site.
You get only half the storage space, though it is NVMe-enabled. You’re also limited to annual or biennial payment terms. Thankfully, WordPress plans do still include a 90-day money-back guarantee.
If you’re willing to make the commitment, WP-1000S offers a very good level of optimization. It includes an NGINX proxy server and Varnish caching, squeezing as much efficiency as possible out of your WordPress configuration.
WordPress is preinstalled for you, so you can immediately get started upon purchasing your hosting account. Yet, while WP-1000S is more expensive than some competing hosts’ entry-level WordPress plans, it doesn’t offer much better value than the shared plans.
WP-2000S allows you to host up to two WordPress sites with 100GB of storage and a small performance boost. The website limit is rather disappointing – A2 Hosting allows for unlimited WordPress sites for a lower price.
That aside, WP–2000S is often discounted to the same starting price as WP–1000S. It’s a decent deal, but some hosts offer plans that are still cheaper in the short and long-term, like Hostinger.
However, WP–2000S does offer one major upgrade: automatic offsite backups. Many other hosts charge extra for this feature, as you can already run manual backups on the same server with cPanel.
Firstly, the WP–4000S plan isn’t cheap – it comes in at over double the price of the previous plan. With it, you’ll get 200GB of storage and support for just six total sites. This plan also includes an extra boost in performance thanks to a dedicated opcode cache pool. In short, this caches compiled PHP code (HTML pages with database info already loaded), reducing load times.
Also included is the multi-purpose Jetpack Professional plugin. This version of the feature-packed plugin offers quite a few interesting and useful features, such as unlimited video hosting, a social media post scheduler, and an automated, real-time backup service.
Upon renewal, WP–4000S ends up costing more than a comparable plan from premium WordPress host Kinsta1. Kinsta delivered some of the fastest and most reliable performance we’ve ever seen in our tests. Also, the support team is staffed by very knowledgeable agents.
Is WordPress Hosting Right for You?
I’d say the WP-2000S plan offers the best value of the bunch. The robust automatic backup solution, as well as a content delivery network (CDN), makes this plan a nice step up from the shared hosting plans.
There’s little reason to choose the entry-level plan as the price is a bit high for what it offers. Additionally, there are better options than the WP-4000S plan for premium WordPress – in fact, you could get a VPS for a similar price.
1 server snapshot slot, premium backup manager available for extra fees
1 server snapshot slot, premium backup manager available for extra fees
1 server snapshot slot, premium backup manager available for extra fees
Performance optimizations
Server optimization available with Launch Assist
Server optimization available with Launch Assist
Server optimization available with Launch Assist
Server type
Apache with NGINX proxy, or other of your choosing
Apache with NGINX proxy, or other of your choosing
Apache with NGINX proxy, or other of your choosing
Security tools
ConfigServer Security & Firewall includes the Login Failure Daemon brute force defence tool, basic server security checks, and server monitoring
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
Unlike with a shared hosting plan, a VPS offers you fully-dedicated processing power and RAM. This will grant you much more reliable performance as you’re no longer sharing these vital resources with other users. However, running a VPS requires technical knowledge. Beginners may struggle.
Server management solves this problem. The support team will maintain your server, keeping it running securely and efficiently. This service doesn’t come cheap – prices for managed VPSs are often high. You’ll have to consider whether the time saved is worth the added cost.
Despite being InMotion Hosting’s cheapest VPS plan, the 2GB RAM server offers plenty of computing power and resources. You get 2 vCPUs, 45GB of SSD space, and unlimited bandwidth. Unlike the previous hosting services I’ve outlined, there’s plenty of choice with regards to payment plans: you can pay monthly, semi-annually, annually, biennially, or triennially.
Installation and security configuration of your server’s OS and cPanel/WHM will be taken care of for you. And, as part of InMotion Hosting’s Launch Assist service, you get two free hours of site migration and server configuration.
All in all, this is a competitive price for a managed VPS service of this caliber, but watch the renewal fees. The fee doubles after the first payment term.
The 4GB RAM server provides you with 4vCPUs and 75GB of storage. It’s a sizable upgrade over the previous server, but it also comes with a steep increase in starting price. If you’ve got the budget, it can work well for large sites with plenty of steady traffic. Also, as InMotion Hosting is PCI-compliant, popular e-commerce sites could make their home here.
