cPanel Hosting Reviews - InMotionHosting.com (2023)

InMotion Hosting, known for its user-friendly cPanel services, offers a range of features aimed at simplifying website management and hosting. This detailed review examines key aspects of their cPanel hosting and assesses its overall effectiveness and value.

Ease of Management: InMotion Hosting's cPanel is designed for streamlined management of various web hosting elements. It provides a centralized dashboard, making it easier to handle website files, applications, databases, email accounts, SSL certificates, and more.

Website Hosting and Installation: The hosting process with cPanel is user-friendly. Tools for creating backups, managing domains, and monitoring server logs are readily available. The integration of Softaculous software installer simplifies the installation of CMS platforms like WordPress.

Domain Management: Users can manage multiple websites from a single cPanel account in shared hosting setups. InMotion Hosting also offers the flexibility to create individual cPanel accounts and manage unlimited addon domains in reseller and VPS accounts.

Security Features: cPanel includes several security tools, such as password-protected directories, SSH access for secure file transfers, SSL/TLS Manager for certificate management, and an IP Deny Manager to block unauthorized access.

Additional Features and Support: InMotion Hosting's cPanel hosting includes free SSL, email accounts, a drag-and-drop website builder, and a multi-layer defense system for enhanced security. The company also provides 24/7 customer support and a 90-day money-back guarantee.

Speed and Performance: Websites hosted on InMotion's cPanel benefit from UltraStack hosting with NVMe SSD storage, which offers significantly faster server speeds compared to traditional hard drives.

Plan Availability: cPanel is included in most of InMotion Hosting's plans, but it's not available by default in unmanaged hosting plans, bare metal servers, and Cloud VPS plans, catering to users needing more control and customization.

However, a thorough investigation reveals several drawbacks. Customers often face numerous upsells at checkout, such as Backup Manager and Dedicated IP address options, with upfront billing for these services being significantly higher than the monthly rates initially suggested​ Citation ​. The pricing structure can be misleading, particularly for the Core plan, which requires upfront payment for a three-year contract, and the renewal prices for all plans increase significantly after the introductory period​ Citation ​. The cheapest plan, the InMotion Core plan, does not include a free domain, a feature commonly offered by many other basic web hosting plans, potentially increasing costs for new or budget-conscious users​ Citation ​. Additionally, InMotion Hosting has only two data center locations in the United States, which could lead to slower website speeds and decreased performance for non-U.S. visitors, posing a disadvantage for businesses catering to international audiences​ Citation ​.

Considering these factors, InMotion Hosting’s cPanel services receive a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. While the platform offers a robust and efficient hosting and management system with strong customer support, the issues of hidden costs, misleading pricing, lack of a free domain in the basic plan, and limited data center locations affect the overall value and user experience.