Hosting.com vs InMotion Hosting: Complete 2026 Comparison
Hosting.com and InMotion Hosting are both shared hosting providers, but they suit different priorities. Across our 7-category breakdown, InMotion Hosting comes out ahead, winning 3 of them — including Value, Performance and Support.
Data last updated June 2026
Overall Winner
InMotion Hosting
- Wins in 3 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Value, Best Performance, Best Support
- 3.9/5 overall rating
Hosting.com vs InMotion Hosting: Overview
On entry pricing, Hosting.com is the cheaper option at $2.99/mo versus $4.79/mo for InMotion Hosting. Renewal tells the real story: InMotion Hosting marks prices up about 213% at renewal versus roughly 301% for Hosting.com, making it the better long-term value. InMotion Hosting also gives you a longer 90-day money-back window to test risk-free.
Hosting.com's standout is turbo servers with LiteSpeed caching claiming 20x faster speeds than standard hosting — a natural fit for speed-focused user who wants developer tools and doesn't mind renewal price increases. InMotion Hosting, by contrast, leans on employee-owned US host with 90-day money-back, US-based support, and 99, ideal for US business wanting American support, long refund period, and BBB A+ rated company.
Category Winners
Hosting.com
$2.99/mo vs $4.79/mo
InMotion Hosting
Lower renewal markup (213% vs 301%)
InMotion Hosting
99.99% uptime, 3.9/5 rating
InMotion Hosting
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
Hosting.com
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce, LiteSpeed
Tie
Similar developer features
Tie
Similar beginner-friendliness
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $2.99/mo | $4.79/mo |
| Renewal Price | $11.99 | $14.99 |
| Renewal Markup | 301% | 213% |
| Overall Rating | 3.6/5 | 3.9/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.9% | 99.99% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.7/5 | 4.1/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 5,066 | 2,513 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $35.88 | $57.48 |
| Second Year Cost | $143.88 | $179.88 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 30 days | 90 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | 1 months | — |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 15 GB | 100 GB |
| Storage Type | NVME SSD | NVME SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unmetered GB | Unlimited |
| Max Websites | 1 | 2 |
| Max Databases | Unlimited | — |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 |
| SSH Access | ||
| Git Deployment | ||
| Staging Environment | ||
| Cron Jobs | ||
| Redis Available | — | |
| Programming Languages | ||
| Node.js Support | ||
| Python Support | ||
| Ruby Support | ||
| WordPress Features | ||
| WordPress Optimized | ||
| WordPress Auto-Install | ||
| WordPress Auto-Updates | ||
| WordPress Staging | ||
| WooCommerce Optimized | ||
| LiteSpeed Cache | ||
| Object Caching | ||
| WP Multisite | — | |
| WP-CLI Access | ||
| Security | ||
| DDoS Protection | ||
| DDoS Protection Level | Reinforced DDoS Protection included | Advanced |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily (Turbo plans) / Weekly (basic plans) | Daily (higher plans), Manual (basic plans) |
| Backup Retention | — | — |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Knowledge Base | Phone, Live Chat, Email/Ticket, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7/365 | 24/7 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 24/7/365 | 9AM-9PM ET Monday-Friday (live chat/ticket 24/7) |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | 25 | — |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | Cloudflare CDN (free) | InMotion CDN |
| Server Locations | Ann Arbor, MI (US-East), Phoenix, AZ (US-West), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Singapore | Los Angeles, CA (US), Ashburn, VA (US), Amsterdam (Netherlands) |
| Server Location Count | 4 | 3 |
| Choose Server Location | ||
| HTTP/2 Support | — | |
| Brotli Compression | — | |
| Uptime SLA Credit | ||
| Platform Support | ||
| Drupal Support | ||
| Joomla Support | ||
| Magento Support | ||
| Laravel Support | ||
| Django Support | ||
| Next.js Support | ||
| Rails Support | ||
| Static Site Support | ||
| Control Panel | ||
| cPanel Included | ||
| Control Panel | cPanel | cPanel |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | Site.pro Website Builder | BoldGrid Website Builder |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | 3 days | — |
| Paid Migration Cost | $25.00 | — |
| Migration Quality | 4.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | SSAE16 | — |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Support Quality | 3.5/10 | 4.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 3.5/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 3.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 2.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unmetered within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade | Unlimited within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade |
| Storage Overage | Must upgrade plan; inode limits apply | Hard limits apply; must upgrade plan |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2001 | 2001 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | World Host Group / hosting.com (acquired January 2025; rebranded to hosting.com May 2025; investors include Oakley Capital, Barings, Bain Capital) | Privately held (employee-owned, founded by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson) |
| Green Hosting | — | |
| Instant Activation | — | |
| Managed WordPress | ||
| Managed WP Available | ||
| Pricing Model | — | — |
| Monthly Visit Limit | — | — |
| Visit Overage Cost | — | — |
| PHP Workers | — | — |
| Plugin Restrictions | — | — |
| Dev Environment | — | — |
| Dev Env Name | — | — |
| Regional Info | ||
| Best Countries | United States, Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, United Kingdom | United States, Netherlands, Singapore |
