InMotion vs Media Temple (2024)

By: PJ Fancher

Editor: Lillian Castro

2/4/2024

PJ Fancher Hosting Expert

“We tested InMotion & Media Temple — The winner is InMotion!”

It’s all about California love: our two web hosts hail from Los Angeles and have delivered top-tier hosting services since the early days of the web. Media Temple’s site performance and reliability serve up a great deal of value for the monthly price — ideal for business owners and developers. But InMotion doesn’t lag in the performance department either. This web host’s robust shared, WordPress, VPS, cloud, and dedicated server hosting packages appeal to all kinds of website owners. Let’s take a closer look to see which host is the best fit to power your online presence.

Overall Rating

4.9/5.0 ★★★★★

Core Plan: $2.29/month »
Launch Plan: $4.99/month »
Pro Plan: $11.91/month »

Visit InMotion »

Overall Rating

4.8/5.0 ★★★★★

"Personal" Plan: $20.00/month »
"Pro" Plan: $30.00/month »
"Elite" Plan: $60.00/month »

Visit Media Temple »

Disclosure: When you sign up through links on our site, we often earn referral fees from partners. For more information, see our ad disclosure and review policy.

Overall Hosting Comparison

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

Offering a wider range of services than most — including shared, dedicated, VPS, and even WordPress-specific plans — InMotion Hosting features a great combination of industry-leading hardware, always-there support, and mass scalability for all hosting needs.

InMotion Hosting has ultra-modern SSD drives on its shared plans, which give an added speed boost to your site. If a little extra speed is worth a few dollars more a month, then InMotion is a good choice for you.

The company's customer service and reputation are excellent in the shared space, though InMotion tends to be a bit higher priced than some competitors.

In testing InMotion servers and account backends ourselves, there are a few things InMotion does that we especially appreciate.

First and foremost, we like to see free and automated backups included with each plan, as data security is vitally important.

The company also offers zero-downtime site transfers, which makes switching to InMotion or between its hosting plans a breeze.

Finally, multiple datacenters and the ability to choose which will house your site appeals to speed freaks like us.

Regardless of your hosting needs, InMotion seems to have your bases covered. If you value great hardware and support, all at a reasonable price, we highly recommend InMotion as your next host.

FREE SSD drives included with all hosting plans
Zero-downtime website transfers and migrations
FREE backups, SSL, and DDoS protection
Choice of East Coast or West Coast datacenter
Multi-language support for PHP, Ruby, and Perl
Get started on InMotion now.

Money Back Guarantee

90 days

Disk Space

100 GB SSD - Unlimited

Domain Name

FREE (1 year)

Best Overall Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

You've heard all the buzzwords: VPS, the cloud, clustered architecture — it all started here! If site performance and reliability matter to you, look no further than Media Temple's Grid hosting service. Considered the first public cloud host, Media Temple is the benchmark by which all other hosts are measured.

Interested in what makes Media Temple's Grid so exceptional? How about its exclusive cluster of redundant, blazing-fast SSDs. That means your database will never slow down your site, regardless of the amount of traffic you take in. Other features that make your site scream are pre-installed PHP with FastCGI and the TrueSpeed CDN by SiteLock.

For the novice users, please don't let the jargon scare you. The best part about all those features is they are there automatically, allowing you to focus on the other details that make your website great. Automatic data backups and security mean that your data is always safe. All of that is wrapped up nicely in an extremely easy-to-use interface built by the experts at Media Temple.

The company provides award-winning 24/7/365 live support via phone, chat, email tickets, and Twitter. If you are ready to take your website to the next level, there is no better host to consider than Media Temple.

One-of-a-kind, clustered Grid hosting platform
Maintains speed, regardless of traffic
SSD database storage and scalable bandwidth
Best-in-class support via, phone, chat, email, and Twitter
Custom-built control panel and 20+ app installs
Get started on Media Temple now.

Money Back Guarantee

30 days

Disk Space

20 GB SSD - 250 GB SSD

Domain Name

New or Transfer

Cheap Hosting Comparison

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

#6 out of 10 in Cheap Hosting reviews

InMotion Hosting offers an excellent business-class shared hosting plan — with a price tag lower than several other budget hosts.

For the IT crowd in the audience, you’ll appreciate SSH access, as well as support for PHP, Ruby, Perl, Python, WP-CLI, and other popular languages.

You’ll also appreciate the 20-times faster speed, which comes from all-SSD storage and your choice of datacenter locations.

You needn’t worry about data security, as InMotion plans include automatic data backups.

For the rest of us, we can appreciate the convenience of the free website transfers and 24/7 US-based support.

