A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting: the battle of the titans
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Miglė Šeikytė
Content Lead
In this A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting comparison, I’ll examine each host’s pricing, ease of use, performance, security, support, and how they fare against each other.
Both hosting veterans with over 20 years of experience, A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting, seem more alike than different. Background aside, both are also speed-focused, budget-friendly, and business-oriented.
But, under the hood is where the hosts' many differences come to light, and the A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting comparison heats up.
So, let’s pop the hood, get to work, and find out which is the better hosting provider for you.
A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting: general info
| InMotion | A2 Hosting | |
| ⭐ Rating: | ||
| 💵 Price: | From $2.29/month | From $1.95/month |
| 📑 Uptime guarantee: | 99.9% | 99.9% |
| 🔥 Coupons: | InMotion Hosting coupon 75% OFF! | A2 Hosting coupon 84% OFF! |
| Storage space (from): | 100 GB SSD | 100 GB SSD |
| ✂️ Free domain (first year): | Yes (all but Core plan) | No |
| 🔒 Free SSL certificate: | Yes | Yes |
| ➡️ Site migration: | Free automated WordPress website transfers | Free (1 site) and paid option for larger migrations |
| 💾 Automated backups: | For an extra fee | Yes (Drive, Turbo Boost, and Turbo Max plans) |
| 📧 Email accounts: | Free (up to 10 accounts) | Free (unlimited accounts) |
| 👨💻 24/7 live support: | Yes | Yes |
| 💰 Money-back guarantee: | 90-day | A 30-day full refund or an anytime refund for unused services |
A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting: pricing comparison
InMotion Hosting is the more affordable host, with its cheapest shared hosting option priced at $2.29/mo. Meanwhile, A2 Hosting is just a tad bit pricier, with its entry shared hosting plan costing $1.95/mo.
Additionally, both providers also have other types of hosting:
| Hosting type | A2 Hosting | InMotion Hosting |
| Shared hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| WordPress hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Cloud hosting | ❌ | ✔️ |
| VPS hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Reseller hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Dedicated hosting | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Visit A2 Hosting | Visit InMotion Hosting |
While both hosts have many options to offer, shared hosting is still the shoo-in hosting service. And that’s why it’s the focus of this InMotion Hosting vs A2 Web Hosting comparison.
First, let’s talk about each provider’s cheapest plan. Both plans include 100GB SSD storage space, unlimited bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and DDoS protection.
As for the differences:
- A2 Hosting’s Startup ($1.95/mo) can host 1 website and includes unlimited email accounts, server-level firewall, server hardening, virus scanning, and brute force defense.
- InMotion Hosting’s Core ($2.29/mo) can host 2 websites and includes 10 email addresses, malware & hack protection, and ModSecurity.
InMotion’s Core has the lead here as it’s cheaper than A2 Hosting’s Startup. Plus, it can host 2 websites, which isn’t common for entry plans.
Of course, those are just the cheapest plans. Both providers have more plans to suit various needs. So, which one should you choose?
A2 Hosting has 4 shared hosting plans, with prices ranging from $1.95/mo to $14.99/mo.
While both Startup and Drive are very generous in terms of resources. However, the true value hides within A2 Hosting’s Turbo plans as they include better performance.
Turbo Boost retails at $6.99/mo, and for that, you get – Turbo Servers boosted by NVMe storage on AMD Epyc servers, A2 Optimized Site Accelerator, and LiteSpeed optimizations. You also get attractive premium features like cloning and staging.
For the value and price ratio, opt for the Turbo Boost, and pick a 3-year subscription. This way you’ll get to enjoy the advertised $6.99/mo for longer.
Similarly, InMotion Hosting also has 4 plans priced between $2.29/mo and $12.99/mo.
To be honest, if you’re planning a smaller site with medium traffic, the Core plan is an excellent choice. However, if that seems just a tad bit limiting, Launch is the overall winner.
