Bluehost Vs InMotion Hosting – Comparison 2023 Edition

Do one quick Google search and you’ll find that there are many different web hosting services on the market. The industry has grown significantly in the last decade, making it easy for virtually anyone to start a website.

Bluehost and Inmotion are two popular brands that have a lot to offer personal bloggers, businesses, and Internet entrepreneurs. Thanks to the reliable service and bevy of features they offer, the two service providers stand out amongst competitors. Both have a range of hosting packages to meet anyone’s needs.

In this guide, we’re going to pit Bluehost and Inmotion against one another to see which service provider comes out on top. We’ll go over their various strengths and weaknesses while providing you with all the crucial information you need to see which service provider is right for you.

About InMotion and Bluehost

First things first, let’s learn about these two hosting companies. Chances are, you’ve already heard of Bluehost. It’s one of the 20 largest hosting companies in the market; serving well over 2 million sites. The company was first launched in 2003 and has since gone on to become a heavy hitter in the industry. Bluehost is owned by EIG, also known as Endurance International Group. This large conglomerate owns several hosting brands and is responsible for making many big-name providers into the powerhouses they are today.

Inmotion has a much different history. It was founded before Bluehost in 2001. The company is not owned by a larger corporation and is a good alternative to EIG brands. It’s entirely employee-owned and -operated. The company is relatively small, but it still manages to snag approximately 20 percent of the U.S. hosting market share. Inmotion is currently headquartered in Virginia Beach.

Bluehost vs InMotion Hosting Options

The first thing we’ll be looking at in this head-to-head match is the types of hosting services these companies offer. There are several forms of web hosting available.

The first is shared hosting, which is offered by both Inmotion and Bluehost. This is the most basic hosting solution. It’s affordable and can suit both businesses and personal bloggers well. With a shared hosting plan, your site is stored on the same server as many other sites. As you can probably guess, the resources of the server are shared among all of those sites.

VPS hosting is a slightly upgraded version of shared hosting. Rather than sharing resources, you’re given a set amount. This creates a virtual private server that you can control as you please. Bluehost and Inmotion both offer VPS hosting packages. Inmotion offers unmanaged and managed solutions.

Next up, we have cloud hosting. Rather than keeping your site on a single server, data is stored throughout a cloud network. Bluehost offers many different cloud plans to choose from. So does Inmotion. However, Inmotion’s plans are more catered toward enterprise services and applications.

If you need the best performance possible, you can get dedicated hosting from Bluehost and Inmotion. With dedicated hosting, you get your own server that you can control. Typically, plans include a ton of resources, root access, and plenty of flexibility.

Other plans are available as well. Both Inmotion and Bluehost have reseller hosting solutions for web developers and managed WordPress hosting, which we’ll get into a bit later.

InMotion vs Bluehost: Overall Performance

Performance is, perhaps, one of the most important factors to consider when you’re choosing web hosting service. Internet users expect sites to perform at their best. Slower load times are not viewed favorably among web users or search engines.

Both Inmotion and Bluehost have a lot to offer in terms of speed. They utilize advanced technology to achieve load times. This includes NGINX servers and robust caching systems. The two companies can successfully load pages in under a second. While there are a lot of factors that contribute to connection speeds, tests show that Bluehost tends to be the faster of the two. Bluehost uses multiple caching systems. There’s the Varnish system, which is designed for dynamic resource-heavy content. To complement that, Bluehost also has a cache manager within the control panel. Inmotion only has the basic cache manager.

Both providers do work with popular codes and database management systems. Whether you use PHP, Ruby, or MySQL, you shouldn’t have any speed-related issues with either provider.

Content Delivery Networks

Another reason why Bluehost is able to achieve faster speeds is that all plans come with a CDN, or content delivery network. A CDN is a massive network that spans the globe. Various CDN nodes store cached versions of websites. So, users will connect to the nearest node rather than establishing a connection to the main server. Bluehost uses Cloudflare CDN. It’s included with every plan and can be turned on or off from the control panel.

Unfortunately, Inmotion doesn’t have any CDN included. If you want to take advantage of a content delivery network, you will need to pay to use it and install it separately. For this reason, Bluehost is the clear winner when it comes to speed.