A free domain registration and WordPress website builder with eCommerce support are also appealing.

The overall package and business-class hardware make InMotion’s shared hosting a great choice for businesses or those looking for a little higher-end hardware.

And, as one of the few remaining independently owned hosting providers left on the market, InMotion has taken every effort to remain cost-competitive.

FREE BoldGrid site builder and templates
FREE website, domain, and cPanel migrations
SSD storage makes your site load up to 20x faster
Security suite includes SSL and hack protection
Unlimited bandwidth and email accounts
Get started on InMotion now.

Money Back Guarantee

90 days

Disk Space

100 GB SSD - Unlimited SSD

Domain Name

FREE (1 year)

Cheap Rating

★★★★★ 3.0/5.0

If site performance and reliability matter to you, look no further than Media Temple's unique Grid hosting service. Ranked lower on our list of cheap hosts because of the high price tag, the performance value of Media Temple’s service is hard to fully appreciate when compared with the crowd of bargain-basement hosting providers.

The company's forward-thinking shared hosting platform is built with cloud-grade scalability and redundancy — this is not an average shared hosting plan. Media Temple clusters servers with blazing-fast SSDs to provide top-notch reliability and room to grow.

Despite the complicated, high-priced services, Media Temple excels at providing a positive, streamlined user experience. The custom-built control panel seamlessly directs you to the adjustable resources and tools you need to succeed, all while the company's team of support agents is constantly on standby to help. Media Temple's award-winning service is available 24/7/365 via phone, chat, email tickets, and even Twitter.

If you are ready to take your website to the next level, no matter the cost, there is no better host to consider than Media Temple.

Unique platform powered by clustered servers
One-click scalability for ultra-fast speed
Ample SSD storage and dedicated containers
Live customer support available 24/7/365
Around-the-clock monitoring and DDoS protection
Get started on Media Temple now.

Money Back Guarantee

30 days

Disk Space

20 GB SSD - 250 GB SSD

Domain Name

New or Transfer

Dedicated Hosting Comparison

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#1 out of 8 in Dedicated Hosting reviews

InMotion Hosting offers amazingly fast and reliable dedicated hosting on market-leading hardware — making it an easy choice for anyone seeking a premium dedicated server host.

From free SSDs to a fanatical support team, InMotion has all the bases covered for both small-scale and large-scale operations.

Unlike some hosts, InMotion gives SSH and root access to its servers. Each plan comes in bare metal or fully managed flavors. The latter includes two to four hours of dedicated time with a system administrator, which is an excellent help in getting your site configured to meet your needs.

Managed servers also come set up with free cPanel and WHM for easy management, while unmanaged server operators can choose among CentOS, Debian, or Ubuntu operating systems.

Plenty of CPU power, RAM, and storage come with each plan, as well as lots of dedicated IP addresses.

Perhaps our favorite feature of InMotion is the company's zero-downtime, rebootless kernel updates, which are partially the reason for InMotion's superb 99.999% uptime.

InMotion has a 30-day money-back guarantee on their dedicated plans, which is fairly rare and just another reason you can’t go wrong selecting the company as your dedicated host.

Bare-metal or managed servers available
1-on-1 time with a server administrator
99.99% uptime via Smart Routing™ technology
Tier 1 network with redundant bandwidth
SSH root access and DDoS protection on all servers
Upgrade for cPanel, migration, and auto backups
Get started on InMotion now.

Money Back Guarantee

30 days

Disk Space

1 TB SSD - 3.2 TB SSD

Domain Name

New or Transfer

Dedicated Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

Are limitless server resources and a clean neighborhood invaluable to your business? If you answered "yes," look no further than Media Temple’s dedicated hosting. While not for everyone because of the higher-than-average pricing, there is no arguing the impressiveness of this enterprise-level server.

Offering self-, semi-, or fully-managed options, Media Temple’s dedicated servers have boundless flexibility to go with their power. First, start with your choice of Linux operating systems pre-installed for you. Then, if you are on the self-managed plan, the sky is the limit with full root access (the stuff geeks dream about). If you opt for the semi- or fully-managed solutions, you get to choose between the always-familiar cPanel or Plesk control panels, or even receive the assistance of one of the company's system administrators. Those customers enjoy performance monitoring, daily backups, operating system and application updates, constant security, and regular malware scanning.

All of that comes with a pretty hefty price tag, but the next-level services and computing power goes a long way toward justifying the investment. If you already use the company's VPS options and are in need of something more, you’ll be pleased to hear that it is a seamless, zero-downtime transition to a dedicated server.

Finally, Media Temple offers a 99.99% service uptime guarantee on the company's dedicated products. If the company falls short, you get 20% of your monthly hosting fee back for each 20 minutes of downtime that month.