For just $4.99/mo, you get unlimited websites, storage, and email addresses, as well as a free domain and unmetered bandwidth. While Power retails for the same introductory price, significantly higher renewal prices knock it out of running for the best plan.
To secure the best deal, pick the Launch plan and opt for the 36-month billing cycle. This way, you’ll secure the lowest monthly rate of $4.99.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning how both providers differ in terms of money-back guarantees. InMotion Hosting offers a very generous 90-day money-back guarantee. At the same time, A2 Hosting has a standard A 30-day full refund or an anytime refund for unused services money-back guarantee policy, plus an any-time prorated refund for unused services.
Overall, while A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting are very similarly priced, the latter is slightly cheaper and more liberal with its resources/features.
Hosting management: ease of use
If you look at InMotion Hosting vs A2 Hosting for management, both are equally easy to use, as they employ a very similar approach: a user interface mainly for billing and a cPanel for website management. At the same time, A2 Hosting’s WHMCS (Web Host Manager Complete Solution) is a little more simplistic, while InMotion’s AMP (Account Management Panel) is more functional.
A2 Hosting’s WHMCS is quite outdated. However, the silver lining is that there’s really no learning curve since it’s as simple as it gets, and everything is just a few clicks away. You mainly only need it for billing and reaching the cPanel anyways.
Now, the cPanel is where the action’s at. The cPanel is home to a wide range of features and tools that are needed for website management. These include domains, email, metrics, software, security, CMS installations, and many more.
In terms of looks, A2 Hosting is using a very standard cPanel version, with no custom skin, branding, or design tweaks. However, this has no impact on the functionality – the panel is still very intuitive and accessible.
All of the tools and features are carefully organized under different categories for easy navigation. There’s a search bar to help find functions quickly, too. Beginners and experienced users alike should be able to handle the control panel with ease.
InMotion Hosting, like A2 Hosting, uses a combination of an account management panel and a cPanel. The native AMP isn’t going to wow you with cutting-edge design, but it’s very clean, and everything is easily within reach.
It’s mainly used for things like billing, account details, an SSL setup and activation, as well as cPanel short links to domains and emails. Plus, you can use it to easily access cPanel, which is vital since that’s the main panel for website management.
From the cPanel dashboard, you can easily manage domains, emails, databases, and files. The cPanel is also where you can install any content management system (CMS) with the help of the Softaculous app installer.
Look-wise, it’s quite a departure from A2 Hosting’s cPanel, since InMotion Hosting has dressed up its version with a custom skin. But, branding edits aside, InMotion’s cPanel is just as user-friendly.
All tools and features are neatly filed under broader categories. And, everything you need to run your website is within sight. Plus, there’s the search bar to hurry things along.
To sum it up, both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting delivered on the ease of use front. But, with A2 Hosting, its simplicity is at the expense of sleekness, while InMotion Hosting does a better job balancing the 2 qualities.
A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting performance
The neck-to-neck A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting battle continues with performance comparison. Both proved their strength with excellent uptime and loading speed. However, A2 Hosting is slightly more reliable, with a 99.99% uptime. In contrast, InMotion Hosting is one of the fastest shared hosting providers out there and loads its site well below a second.
Uptime and response time
To really see how good each provider’s servers are, I’ve examined both hosts over the same time period. During the said period, the providers demonstrated great reliability.
In 2 months' time, A2 Hosting experienced 4 outages or just 7 minutes of downtime as a whole. This has led to a very impressive 99.99% uptime.
Knowing that the official provides guarantee promises 99.9%, this is a win in my books.
Meanwhile, its average response time was, well… average – 597ms. While this is nothing to stress about, this is a little too close to the market’s average of 600ms.
As for InMotion Hosting, the provider was extremely reliable. Over 2 months, the host saw 3 outages, which resulted in 16 minutes of downtime. This has worked out to a highly reliable 99.9% uptime.
While this is just a bit behind the A2 Hosting’s uptime, InMotion still surpasses its own 99.9% uptime guarantee by a mile.
