Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting

Are you confused between choosing a web hosting from Kinsta and InMotion Hosting? Do you want to compare the features of these hosts to make an informed decision for your website? If yes, this Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting detailed comparison will help you do that.

Overall, Kinsta is the best solution for most hosting needs because of many reasons which we’ll discuss here in detail shortly. However, the article will also cover the situations where InMotion Hosting will suit your current hosting requirements.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Overview

Before jumping into the detailed host comparison, let’s have an overview of Kinsta and InMotion Hosting here:

Kinsta overview

Established in 2013, Kinsta is a cloud hosting provider offering Managed WordPress solutions for your hosting needs. The host uses Google’s infrastructure to provide you with the best possible performance.

Pros of Kinsta

• Super-fast servers
• 35 server locations spread across all continents
• Excellent uptime and security
• Best technical support in the industry
• Well-optimized servers for eCommerce and high-traffic sites
• Availability of staging environment for application testing purposes

Cons of Kinsta

• Restrictions on WordPress plugins
• No email hosting or domain registrations
• No phone support
• Expensive hosting plans
• Cannot host unlimited websites in a single plan

Visit Kinsta

InMotion Hosting overview

Established in 2001, InMotion Hosting offers Shared WordPress hosting with cPanel. The host optimizes its servers for WordPress to deliver faster speed for your websites.

Additionally, Managed WordPress solutions are also available on a VPS.

Pros of InMotion Hosting

• No restrictions on WordPress plugins
• Affordable hosting plans
• Single price for unlimited sites
• Availability of NVMe drives and higher storage
• Free cPanel
• Free Domain

Cons of InMotion Hosting

• Servers are located in the USA only
• No guaranteed resources
• No free backups
• Slow checkout process
• Missing some advanced features

Consider checking out the detailed InMotion Hosting review here.

Visit InMotion Hosting

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Features comparison

Now that you have an idea about the two hosting providers, let’s compare their features side by side here:

Standout features

Here are some Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting standout features:

Kinsta standout features

• Inode limit: Kinsta uses a ZFS storage system that is capable of handling large volumes. So the disk space is not limited by file count or the number of inodes, unlike InMotion Hosting.
• Multiple advanced features: Kinsta performs automatic database optimization and utilizes self-healing technology It also has an excellent hack and malware removal system for the security of your websites. InMotion Hosting does not have these advanced features.

InMotion Hosting’s standout features

• NVMe storage: InMotion Hosting uses fast and efficient NVMe storage which is quite rare to find with a shared hosting plan. On the other hand, Kinsta uses regular SSD disks.
• Money-back guarantee: InMotion Hosting offers a 90-day money-back guarantee which is one of the longest protections provided in the hosting industry.
• SSH access: Unlike Kinsta, InMotion Hosting offers SSH access.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Ease of Use

Here is an in-depth comparison of Kinsta and InMotion Hosting’s user-friendliness:

Kinsta interface

Kinsta provides a custom interface instead of the traditional cPanel. This custom dashboard, called MyKinsta, comes with many additional features that are missing in cPanel. It is:

• Simple, clean, and easy to use
• Beginner-friendly since they can understand the platform in a matter of minutes because of its intuitiveness and well-arranged features
• Extremely fast-loading.

So Kinsta’s well-designed user interface is a real treat to use.

The host also allows you to try out its MyKinsta interface for free. Check out this useful article for a free Kinsta trial.

InMotion Hosting interface

InMotion Hosting offers a simple dashboard along with the good-old cPanel for managing your website. Unlike Kinsta, here you’ll find two separate interfaces, so do not confuse the hosting dashboard with cPanel.

• The host’s dashboard has a simple interface that is quite easy to navigate. However, it is a little outdated and requires an update in the design for a better and more modern look.
• You can easily access the control panel from within the InMotion Hosting dashboard.
• Since the host provides industry-leading cPanel, many of you will already be familiar with the interface.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Performance

Since a hosting provider’s performance decides the success of your website, let’s compare the speed and stress load times delivered by Kinsta and InMotion Hosting here:

Kinsta Performance

Kinsta has its servers located across different continents, so it delivers great performance throughout the world.