Data Centers

The location of the physical servers that house your site is also important. While most people view the Internet as a wireless infrastructure, distance still affects connection speeds. With Bluehost, most connection issues are solved because of the CDN. However, if that wasn’t there, people trying to access a server on the opposite side of the globe would experience significant dips in performance over those who are close by.

Bluehost doesn’t provide any concrete information about the location of its servers and data centers. However, it’s believed that the company owns and operates over 23 data centers in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Inmotion only has two data centers. They’re both located in the United States. One is in Los Angeles, California while the other is in Ashburn, Virginia. This can prove to be problematic for bloggers and startups with an international audience. The company does have a feature called Max Speed Zones. It’s limited to VPS and business-class hosting solutions. Essentially, the feature allows you to choose which data center you want to use to best serve your audience.

Bluehost vs Inmotion: Uptime Ratings

Uptime refers to when the servers are working as they should. While all providers strive to achieve a 100 percent uptime rating, issues occur all the time. What’s important is how hosting companies respond to those issues to minimize downtime.

Bluehost has one of the best uptime ratings in the business. The service provider typically manages to stay above 99.9 percent. Within the Network Uptime Agreement document, the provider states that most issues are taken care of in as little as 15 minutes. In the event that the hardware is damaged, Bluehost will automatically move your site to another server to reduce downtime as much as possible.

Inmotion offers a 99.9 percent uptime as well. While the web hosting company does not provide a concrete guarantee like some of its competitors, it does have a pretty generous refund policy.

The providers both do well when it comes to reliability. The various data centers they own are all heavily protected to minimize the risk of downtime. Not only are they guarded and have controlled access, but they also have climate control systems and backup power generators.

InMotion vs Bluehost: Storage and Bandwidth

Data and bandwidth are two important things to consider as well. The amount of disk space a service provider offers will determine how many files you can upload. It’ll also affect how resource-heavy your site can be. With web design being such an important part of the puzzle these days, small storage allotments are not recommended.

Luckily, both Inmotion and Bluehost offer unlimited storage options on their shared hosting plans. Not only that, but the two providers also use SSD storage. Solid-state drives are much more reliable than traditional mechanical drives. Plus, they have higher data transfer rates, improving your connections speeds significantly.

Inmotion barely squeaks past Bluehost when it comes to storage space. All of the shared plans have unlimited disk space at Inmotion. With Bluehost, the most affordable plan has a storage limit. With that said, it’s pretty generous and is more than what most people will need.

Bandwidth is the amount of data that travels between the host server and your visitor’s device. Viewing websites uses data. All of those images and animations much be downloaded onto the computer or mobile device, which eats up bandwidth.

We’re happy to say that Bluehost and Inmotion do not have any hard data caps. Inmotion offers “unlimited” bandwidth while Bluehost offers “unmetered” bandwidth. Don’t let the verbiage confuse you. They pretty much mean the same thing. Basically, it indicates that the provider does not monitor how much bandwidth you use. Instead, they charge one flat predictable rate. However, if you delve into the terms of service, you’ll find that the providers can throttle your site if you are using up more resources than normal. This is done to protect other sites on your server and keep things fair.

Most people won’t have to worry about throttling. Unless you’re hosting giant files that are downloaded regularly, you should have no problem with unmetered bandwidth.

Bluehost vs InMotion: WordPress Integration

When it comes to WordPress integration, Inmotion and Bluehost have a lot to offer. WordPress is the world’s most used content management system. There’s a good chance that most of the sites you visit are powered by WordPress. Because of its popularity, many providers go to great lengths to ensure that their service works well with the platform.

Both Inmotion and Bluehost work great with WordPress. They have one-click installers for the platform. You can also integrate plugins, scripts, and more to create anything from a blog to an e-commerce site.

The two hosting companies even offer managed WordPress hosting plans. These hosting solutions are separate from the standard shared plans. They’re designed to be as user-friendly as possible. The provider will take care of all the necessary WordPress and security updates. You won’t have to worry about any of the technical details, allowing you to focus on building the best new website that you can.