As for the average response time, the host was a little sluggish with its 759ms. However, while not ideal, this does not temper with good user experience. So, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it just yet.
Overall, A2 Hosting performed better for this round. It’s slightly more reliable with almost-perfect uptime and a more responsive server.
Website speed
In terms of a fully-built WordPress site loading time, both providers went full throttle. However, InMotion Hosting took the crown by demonstrating an overall faster speed.
Before we get to the specifics, there are 2 main measures I took into consideration for this test:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – this is the time it takes to load the largest element (image, video, font, etc.) on the page. According to Google, this time should be under 2.5s to be considered good.
- Fully loaded time – this is the time in which all the elements on the site get fully loaded. For the best user experience, this time should be under 3 seconds.
With A2 Hosting, I got an LCP of 1.3s. Its fully loaded time followed close behind at 1.4s. Both numbers are well within the recommended time frames. So, that’s really good.
Even better, A2 Hosting allows picking a server location. You can choose from 4 locations – Michigan and Arizona (the US), Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Singapore (Singapore) .
As for InMotion Hosting, the host was downright impressive. Its LCP was just 663ms, that’s just about half of A2 Hosting’s LCP.
Meanwhile, its fully loaded time was also at an incredible 825ms. This makes InMotion Hosting one of the fastest shared hosting providers.
However, it’s good to note that the host’s servers are located in the US alone. This suggests that the best performance can be expected for US audiences too.
In brief, both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting are remarkably fast. However, InMotion Hosting reigns supreme with its significantly faster page loading speed.
All things considered, while both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting are very performance-oriented, InMotion managed to gain a bit of an edge in terms of speed and reliability.
Website security
Both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting have the security department well covered. The providers offer heightened protection with basic and advanced security features. At the same time, both are lacking basic automated backups.
Here are what both hosts have to offer:
- Free SSL certificates for all hosting plans. Additionally, advanced options are also available for purchase.
- DDoS protection – A2 Hosting has built-in protection, while InMotion’s DDoS protection by Corero is automatically enabled.
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) with ModSecurity. The module can be enabled from the cPanel, and it helps to detect and prevent malicious attacks.
- Malware protection and patching tools – A2 Hosting has Patchman Enhanced Security Tool, while InMotion’s measure is handled internally.
Apart from the above, A2 Hosting also offers:
- 24/7 server monitoring.
- Automatic daily backups but only for its Drive and other advanced plans.
InMotion Hosting, on the other hand, offers:
- Automatic daily backups and 1-click restore for $24.00/yr.
Overall, it’s a close call for this round of A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting, as both cover most vulnerabilities, with their robust measures. However, A2 Hosting is among some of the most secure web hosting solutions and manages to take the edge with its more robust package.
Customer support
You can reach A2 Hosting and InMotion’s support via 24/7 live chat, phone, emails, and ticketing. Additionally, the pair also has well-supplied knowledge bases with articles covering all the key topics.
A2 Hosting prioritizes its ticketing system when it comes to support. So, more often than not, its customer support team will direct your phone calls and live chats to that channel, especially if you need technical help.
While that streamlines the process, it also means that there’s a fair bit of waiting and back-and-forths before your issue is resolved. But, on the plus side, the agents are well-trained and knowledgeable.
If you need swift help, you’d do better to search for an answer in A2 Hosting’s huge knowledge base. The articles within cover pretty much every aspect of hosting.
As for InMotion Hosting, its live chat service is top-notch. The agents are often quick to jump on the chat and are well-trained to answer your questions and resolve your problems.
But, if you prefer self-research, its massive knowledge base is where you should head to. Whether you need troubleshooting help, tutorials, or more details on how to manage a site, you’ll find it all here.
Overall, both hosts’ customer support services tick the needed boxes. However, InMotion Hosting takes the prize since its agents are more accessible and there are no unnecessary delays.