Speed

Kinsta uses Linux containers and Google Cloud as its underlying container technology. Using such top-notch infrastructure helps Kinsta deliver excellent performance.

Consider checking out the picture below to see the difference in network timings when a website starts using Kinsta:

Stress testing

Kinsta creates an isolated software container for each website on its platform. It stores all the software resources like PHP, Linux, NGINX, and MySQL that are necessary to run a site within this container.

So, the software running each website is 100% secure and private. It is not even shared between your sites if you own 2 or more websites with the host. It ensures secure and faster websites.

As seen in the screenshot above, Kinsta is capable of offering great performance. You can get an average response time below 500 ms with proper settings.

InMotion Hosting Performance

Shared hosting from InMotion Hosting is limited in I/O but the host does not share this when advertising its services. The performance is great in the US since the company has its servers in the USA.

Expect to receive an average performance in other continents.

The launch plan at InMotion Hosting offers 1 GB of physical memory. Talking about the processor, it comes with a CPU of 40%.

Speed

I used the Pingdom testing tool to determine the speed delivered by InMotion Hosting and here is the result:

As seen in the screenshot above, the host’s servers delivered a load time of 982 ms which is way above the speed delivered by Kinsta. Moreover, the test was conducted from within the US and still, it wasn’t able to load the page under 500 ms.

Stress testing

In this round of testing, InMotion Hosting did not do well at all. Its average load time jumped from 4.81 seconds (which is not good) to a terrible 10.45 seconds.

The chart above displays the average virtual user load time as the number of concurrent virtual users (VU) increases. The critical line is the blue line that shows the average user load time. It increases significantly when the number of concurrent users gets to around 50.

The average load time at InMotion was not bad until that point. But as soon as the concurrent users go above 50, the performance of the site rapidly deteriorates.

There is something wrong with the server running our test site. The numbers are so bad that we had to double-check our test site to ensure it is still the same as the site we clone across all other hosts.

But sadly, the problem was not in our test site but in the InMotion Hosting’s server.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Support

Customer support is an integral part of hosting services and helps you recover from problems that you might face while building or managing your website. So let’s compare InMotion Hosting vs Kinsta support here:

Kinsta Support

• Kinsta offers 24/7 support via live chat, email, and phone. The existing customers can even access the chat feature from within their MyKinsta dashboards.
• Kinsta’s technical support is considered the best in the hosting industry. The host has WordPress and system admin experts to handle the technical issues.
• Kinsta executives on the live chat reply within a minute to solve your problem.

All Kinsta executives are super-friendly and go the extra mile to resolve queries, whether on the server level or the site level. You can expect to receive detailed explanations for your issues:

InMotion Hosting Support

• InMotion Hosting offers customer support via phone, email, ticket, and live chat.
• The support staff responds the same day when contacted via email/ticket.
• Unlike other hosting providers who outsource their customer support, InMotion Hosting has an in-house support department. All customer care executives are from the US itself.
• You can expect to get excellent and reliable support from InMotion Hosting. The staff is quick to respond and resolve your queries. However, the waiting time can be as high as 30 minutes on some occasions.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Security

In this segment, let’s compare the security features offered by Kinsta and InMotion Hosting:

Kinsta Security

• Kinsta protects every website on its server with Cloudflare’s firewall.
• The host offers free DDoS protection, SSL certificates, and automated backups.
• Kinsta does not charge any additional amount to fix your website, unlike many other hosts, if your website gets infected.

Consider checking out the WordPress security offered by Kinsta in detail here.

