- 90-Day money-back guarantee
- Free SSL, Premium malware and Hack protection
- Support available 24/7/365 via Chat, Phone, Email, Tickets and Knowledge Base
- 30-Day Money-back Guarantee
- Free Set-up, Migration and Backups
- Support available 24/7/365 via Chat, Tickets and Knowledge Base
InMotion Hosting vs KnownHost: Quick Summary
KnownHost is the overall winner. It includes LiteSpeed with LSCache on all shared plans, CloudLinux account isolation at every shared tier, WP Toolkit for multi-site WordPress management, a 19-minute ticket response in testing, and a VPS entry price of $5/month that InMotion cannot match. GTmetrix scores KnownHost at 89% with a 71ms TTFB and 1.5-second fully loaded time on its own infrastructure.
InMotion Hosting wins on entry-level storage, dedicated server pricing, and money-back guarantee.
1. Prices and Plans Comparison
InMotion Wins on Entry Price and Dedicated Servers; KnownHost Wins at Every VPS and Reseller Tier
InMotion starts at $2.99/month for shared hosting and includes a free domain for the first year, a 90-day money-back guarantee, and 200 GB NVMe SSD storage at the entry level. KnownHost opens at $3.47/month with no free domain, a 30-day refund window limited to the first package purchased, and 10 GB NVMe at entry level.
On headline entry price and out-of-the-box inclusions, InMotion has the visible advantage. The 90-day guarantee is one of the longest in the industry and makes it genuinely low-risk to trial the platform before committing.
The comparison reverses sharply above shared hosting. KnownHost’s VPS starts at $5/month, making it one of the lowest-cost managed VPS entry points available. InMotion’s VPS starts at $14.99/month, three times higher. For reseller hosting, KnownHost starts at $9.98/month while InMotion does not offer a reseller tier at any price. KnownHost also has a dedicated managed WordPress tier starting at $5.98/month, which InMotion does not offer separately.
Dedicated servers are where InMotion regains significant ground, starting from $45/month against KnownHost’s $161.25/month entry point.
2. Customer Support Comparison
KnownHost’s 19-Minute Email Response Outpaces InMotion’s 8-Hour Ticket Turnaround
KnownHost Customer Support
I tested KnownHost’s support through live chat on a Saturday afternoon with a technically specific question: whether the automated firewall would block Redis from binding to localhost on a managed VPS running a Django and Celery stack, and whether custom systemd service files were permitted.
The chat widget connected me quickly, but the agent who joined held a sales title and asked me to redirect my technical question to sales@knownhost.com rather than answering in chat.
The live chat channel routes technical queries away from the first-contact team, which adds a step for anything beyond plan inquiries.
The email response arrived 19 minutes later, and the quality was genuinely useful. The agent confirmed that the firewall does not prevent Redis from binding to localhost, that external connections are blocked by default for security, and that custom systemd service files are fully permitted.
The answer was specific and accurate on a question that many hosts would deflect or answer generically.
KnownHost provides phone support on all plan tiers, which is a meaningful advantage for users who need to speak with someone directly during a production incident. Self-service resources are more limited compared to InMotion, covering a knowledge base and documentation without a community forum or YouTube library.
InMotion Hosting Customer Support
I tested InMotion across three channels during my evaluation period: tickets, live chat, and phone.
For the ticket test, I submitted a question at 6:29 PM asking about setting up automated rsync backups over SSH on a VPS and whether there were firewall restrictions on outbound SSH connections. The response arrived at 2:42 AM the following morning, roughly eight hours later.
The content was thorough. The agent confirmed there are no outbound restrictions by default, walked through how to check firewall rules in WHM, and included documentation links on SSH access and rsync configuration. The quality was high, but an eight-hour wait for anything time-sensitive is a genuine problem.
Live chat was a different experience. I asked whether Redis and Memcached come pre-installed with UltraStack hosting. A human agent responded in under a minute, confirmed that Redis and NGINX are both pre-installed, and sent a link to configuration details.
Phone support connected in under three minutes. I asked how resource scaling works on a VPS plan and confirmed that upgrades happen without downtime. The agent was accurate and direct.
