You clicked an ad for InMotion Hosting at $2.99 a month. Then checkout showed $142. Now you’re wondering whether the cheap rate is real or plain bait.
Fair question. I’ve hosted several sites with InMotion over the past few years and pushed their checkout flow around more times than I can count while writing for BriskPick. The pricing is less sneaky than it first looks, honestly, but only once you understand the structure. That’s the point of this piece: intro rates, renewal jumps, and the add-ons I’d skip.
## Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
– Intro pricing starts at **$2.99/month** (Core plan) with a long-term commitment.
– Renewal rates roughly double: Core lands near **$9.99/mo**, Launch near **$12.99/mo**, Power near **$17.99/mo**.
– Advertised rates require a **12-36 month term paid upfront**. Month-to-month billing costs more, usually $10-15/month for shared plans.
– Every plan includes **free SSL, a free domain for year one, and free site migrations**.
– The **90-day money-back guarantee** is the longest in shared hosting. Most rivals give you 30 days.
– Best value for most readers: the **Launch plan**.
– VPS hosting starts around **$29.99/mo**; dedicated servers around **$139.99/mo**.
Check InMotion’s current pricing and promos before you buy. Numbers shift now and then.
## How InMotion Pricing Actually Works
Two things create the gap between the ad and your cart total.
First, the teaser rate assumes you pay for 12, 24, or 36 months upfront. The 36-month term gets you the lowest number. Refuse to commit and billing goes monthly, which usually runs $10-15 for shared plans. Big difference.
Second, renewal. When your term ends, the plan auto-renews at standard pricing, roughly double the promo rate. Nobody leads with that in their ads.
That $142 you saw? It’s the 36-month term at $2.99 ($107.64), plus a domain, plus tax, plus a few pre-selected extras. Untick what you don’t need and the total drops fast. Read the summary page before you click. Seriously.
## Shared Hosting Plans and Prices
Shared hosting is where most people start, and InMotion keeps it to three tiers: Core, Launch, and Power.
| Plan | Intro Price | Renewal (approx.) | Websites | Storage |
|——|————-|——————-|———-|———|
| Core | $2.99/mo | ~$9.99/mo | 1 | 10 GB NVMe SSD |
| Launch | $4.99/mo | ~$12.99/mo | 2 | 40 GB NVMe SSD |
| Power | $7.99/mo | ~$17.99/mo | Up to 50 | 100 GB NVMe SSD |
These figures reflect 36-month terms at the time of writing. InMotion tweaks things occasionally, so double-check before you pay.
### Core: $2.99/mo
The entry tier. One website, 10 GB of NVMe SSD storage, free SSL, a free domain for year one, and about 10 email inboxes.
It’s fine for a personal blog, a portfolio, or a simple brochure site. One catch: backups are more limited here than on higher tiers. Pair Core with a free WordPress backup plugin and you’re covered.
### Launch: $4.99/mo
My pick for most readers. Two websites, 40 GB of NVMe storage, 50 email inboxes, and automatic backups included.
Those two slots fit your main site plus a landing page, a staging copy, or a side project. For a small business, that’s usually enough room to breathe.
### Power: $7.99/mo
Built for heavy users. Up to 50 sites, 100 GB of NVMe storage, and hack and malware protection included. That security layer costs extra with plenty of competitors.
If you handle client work or juggle side projects, one Power subscription beats paying for several Launch accounts. Simple math.
## WordPress Hosting Pricing
Good news first: the WordPress tiers mirror the shared ones. Core WP, Launch WP, Power WP, same prices, same resources.
Underneath sits UltraStack, InMotion’s performance platform: NGINX caching, PHP tuning, and server-level optimization designed for WP specifically. Staging environments come included too, which makes plugin updates way less scary.
Real example from my own work: I moved a sluggish WooCommerce store onto their WP setup a while back, and load times fell from roughly 2.8 seconds to under 1.5. One site, not a lab benchmark. Still, the stack is legit.
## VPS and Dedicated Server Pricing
Outgrowing shared hosting? The upgrade path here is solid.
– **Cloud VPS**: entry configurations start around **$29.99/mo** and scale past **$90/mo** as you add CPU, RAM, and storage. Root access, snapshots, and free SSLs come standard.
– **Managed VPS**: expect **$50-150+/mo** depending on specs, with InMotion handling the admin work.
– **Dedicated servers**: from about **$139.99/mo**. You get the entire machine, plus free migrations on select tiers.
To be frank, most small businesses never need dedicated hardware. High-traffic stores and compliance-heavy projects, sure. Everyone else is burning money.
## What’s Actually Included Free
This is where InMotion earns my respect. Plenty of budget hosts nickel-and-dime you for the basics. Here the bundle is genuinely decent:
– **Free SSL certificates** on every plan
– **Free domain** for the first year on annual terms
– **Free email hosting**, 10 to 50 inboxes depending on tier
– **Free website migrations**, their team moves your site for you
– **Automatic backups** on Launch and Power
– **Hack and malware protection** on Power
– **24/7 US-based support** by phone, chat, and email. The crew sits in Virginia Beach, and yes, a human actually picks up.
– **90-day money-back guarantee**
That guarantee deserves a closer look. Ninety days, refund on request, and you can build, break, and rebuild a whole site inside that window. Thirty days is the industry norm, which barely gives you time to test anything properly. One catch: claim the free domain and its registration fee comes off your refund. Standard practice across hosting companies, but know it going in.
## Checkout Add-Ons: What I Skip
Expect a pile of extras pitched at checkout. The usual suspects:
– **Backup add-ons**: pointless on Launch or Power, since backups are included already.
– **Security bundles like SiteLock**: redundant if you chose Power, which has malware protection built in.
– **Dedicated IP**: almost nobody needs one in 2025. Skip it unless a specific app demands it.
– **Priority support lines**: regular support answered my chat tickets within minutes, so I’ve never seen the value.
Honest admission: I’ve declined every add-on across multiple signups and never missed one. The real thing to watch is the pre-ticked boxes, including that long default term. Slow down on the summary page.
## So What Should You Actually Pay?
Pick **Launch** on a 24- or 36-month term, skip the extras, and untick anything pre-selected.
Quick math on the 36-month option: $4.99 × 36 comes to roughly $180 upfront. After that, each renewal year runs about $156 ($12.99 × 12). Take whatever the standard rate is, multiply by 12, and treat that as your true annual cost. The teaser number in the ad is not your budget.
Is InMotion cheap? Not at renewal. But the support is human and the freebies are real, which softens the sting. And with 90 days to change your mind, testing it costs you almost nothing.