While both service providers do well with WordPress integration, we have to give this round to Bluehost. The reason for that is simple. Bluehost is officially recommended by WordPress itself. You can find a list of recommended hosting providers on the WordPress website. Bluehost is at the top of that list. Bluehost has more pertinent features and better performance for WordPress sites. Plus, the company has dedicated WordPress support. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Inmotion vs Bluehost: Security Features

Site security is paramount these days. With new malware being discovered daily, there’s always a constant threat to your site and your visitors. Inmotion and Bluehost both include a free SSL certificate on shared hosting plans.

An SSL certificate is a security protocol that encrypts the connection between the server and the visitor’s device. It prevents any man-in-the-middle attacks and helps to keep any private information safe. With an SSL certificate, your site will be secure enough to meet the standards of most browsers. As a result, visitors will see a padlock symbol next to your domain when they take a look at your digital space.

Backups, Malware Protection, and Email Security

Security doesn’t stop with the free SSL certificate. Inmotion also offers malware and hack protection. It comes standard on all shared plans, which is a nice perk. Plans come with free scheduled backups and secure IMAP with all of your email accounts.

Bluehost offers much of the same. The provider uses CodeGuard to make data backups of your site on a regular basis. The feature makes multiple snapshots and saves them separately, making it easy to restore your site whenever you need it. CodeGuard is standard on higher-tier plans. Alternatively, you can pay for it monthly.

SiteLock and Site Doctor are two must-have features that Bluehost provides. The former works to prevent viruses and other malware from affecting your site. The latter can scan and repair malware problems in only a few minutes.

We have to give it to Bluehost for offering a bit more safety features. In addition to the features we mentioned, Bluehost offers built-in firewalls, spam filters for your email accounts, and so much more.

Inmotion vs Bluehost: Perks and Features

While performance, reliability, and security are some of the most pivotal aspects to look at when making a hosting comparison, you also need to consider the smaller features. Hosting features can make or break the overall user experience and determine how much you’re going to have to spend on top of hosting to get your site running smoothly.

Domains

Every website needs a domain name! Most providers offer some kind of registrar service, making it easy to do everything all in one place. Bluehost and Inmotion are no different. Both companies can take care of the registration and renewal duties on your behalf for an additional fee.

As an added perk, Inmotion and Bluehost offer a free domain for your first year. Those costs are waived, allowing you to save some money when you’re launching your site.

Site Migration

Site migration features are ideal for those who already have an existing website. Rather than having to handle the process on your own, you can leave it in the capable hands of professionals. Inmotion offers free site migration with all hosting plans. However, it can be a rather lengthy process. You must submit a transfer request and wait for it to be completed.

Bluehost charges a rather hefty fee for website transfers. However, you’re allowed to transfer up to five sites. The service is very reliable and can save you a lot of time.

Website Builder

If you’d rather start a new website from scratch, Inmotion and Bluehost have you covered. Bluehost doesn’t have its own proprietary website building application. But, you can take advantage of the Weebly builder. It’s integrated into all plans, allowing you to start creating the site of your dreams immediately.

Inmotion has its own website builder called BoldGrid. Like Weebly, it has a drag-and-drop interface. It’s quite feature-rich and lets you build a beautifully designed site without any coding knowledge. You can use simple shapes to build the site from nothing or modify an existing template. Whatever you choose to do, the process is fun and simple.

Control Panel

The control panel is the heart of your hosting service. It’s where you will control every aspect of your site. While some providers use their own control panel, both Inmotion and Bluehost use an industry standard. cPanel is the control panel of choice. It’s very user-friendly and can be used to perform virtually any task you need. You can install apps like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal with just one click. Or, you can download scripts and plugins from one of many marketplaces. cPanel is easy to get the hang of and will meet all of your needs.

Bluehost vs Inmotion: Customer Support

Now, let’s talk about customer support. Support is something that many people fail to consider. Then, when they inevitably need help, they realize that the service provider they chose falls behind in this area. Web hosting is complex, so you’re bound to run into trouble at some point. It’s always a good idea to see how you can contact the support team so that you’re ready when that time comes.

