InMotion Hosting Review

Chances are that you’re familiar with InMotion Hosting.

Maybe you haven’t used them, but you’ve heard of them. Or seen them around. A vague recollection of their name or ads somewhere some time.

That’s because they’re BIG. And reliable.

Since 2001, InMotion Hosting has grown a customer base of over 1.2 million domains with two data centers in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

As one of the veteran and more established names in the hosting industry, they also boast grandiose claims of being number one in transfers, support, and industry guarantee.

But here’s the thing:

Many times, the largest companies are the worst offenders. Coasting by on their brand recognition or flashy ad campaigns while neglecting the things that made them successful in the first place.

Is InMotion Hosting an established company that’s keeping the quality that made them successful? Or are they just another large enterprise getting by on reputation alone?

To find out and provide an unbiased review, we purchased an InMotion Hosting “Lite Plan” and set up a basic WordPress test website to monitor their uptime and speed.

Did InMotion Hosting perform well enough to get our recommendation?

Read on to find out.

General Info & Hosting Overview

Pros of Using InMotion Hosting

InMotion Hosting performs well in two big areas: speed and support. They also provide a few additional features which can make your experience more enjoyable.

Let’s take a look:

1. Good Speed 347 ms

Fast loading times aren’t just great for user experience. Speed is also factored into Google’s algorithm for dictating where in the rankings you’ll show up (you know – the whole SEO thing). How fast your page loads has one of the biggest impacts on your bottom line, forcing half your traffic to bounce if it doesn’t load within two seconds.

Luckily, InMotion Hosting’s average page loading time of 347 ms is fast enough to keep visitors on your site.

What’s even better news?

InMotion Hosting has shown continuously improved speed over the past year.

However, if you’re looking for an even faster host, then check out A2 Hosting.

2. Good Average Uptime of 99.93%

InMotion Hosting’s average uptime clocked in at 99.93% with six and a half hours of downtime based on our careful tracking and monitoring over the last 12-months.

This is not the best result we’ve seen but it still reaches the industry-standard uptime of 99.93%, and for now, InMotion Hosting’s uptime earns a place in our pros section

Last 12-month average uptime:

• July 2021: 100%
• June 2021: 99.84%
• May 2021: 99.98%
• April 2021: 100%
• March 2021: 99.99%
• February 2021: 99.63%
• January 2021: 99.99%
• December 2020: 100%
• November 2020: 100%
• October 2020: 99.95%
• September 2020: 99.99%
• August 2020: 99.72%

3. Customer Support

InMotion Hosting has a variety of support options to choose from: live chat, phone, email, and even Skype.

The best part?

All these support options are available 24/7/365.

We tested out their live chat option. We asked a few simple questions about their shared hosting plans and the customer rep connected within a few minutes. The replies were a bit delayed and concise, but still good enough to keep our attention and not go looking elsewhere for answers.

Besides the above-mentioned options, InMotion Hosting also offers a vast knowledge base, in case you prefer to find solutions independently.

4. 90-Days Money-Back Guarantee

Standard industry practice for money-back guarantees typically falls around the 30-day mark.

But not InMotion Hosting. They’re so confident in their service, that they provide up to 90 days guarantee to try out their services.

5. Integrations & Apps (WordPress, too)

Another claim InMotion Hosting makes on their website is that they’re a leader in supporting Open Source projects.

Again, those boasts are backed up with a portfolio of over 400 applications. You can find everything from popular content management systems like WordPress and Drupal to shopping carts or eCommerce systems like Prestashop and Magento.

6. They’re Green!

If you care about green hosting, then we have good news for you!

Since 2010 InMotion Hosting has made a dedicated effort to improve its data center’s carbon footprint by utilizing advanced Outside Air Cooling technology. This new technology considerably reduces the energy consumed by the data center for cooling purposes.

Moreover, InMotion Hosting has partnered with Trees for the Future, a non-profit organization whose aim is to promote sustainable agroforestry.

7. Free Site Transfer

InMotion Hosting offers to transfer your site for free from your current host.

Moreover, they promise to do it with zero downtime.

Your free transfer comes with:

• Full cPanel transfer or up to three websites (up to 10 GB)
• Setup for emails, FTP, domains, and more.

