Cloudways vs InMotion Hosting — Detailed Comparison
VS 
Cloudways vs InMotion Hosting, side by side: real specs on speed, uptime, support, and value — not marketing claims.
By Mohamed Abdelaal, Founder & Lead Hosting Analyst
Our pick: Cloudways
100% independent
Updated July 2026
Quick Verdict: Cloudways wins
Cloudways wins overall for developers and scaling businesses seeking managed cloud hosting with premium infrastructure, while InMotion Hosting wins for budget-conscious users and those needing traditional shared hosting with phone support. Choose Cloudways (ID: 73) for enterprise-grade performance and flexibility; choose InMotion Hosting (ID: 33) for affordability and longest money-back guarantee.
At a Glance
Cloudways and InMotion Hosting serve different hosting tiers: Cloudways offers managed cloud VPS across 60+ global data centers, while InMotion Hosting provides shared, VPS, and dedicated servers with US-only locations.
Provider Profiles
Cloudways (founded 2011, Malta-based) is a managed cloud hosting platform built on DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud. It targets developers, agencies, and SMBs who want production-grade infrastructure without server administration overhead.
- 3-Day Free Trial — No Credit Card Required
- 3 Cloud Providers: DigitalOcean, AWS, Google Cloud
- Lightning Stack (Nginx + Varnish + Redis + PHP-FPM)
- Object Cache Pro Included Free (4GB+ servers, $95/mo value)
- Cloudways Autonomous (auto-scaling)
InMotion Hosting (founded 2001, USA-based) is a full-spectrum hosting provider offering shared, VPS, dedicated, and reseller plans. It targets small businesses, bloggers, and budget-conscious users who value US data centers, phone support, and a long money-back window.
- UltraStack Performance Architecture (NGINX + Redis)
- Brotli Compression for Faster Asset Delivery
- NVMe SSD Storage on All Shared Plans
- 90-Day Money-Back Guarantee (Industry-Leading)
- US East + US West Data Centers (Pick Yours)
1 Features
Feature sets differ significantly: Cloudways emphasizes managed cloud infrastructure with auto-scaling and performance stacks, while InMotion Hosting offers traditional cPanel-based hosting with broader plan variety.
Cloudways
Round winner
Cloudways includes Object Cache Pro (free on 4GB+ servers, $95/mo value), Lightning Stack (Nginx + Varnish + Redis), auto-scaling, unlimited websites per server, and free first migration. No email hosting, domain registration, or phone support.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting includes UltraStack (NGINX + Redis + Brotli), free domain registration, free migration, cPanel control panel, email hosting (250/hour per domain), and 24/7 phone support. Email and backup features are included on most plans.
2 Pricing & Plans
Entry pricing differs dramatically: InMotion Hosting starts at $2.29/mo, while Cloudways begins at $11/mo. Consider total cost of ownership, renewal rates, and what's included.
Cloudways
Cloudways' cheapest plan is $11.00/mo with 12 total plans. No money-back guarantee, but offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. Pay-as-you-go billing and transparent scaling costs.
InMotion Hosting
Round winner
InMotion Hosting's cheapest plan is $2.29/mo with 19 total plans across five hosting types. Includes industry-leading 90-day money-back guarantee. Intro pricing typically requires 3-year commitment; renewal rates are significantly higher.
3 Performance
Both guarantee 99.99% uptime; performance delivery differs by architecture and data center reach.
Cloudways
Round winner
Cloudways runs on enterprise cloud infrastructure (DigitalOcean Premium, AWS, GCP) with 60+ global data centers, NVMe storage, Lightning Stack optimization, vertical auto-scaling, and one-click upgrades. No LiteSpeed.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting offers UltraStack (NGINX + Redis + Brotli) on shared and VPS plans with NVMe SSD, but limited to 2 US data centers (East and West). Managed VPS includes free backups; shared plans soft-cap inodes at ~250K.
4 Customer Support
Both offer 24/7 support, but via different channels with different strengths.
Cloudways
Cloudways provides 24/7 live chat support only (no phone). Support rating is 4.8/5. No phone support is a notable gap for non-technical users.
InMotion Hosting
Round winner
InMotion Hosting offers 24/7 phone, live chat, and ticket support with sub-rating 4.2/5. Phone support is a significant advantage for users preferring voice communication and immediate troubleshooting.