InMotion Hosting Security

• InMotion Hosting offers free SSL, DDoS protection, and automated backups for your account.
• The host does not automatically integrate the Cloudflare firewall with your website, unlike Kinsta.
• You will also receive hack and malware protection with all hosting plans.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Pricing comparison

Along with the other factors, let’s compare the hosting pricing offered by these service providers here:

Kinsta pricing

Kinsta accepts payment via all major credit and debit cards. You can also purchase their annual hosting plans through wire transfers and ACH.

• The starter WordPress hosting plan with Kinsta costs $35 per month.
• The host offers huge discounts when you pay a year in advance. Also, when you are on a long-term plan and cancel your hosting plan after a few months, the host will refund the money in proportion to the unused portion.
• You will also receive a 30-day money-back guarantee with all hosting plans.
• Kinsta has an easy and seamless refund process. The host is happy to refund your money within the period allowed.

InMotion Hosting pricing

InMotion Hosting accepts payments through all major cards plus PayPal. The company also allows you to mail money orders or checks for making a purchase.

• The entry-level WordPress plan at InMotion Hosting costs $3.99 per month when you pay in advance for a 2-year term.
• Unlike Kinsta, InMotion Hosting does not allow monthly payments, except for its biggest WordPress hosting plan. So you will have to go for a 1 or 2-year term.
• The host offers a 90-day money-back guarantee on all its plans.
• The renewal prices are much higher than the initial ones. It might be because of higher operating expenses since the host has in-house support staff, thereby costing the company much more than its competitors.

You will experience a delayed account setup even after finishing the payment since the host requires manual verification.

Though the renewal hosting prices are high with InMotion Hosting, the availability of NVMe storage and so many unlimited features justify the price.

Kinsta vs InMotion Hosting: Customer reviews

I scoured the internet to find useful reviews from the real users of these hosts to help you get an idea of the hosting services offered by Kinsta and InMotion Hosting. Here they are:

Kinsta Customer Reviews

Kinsta received a rating of 4.3 out of 5 on Trustpilot. Additionally, the host got 4.8 stars out of 5 on G2. Check out some reviews from Kinsta customers here:

InMotion Hosting Customer Reviews

InMotion Hosting received a rating of 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot. Additionally, the host got 4 stars out of 5 on G2. Let’s have a look at some reviews from InMotion Hosting customers here:

Conclusion

With its managed WordPress hosting services, Kinsta is to be considered a premium host. On the other hand, InMotion Hosting is just a regular shared hosting provider with its servers optimized for WordPress.

So, the quality of services delivered by these two hosts differs a lot.

Use Kinsta if:

• Reliability and website speed are critical factors for your business.
• You want to run a single money-making business online.
• You expect to use the customer support feature a lot of times and want to have urgent answers to your queries within a matter of minutes.
• You intend to host a medium to large WordPress website with moderate to high traffic, like an eCommerce store.
• You are an agency (the host offers lucrative agency plans).

Visit Kinsta

Use InMotion Hosting if:

• You need a lot of bandwidth for your project.
• The majority of your audience is located either on the US East or US West Coast.
• You intend to host a small to medium website needing limited server performance, such as business websites for law firms, beauty salons, and bakeries.

Try InMotion Hosting services risk-free with its 90-day money-back guarantee!

Visit InMotion Hosting

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Is Kinsta a reliable source?

Yes, Kinsta is completely reliable for your website or app. Along with high-quality hosting features, the host provides a beginner-friendly user interface, excellent security, and fast customer support to ensure your success.

Is Kinsta fast?

Yes, Kinsta is extremely fast and you will see a considerable speed improvement when shifting your website from any other host to Kinsta. It is because Kinsta uses Google’s top-class infrastructure and has its servers located all over the world.

What is Kinsta used for?

Kinsta is used for managed WordPress hosting, database hosting, and application hosting projects. It is a perfect hosting solution for medium and large enterprises or website owners requiring the best site performance and super-fast load times.

Is InMotion Hosting fast?

Yes, InMotion Hosting is faster than many of its competitors (excluding Kinsta) but only in the US since its data centers are located in the US only. Moreover, its load times are good only for small to medium websites with low to moderate traffic.