8. Great for eCommerce Support

InMotion Hosting is one of the few web hosts with active partnerships between Prestashop and other leading eCommerce services (SiteGround being the other).

They make your eCommerce experience even better by providing easy integrations with payment processors, helping you side-step an otherwise huge pain in the neck.

9. Super Secure Smartwall Threat Defense System (TDS)

The recent Equifax security breaches illustrate just how clear and present the danger of cyber terrorism really is, and with the continual rise of brute force, Dos, and DDoS attacks, it has become more important than ever before that every website owner has a clear understanding of the security protocols being used by their web hosting provider.

Luckily, InMotion Hosting spares no expense to ensure the security of their user’s private information.

Partnering with Corero Network Security, InMotion Hosting security now offers a unique security measure called the Smartwall Threat Defense System or TDS.

Corero’s TDS is a family of DDoS protection appliances that detect, mitigate, and eliminate DDoS attacks in real-time.

Boasting an impressive array of technical specs, Corero’s TDS delivers the following to all of their customers:

• The SmartWall is a slimline DDoS protection appliance that delivers 10Gbps full-duplex or 20Gbps unidirectional performance in a ¼ wide, 1 RU form factor.
• 1 RU delivers up to 80Gbps, and 4 RU delivers up to 320Gbps.

For those of you who aren’t well versed in technical jargon, it suffices to say that the Threat Defense System employed by InMotion Hosting and their partner, Corero Network Security, is among the most impressive in existence.

With InMotion Hosting, you can sleep soundly at night knowing that you and your website are protected from even the most aggressive brute force and DDoS attacks

Cons of Using InMotion Hosting

InMotion Hosting is mostly perfect. Of course, there’s always gonna be a few drawbacks to providing good speed or excellent customer service.

Here are InMotion Hosting’s:

1. Low Advertised Pricing Only for 3-Year Signup

Yes, InMotion Hosting’s pricing currently looks on par with much of the competition. An excellent value considering all of their positives, right?

Unfortunately, the only way you can get this low advertised rate ($2.49/mo) is by signing up for three years. The price increases with shorter timeline plans:

• $3.99/mo if you sign up for two years
• $4.99/mo if you sign up for a year

This is a very common trick employed by many web hosts.

2. No Free Domain Name with the Cheapest Plan

A free domain name for the 1st year is something a lot of hosts throw in already in their cheapest plans. InMotion Hosting, unfortunately, is not one of them.

In order to get a free domain name, you’d have to sign up with their more expensive plans, starting from the “Launch” plan.

Otherwise, be ready to pay $15.99/year for domain registration.

3. Some Plan Limitations

In their defense, InMotion Hosting does go above and beyond providing free site restoration.

However, InMotion Hosting does not offer free automated data backups and it has to be purchased for $2/mo. Moreover, it only applies for the first 10 GB and you would have to pay $1/mo for each additional 10 GB.

It’s definitely something to consider before purchasing their services.

InMotion Hosting Pricing, Hosting Plans & Quick Facts

Here’s a quick overview of the hosting plans offered by InMotion Hosting:

Quick Facts

• Free Domain: Yes, starting from Launch Plan.
• Ease of Signup: Four-step signup process. A bit lengthy. Don’t forget about the security verification too.
• Money-Back: 90-day money-back guarantee.
• Payment Methods: Credit Card, Check, Purchase Order.
• Hidden Fees and Clauses: There’s a limit of 50,000 files per account for users.
• Upsells: A few upsells.
• Account Activation: Account activation can take a while. Usually, they verify orders by phone before activating accounts.
• Control Panel and Dashboard Experience: cPanel.
• Installation of Apps and CMSs (WordPress, Joomla, etc.): Softaculous for one-click install of popular apps and CMSs.

Do We Recommend InMotion Hosting?

Yes, we do.

Our InMotion Hosting experience started out well.

Their speed, uptime, and support were all good. Moreover, they offer plenty of useful features with their shared hosting plans.

InMotion’s biggest drawbacks are high renewal prices and limited cheapest plan. However, if you’re willing to look past it, InMotion Hosting is a good host candidate.

Visit www.InMotionHosting.com

Have you had any experience with InMotion Hosting? If so, please leave a review below – positive or negative.