5 Ease of Use
Ease of use reflects platform philosophy: Cloudways abstracts server management, while InMotion Hosting uses the familiar cPanel interface.
Cloudways
Round winner
Cloudways uses a proprietary managed dashboard eliminating server admin work (no SSH, no command line needed). User-friendly rating 4.8/5. Free migration by engineers removes technical friction. Learning curve minimal for non-developers.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting uses industry-standard cPanel (or CWP on VPS), familiar to most web hosting users. User-friendly rating 4.6/5. Traditional file and email management; requires more hands-on administration than Cloudways.
6 Privacy & Security
Both include free SSL and operate secure infrastructure; Cloudways emphasizes automated cloud-native security, InMotion offers traditional cPanel-based practices.
Cloudways
Round winner
Cloudways includes free SSL, free CDN, managed cloud infrastructure across DO/AWS/GCP with built-in DDoS protection, automated backups (paid at $0.033/GB), and no direct server access reducing misconfiguration risk.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting includes free SSL, free CDN, managed VPS with free backups, and cPanel-standard security tools. Identity verification on signup adds an extra security gate but may delay activation.
7 Server Locations
Data center footprint is critical for latency and compliance: Cloudways is global, InMotion Hosting is USA-only.
Cloudways
Round winner
Cloudways offers 60+ data centers across DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud, spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and India. Supports global applications and compliance (GDPR, etc.).
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting offers 2 US data centers: US East (Virginia) and US West (Los Angeles). Suitable for US-focused businesses; no EU or Asia options limit global reach.
Final Verdict: Cloudways vs InMotion Hosting
Why choose Cloudways
- Managed cloud hosting: no server admin, no SSH, no DevOps burden — Cloudways engineers handle updates and scaling
- 60+ global data centers across DO, AWS, GCP — serve users worldwide with sub-100ms latency
- Object Cache Pro free on 4GB+ plans ($95/mo value) — instant WordPress/Drupal performance boost
- Vertical auto-scaling — handle traffic spikes with one-click CPU/RAM upgrades
- Enterprise support tiers and free first migration by Cloudways engineers
When to consider InMotion Hosting
- Tight budget and testing hosting before committing — 90-day money-back and $2.29/mo entry point let you try risk-free
- Prefer phone support — 24/7 voice support rare at this price tier
- USA-only audience — 2 US data center choice (East/West) with no global latency penalty
- Familiar with cPanel — traditional interface, no learning curve, thousands of tutorials online
Alternatives to Consider
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I migrate my existing site for free with either provider?
Yes, both offer free migration. Cloudways goes further: its first migration is handled by Cloudways engineers at no cost, and additional migrations are $5 each. InMotion Hosting includes free migration on all plans with no engineer involvement; you initiate it yourself or contact support.
Do either offer money-back guarantees?
InMotion Hosting offers a 90-day money-back guarantee, the longest in the industry. Cloudways does not offer a money-back guarantee but provides a 3-day free trial with no credit card required to test the platform risk-free.
Which is better for global audiences?
Cloudways is vastly superior for global traffic: it offers 60+ data centers across DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud in North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and India. InMotion Hosting is limited to 2 US locations (Virginia and Los Angeles), suitable only for US-focused websites.
What's the main trade-off between these two providers?
Cloudways prioritizes managed simplicity and global scale: you pay more ($11/mo minimum) but get auto-scaling, 60+ data centers, and no server administration. InMotion Hosting prioritizes affordability and phone support: you start at $2.29/mo and handle your own cPanel administration, but are limited to 2 US data centers. Choose Cloudways for growth and simplicity; choose InMotion for budget and traditional hosting familiarity.
Cloudways Plans
12 plans available across all hosting types.