| Local Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, INR | USD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR | GDPR, PCI DSS |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.3/5 | 4.1/5 |
| BBB Rating | A+ | A+ |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | — | 50,000 |
| Max DB Size | — | — |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | MySQL/MariaDB | — |
| Elasticsearch | — | |
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | 25 | — |
| FTP Accounts | 25 | — |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | — | 12 months |
| Money Back Exclusions | 30-day full refund; Prorated refund for unused services available up to 90 days; Domain fees non-refundable; Setup fees non-refundable | Month-to-month VPS/Dedicated plans only get 30 days; Domain registrations non-refundable; SSL certificates non-refundable; Add-on services non-refundable |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Skrill, Bank Transfer, Check | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | $14.99/yr | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed every 3 months) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | $5.99/mo | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | OPcache/Memcached | NGINX proxy cache |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Tiered per sale | Tiered (based on product and volume) |
| Commission Amount | $55 (1-10 sales), $75 (11-15), $100 (16-20), $125 (21+ sales); $5 second-tier; 90-day cookie | Tiered commission based on hosting product and sales volume; 90-day cookie duration |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | $0.00 | — |
| Account Suspension Policy | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse | AUP violations may result in content deletion, suspension, or termination; InMotion reserves right to delete material deemed inappropriate |
| Malware Removal Cost | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Downloadable Backups | ||
| Additional Platforms | ||
| PrestaShop | ||
| Ghost | ||
| Shopify Migration | ||
| Wix Migration | ||
| Squarespace Migration | ||
| Webflow Export | ||
| Editorial Info | ||
| Best For | Speed-focused websites needing Turbo servers; Developers wanting SSH, Git, WP-CLI access; Users wanting multiple data center location options; WordPress sites needing LiteSpeed caching; Budget shared hosting with promo pricing; Reseller hosting with white-label options | Business users needing US-based support; Users wanting 90-day money-back guarantee; WordPress users (optimized with staging); cPanel users; Users needing 4 global data center locations; Users wanting employee-owned company |
| Avoid If | Budget-sensitive at renewal time; Need free domain included; Want guaranteed 99.9%+ uptime; Prefer all-inclusive pricing; Need PCI/HIPAA compliance; Want more than 4 data center locations | Budget-conscious at renewal time (5x markup); Need 24/7 phone support; Need low inode limits; Adult or adult-adjacent content; Need cheap monthly VPS plans |
| Known Issues | Significant renewal price increase (up to 6x promo price); Reports of declining support quality; No free domain included; $25 fee to change data center location; Uptime occasionally below guarantee (99.95% actual vs 99.9% promised); Some migration issues reported; Turbo servers only on higher-priced plans; Company acquired and rebranded to hosting.com in 2025 | Renewal prices ~5x higher than promo ($2.62 → $12.49); Phone support limited to business hours (9AM-9PM ET M-F); Automated backups only on higher plans; Low inode limit (50,000) compared to competitors; 21% of Trustpilot reviews are 1-star; Domain renewal $19.99/yr is higher than competitors; Month-to-month VPS/dedicated only get 30-day refund |
| Unique Selling Point | Turbo servers with LiteSpeed caching claiming 20x faster speeds than standard hosting | Employee-owned US host with 90-day money-back, US-based support, and 99.99% uptime |
| Ideal Customer | Speed-focused user who wants developer tools and doesn't mind renewal price increases | US business wanting American support, long refund period, and BBB A+ rated company |
| Best Alternative To | SiteGround | GoDaddy |
| Primary Competitors | SiteGround, Hostinger, InMotion Hosting | DreamHost, Bluehost, A2 Hosting |
We strive for accuracy, but pricing and features change frequently. Some data may be outdated. Report an error and we'll update it promptly.
Our Verdict
Choose Hosting.com if you...
- Want to save money ($2.99/mo vs $4.79/mo)
- Want LiteSpeed caching for WordPress
- Want more server locations (4 available)
Choose InMotion Hosting if you...
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Want higher-rated hosting (3.9/5)
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Need enterprise-grade features
Hosting.com vs InMotion Hosting: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hosting.com cheaper than InMotion Hosting?
Yes — Hosting.com is cheaper, starting at $2.99/mo compared with $4.79/mo for InMotion Hosting. Factor in renewals too: Hosting.com marks up about 301% after the first term.
Which is better for WordPress, Hosting.com or InMotion Hosting?
Hosting.com is the stronger WordPress host thanks to WordPress-optimized servers, LiteSpeed caching, staging and WooCommerce tuning. If WordPress or WooCommerce is your main workload, it's the safer pick.
Does Hosting.com or InMotion Hosting have better uptime?
InMotion Hosting edges out Hosting.com on performance with a 99.99% uptime guarantee and a 3.9/5 overall rating. For uptime-sensitive sites, it's the more dependable choice.
Which has better customer support, Hosting.com or InMotion Hosting?
InMotion Hosting has the edge on support offering 24/7 live chat, phone support and ticket support.
Should I choose Hosting.com or InMotion Hosting?
For most users, InMotion Hosting is the better overall choice, winning 3 of our 7 categories (notably Value, Performance and Support). That said, the right host depends on your specific needs — check the category breakdown above for the factors that matter to you.