There’s no new exciting extras for this server – in fact, every one of InMotion Hosting’s managed VPS plans has the same feature set, so the only reason to choose this plan over the entry-level offering is to get more resources.
Every managed VPS plan offers three dedicated IP addresses for free, which is more than many competing VPS providers. That being said, the 4GB RAM server is still relatively expensive. You can get the same CPU power and twice as much RAM with InterServer for a lower price. That said, InterServer’s managed service isn’t nearly as extensive.
InMotion Hosting’s 8GB RAM server is the most powerful on offer, featuring 8 vCPUs and 140GB storage. While the price isn’t unreasonable for such a robust set of resources, the increase in cost upon renewal is huge. You’ll have to be prepared for the already high starting price to double at the end of the initial payment term.
The impressive resources mean that this server should be able to comfortably serve a company with multiple high-traffic sites. But is it worth it? Many competitors can offer better value – such as A2 Hosting, which offers a managed VPS with 16GB of RAM and the same amount of CPU power for a similar price.
Is Managed VPS Hosting Right for You?
InMotion Hosting’s 2GB RAM server offers a reasonably-priced starting point. With such a high level of managed service and Launch Assist, you’ll have plenty of help getting your site(s) up and running.
The other plans on offer are a bit too expensive for the resources offered. While you can get cheaper deals elsewhere, these alternatives do tend to offer a lower level of managed support, so this is the trade-off you’d have to consider.
If you find a managed VPS doesn’t offer you enough control, you might want to try the unmanaged service, or a managed dedicated server might be a natural next step.
Advanced Policy Firewall, ConfigServer Security & Firewall available as a free alternative
Security tools
Ansible Playbook for easy security protocol definition, ConfigServer Security & Firewall includes the Login Failure Daemon brute force defence tool, basic server security checks, and server monitoring
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
If you don’t require a managed service, you’ll save a lot of money by pursuing an unmanaged solution instead. These come with the added benefit of more control over your server configuration – you’ll be able to customize and configure it with any OS and software you choose.
As this you won’t be getting the same level of support as a managed service, you’ll have to be confident in configuring, securing, and optimizing the server yourself, of course.
InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged VPS is cloud-based, which means that although you get a guaranteed allocation of resources, you’ll share the resources of a cluster of servers. This adds a layer of redundancy and improves scalability during traffic surges.
The entry-level cVPS-1 is available for a very affordable price – in fact, it’s even cheaper than InMotion Hosting’s basic shared hosting plan. This server offers 1GB of RAM, 1vCPU, 1TB of data transfer, and 25GB of SSD storage. It’s not a huge amount, but it should be more than enough if you’re just looking to run a simple site or app.
Every cloud VPS plan comes with a choice of preinstalled Linux distributions, including CentOS, Debian, and Ubuntu. Of course, you can swap these out for whichever OS you’d like to run if they don’t suit your needs. From there, the rest of the server setup is up to you, unless you choose to pay extra for the premium Launch Assist service.
InMotion Hosting’s cloud VPS plans can only be paid for via monthly billing. There are no discounts for new customers, either. As the base price is low to begin with, this is a good thing – your costs are easy to understand and there are no renewal fees. Overall, the cVPS-1 is much cheaper than most of the competition, especially in the long-term.
If you’re looking to host something more serious, the cVPS-4 offers a good balance of resources and affordability. With 4GB RAM and 2vCPU, you should be able to run several sites comfortably.
Like the managed VPS plans, scaling up to a more expensive plan won’t net you any new features, but it is much easier to upgrade. The cloud infrastructure allows you to scale up or down with just a few clicks, with no downtime for your visitors.InMotion Hosting’s cloud VPS service allows you to create a snapshot of your server for free. You’re limited to a single snapshot at a time, but it can still prove useful as a full on-demand backup. All in all, the cVPS-4 offers good value without the need to commit to a long-term contract.
If your business needs plenty of resources to support your ever-expanding online infrastructure, you’ll likely need one of InMotion Hosting’s high-end VPSs. The cVPS-32 is the most powerful of the line, offering 32GB of RAM, 8vCPUs, 640GB of SSD storage, and 7TB of data transfer.
It’s worth noting that these cloud VPS plans come with an Ansible control node. The custom Ansible playbooks on offer from InMotion Hosting allow you to set up specific types of servers in a few minutes. You can deploy vital applications and automate security protocols, saving you precious time.
