“A Host You Can Trust,” InMotion Hosting boldly states on their website. The real question, though, is how much of a role should trust play when choosing a web host? A lot, apparently! Research shows that 41% of hacked WordPress sites were hacked due to security vulnerabilities on their hosting platform; this is much higher than hacks through a security issue in a theme or plugin, or even due to weak passwords. Your host plays more of a role than you can imagine in the security of your site, which is why the selection process is important.
InMotion Hosting is one of the major players in the web hosting space, with a range of plans that include Business Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Enterprise Hosting, WordPress Hosting, and Reseller Hosting.
This review will give you an unbiased look into InMotion Hosting, so that can decide for yourself if they are right for you:
Pros of InMotion Hosting
Here are some of the advantages to using InMotion Hosting:
Flexibility: Very few web hosts provide the kind of flexibility you can get from InMotion Hosting. They have a host of plans ranging from their shared hosting to dedicated hosting, and they support every major CMS available.
InMotion Hosting also offers support for major ecommerce and shopping cart systems like Prestashop and OpenCart, making it easy to create your online store with little effort on your part.
Price: When it comes to choosing a web host, price is a major deterrent for most people. InMotion isn’t the cheapest host in town, but it isn’t expensive either. Their shared hosting starts at $4.89/mo, their VPS hosting starts at $29.99/mo, and their managed dedicated hosting starts at $119.99/mo. Their WordPress Hosting starts at $4.89/mo, which is a pittance compared to the cost of other WordPress hosting services in the market.
Uptime: InMotion Hosting promises an uptime of 99.9%, and many sources report them to be reliable. InMotion Hosting uptime has been widely reported to be in the range of 99.8% – 100%, and averagely at 99.9% as promised by them.
Customer Support: InMotion Hosting is very reliable when it comes to support, and it’s one of the things they are most renowned for. Their support agents are reliable, and they answer and resolve user queries in record time compared to other hosts. They offer support via phone, live chat, email, and an online community. Support is available 24/7.
Security: InMotion Hosting is very secure, and their WordPress hosting comes with a free Sucuri Security plugin that scans sites for malware, exploits, and other security risks. They offer anti-spam and anti-virus protection for a nominal fee, and they offer regular remote backups to ensure that you’re back online in no time should anything happen to your site.
Ease of Use: InMotion Hosting plans come with cPanel and options for quick integrations with, and installation of, popular apps, so it is rated very high when it comes to ease of us. They also offer free website transfers from other hosts, so this can ease some of your problems and allay your fears if you already have your site hosted somewhere else.
Email Support: Shared hosting plans come with unlimited email support, and there’s a 3-step option to automatically configure your site to work with Google Apps if that’s your preference for email.
Money-Back Guarantee: With the exception of their dedicated hosting plans, which come with a 30-day, 100% money back guarantee, all InMotion Hosting plans come with a 90-day money back guarantee.
Bonuses: InMotion Hosting plans come with free SSD drives, a free domain name (transfer or registration), and Google Apps Integration. Their dedicated hosting plans come with free cPanel and WHM. They also offer advertising credits depending on the plan you choose.
Cons of InMotion Hosting
Here are some of the major problems you might have with InMotion Hosting:
Price: While InMotion Hosting is affordable, you’ll need to make a large upfront investment to benefit from the huge price savings advertised. For example, while the Pro plan of their shared hosting is advertised at $10.49/mo, you need to pay for twelve months to get that savings. It actually costs $13.29/mo if you want to pay for just one month. For smaller plans, you need to pay for twelve or twenty-four months in advance. There’s no option to pay for one or a few months. They offer a 90-day money-back guarantee, so maybe this isn’t much of a problem.
Verification Process: InMotion Hosting is renowned for the security measures they put in place, but this can also be a pain at times. For example, they require phone verification for all new customers; while customers in the U.S. might find this okay, it can often be a problem for customers outside the U.S.
Limits: InMotion Hosting has some of the most generous shared hosting plans, but their limits can be a problem if you are on a budget. For example, they allow a maximum of two websites and two MySQL databases on their basic (“Launch”) shared hosting plan, and a maximum of 6 websites on their “Power” plan. If you want more, you might need to go “Pro.”
Also, while they offer free regular backups, it’s worth noting that you can only restore your files for free once in four months. If you need more restores, you have to pay.
InMotion is offering our readers 38% off
I’ve been on a VPS plan with them for several years, and it has been a good experience. Their support is excellent.
One of my customers used InMotion for about a year or so in 2012-2013. The host was reliable and definitely secure–no complaints there. I liked that support was personal and US-based, but most of the support requests took two or three emails to get some basic things I was asking for. Still, I’d say my overall impression of them was positive.
I have been w Inmotion for years now and as far as service goes I am ALWAYS impressed. Truly, out of every company I have ever dealt with online this company doesn’t mess around when it comes to customer service. 24 hours a day, english, no excuses, no pushing you off or not caring. I am over and over impressed with their customer service.
I was with GoDaddy, and I had more troubles than you’d ever believe. I had their *best* plan, and I still had troubles. I rarely got emails that were sent to me and, sometimes, the emails I received weren’t even meant for me. The site’s availability went up and down (like a roller coaster). It was difficult to get a hold of tech support, too. Inmotion Hosting has been amazing. Their tech support is spot on and always available. Even though their security measures are a pain in the ass, I’d rather deal with the extra measures because I know it’s good for my site. I took their reseller account, so I can host my client’s websites. They’ve been wonderful. Even though it’s $27 per month, it’s only a few dollars more than what I had to pay for Godaddy. At least now I get consistent service and the support the extra money gives me.
I have a reseller account and have used most every major hosting service there is over the last 20+ years – always using a “preferred package”. Most impressive is their support – support chat is always available and has always been able to solve any issues I was having. Their support documents are also some of the best I’ve seen. Very pleased.
I have used them for several sites over the years and am ambivalent about them – generally a step up from the likes of bluehost, but Ive had several issues with them which have not be resolved satisfactorily. As shared hosting goes they’re OK, but I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone who needs anything other than the basics.
I almost signed up with them after the big Arvixe fiasco. But having a terrible experience with Arvixe (AFTER it was acquired by EIG) I couldn’t get myself to commit for a year, to pay something similar to what I was paying before. If their service is good, they should make it affordable and not force you to be with them, because you’ll wanna stay with them, without holding you hostage.
I absolutely love Inmotion Hosting! I’m a web developer and have worked with pretty much every major hosting company out there. Inmotion’s the one I stick with and recommend! Their generous limits, outstanding customer support, and great speed and security have won me over time and time again.