InMotion Hosting vs InterServer: Complete 2026 Comparison
InMotion Hosting and InterServer are both shared hosting providers, but they suit different priorities. Across our 7-category breakdown, InMotion Hosting comes out ahead, winning 4 of them — including Performance, Support and WordPress.
Data last updated June 2026
Overall Winner
InMotion Hosting
- Wins in 4 of 7 categories
- Top in: Best Performance, Best Support, Best for WordPress
- 3.9/5 overall rating
InMotion Hosting vs InterServer: Overview
On entry pricing, InterServer is the cheaper option at $2.50/mo versus $4.79/mo for InMotion Hosting. Renewal tells the real story: InterServer marks prices up about 180% at renewal versus roughly 213% for InMotion Hosting, making it the better long-term value. InMotion Hosting also gives you a longer 90-day money-back window to test risk-free.
InMotion Hosting's standout is employee-owned US host with 90-day money-back, US-based support, and 99 — a natural fit for US business wanting American support, long refund period, and BBB A+ rated company. InterServer, by contrast, leans on price-lock guarantee with $2, ideal for budget-conscious user who wants predictable long-term hosting costs without renewal surprises.
Category Winners
InterServer
$2.50/mo vs $4.79/mo
InterServer
Lower renewal markup (180% vs 213%)
InMotion Hosting
99.99% uptime, 3.9/5 rating
InMotion Hosting
Live chat, Phone, 24/7
InMotion Hosting
Optimized, Staging, WooCommerce
InMotion Hosting
SSH, Git, Staging, Node.js
Tie
Similar beginner-friendliness
Feature Comparison
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Essential Info | ||
| Hosting Type | Shared Hosting | Shared Hosting |
| Monthly Price | $4.79/mo | $2.50/mo |
| Renewal Price | $14.99 | $7.00 |
| Renewal Markup | 213% | 180% |
| Overall Rating | 3.9/5 | 4.0/5 |
| Uptime Guarantee | 99.99% | 99.9% |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.1/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Trustpilot Reviews | 2,513 | 2,304 |
| Free SSL | ||
| Free Domain | ||
| Free Migration | ||
| Pricing Details | ||
| First Year Cost | $57.48 | $30.00 |
| Second Year Cost | $179.88 | $84.00 |
| Money Back Guarantee | 90 days | 30 days |
| Setup Fee | Free | Free |
| Monthly Billing | — | |
| Minimum Contract | — | 1 months |
| Technical Specs | ||
| Storage | 100 GB | Unlimited |
| Storage Type | NVME SSD | SSD |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Max Websites | 2 | Unlimited |
| Max Databases | — | Unlimited |
| PHP Versions | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 | 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 |
| 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 | Advanced | DDoS protection included on all plans |
| Malware Scanning | ||
| Malware Removal | ||
| Firewall Included | ||
| Backup Frequency | Daily (higher plans), Manual (basic plans) | Weekly |
| Backup Retention | — | — |
| Backup Restore Fee | Free | Free |
| On-Demand Backup | ||
| Two-Factor Auth | ||
| Wildcard SSL | ||
| Dedicated IP | ||
| Support | ||
| Support Channels | Phone, Live Chat, Email/Ticket, Knowledge Base | Phone, Live Chat, Ticket, Email, Knowledge Base |
| Live Chat | ||
| Live Chat Hours | 24/7 | 24/7/365 |
| Phone Support | ||
| Phone Support Hours | 9AM-9PM ET Monday-Friday (live chat/ticket 24/7) | 24/7/365 |
| Ticket Support | ||
| Priority Support | ||
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Knowledge Base Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Avg Support Wait | — | — |
| Email Accounts | ||
| Email Account Limit | — | Unlimited |
| Mailbox Size | — | — |
| Webmail Access | ||
| Spam Filter | ||
| Email Forwarding | ||
| Performance | ||
| CDN Included | ||
| CDN Provider | InMotion CDN | Cloudflare CDN (free integration) |
| Server Locations | Los Angeles, CA (US), Ashburn, VA (US), Amsterdam (Netherlands) | Secaucus, NJ (US-East), Los Angeles, CA (US-West) |
| Server Location Count | 3 | 2 |
| 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 | DirectAdmin |
| Softaculous | ||
| Website Builder | ||
| Builder Name | BoldGrid Website Builder | SitePad |
| Migration | ||
| Migration Websites Limit | 1 | 1 |
| Migration Turnaround | — | 3 days |
| Paid Migration Cost | — | — |
| Migration Quality | 5.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Compliance | ||
| GDPR Compliant | ||
| PCI Compliant | ||
| HIPAA Compliant | ||
| Data Center Certs | — | — |
| Ratings | ||
| Value for Money | 3.5/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Performance Rating | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Support Quality | 4.5/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Security Rating | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Features Rating | 4.0/10 | 3.5/10 |
| Ease of Use | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| Transparency Rating | 3.0/10 | 5.0/10 |
| Suitability Scores | ||
| For Bloggers | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For E-commerce | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Agencies | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Developers | 4.0/10 | 3.0/10 |
| For Beginners | 4.0/10 | 4.0/10 |
| For Enterprise | 4.0/10 | 2.0/10 |
| Policies | ||
| Bandwidth Overage | Unlimited within fair use; excessive use may require upgrade | Unlimited within fair use; excessive use reviewed |
| Storage Overage | Hard limits apply; must upgrade plan | Unlimited within fair use |
| Adult Content Allowed | ||