Your choice of fully, semi-, or self-managed service
Multi-core CPUs, 128GB RAM, and 1TB SSDs
Scale up instantly from VPS hosting
99.99% network, hardware, and infrastructure uptime guarantee
Choice of Linux OS with optional cPanel or Plesk
Get started on Media Temple now.

Money Back Guarantee

30 days

Disk Space

1 TB SSD

Domain Name

New or Transfer

VPS Hosting Comparison

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

#7 out of 9 in VPS Hosting reviews

Boasting market-leading VPS hardware, slick management software, and free SSD drives and backups, InMotion Hosting competes to win when it comes to managed VPS hosting packages.

The host initiates its VPS customer relationship with free website migrations and up to two hours of launch assistance from an experienced sysadmin.

Customers then enjoy highly available servers, seamless scalability options, and premium support — at a fair price.

Enjoy SSD storage arranged in a RAID-6 array, DDoS attack prevention powered by Corero, and routine server snapshots and rollback options.

Performance and security are clearly priorities for this hosting company. When it comes to bandwidth, disk space, and other usage allowances, we found these VPS packages to be competitive with other industry leaders.

All plans run on the CentOS Linux operating system and feature a license for cPanel and WHM, making it super easy to resell some unused server resources, too.

Ultimately, InMotion Hosting's reputation for uptime is second to none.

With a solid track record as a large-scale host, the company's sweet spot is found in its virtual, cloud, and dedicated server offerings. Should you get stuck, the support team is available 24/7.

Based on our experience, we'd highly recommend InMotion to those seeking flexible/easily configurable and cost-competitive virtual private servers backed by equally available support.

HostingAdvice readers get 67% off the first term
FREE site migrations and 2 hours of Launch Assist
2 - 3 dedicated IP address options
FREE cPanel/WHM licenses included
Highly available servers with real-time redundancy
Get started on InMotion now.

Money Back Guarantee

90 days

Disk Space

90 GB SSD - 360 GB SSD

Domain Name

FREE (1 year)

VPS Rating

★★★★★ 4.6/5.0

Although Media Temple is more expensive than most hosts, the company's managed VPS hosting is second to none from a performance perspective. With an incredible amount of hardware for the price and fully-managed virtualized servers, Media Temple offers serious VPS hosting for serious people.

In today’s online world, speed matters. Whether it’s website conversions or search engine exposure, how fast your site loads dictates a lot. That is where Media Temple’s VPS shines. The company's all-SSD servers, guaranteed resources, and instant scalability mean you are ready for anything.

Beyond straight speed, what you are truly paying for with Media Temple is reliability. The company boasts a ridiculous SLA that guarantees a 99.99% uptime, or less than an hour of downtime for the entire year.

We love ourselves some awesome modern hardware, but our favorite part about Media Temple has always been the team's support and luxurious managed services. At a fraction of a dedicated IT team, offering assistance by phone, chat, email, or Twitter, the company's award-winning support staff is standing by no matter the issue.

All-SSD servers, guaranteed resources, and auto-backups
1-click installations of hundreds of scripts and applications
Above-average 99.99% uptime guarantee
Choice of Plesk or cPanel plus root access
Managed services with performance and security monitoring
Get started on Media Temple now.

Money Back Guarantee

30 days

Disk Space

30 GB SSD - 600 GB SSD

Domain Name

New or Transfer

WordPress Hosting Comparison

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.9/5.0

#5 out of 8 in WordPress Hosting reviews

InMotion Hosting, long known for affordable and high-performance shared hosting options, entered the WordPress space with a solid option built upon the company's reputation for great support and reliability.

Build on an all-SSD infrastructure, InMotion's inherently quick speeds make the infrastructure a perfect fit for delivering rapid WordPress page loads.

Options like integrated staging help take full advantage of the nice, modern hardware, and ample server caching tools are a good perk.

The choice of datacenters (East or West) is nice, as well, as it allows you to target your local audience with better load times.

InMotion offers four levels to its WordPress hosting offerings, which allows you to tailor the hosting to your needs or budget.

For those needing ecommerce support, the company's middle or top offerings have you covered, while all three include InMotion's drag-and-drop BoldGrid page editor.

Each hosting package InMotion offers comes with a free domain, unlimited disk space, unlimited emails, and free data backups for data security.

If you need it, each plan also has support for PHP, Ruby, Perl, and Python, and includes SSH access.

InMotion Hosting has made a name for itself on support and reliability. While not the cheapest of the budget WordPress hosts, the packages offered are solid in performance and feature sets.