Of course, this server requires a big budget. It’s expensive, and there are no term discounts available to bring the price down. InMotion Hosting can’t really compete on value here – A2 Hosting offers a similar server to the cVPS-32 for around half the price1 in its initial payment term. Even upon renewal, A2 Hosting is still the more affordable option.
Is Unmanaged Cloud VPS Right For You?
InMotion Hosting’s lower-end cloud VPS plans offer decent value. You can get a comfortable set of resources for lower prices than most. Best of all, there’s no need to commit long-term – you can remain as flexible as you need to be.
I’d say the cVPS-4 is the best option, due to the generous resource limits for a still affordable price. InMotion Hosting’s higher-end cloud VPSs aren’t recommendable due to the relatively high prices. If you require a lot of power, a dedicated server might be a better fit.
FastCGI, further server optimization available through Launch Assist
Server type
Apache
Apache
Apache
Security tools
Patchman malware protection, safe application rollback through Softaculous
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
Reseller hosting is for individuals and businesses who wish to sell hosting services to their own clientele. With shared reseller hosting, InMotion Hosting will fully manage the server for you – all you need to do is manage your client’s accounts.
As this is a shared platform, it’s best for resellers who wish to provide simple, budget hosting. It suits clients who are just looking to host a few basic sites – single-author blogs or business card sites – who may not have the technical prowess or need for more advanced hosting solutions.
InMotion Hosting’s basic R-1000S plan is available for a relatively low price, especially if you take advantage of the significant savings on biennial payment terms. Alternatively, you can pay monthly, semi-annually, or annually. InMotion Hosting’s staple 90-day money-back guarantee is available with all payment terms besides monthly billing.
Several business-friendly features are included. You can easily replace the cPanel logo with your own so that your customers see it when they log in. You can also set up private custom nameservers. Finally, the advanced billing platform WHMCS is included for free.
As an extra bonus, you can resell hundreds of top-level domains through the Enom platform – which can also be fully white-labelled. While you only get a total of 25 cPanel accounts, along with 800GB bandwidth and a tight 80GB SSD storage, this is more resources than many competitors can offer for this price.
The R-2000S plan expands the number of clients you are able to serve: you can run 50 cPanel accounts at once. As for resources, you get 120GB SSD space and 1200GB bandwidth.
There are no new features in this plan over the entry-level option, but InMotion Hosting already includes plenty. For example, robust security is available with Corero’s DDoS protection and Patchman malware detection.
R-2000S isn’t too much more expensive than R-1000s, and it’s also far cheaper than other popular resellers, such as A2 Hosting and InterServer. However, we found InMotion Hosting’s shared servers to be a bit lacking performance-wise. InterServer and A2 Hosting tend to be much more reliable, so this is something you will have to consider.
With 80 cPanel accounts, 160GB SSD, and 1600GB bandwidth, R-3000S will allow you to run a sizable operation. At first, it isn’t a huge increase in price over the R-2000s plan – but renewal fees increase steeply, especially when paying biennially.
Prices aside, this plan does offer some added value with two free hours of the premium Launch Assist service. If you have a bunch of clients that require migrating, this may prove to be a huge help.
InMotion Hosting’s highest-priced reseller plan isn’t a bad deal, but there’s nowhere to scale, so you may eventually cap out the resources of this plan. You could move to InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged reseller VPS, but this will require a higher level of technical proficiency.
Is Shared Reseller Hosting Right For You?
InMotion Hosting’s cheap shared reseller plans could reward your hosting business with greater profit margins, while still providing plenty of useful features. However, the inconsistent page loading speeds remain a concern.
If your clients require more reliable performance, you should check out InMotion Hosting’s reseller VPS service.
Server optimization available through Launch Assist
Server optimization available through Launch Assist
Server optimization available through Launch Assist
Server type
Your choice
Your choice
Your choice
Firewalls
Advanced Policy Firewall, ConfigServer Security & Firewall available as a free alternative
Security tools
ConfigServer Security & Firewall includes the Login Failure Daemon brute force defence tool, basic server security checks, and server monitoring
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
InMotion Hosting’s reseller VPS offers many benefits. First of all, the dedicated resources should provide better and more consistent performance. This is essential for clients who may be hosting “mission-critical” websites, such as online stores.