| Gambling Sites Allowed | ||
| Crypto Sites Allowed | ||
| Reseller Hosting | ||
| White Label | ||
| API Access | ||
| Company Info | ||
| Year Founded | 2001 | 1999 |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Parent Company | Privately held (employee-owned, founded by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson) | Independent (privately held; employee-owned; founded by Mike Lavrik and John Quaglieri) |
| 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 | United States |
| Local Currencies | USD | USD |
| Support Languages | English | English |
| Data Sovereignty | GDPR, PCI DSS | GDPR |
| External Ratings | ||
| G2 Rating | 4.1/5 | 4.0/5 |
| BBB Rating | A+ | NR (Not Accredited) |
| Advanced Technical | ||
| Inode Limit | 50,000 | 250,000 |
| Max DB Size | — | Unlimited GB |
| Max Upload Size | — | — |
| Database Type | — | MySQL/MariaDB |
| Elasticsearch | — | |
| Image Optimization | — | — |
| PHP Switching | ||
| Subdomains | — | Unlimited |
| FTP Accounts | — | Unlimited |
| Additional Pricing | ||
| Free Domain Duration | 12 months | — |
| Money Back Exclusions | Month-to-month VPS/Dedicated plans only get 30 days; Domain registrations non-refundable; SSL certificates non-refundable; Add-on services non-refundable | 30-day money-back guarantee on shared hosting; Dedicated servers may have different terms |
| Payment Methods | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal | Credit Card, Debit Card, PayPal, Cryptocurrency, Check |
| Auto Renewal Default | ||
| Domain Privacy Included | — | |
| Domain Privacy Cost | — | — |
| SSL Provider | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed every 3 months) | Let's Encrypt (auto-renewed) |
| Dedicated IP Cost | — | — |
| Additional Support | ||
| Phone Support Countries | United States | United States |
| Priority Support Cost | — | — |
| Community Forum | ||
| Support Outsourced | — | |
| Object Cache Type | NGINX proxy cache | — |
| Business & Affiliate | ||
| Affiliate Program | ||
| Commission Type | Tiered (based on product and volume) | Recurring |
| Commission Amount | Tiered commission based on hosting product and sales volume; 90-day cookie duration | $100 per sale or recurring commission; 120-day cookie |
| Additional Policies | ||
| File Hosting Allowed | ||
| Proxy/VPN Allowed | ||
| Bandwidth Overage Cost | — | $0.00 |
| Account Suspension Policy | AUP violations may result in content deletion, suspension, or termination; InMotion reserves right to delete material deemed inappropriate | Violation of ToS; non-payment; resource abuse |
| 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 | 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 | Budget-conscious users who hate renewal price increases; Long-term hosting customers wanting price stability; Users needing unlimited websites on shared hosting; Small businesses wanting cPanel at low cost; Users who value price-lock guarantee |
| Avoid If | 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 | Need multiple global data center locations; Want managed WordPress features; Need staging environments; Prefer modern control panel UI; Require PCI/HIPAA compliance |
| Known Issues | 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 | Only 2 data center locations; Support outsourcing reported; No staging environment; No managed WordPress; Limited advanced features compared to competitors; Interface feels dated to some users |
| Unique Selling Point | Employee-owned US host with 90-day money-back, US-based support, and 99.99% uptime | Price-lock guarantee with $2.50/month forever - no renewal price increases |
| Ideal Customer | US business wanting American support, long refund period, and BBB A+ rated company | Budget-conscious user who wants predictable long-term hosting costs without renewal surprises |
| Best Alternative To | GoDaddy | Hostinger |
| Primary Competitors | DreamHost, Bluehost, A2 Hosting | Hostinger, Namecheap, DreamHost |
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 InMotion Hosting if you...
- Require 24/7 live chat support
- Need staging environments
- Need enterprise-grade features
- Want more server locations (3 available)
- Want a free domain included
Choose InterServer if you...
- Want to save money ($2.50/mo vs $4.79/mo)
- Prefer more predictable renewal pricing
- Want higher-rated hosting (4.0/5)
InMotion Hosting vs InterServer: Frequently Asked Questions
Is InMotion Hosting cheaper than InterServer?
Yes — InterServer is cheaper, starting at $2.50/mo compared with $4.79/mo for InMotion Hosting. Factor in renewals too: InterServer marks up about 180% after the first term.
Which is better for WordPress, InMotion Hosting or InterServer?
InMotion Hosting is the stronger WordPress host thanks to WordPress-optimized servers, staging and WooCommerce tuning. If WordPress or WooCommerce is your main workload, it's the safer pick.
Does InMotion Hosting or InterServer have better uptime?
InMotion Hosting edges out InterServer 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, InMotion Hosting or InterServer?
InMotion Hosting has the edge on support offering 24/7 live chat, phone support and ticket support.
Should I choose InMotion Hosting or InterServer?
For most users, InMotion Hosting is the better overall choice, winning 4 of our 7 categories (notably Performance, Support and WordPress). That said, the right host depends on your specific needs — check the category breakdown above for the factors that matter to you.