InMotion Hosting standout features | |
Performance | Very fast response times and excellent reliability |
Average load time | Approximately 1 second |
Average response time | Approximately 988ms |
Free domain | Yes on most packages, but only for six months |
SSL | Free Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate from LetsEncrypt.org |
1-click WordPress | Yes, included with all hosting packages |
Support | 24/7 support via phone, email, or live chat |
What Are the Pros and Cons of InMotion Hosting?
InMotion Hosting is an extremely popular hosting provider, especially in North America, but the fact that it doesn’t have servers outside of the region is concerning. Read through these important pros and cons of InMotion Hosting to see if it is the right option for you.
Pros of InMotion Hosting
- Fast loading speeds: InMotion Hosting ensures all websites on its servers are configured to load as quickly as possible.
- Dedication to open- source: Wherever possible, InMotion Hosting uses open-source software and strategies.
- Full lineup of hosting options: You can choose from all major types of hosting including shared, VPS, cloud, and dedicated servers.
- 90-day money-back guarantee: All hosting packages from InMotion Hosting come with a 90-day money-back guarantee, so you can be certain you love the services.
- Free domain name: Most hosting packages from InMotion Hosting include a free domain name for a year.
- NGINX software: NGINX is a web and proxy server in one. This open-source software offers a fast and reliable hosting environment.
- 24/7 technical support: All customers will have access to InMotion Hosting’s experienced technical support teams to address any issues immediately.
Cons of InMotion Hosting
- Facilities only in the U.S.: InMotion Hosting’s servers are located exclusively in the U.S.
- Automatic backups aren’t free: InMotion Hosting offers automatic backup options, but only as a paid add-on to your normal web hosting package.
Solid-state drives for all storage
InMotion Hosting uses SSDs in all of its hosting servers. Depending on what type of files you have on your website, the storage drive being slow can cause significant latency. SSDs are significantly faster than the older technology spinning disk drives, which will help to optimize your website’s performance.
Custom security suite
Each hosting package with InMotion Hosting comes with a notable lineup of different cybersecurity tools to keep your site safe. These tools include:
- Free SSL certificate
- Hack and malware protection
- DDoS protection
These tools run in the background on your server to help protect your site and any visitors to your page.
Different Ways to Create a Website
You can create your website using drag-and-drop tools included with your hosting package. These are accessible through your Account Management Panel (AMP) and make it quick and easy to design beautiful, customized websites. I really like the easy-to-use tools offered, especially for those who are newer to making websites.
Marketing tools for your website
All of the shared hosting accounts (including WordPress and WooCommerce) will come with a number of different tools and features that can help you to market and promote your website. These include the website builder, the option to manage email from any device, free advertising credits, and customer management tools.
Unlimited bandwidth
All of the shared hosting accounts, and most other hosting options with this company, have unlimited bandwidth. While most people will not use a huge amount of bandwidth for their site, this is just one less thing that you need to worry about. This is an especially important feature for those who are making websites with large images, video streaming, and other bandwidth-intensive items.
Ultrastack powered hosting
Ultrastack is a set of web hosting server tools that help to speed up websites. This tool is comparable to Litespeed, which I’m a big fan of.
Included with the Ultrastack features are NGINX proxy caching, Redis (Remote Dictionary Server) for caching SQL processes, and much more. Compared to hosting without Ultrastack (or a similar platform), your website will load noticeably faster.
E-commerce tools
You can choose hosting that is designed specifically for e-commerce websites. The WooCommerce hosting packages include a number of powerful tools that will help you to build your online store and begin successfully selling right away.
90-day guarantee
If you are unhappy with your hosting for any reason, InMotion Hosting will give you a full refund for up to 90 days. Most hosting companies offer a 30-day guarantee, so this is a much better option.
U.S.-based support
Since InMotion Hosting focuses its services on North America, it is nice that the support teams are based in the U.S. This helps to minimize any issues with a language barrier and allows the company to provide premium quality support around the clock.
Automatic backups
Backing up the data from your website is one of the most important things you can do to protect your site. InMotion Hosting offers automatic services that will backup your site on a regular basis so that your data is never at risk. The one downside to this feature is that it is not free.
Zero-downtime migrations
If you already have a website on a different hosting company’s server, you can migrate over to InMotion Hosting without any downtime. It offers the tools you need to easily move your entire site over to InMotion Hosting without a service interruption to your visitors. If you need help with this process, you can reach out to the support team, and they will assist you every step of the way.
Uptime and reliability
I’ve run various uptime tests on InMotionHosting over the course of several days and it consistently rates very well. This company offers an uptime guarantee of 99.9%, which is fairly standard. In our tests, the servers were up well over 99.9% of the time.
Site response times
InMotion Hosting’s servers are very responsive and offer fast load times. Over the last 30 days, we saw an average response time for the hosting servers at 988ms, which is not bad at all.
For many third-party testing sites, InMotion Hosting shows slightly slower response times than normal because the tests come from locations around the world. In this case, InMotion Hosting’s results are hurt by the fact that the only servers are in the U.S. For visitors from North America, sites on InMotion Hosting’s servers will respond very well.
SSL certificates
Almost all hosting companies offer SSL certificates to their customers because they are an important part of securing web traffic. The SSL certificates from InMotion Hosting are quality options that will ensure all traffic to and from a website is encrypted properly.
DDoS protection
All traffic coming to your site hosted at InMotion Hosting will be filtered through a DDoS mitigation system. This helps to protect your site and all the other sites on InMotion Hosting’s servers from getting flooded with invalid traffic. DDoS attacks are among the most common types of cyberattack out there today, so having this layer of protection is important.
InMotion Hosting wants to make sure that you have the help you need, when you need it. To accomplish this, it offers 24/7 customer support from a team of technical experts. You can use various ways to get assistance. In addition to the live support options, InMotion offers a useful support center with lots of articles and other information to help you understand your hosting environment.
Compare InMotion Hosting Alternatives
InMotion Hosting is an excellent hosting provider that can exceed the needs of most small businesses, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and others. If you don’t like InMotion Hosting (perhaps because your target audience is outside of North America), there are plenty of other quality hosting companies to choose from. I have personally used and researched dozens of hosting companies over the years, and the following are some of my favorites.
Frequently Asked Questions About InMotion Hosting
Who owns InMotion Hosting?
What kind of support does InMotion hosting offer?
Where are the InMotion Hosting servers located?
Can you register domain names with InMotion Hosting?
Can you automatically install WordPress with InMotion Hosting?
Which InMotion Hosting plan is best for WordPress?
How I Rated InMotion Hosting
I test web hosts based on the following factors:
- Plan value: What plans are available, and do they offer a good value?
- Ease of use: Is the dashboard easy to navigate?
- Support: How fast can you get help when needed, and is support genuinely helpful?
- Features: What features does the host offer, and how do they compare to similar competitors?
- Security: Does the host offer SSL certificates, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack protection, backup services, and scans for viruses and malware?
- Speed and uptime: Does the provider offer a fast, stable environment for your website? How does it perform in tests, and what kind of servers does the hosting company use?
- Recent improvements: What has the host done lately to update its technology and services?
Learn more about our review methodology.