As these servers are unmanaged with root access, you will be able to provide your clients with a customized server configuration which they may struggle to find elsewhere. That said, you’ll need the know-how to run a VPS securely and efficiently – especially as your clients will be the ones to suffer from any oversights.
The entry-level reseller VPS offers 2 vCPU, 2GB RAM, and 45GB SSD storage. Unlike with the shared reseller plans, you can choose triennial payment terms. This long commitment and the associated savings may be worth considering, as these VPSs are pricey.
Every reseller VPS plan includes five cPanel accounts to get you started. Additional licenses can be purchased as you need them. All servers also come with a complimentary two hours of free Launch Assist and unlimited bandwidth. And all reseller essentials are included: WHMCS, white-labelling, and private nameservers.
InMotion Hosting’s reseller VPS should save you a lot of time over the traditional method of purchasing an unmanaged VPS and manually setting it up with the necessary software. While this could be slightly cheaper in the long run, InMotion Hosting’s 2GB RAM server offers very good value thanks to the free migration and configuration assistance, and heavy term discounts.
The mid-range VPS doubles the RAM and CPU power of the previous server. You’ll also get 75GB SSD space to work with. You could focus on providing premium performance to a few high-value clients, or split the resources between many users with low-traffic sites.
Unfortunately, there’s no increase to your starting number of cPanel accounts when you upgrade to a higher plan. If you plan to host more than five clients, you’ll have to purchase additional licenses.
Still, for the resources and included features, it’s not a bad price. As long as you’re not on monthly billing, you’ll get a 90-day money-back guarantee too. This gives you plenty of time to transition your clients and test whether InMotion Hosting is suitable for you and your clients. If not, you can cancel and receive a full refund.
InMotion Hosting’s 6GB RAM server is the strongest option of the three, offering 6 vCPUs and 105GB SSD storage. With this, you can integrate even more clients or simply allocate more resources to existing ones.
Paying triennially benefits you greatly with this plan – you can save a great deal on your first payment term. That said, this requires you to pay for three years of hosting up front, which adds up to thousands of dollars. Regardless, the price of this server isn’t unreasonable, even if you decide to go with a shorter payment term.
As the top-end reseller VPS offered by InMotion Hosting, you may have issues scaling further. You could move to an unmanaged cloud VPS or dedicated server, but keep in mind that these are more generous with RAM rather than CPU. You will need to consider whether this will be enough to serve your clients.
Is Reseller VPS Right For You?
InMotion Hosting’s reseller VPS isn’t a bad choice for growing resellers. You’ll have all the necessities you need for your business, along with the freedom to provide your clients with customized service.
I’d say the 2GB RAM server offers the best value if you’re simply looking to serve a few choice clients. For resellers with larger clientele, you’ll need the combined cost of a stronger server and additional cPanel licenses.
50GB free offsite backup storage, more available for extra fees
50GB free offsite backup storage, more available for extra fees
50GB free offsite backup storage, more available for extra fees
Performance optimizations
Proprietary UltraStack technology stack with advanced caching optimizations
Proprietary UltraStack technology stack with advanced caching optimizations
Proprietary UltraStack technology stack with advanced caching optimizations
Web server type
Apache, with NGINX proxy or other customizations on request
Apache, with NGINX proxy or other customizations on request
Apache, with NGINX proxy or other customizations on request
Firewalls
Advanced Policy Firewall, ConfigServer Security & Firewall available as a free alternative. Premium Cisco ASA 5506 hardware firewall also available as a premium add-on
Security tools
ConfigServer Security & Firewall includes the Login Failure Daemon brute force defence tool, basic server security checks, and server monitoring
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
With a dedicated hosting plan, you get full control of a physical web server. With the managed service, you won’t need to worry about the technical aspect – you can simply continue developing your business further.
As you might imagine, this method of hosting isn’t cheap. The cost of a physical server plus management services will require a big budget.
InMotion Hosting’s cheapest managed server offers a 4-core processor, 16GB of RAM, a generous 15TB of data transfer, and a 1TB SSD drive. It’s a good starting point if your company needs to run traffic-heavy sites and applications as reliably as possible. You can choose to pay monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
Every server offered by InMotion Hosting comes with CentOS and cPanel preinstalled. These are fully maintained for you, as part of the managed service. You do get optional root access, which allows you to change these out and make other server configurations, but InMotion Hosting will not manage other control panels or OSs.
