Inmotion Hosting Review: A Web Host for Every Website

Inmotion Hosting is a web host offering plans and packages that cover the whole spectrum of website needs. From first time bloggers, through to large enterprise e-commerce businesses, Inmotion Hosting have options to match.

If you’re just starting out and are looking for a host for your first website, then the unlimited, low-cost entry-level plans will appeal. However, if your new project has more demanding requirements, or you’re looking to move your existing site to a new host, you’ll find plenty of options here too.

Inmotion Hosting hasn’t gone down the specialization route. Instead, you’ll find a wide range of plans and services that provide flexible hosting solutions for your website.

But with so many web hosts to choose from today, is Inmotion Hosting worthy of your money and are they a safe pair of hands for your website? Let’s find out in our hands-on Inmotion Hosting review.

About Inmotion Hosting

Whether you’re starting a new website from scratch, or you’re seeking a new host for your existing site, Inmotion Hosting can help you. Their free domain registration service takes one extra job and expensive off your hands. While their optional WordPress pre-installation service will ensure that you can get started on your website as soon as your account goes live.

While there are many provisions on offer that make life easier for WordPress users, such as their website builder tool and 1-click installation service, you’re not restricted to using WordPress by any means. The Inmotion Hosting 1-click installer covers a range of apps and software, including Joomla, Drupal, and Magento, to name just a few.

If you’re not ready to build your own website or simply don’t have the time, Inmotion Hosting offers a web design service that will get you online with as little effort as possible.

Unlike many of their competitors, Inmotion Hosting is employee-owned and operated. They are not part of the controversial Endurance International Group (EIG). EIG have been acquiring web hosts like HostGator and Bluehost at a rapid rate and it’s fair to say that they have experienced some teething troubles when assimilating new hosts into their infrastructure.

For those seeking a more independent web host, one that offers a wide range of plans, Inmotion Hosting could be a great choice. So let’s take a look at the plans on offer to help you decide whether this web host is the best option for your needs.

Inmotion Hosting Review: Plans and Packages

As mentioned, Inmotion Hosting offers a wide range of plans and packages to suit almost every type of website. There’s a lot to choose from here which is great. The main web hosting categories consist of:

• Shared business hosting
• VPS hosting
• Dedicated server hosting
• Reseller hosting

Inmotion Hosting Shared Business Hosting

In line with industry standards, the entry-level packages available from Inmotion Hosting are their shared web hosting plans. At Inmotion Hosting, these plans are advertised as business hosting. This is because they are suitable for small business websites as well as blogs and other hobbyist sites.

All of the shared hosting servers are equipped with high-performance solid-state drives. This isn’t something you see everywhere and is instead often offered as a premium upgrade. You also get access to unlimited disk space and as much bandwidth as you can consume – although expect a call from the support team if your website starts using ‘too much’ of either.

The entry level shared hosting service from Inmotion Hosting is available on three tiers:

• Launch: from $4.89 per month
• Power: from $6.29 per month
• Pro: from $10.49 per month

These prices are very competitive and considering you get a free domain registration with all tiers, you could have your new website up and running for only a few dollars a month.

The main differences between the tiers are the number of websites you can host on your account, as well as the type of websites you can create. The level of support you get access to varies according to how much you pay each month.

Upgrading through the shared tiers doesn’t seem to provide you with any more hardware resources. Therefore, once your website starts getting popular, you’ll have to move up to the next level of service from Inmotion Hosting.

Find out more about the Inmotion Hosting shared business plans

Inmotion Hosting VPS Hosting

VPS or virtual private server hosting is the next step up from the entry-level shared business hosting. With this type of web hosting, you’re allocated more server resources than on the previous level. This can help ensure your website will load faster and handle more traffic.

Again, the VPS hosting plans are split across multiple tiers:

• VPS level 1: from $29.99 per month
• VPS level 2: from $49.99 per month
• VPS level 3: from $74.99 per month

Unlike the business shared hosting plans, as you move up through the tiers you do get access to more powerful hardware, helping your website to cope with increased demand.

Other notable features of the VPS plans from Inmotion Hosting include one free domain registration, dedicated IP addresses, the ability to host an unlimited number of websites, SSH access to the servers, and a full cPanel license.

You might notice that unlimited disk space and bandwidth is not on offer at this level. However, as in reality, there’s no such thing as unlimited usage or storage, it’s actually better to be aware of the limits. This allows you to make an educated decision when choosing a package. It’ll also give you the ability to plan accordingly once your needs start growing.

If you want to start out with access to high-performance servers, or you need to upgrade from entry-level shared hosting, a VPS plan is the obvious choice.

Find out more about the Inmotion Hosting VPS plans

Inmotion Hosting Dedicated Server Hosting

Dedicated hosting is the last resort for the most resource-hungry websites and online projects. Unlike the shared hosting services and VPS plans, you’ll be allocated your own server. This means you won’t need to worry about sharing resources with other customers and all the problems associated with that.