The limitation is the hours: phone support is only available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 9 PM ET, which means weekend incidents go to chat and tickets.
InMotion’s self-service resources are among the most comprehensive I have reviewed. The knowledge base covers more than 5,000 articles, a community forum enables peer troubleshooting, and a YouTube channel provides video walkthroughs for visual learners.
3. Hosting Features Comparison
KnownHost’s LiteSpeed, CloudLinux Isolation, WP Toolkit, and Managed WordPress Tier Deliver More Technical Depth
KnownHost Features
KnownHost’s feature stack is built with technical users and agencies in mind. LiteSpeed web server with LSCache runs by default on shared plans, which provides server-level WordPress caching without any plugin configuration.
CloudLinux OS with per-account CPU and RAM isolation is active at every shared tier, meaning a resource-heavy or compromised neighboring account cannot affect your site.
SSH and Git are available on shared plans, which is uncommon at entry-level shared hosting prices.
What KnownHost includes across shared and managed WordPress plans:
- cPanel on every tier at no additional licensing fee
- LiteSpeed web server with LSCache for WordPress acceleration
- CloudLinux OS with per-account resource isolation on all shared plans
- SSH and Git integration on shared hosting
- Free Cloudflare integration via cPanel (requires manual activation)
- WP Toolkit on managed WordPress plans for staging, cloning, and bulk updates across all installs
- JetBackup daily backups included on managed WordPress plans4
- Free professional site migration on managed plans
- Reseller hosting from $9.98/month with cPanel and WHM
What costs extra or is limited:
- JetBackup automated backups require a paid add-on on unmanaged shared and VPS plans
- Imunify360 malware protection is only available on managed plans
- Cloudflare requires manual activation, not enabled by default
- No free domain on any plan
KnownHost’s WP Toolkit is the feature that most distinguishes it for agencies.
Managing every WordPress install across all client domains from a single cPanel interface, with bulk plugin and theme updates, staging environments, and one-click push-to-production, removes a significant amount of repetitive work that other hosts require you to handle site by site.
InMotion Hosting Features
InMotion’s shared hosting is defined by its storage allocation. The entry Core plan includes 200 GB NVMe SSD, and the top shared tier reaches 300 GB.
For sites with large image libraries, multiple databases, or significant media content, this allocation is far beyond what KnownHost offers at any shared hosting price.
What InMotion includes across all shared plans:
- 200 GB to 300 GB NVMe SSD storage from the entry plan
- Unlimited email accounts with quota management
- WP-CLI, Git, and SSH integration from day one
- UltraStack technology for server-side PHP optimization
- 4 to 6 PHP workers per site to handle traffic spikes without throttling
- Free AutoSSL and Let’s Encrypt SSL with automatic renewal
- Free domain for the first year
- Free drag-and-drop website builder
What costs extra or is not available:
- Daily automated backups require the Backup Manager add-on at $2.99/month
- No CDN included on any shared hosting plan
- No LiteSpeed, no LSCache; InMotion uses its own UltraStack stack instead
- No managed WordPress or reseller hosting tier
- No WP Toolkit or equivalent multi-site management tool
- Staging environments are available only on VPS and above
4. Website Performance Comparison
KnownHost Leads on TTFB, LCP, and Fully Loaded Time; InMotion Records the Higher Performance Score
KnownHost Performance Results
KnownHost’s own website returned an 89% performance score and 96% structure score on GTmetrix.
The numbers I found most significant were the TTFB and fully loaded time.
Metric by metric:
- GTmetrix grade: 89% — a strong result, with the 96% structure score suggesting well-optimized underlying code
- TTFB 71ms: Exceptionally fast backend delivery. At 71ms, the server is beginning to respond before most sites have finished processing the request
- LCP 606ms: The main visible element renders in just over half a second, well ahead of Google’s 2.5-second Good threshold
- TBT 262ms: The one weaker number. JavaScript processing holds back full interactivity for over a quarter of a second after content appears
- CLS 0.05: Minor layout shifts within Google’s acceptable range but visible during load
- Fully loaded 1.5s: All page assets finish loading in 1.5 seconds on KnownHost’s own infrastructure
For customer shared hosting accounts, KnownHost’s LiteSpeed server with LSCache active by default reduces the configuration work needed to reach strong performance. Static and dynamic caching are both handled at the server level without plugin setup.