Inmotion and Bluehost do pretty well when it comes to customer support. The teams are available around the clock through live chat, a user-friendly ticketing system, or telephone chat. You can also send emails or search through the detailed knowledge bases. Response times are quite good, ensuring that you can get help quickly.

The knowledge bases deserve a special shout-out for its ease of use. This is especially true with Bluehost. Bluehost offers detailed guides, step-by-step instructions, and well-made YouTube videos covering a wide range of topics. You can even search through the knowledge base using keywords to find all materials pertaining to your subject. It’s perfect for troubleshooting or just learning more about what the service has to offer.

Inmotion vs Bluehost: Pricing

Both InMotion and Bluehost offer competitive pricing. Across the board, the two brands are more affordable than most of the competitors out there. For the sake of simplicity, we’re going to be looking at the pricing for shared hosting. For more information about VPS, dedicated, or cloud hosting, visit the provider’s website.

Bluehost

Basic Plan

Great for personal blogs and small corporate sites, the Basic Plan offers up to 50 GB of storage. You can only create one site. However, you do get unmetered bandwidth, free domain name and a free SSL certificate.

Pricing:
$2.95 per month with promotion – get this deal
$4.95 per month with a 12-month term
$3.95 per month with a 24-month term
$2.95 per month with a 36-month term

Plus Plan

The Plus Plan is a nice step up from the Basic Plan. It has unlimited storage, unlimited domains, and the Spam Experts security feature + Free domain name.

Pricing:
$5.45 per month with promotion – get this deal
$7.45 per month with a 12-month term
$6.95 per month with a 24-month term
$5.45 per month with a 36-month term

Choice Plus Plan ( Recommended package for a growing blogger or affiliate marketer )

On top of all the features of the previous plans, the Choice Plus Plan includes CodeGuard Basic for regular backups. It also has domain privacy and Spam Experts + Free domain name.

Pricing:
$5.45 per month with promotion – get this deal
$7.45 per month with a 12-month term
$6.95 per month with a 24-month term
$5.45 per month with a 36-month term

Pro Plan

Geared towards small startups and growing businesses the Pro Plan offers improved performance. Sites are stored on special servers with fewer users.

Pricing:
$13.95 per month with promotion – get this deal
$18.95 per month with a 12-month term
$15.95 per month with a 24-month term
$13.95 per month with a 36-month term

Bluehost offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all its shared plans. You can request a refund and cancel any long-term commitments you made. However, you will have to pay for that free domain name or any other non-refundable extras you bought.

Inmotion

Launch Plan

Inmotion’s most affordable option is the Launch Plan. It includes unlimited data and bandwidth. Plus, you can create two sites. The standard security suite, which includes a free SSL certificate and malware protection, are included as well.

Pricing:
$6.95 per month with promotion
$7.99 per month with no commitment
$7.46 per month with a 12-month term
$6.39 per month with a 24-month term

Power Plan

With the Power Plan, you can create up to 6 websites. It also has twice the performance capabilities as the previous plan, ensuring that your site runs smoothly.

Pricing:
$8.49 per month with promotion
$9.99 per month with no commitment
$9.56 per month with a 12-month term
$8.49 per month with a 24-month term

Pro Plan

Lastly, there’s the Pro Plan. It’s geared towards web developers and growing businesses. It reportedly offers 4x the performance as the cheapest plan. In addition to all of the previous features, you’re getting prioritized support for any issues you encounter.

Pricing:
$14.71 per month with promotion
$18.99 per month with no commitment
$15.80 per month with a 6-month term
$14.71 per month with a 12-month term

InMotion has a very generous refund policy. The company has a 90-day money-back guarantee, giving you plenty of time to decide if the service is right for you. If you request a refund, the amount will be prorated. Like Bluehost, the cost of a free domain is subtracted as well.

The Final Verdict

Ultimately, we have to declare Bluehost as the winner of this head-to-head battle. Despite all of the great things that InMotion brings to the table, it just can’t compete with Bluehost.

Bluehost offers impressive performance capabilities and is one of the most reliable hosts in the industry. When you pair that with the company’s WordPress integration, powerful safety features, and affordable price tag, it’s a win all around.

Free Domain Name + Hosting + Email:
From $2.95 per month