Finally, this server comes with 50GB free offsite storage. This works with InMotion Hosting’s handy Backup Manager, allowing you to schedule backups to perform automatically.
All things considered, this server comes at a good price. FastComet offers a similarly priced server, but it doesn’t offer the same amounts of data transfer and storage space.
The Elite server beefs up the resources on offer considerably. You’ll get a 6-core processor, 64GB of RAM, 20TB of data transfer, and 2x1TB SSD drives. Drives are protected with a RAID configuration for extra redundancy. Other than this, there’s no new features over the Essential server.
If you’re concerned about security, InMotion Hosting does offer some options. Every server comes with a basic Advanced Policy Firewall for free, with free upgrades to a more advanced firewall should your sites or applications demand it. The Config Server & Security firewall comes with added DDoS protection, defense against brute force attacks, and plenty more.
You’ll need root access or help from support to install this firewall. An easy method is to ask support to install it during the two free hours of Launch Assist that’s bundled with every server.
All in all, I found this package to be a little less appealing for such a high asking price. Better deals on managed dedicated servers exist for cheaper elsewhere.
The CC-2000 is InMotion Hosting’s most expensive “Commercial Class” server. For the investment, you’ll be getting an impressive dual Intel Xeon Silver 4214 processor, which offers a total of 24 CPU cores.
In addition, you can enjoy the benefits of 192GB of ECC RAM, a type of RAM which automatically combats data corruption in situations where data integrity must absolutely be maintained. This is imperative if you plan to launch a live fintech app with a lot of subscribers, for example.
Storage drives also get a massive upgrade. The CC–2000 comes with 2x2TB NVMe SSD drives, which offer lower latency than regular SSD. Your storage is also protected by Software RAID-1, which further adds to overall redundancy and performance.
Lastly, you’ll be getting 25TB data transfer and 100GB of free backup storage. All of this adds up to a hugely powerful server – the RAM allocation in particular is higher than many competitors’ max offerings. While it is very expensive, this is understandable given the level of tech and the managed service.
Are Managed Dedicated Servers Right For You?
Overall, I’d say the Essential server offers the best value. It should be a safe option to start with at this tier, and the resource levels offered are higher than those of most competitors at this price. If you’re running massive websites or applications that require the absolute best in performance, the CC–2000 can certainly provide that.
If you find the standard LAMP stack to be too limiting, you (or your team) will have to configure this server from the ground up, in which case you’ll get a much better deal with InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged bare metal servers.
1Gbit uplink to an enterprise-grade Tier-1 network
1Gbit uplink to an enterprise-grade Tier-1 network
1Gbit uplink to an enterprise-grade Tier-1 network
Server type
Your choice
Your choice
Your choice
Firewalls
Advanced Policy Firewall, ConfigServer Security & Firewall available as a free alternative. Premium Cisco ASA 5506 hardware firewall also available as a premium add-on
Security tools
Ansible Playbook for easy security protocol definition, ConfigServer Security & Firewall includes the Login Failure Daemon brute force defence tool, basic server security checks, and server monitoring
Number of data centers
Depends on server availability
Depends on server availability
Depends on server availability
Data center locations
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Los Angeles and Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged bare metal servers are somewhat cheaper than their managed counterparts. Of course, this is because there’s no managed service. You’ll need developer-level skill to configure and maintain this server, but if you’re at this tier, you may already have a dedicated sysadmin and IT team.
While the managed servers also had root access, you were limited to a specific technology stack if you wanted to take advantage of the extensive support service. With these self-managed servers, that’s no longer a problem. You can install any OS and web server you want.
InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged bare metal servers are near-identical to the managed solutions. As such, Essential Metal features identical resources to the Essential managed server. The major difference between the two is the price – Essential Metal is a fair bit cheaper.
There are other differences. Every unmanaged server has access to optional Software RAID for added fees. Your first bare metal server also comes with a free Ansible control node, allowing you to automate many aspects of server setup. This includes app installations, server configuration, and security protocols.
You may also choose to preinstall Ubuntu, Debian, or CentOS as part of the checkout process. This is all nice stuff – you can cut down on the time spent on server setup with these options. Still, this server is expensive for what you get. InterServer offers far superior servers at this price1, with some light management.
As before, Elite Metal provides the same resources as the Elite managed server. However, unlike its twin, Elite Metal includes Software RAID-1 at no extra cost.