InMotion Hosting Performance Results
InMotion’s own website returned a 98% performance score and 90% structure score, one of the strongest GTmetrix performance results I have seen at any shared hosting price point.
The score reflects genuinely well-optimized server-side delivery.
Metric by metric:
- GTmetrix grade: 98% — an exceptional performance score, even accounting for the fact that this is InMotion’s own infrastructure
- TTFB 178ms: Strong server response, with backend processing accounting for just 33ms of the total connection time
- LCP 931ms: The main visible element loads in under a second, well within Google’s Good threshold
- TBT 33ms: Near-zero JavaScript blocking. The page is fully interactive almost immediately after content appears
- CLS 0: Perfect visual stability with no layout shifts at any point during load
- Fully loaded 5.2s: The notable outlier in InMotion’s results. Background assets continue loading for over five seconds after visible content has rendered. For most visitors the perceived experience is faster than that number suggests, but it means all assets are not complete for several seconds longer than KnownHost’s 1.5 seconds
InMotion’s UltraStack technology and 4 to 6 dedicated PHP workers per site give shared hosting accounts a meaningful advantage over single-process PHP environments when handling traffic spikes.
5. Ease of Use Comparison
InMotion’s Direct Live Chat and Guided Dashboard Give It the Accessibility Edge for New Users
Registration Process
KnownHost Registration
I signed up for a KnownHost managed WordPress plan and found the configuration page covers a lot of ground in one screen.
Data center selection, operating system choice, control panel options, and optional add-ons, including Proactive Monitoring, LiteSpeed, Softaculous, and JetBackup are all presented together.
None of the add-ons were pre-checked, which I appreciated, and the order summary sidebar updated in real time as I made selections.
The process is efficient for an experienced user who already knows what each option means.
For someone new to hosting, the page provides no guidance on which settings to choose or what the implications of each selection are. I completed the signup in under ten minutes, but I was already familiar with the options being presented.
InMotion Hosting Registration
I signed up for InMotion’s shared hosting plan and the checkout flow is more guided than KnownHost’s. The plan cost, renewal pricing, and available add-ons are all displayed on a single page with reasonable clarity.
Data center selection between US West, US East, and EU Central is available directly on the order page.
The thing to watch is two pre-checked items: the Backup Manager at $2.99/month billed annually and a 30-day free Growth Email trial. The base plan cost on a one-year term was $57.48.
With the pre-checked Backup Manager left in, it jumped to $93.48. Both items are easy to remove, but reviewing the cart before completing the order is worth the extra moment.
Dashboard and Interface
KnownHost Dashboard
KnownHost’s management environment splits across two systems. The my.knownhost.com portal handles infrastructure-level controls: server restart, OS reinstall, emergency console access via VNC and Serial Console, and real-time graphs for CPU, memory, and disk usage.
Day-to-day site tasks, including file management, database access, email configuration, and cPanel settings, live in a separate cPanel login.
Once I understood which system handled which type of task, the workflow became efficient.
Getting to that point required a deliberate orientation session. A dark mode toggle in the sidebar was a small practical addition I found useful for longer sessions.
InMotion Hosting Dashboard
InMotion’s Account Management Panel uses a top navigation bar and an icon-based grid giving quick access to common tasks.
A billing snapshot sits in the right sidebar showing upcoming payments without any extra navigation. Each hosting plan has its own section with direct links to cPanel, WordPress management, and account details.
The layout is functional and gets the job done. It feels slightly dated compared to newer platforms, but the organization is logical and I found what I needed without confusion. Live chat is accessible directly from the dashboard without any routing step.
WordPress Setup
KnownHost WordPress Setup
KnownHost’s WordPress installation runs through Softaculous inside cPanel, which is the standard path for most cPanel hosts.