Up to 12x faster WordPress hosting
FREE SSL certificate and SSD storage
Automatic WordPress plugin, theme, and core updates
Features a FREE drag-and-drop WP page editor
Premium themes and plugin subscriptions
Get started on InMotion now.

Money Back Guarantee

90 days

Disk Space

100 GB - Unlimited SSD

Domain Name

FREE (1 year)

WordPress Rating

★★★★★ 4.7/5.0

Media Temple has long been one of our favorite web hosts for luxury managed hosting, and the company's WordPress offerings are no exception. If you value cutting-edge technology, do not overlook Media Temple. Having helped pioneer cloud technology, the company has taken its knowledge and applied it to an exceptional WordPress-focused plan.

Web developers will love Media Temple's fully integrated tools, such as one-click staging, site cloning, and standard Git integration. SSH, SFTP, and phpMyAdmin access are also appreciated additions. Everyone can appreciate the company's modern load-balanced, all-SSD hardware.

Media Temple’s interface is incredibly approachable and easy to use, and the company's support is truly second to none. A quick setup wizard gets you going and automated daily backups, core updates, and 24/7 uptime monitoring remove the stress of any maintenance.

Starting at $20.00 per month for two sites, Media Temple is a moderately priced managed WordPress host. With features comparable to other WordPress-specific packages elsewhere, the company's modern hardware and exception support make Media Temple a strong consideration for anyone serious about their website’s performance.

Picked as a top WordPress host among developers
Preview changes with custom staging environment
Automatic WordPress core updates
Blazing-fast servers, SSDs, and built-in caching
WP Easy Mode suggests themes and plugins
Get started on Media Temple now.

Money Back Guarantee

30 days

Disk Space

50 GB SSD - 200 GB SSD

Domain Name

New or Transfer

Site Builder Hosting Comparison

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ 4.8/5.0

If you're aiming to build a dynamic, user-oriented website — an active blog, a photo gallery, an ecommerce store — check out InMotion Hosting.

The InMotion team is extremely knowledgeable in the hosting industry, and they're attuned to the ever-evolving needs of the end-user — from the ultra-novice to the über-experienced.

Evidence of the team's attention to user needs can be found in BoldGrid. The proprietary website builder platform was received so well by the market that InMotion decided to spin the web builder off into its own company.

BoldGrid functions on top of WordPress, bringing intuitiveness and ease of use to a content management environment notorious for bringing beginners frustration.

With hundreds of templates and a nice WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, getting started with a new site is a fairly quick and easy process. You can play around with the plethora of site templates, preview the site that could soon be yours, and get a feel for which look most closely matches your intended design or brand.

BoldGrid comes free on all of InMotion's shared hosting packages, which come with all the essential hosting goodies and some of the best support money can buy.

Each plan offers powerful hardware, a free domain name, and free data backups — that last one being an extremely valuable feature.

InMotion does have lengthy signup periods for their best deals, but they offer a 90-day money-back guarantee to help you feel confident that they are the right host for you.

FREE site builder comes with all WordPress plans
FREE domain with tons of options to customize and scale
200+ easy-to-edit blog, gallery, and ecommerce themes
Customizable templates come with industry-specific starter content
Easy SEO tools and mobile-friendly designs
Get started on InMotion now.

Money Back Guarantee

90 days

Disk Space

100 GB SSD - Unlimited SSD

Domain Name

FREE (1 year)

Website Builder Rating

★★★★★ N/A

Media Temple does not currently offer this type of hosting. We would not recommend choosing this host for this hosting category.

InMotion vs. Media Temple - Our Conclusion

PJ Fancher Hosting Expert

“We tested InMotion & Media Temple — The winner is InMotion!”

While you can expect to pay more for Media Temple’s plans, you receive high performance and impressive uptime rates. With an entry-level package, your business will have plenty of storage and bandwidth to grow significantly. But InMotion’s shared, VPS, cloud, and (especially) WordPress plans are hard to beat. The premium features included in the host’s packages offer an excellent price-for-performance tradeoff. Take a close look at our complete reviews of each host before making your final decision.

Overall Rating

4.9/5.0 ★★★★★

Visit InMotion »

Overall Rating

4.8/5.0 ★★★★★

Visit Media Temple »

About The Author

PJ Fancher is a professional web developer with more than 20 years of experience. His background began with writing small web applications using Perl, PHP, and MySQL in 1998. He has well-rounded experience with all aspects of web development, from server and database configuration to scripting, styling, design, and SEO. Today he brings his passion for web development to the team at Digital Brands Inc., helping to develop unique, high-quality, highly-optimized websites. He is ready to share his extensive knowledge and experience with the world of web hosting.