A potential problem with InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged servers is limited stock. At the time of writing, this server was only one of two that was available in both the Los Angeles and the Washington D.C data center. If you’re aiming for a particular coast of the US, you may have to wait for the server to be available before you purchase.
Unfortunately, this plan offers poor value. You can get the same set of resources for far cheaper elsewhere. While there are some nice extras, along with a generous 20TB of data transfer, this alone isn’t worth the high price.
The unmanaged CC–2000 matches the vast resource allocations of its managed counterpart. However, you can scale even further – InMotion Hosting offers custom-built bare metal solutions that can offer up to 1TB of RAM and 50TB of storage. This isn’t available with the managed server range.
While this server is still very expensive, it might be worth it if you need a lot of secure RAM. If you’re looking for more processing power, you may get a better deal with InterServer, which offers far more CPU cores at lower prices.
Are Unmanaged Bare Metal Servers Right For You?
The unmanaged bare metal servers have some major problems regarding overall value, as they simply aren’t that much less expensive than the managed ones. You can get a much better deal with competing hosts, such as InterServer and A2 Hosting.
2x1Gbit uplinks to an enterprise-grade Tier-1 network
2x1Gbit uplinks to an enterprise-grade Tier-1 network
2x1Gbit uplinks to an enterprise-grade Tier-1 network
Server type
Your choice
Your choice
Your choice
Firewalls
OpenStack Security Groups can be used to set firewall rules on hardware nodes
Security tools
Security tools must be sourced and installed by you
Data center locations
Washington D.C
Washington D.C
Washington D.C
Support availability
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
24/7 via live chat, email, community forum
InMotion Hosting’s Private Cloud offers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). It allows you to locate the entire computing infrastructure of your company online in a high-performance cloud environment. Each plan offers the virtualized resources of three dedicated servers.
Private Cloud is solely for companies or organizations who want to save money by having all their digital infrastructure offsite. It’s billed on an hourly basis, which is summed up into a weekly invoice, but you’ll get a 20% discount if you commit to monthly fees. This hosting service is unmanaged by default, but a managed service is available.
It’s worth noting that this service is currently only available from the Ashburn, VA data center. Further locations are planned in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
With the entry-level Private Cloud, you’ll be getting the combined resources of three “Small” dedicated servers. This is a combined total of 140 vCPUs, 180GB of vRAM, and 960GB of SSD storage. You’ll be connected via two speedy 1Gbit network uplinks.
Interestingly, InMotion Hosting also offers a kind of free trial to eligible customers. To sign up, you will need to pass an approval process where you will have to prove a genuine need for the Private Cloud. If you pass, you’ll get limited time each month to test-drive the service for non-production use only.
You may be able to strike a deal with InMotion Hosting for further discounts or move-in credits, depending on your project scope. Even without these savings, this plan is cheaper and more powerful than similar services offered by competing hosts.
The Standard Cloud Core provides three “Medium” servers. This is a significant upgrade – you’ll now have access to 320 vCPUs, 410GB of vRAM, and 3.2TB of NVMe SSD storage. This plan costs double that of the Small Cloud Core, but this is to be expected for such a large increase in resources.
This plan also comes with two 10Gbit uplinks, offering plenty more potential bandwidth. It’s worth noting that bandwidth is not guaranteed by default, but you can pay extra for this – the total cost will depend on the amount you require.
A major benefit of the Private Cloud is easy scalability. You can add more servers, storage, and IP addresses at any time. On the other hand, a potential downside is that the dedicated servers cannot be directly accessed at the time of this writing – but InMotion Hosting is planning to add this capability in the future.
This is InMotion Hosting’s most powerful IaaS plan. Offering three “Large” servers, it includes 1100 vCPUs and 1320 vRAM. Default storage space isn’t increased, but you can always add extra storage units as necessary.
Large Cloud Core is intended for very large companies with lots of online employees, and there’s some extra benefits for such organizations. For example, InMotion Hosting may offer complimentary training for your IT staff. And you can purchase additional coaching and live assistance at any time.
The Private Cloud offers a 99.96% uptime guarantee along with data replication through Ceph Object and Block storage. This high level of reliability and redundancy is essential for critical business operations. All in all, at only a few thousand dollars per month it’s much less expensive than running hardware on physical premises.
Is Private Cloud Right For You?
