About InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting is a well-known web hosting service. You probably recognize this brand as they’ve been around since 2001. It’s an American company and their data centers are located at Los Angeles and Virginia Beach.
As a hosting provider, InMotion offers different types of hosting options to their clients. They have shared, WordPress, Dedicated servers, VPS, etc. Their services also include domain registration and Reseller web design.
For now, we’re going to focus on their shared hosting plans. It’s their most popular (and most affordable) plan. You can use this type of hosting to create websites and start your business online.
Pricing
1. Launch
InMotion Hosting’s Launch plan is aimed at users from various starting points. You’re allowed to host 2 websites with it and it comes with unlimited storage space and unlimited bandwidth as well. This package currently costs $3.99 per month, but that’s just their introductory offer. When you renew your plan, you’ll have to pay their regular price of $7.99 per month.
2. Power
If you want a more powerful plan than InMotion Hosting’s starter plan (Launch) you can take a look at their Power package. It’s their mid-range plan and it comes with unlimited storage space and unlimited bandwidth. It can also host more websites than the Launch plan as you can have up to a maximum of 6 websites with this package.
If you subscribe to this plan now, you can get it for only $5.99 per month. However, come renewal time, you’ll have to pay the regular price of $9.99 per month. Their Power plan really is more expensive than their Launch plan – but note that it promises 2 times the performance power of their cheapest plan. This is the plan to consider if you’re planning on setting up multiple websites (as their startup plan can prove to be limited especially in the number of websites allowed).
3. Pro
InMotion Hosting is aiming their Pro plan to developers and entrepreneurs with growing businesses. You can host an unlimited number of websites with it and the package also includes unlimited storage and bandwidth.
As their most expensive plan, this package has an introductory price of $13.99. Its regular price is $15.99 – and that’s the amount you need to pay when you renew your initial plan. You’ll get priority support with this package and it also guarantees 2 times better performance than their Power plan.
As you can see, InMotion Hosting has a very simple pricing structure. Below, we listed some of the important things that you should take note of.
When choosing a plan, keep in mind that their main difference lies in the number of websites that you’re allowed to host on your plan. The more expensive the package, the more sites you can have.
Note that the plans become more and more powerful as you upgrade to a higher package. Yes, they all come with unlimited space and bandwidth – but in terms of speed and overall performance, their 2 most expensive plans are better.
All plans come with unlimited e-mail accounts.
All their plans include free SSL certificates.
Note that InMotion Hosting uses SSD storage for faster performance.
You have the option of using InMotion Hosting’s built-in site builder (it’s included in all their plans).
Support
There are many different ways to contact InMotion Hosting’s support team. If you want, you can send them an e-mail and open a ticket. They typically respond to e-mails in just a few minutes.
If you want to personally talk to someone, they also have live chat, phone support, and Skype. With these avenues of communication, InMotion Hosting has a reputation for answering quickly (instantly).
Of course, they also have the standard knowledge base on their site which is also useful (especially if you’re into troubleshooting and finding answers on your own). And needless to say, people on the internet have their own helpful articles and video tutorials on InMotion Hosting.
Pros
1. Consistent uptime
InMotion is one of those hosting companies that stay true to their word when they give uptime guarantees. Their uptime guarantee is 99.999%, which leaves a very small percentage for downtimes. They’re even offering their Business Class Pro clients a month of free hosting if they fail to deliver on this commitment. Of course, there are some exceptions to this scenario (e.g. maintenance schedules, third-party attacks, etc.). Approval is also on the sole discretion of InMotion Hosting. Still, while there’s very little chance that you can claim on their uptime guarantee, it’s still a win-win situation for all concerned that they truly have a very reliable uptime.
2. Decent speed
InMotion Hosting is not super-fast but they’re fast enough to deliver a pleasant user experience to your site visitors. Having fast-loading pages is also good for SEO, just as a high bounce rate is bad for SEO. But don’t worry so much about bounce rates with InMotion Hosting as their speed is really up to par with top-of-the-line hosting providers.
3. Money-back guarantee
Yes, InMotion is offering money-back guarantees to its customers. For shared hosting, they’re giving 30-day money-back guarantees (on all plans). Their reseller and VPS hosting plans actually have 90-day guarantees (just so you know).
4. Support open source
InMotion has around 300 apps and some of these are made for open source projects (e.g. WordPress, Magento, Drupal, PrestaShop, Shopping carts, etc.).
5. Great security features
InMotion Hosting plans include malware protection, backups, SSL certificates, spam-safe e-mails, and more. Their Threat Defense System (TDS) is also one of the best in the industry as it can protect your site from DoS, DDoS, and brute force attacks.
6. Backup features
All InMotion plans come with a free backup feature of up to 10GB. Yes, there’s a limit to said feature but they also provide their users with a free backup tool to do the process manually.
7. Free site migration
If you’re transferring your site to InMotion Hosting, they’ll help you do it (for free).
8. Integration with Google apps
InMotion has a free built-in wizard that you can use to connect your site with Google apps (G-mail, Drive, Docs, etc.). This will make the whole process easier, especially for beginners (advanced users probably won’t need the help of their wizard).
9. Support for e-Commerce
If you’re into e-Commerce, know that InMotion Hosting has teamed up with several e-Commerce services (e.g. PrestaShop). Integrating payment processors on your website is also made easier because of these partnerships.
Cons
1. Compensation for uptime guarantee is limited
Like we said in the pros, InMotion Hosting is giving their Business Class Pro users compensations if they fail on their uptime guarantee. Well, what about their other customers? Also, it would be hard to prove downtimes, anyway, as they won’t even honor third-party tool monitoring systems. They only depend on their own system and will be the ONLY judge on the issue.
2. Site transfers don’t come with no-downtime guarantees
This one is a bummer as most hosting providers can guarantee no downtimes when they migrate your website to their system.
3. 10GB backup limit
Their free backup feature has a limit of 10GB – so you’re bound to use said allotment in time. And when that time comes, you’ll need to pay a $49 fee to keep the service going.
4. Introductory prices
We did tell you about their low introductory prices, right? However, do keep in mind that you can only get those prices if you pay for 2 years in advance. If you’re going to pay annually, prices won’t be as low.
5. The verification process can take some time
We understand that InMotion Hosting is placing great importance on security. And this is the reason why they need to verify new applications by phone. Therefore, activation is not instant as you first have to wait for their call and talk to them. The verification process is even more tedious and time consuming for customers residing outside the US.
Conclusion
InMotion Hosting is more than OK for those looking for web hosting services in the US or Canada. They have good uptime, speed, and customer support – and those are the highest pointers for us. However, it just so happens that they have too many cons. They can’t guarantee zero downtimes during transfers, for one, and you can lose money (sales, clicks, visitors) even with just a few minutes of being offline.
Their limited backup feature is also a disappointment. Although 10GB is quite large, you’re only allowed restorations every 4 months.
We also think that their long verification process is overkill. Most web hosting companies provide instant activation, you know.
And so, while we do recommend InMotion Hosting, we also suggest looking at something else (something we think is much better) like SiteGround. It’s just as good as InMotion Hosting, if not better.
SiteGround has a good reputation and is known for its great uptime guarantee, speed, customer service, feature-filled plans, and so much more. Their prices are also competitive and they have introductory offers as well.
Don’t delay – check out SiteGround now, before making that final decision.