A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting: final recommendations
It isn’t all that shocking that this A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting comparison is so heated since the hosts do share many similarities. Yet there are many differences too. A2 Hosting is more costly but highly reliable, secure, and easy to use. On the flipside, InMotion Hosting is cheaper, user-friendly, and incredibly fast.
| Feature | A2 Hosting | InMotion Hosting | Verdict |
| Price | InMotion is the cheaper host, with prices starting at $2.29/mo, while A2 Hosting’s similar plans start from $1.95/mo. | ||
| Ease of use | Both providers pair their user interfaces with cPanel. InMotion’s version is more modern and user-friendly. | ||
| Performance | A2 Hosting demonstrated better uptime and better average response time, while InMotion showed faster page load results. | ||
| Security | The providers offer relatively robust protection. But, both had struggles when it came to automatic backup service. | ||
| Customer support | Both hosts also offer many support channels and jam-packed knowledge bases. However, InMotion’s support team is more accessible and helpful. |
If you count up the wins, InMotion Hosting comes out on top. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s also more generous with its resources. Beyond that, InMotion Hosting also delivered in terms of reliability, speed, security, and support.
That said, A2 Hosting is a close second. If you’re in the market for a beginner-friendly, reliable, and secure provider, it’s a good choice.
Alternatives to A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting
If A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting aren’t to your liking, there are more good hosting options out there. I’ve shortlisted 3 providers that might be right for you.
Hostinger
Hostinger is one of the best hosts you can get for cheap. Its prices start from $2.54/mo, and, in return, you get a beginner-friendly platform that delivers excellent uptime, fast load time, and quality customer service.
Bluehost
Bluehost is a WordPress-focused provider that caters mostly to beginners and small businesses. The starting price for its shared hosting stands at just $1.99/mo. For that, you get many WordPress-centered perks, an easy-to-use platform, and great performance.
DreamHost
Another WordPress-centered provider, DreamHost is known for its generous resources, abundant WordPress-optimizing features, and fantastic performance. Its plans start from a very affordable price of $2.59/mo.
Other A2 Hosting comparisons you might like to check out
Other InMotion Hosting comparisons you’d like to read
- InMotion Hosting vs Bluehost
- SiteGround vs InMotion Hosting
- HostGator vs InMotion Hosting
- DreamHost vs InMotion Hosting
A2 Hosting vs InMotion Hosting FAQs
Which is better for beginners: InMotion Hosting or A2 Hosting?
InMotion Hosting is better for beginners, even though both providers would suit newbies. InMotion Hosting’s AMP is more user-friendly and intuitive.
Is A2 Hosting better than InMotion Hosting?
No, A2 Hosting is not better than InMotion Hosting. InMotion Hosting is cheaper, noticeably faster, and has better customer support.
What's the price difference between InMotion Hosting and A2 Hosting?
InMotion Hosting is cheaper, but the specific price difference between InMotion Hosting and A2 Hosting depends on the services. For instance, InMotion is dollars cheaper for InMotion Hosting vs A2 Hosting reseller hosting, but only cents cheaper for shared hosting.
A2 Hosting vs InMotion for WordPress hosting – which is better?
A2 Hosting is better for WordPress hosting. It offers more WordPress optimizations and perks like cache, staging environment, and plugin sets. However, many of these optimizations are only available with more expensive plans.
Do both A2 Hosting and InMotion offer money-back guarantees?
Yes, both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting offer money-back guarantees. A2 Hosting offers a standard A 30-day full refund or an anytime refund for unused services money-back guarantee and an any-time any-time money-back guarantee. At the same time, InMotion Hosting has an excellent 90-day satisfaction guarantee.
Is A2 Hosting faster than InMotion Hosting?
No, InMotion Hosting is faster with better loading times.
Do I get a free domain with both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting?
No, you don’t necessarily get a free domain with both A2 Hosting and InMotion Hosting. A2 Hosting’s shared hosting plans don’t come with a domain, while InMotion Hosting doesn’t include a domain in its cheapest package.
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