As long as your staff resides in the East Coast, InMotion Hosting’s robust IaaS solution could make a good home for your company’s vital infrastructure. It’s highly scalable and offers a huge amount of resources for reasonable prices.I’d say the Small Cloud Core will make the best starting point, as you’ll want to use the free time with a limited number of employees to test whether it’ll serve your current needs.
Recommended Vendor Alternatives
While InMotion Hosting offers some very good deals, it may not be the right host for everyone. Some of our other top-rated hosts may prove to be a better fit for your particular needs.
Hostinger
Compared to InMotion Hosting, Hostinger offers far cheaper budget shared hosting. Despite being the more affordable alternative, Hostinger offers consistently faster performance and a similar number of features1.
On the other hand, cPanel is not available with Hostinger’s shared hosting. You’ll have to use hPanel instead, a slimmed-down proprietary control panel which lacks some of cPanel’s more advanced functions. And hPanel’s app installer is much more limited than Softaculous, which is included free with InMotion Hosting’s plans.
A2 Hosting
A2 Hosting offers better page loading speeds and reliability1 than InMotion Hosting, along with heavy optimization for WordPress. It also offers a flexible refund policy – if you cancel outside of the 30-day money-back guarantee period, you will still receive a prorated refund for the remaining time on your contract.
While this refund policy is arguably better than InMotion Hosting’s 90-day guarantee, A2 Hosting does have some issues. The support service has poorer response times than InMotion Hosting. Support agents also struggled to help my colleague with even basic inquiries.
FastComet
While InMotion Hosting only has a few data centers in the USA, FastComet offers a total of 11 in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. In fact, it’s one of the least expensive ways to launch a site for an Asian or Australian audience1.FastComet also features far better support response times. Support agents are happy to help with technical issues that many other hosts simply won’t touch. Unfortunately, FastComet’s shared hosting plans include much less SSD space than InMotion Hosting’s. It also showed some minor uptime issues in our performance tests.
The overall value of InMotion Hosting varies significantly between hosting types. In some cases, such as with the shared hosting plans, you can find better options elsewhere. That said, InMotion Hosting does offer some truly great deals1 for a few of the more advanced solutions, such as the unmanaged cloud VPS.
Please bear in mind that, for most of InMotion Hosting’s services, we recommend committing to a longer payment term to secure the best prices. If you remain uncertain about which plan to select, I am pleased to provide you with my personal recommendations.
If you’re looking for basic shared hosting, I’d go with Hostinger instead. It consistently provides some of the best speeds we’ve seen from a shared hosting provider. Best of all, it’s highly affordable1.
InMotion Hosting’s WordPress plans offer better value. The WP–2000S plan includes daily automatic backups and a CDN1. These premium features are commonly only found in more expensive plans.
The managed 2GB RAM VPS offers extensive management services at a good price, along with an easy server setup thanks to the free Launch Assist service. On the other hand, InMotion Hosting’s unmanaged cloud VPS is generally cheaperthan the competition, and there’s no need to commit for a long period to get a good price.
FAQ
Does InMotion Hosting provide fast loading speeds?
Our performance testing revealed that InMotion Hosting is capable of reaching some impressive speeds. However, this isn’t consistent. Sometimes, it’s far slower than what’s acceptable. Many alternatives in our list of the top-rated hosts offer better average speeds.
Where is InMotion Hosting based?
InMotion Hosting is based in the USA. It offers two data centers – one in Los Angeles and one near Washington DC (Ashburn, VA).
Does InMotion Hosting have cPanel?
InMotion Hosting includes cPanel with shared hosting, managed VPS, and managed dedicated servers. You can easily install it on unmanaged solutions, but you will need to purchase a license.
Is InMotion Hosting free?
InMotion Hosting isn’t free, but most of its hosting services are covered by a 90-day money-back guarantee. If you’re looking for the cheapest possible hosting plans, check out our coupon page for the latest budget plans available in 2024.
Ryan Jones is a writer at Website Planet who has been professionally reviewing web hosts and credit card processors for 2+ years. Before joining Website Planet, Ryan Jones was a freelance content writer with experience in several industries, from gaming to pet care. In addition to his work with Website Planet, he also reviews VPNs along with his colleagues at vpnMentor.com. When he isn’t writing, you can usually find him keeping up to date with the latest tech news or playing video games.
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