Cloud Hosting 12
| Plan | Price | Storage | CPU | RAM | Bandwidth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DO Standard 1GB — DigitalOcean | $11.00/mo | 25 GB SSD | 1 Core | 1 GB | 1 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| DO Premium 1GB — DigitalOcean | $14.00/mo | 25 GB NVMe | 1 Core | 1 GB | 1 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| DO Premium 2GB — DigitalOcean | $28.00/mo | 50 GB NVMe | 1 Core | 2 GB | 2 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| GCP Standard Small — Google Cloud | $37.33/mo | 20 GB SSD | Shared | 1.7 GB | 1 GB Transfer | Get Plan |
| AWS Standard Micro — Amazon Web Services | $38.56/mo | 20 GB EBS | 2 Cores | 1.75 GB | 2 GB Transfer | Get Plan |
| DO Premium 4GB — DigitalOcean Best | $54.00/mo | 80 GB NVMe | 2 Cores | 4 GB | 4 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| DO Premium 8GB — DigitalOcean | $99.00/mo | 160 GB NVMe | 4 Cores | 8 GB | 5 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| DO General Purpose 8GB — DigitalOcean | $106.00/mo | 30 GB NVMe | 2 Cores | 8 GB | 4 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| GCP Standard Large — Google Cloud | $152.02/mo | 20 GB SSD | 2 Cores | 7.5 GB | 1 GB Transfer | Get Plan |
| DO CPU Optimized 8GB — DigitalOcean | $164.00/mo | 50 GB NVMe | 4 Cores | 8 GB | 5 TB Transfer | Get Plan |
| AWS Standard Medium — Amazon Web Services | $183.22/mo | 20 GB EBS | 2 Cores | 8 GB | 2 GB Transfer | Get Plan |
| GCP Compute Optimized XL — Google Cloud | $255.37/mo | 20 GB SSD | 4 Cores | 16 GB | 1 GB Transfer | Get Plan |
InMotion Hosting Plans
19 plans available across all hosting types.
WordPress Hosting 3
VPS Hosting 4
| Plan | Price | Storage | CPU | RAM | Bandwidth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InMotion VPS - VPS 4 vCPU | — | 160 GB NVMe SSD | 4 vCPU Cores | 8 GB | 5 TB | Get Plan |
| InMotion VPS - VPS 8 vCPU Best | — | 260 GB NVMe SSD | 8 vCPU Cores | 16 GB | Unlimited | Get Plan |
| InMotion VPS - VPS 12 vCPU | — | 360 GB NVMe SSD | 12 vCPU Cores | 24 GB | Unlimited | Get Plan |
| InMotion VPS - VPS 16 vCPU | — | 460 GB NVMe SSD | 16 vCPU Cores | 32 GB | Unlimited | Get Plan |
Dedicated Server 5
| Plan | Price | Storage | CPU | RAM | Bandwidth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InMotion Dedicated - Aspire | — | 960 GB SSD | 4 Core / 8 Thread (Xeon E3-1246 v3) | 16 GB DDR3 | 1 Gbps Unmetered | Get Plan |
| InMotion Dedicated - Essential | — | 2 TB SSD | 4 Core / 8 Thread (Xeon E-2134) | 64 GB DDR4 | 1 Gbps Unmetered | Get Plan |
| InMotion Dedicated - Advanced Best | — | 2 x 1.92 TB SSD (Software RAID-1) | 6 Core / 12 Thread (Xeon E-2176G) | 64 GB DDR4 | 1 Gbps Unmetered | Get Plan |
| InMotion Dedicated - Elite | — | 2 x 1.92 TB NVMe SSD (Software RAID-1) | 8 Core / 16 Thread (Xeon E-2388G) | 128 GB DDR4 | 1 Gbps Unmetered | Get Plan |
| InMotion Dedicated - CC-2000 | — | 2 x 2 TB NVMe SSD (Software RAID-1) | 24 Core / 48 Thread (Dual Xeon Silver 4214) | 256 GB DDR4 | 3 Gbps - 10 Gbps Unmetered | Get Plan |
Reseller Hosting 4
| Plan | Price | Storage | CPU | RAM | Bandwidth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InMotion Reseller - R-1000N | — | 80 GB SSD | - | - | 1,000 GB | Get Plan |
| InMotion Reseller - R-2000N | — | 160 GB NVMe SSD | - | - | 2,000 GB | Get Plan |
| InMotion Reseller - R-3000N Best | — | 200 GB NVMe SSD | - | - | Unlimited | Get Plan |
| InMotion Reseller - R-4000N | — | 300 GB NVMe SSD | - | - | Unlimited | Get Plan |