The result of this is that your website will typically be more robust than when hosted a shared server. It’ll also give you access to higher performance hardware. These benefits are reflected in the price of the plans. Therefore, usually, dedicated hosting is only an option for projects with significant needs or freedom requirements.

As with the VPS plans, you can obtain root access to your server and install your software and tools of choice. Therefore, if you’re a developer or you need a server for more than simply hosting a website, dedicated hosting is one option available to you.

The dedicated hosting plans are divided into two groups, each with their own tiers:

• Dedicated Essential: from $119.99 per month
• Dedicated Advanced: from $159.99 per month
• Dedicated Elite: from $229.99 per month
• Commercial Class 500: from $419.99 per month
• Commercial Class 1000: from $489.99 per month
• Commercial Class 2000: from $589.99 per month

As you can see, these plans aren’t cheap. However, you do get access to some powerful hardware. You can also customize the servers to find the right blend of performance and cost. Therefore, if you’re running a software as a service (SaaS) or an e-commerce store, then dedicated hosting could be the best choice for you.

Find out more about the Inmotion Hosting dedicated server plans

Inmotion Hosting Reseller Hosting

If you want to start your own white label hosting company or professionally host the sites of your web design clients, then the Inmotion Hosting reseller hosting plans might be of interest to you.

The reseller hosting plans start from as little as $13.99 per month and all tiers allow you to host an unlimited number of websites. The service includes an automated billing tool to enable you to efficiently collect payments from your customers. Adding your own branding to the service is straightforward too.

Find out more about the Inmotion Hosting reseller packages

Inmotion Hosting WordPress-Optimized Web Hosting

WordPress now powers over 25% of all websites and web hosting services that cater specifically to WordPress users are becoming increasingly popular. Not to be outdone by hosts like SiteGround and WP Engine, Inmotion Hosting now too offers a WordPress-focused package.

Although you can easily host a WordPress website on any of the Inmotion Hosting plans, if you are going to be exclusively using this CMS, then it might be worth exploring this option.

The prices are currently the same as the entry-level shared hosting plans and the details look suspiciously similar. Therefore, don’t expect the same level of performance as you’d get from a managed WordPress host like Pagely.

However, Inmotion Hosting does put their money where their mouth is and actively sponsors WordCamp events around the US.

Find out more about the WordPress-optimized web hosting

Inmotion Hosting User Experience

It’s fair to say that Inmotion Hosting has a plan or package to cover almost every online project. However, what’s just as important is how easy the service is to use. So let’s take a look at the user control panel to find out what’s involved in setting up a website and managing your account.

The Inmotion Hosting account management panel (AMP) is functional rather than beautiful, but it serves its purpose well. Through the AMP, you can keep track of the financial details of your account, before moving onto the site management quick links.

These quick links invariably take you through to the relevant section of the cPanel visual control panel. cPanel is a popular choice with web hosts, so if you are moving from another web host, there’s a good chance you’ll feel right at home with Inmotion Hosting.

As you can see, cPanel gives you quick access to lots of features and tools. From adding and managing additional domains, accessing the file manager for your slice of the server, setting up new email addresses, and installing software, you’ll soon find there is a lot you can do with your web hosting account and the portion of the server you’ve been allocated.

When it comes to installing software, such as WordPress or another CMS, the process is very straightforward. Simply choose which software you’d like to install, and then follow the onscreen instructions. In most cases, it will only take a few clicks, and your software of choice will be ready for use.

From then on, it’s up to you to setup your chosen theme, add content to your site, and install the necessary plugins. The 24 x 7 x 365 Inmotion Hosting customer support team is on hand to help you and there is plenty of online documentation available should any issues arise.

How Does Inmotion Hosting Compare to the Competition?

As you can see from the above table, Inmotion Hosting is confident when it comes to comparing themselves to their rivals in competitive web hosting industry.

On paper, the Inmotion Hosting web hosting service, from pricing to features and the level of customer satisfaction being recorded compares well to the competition. Prices are often lower, performance is better, and you tend to get more for your money overall.

This information certainly seems to correspond with my experiences of using this web host and investigating customer reviews.

If you want to know how Inmotion Hosting shapes up against a specific host, they’ve published a range of comparison articles. This includes Inmotion Hosting vs HostGator and Inmotion Hosting vs Bluehost.

Inmotion Hosting Review Conclusion

There are many good reasons to choose Inmotion Hosting. Affordable prices, a wide range of plans, a no-downtime website transfer service, and free data backups are just a few of the highlights from the feature list.

The fact that Inmotion Hosting remains one of the few large, independent hosts that haven’t succumbed to the advances of EIG will also make this company more appealing to some.

Unlike some web hosts, there’s no cloud hosting service that allows you to configure the resources available to your website on demand. However, whether there’s a real demand for this type of service, or if it’s just an attempt to cash in on the popularity of cloud-based services remains to be seen. The lack of a premium managed WordPress hosting service might deter some potential customers too.

However, if you’re looking for an affordable home for your website, one that makes it easy to get started, or migrate your existing site over, then Inmotion Hosting is a safe bet.

Find out more about Inmotion Hosting today