The full process is straightforward once you are inside cPanel, but it requires navigating through the my.knownhost.com portal first to launch cPanel, then finding Softaculous within it. Here is how it works:
- Log in to the my.knownhost.com portal
- Click on the active hosting service and open cPanel from the management screen
- Navigate to the Software section and click Softaculous Apps Installer
- Select WordPress from the Top Scripts list and click Install
- Set the domain, directory, admin credentials, site title, and optional security settings
- Click Install and wait approximately 30 to 45 seconds
On managed WordPress plans, WP Toolkit sits inside cPanel as an additional entry point. From a single screen, I could see all WordPress installs across all domains, run bulk updates, create staging copies, clone sites, and push changes to production without logging into each site individually. For agencies managing multiple client sites, that functionality is the most practical time-saver in KnownHost’s feature set.
InMotion Hosting WordPress Setup
InMotion’s WordPress installation also runs through Softaculous inside cPanel, accessed from the Account Management Panel.
The path is slightly more direct since AMP and cPanel are more tightly connected in InMotion’s interface.
Here is how it works:
- Log in to the Account Management Panel
- Navigate to cPanel via the hosting section of your account
- Open Softaculous Apps Installer from the Software section
- Click the WordPress icon and select Install
- Choose the domain, set the site name and admin credentials
- Optionally configure database settings, including table prefix and pre-installed plugins
- Click Install and wait two to three minutes
InMotion’s Softaculous configuration gives more upfront control over database settings and plugin pre-installs than KnownHost’s default flow. Advanced users will find that level of granularity useful. For beginners, the extra options can feel overwhelming compared to a simpler step-by-step install.
Server Management
KnownHost Server Management
Managing a server on KnownHost means moving between two separate environments depending on what needs doing. The my.knownhost.com portal is where I handled infrastructure tasks: viewing CPU and memory graphs in real time, accessing the emergency console for recovery situations, managing SSH credentials, and controlling power states on VPS plans.
Everything related to the website itself, including file management, database access, cron jobs, and email accounts, lived in a separate cPanel session.
The split is logical once mapped out, but it means keeping track of which portal covers which type of action. For experienced server administrators, this is a minor inconvenience. For users new to VPS hosting, it adds a learning step before the workflow feels natural.
InMotion Hosting Server Management
InMotion’s server management flows through the Account Management Panel and cPanel in a more connected sequence.
From AMP, I could restart or stop VPS instances, reset the root password, view real-time CPU and RAM graphs, and manage snapshots without switching to a separate portal.
Clicking through to cPanel gave access to File Manager, phpMyAdmin, cron jobs, error logs, and access logs in the familiar layout.
For users managing multiple WordPress sites, InMotion does not have an equivalent to KnownHost’s WP Toolkit. Each WordPress install requires individual login to manage updates and staging.
6. Privacy and Security Comparison
KnownHost’s CloudLinux Isolation, CSF/LFD Firewall, and Imunify360 on Managed Plans Build a More Complete Default Stack
KnownHost Security
KnownHost’s security baseline varies between managed and unmanaged plans, but the foundation on all shared and VPS plans is stronger than most hosts at the same price point.
ConfigServer Firewall and Login Failure Daemon run on every plan, blocking IP addresses after repeated failed login attempts and monitoring the server continuously for suspicious activity.
CloudLinux OS with per-account resource isolation is active on all shared hosting tiers, which means a compromised neighboring account cannot affect your site’s CPU, RAM, or stability.
What KnownHost includes on all shared plans:
- CSF and LFD firewall protection with continuous monitoring
- CloudLinux OS with per-account isolation at every shared tier
- Free Let’s Encrypt SSL on all domains
- SSH access with key-based authentication
What expands on managed WordPress plans:
- Imunify360 with real-time malware detection and automatic removal
- Patchman for detecting and patching CMS vulnerabilities proactively
- JetBackup daily automated backups at no extra charge
- Full DDoS protection via Neustar on VPS and dedicated infrastructure
What costs extra or is not included:
- Imunify360 requires upgrading to a managed plan; unmanaged plans rely on CSF/LFD only
- Daily automated backups are a paid add-on on unmanaged shared and VPS plans
- Cloudflare edge filtering requires manual setup
InMotion Hosting Security
InMotion’s security at the shared hosting level is built around ModSecurity WAF, which filters SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and other application-layer threats.
Smart Routing Technology blocks brute-force attempts and suspicious IP patterns in real time. AutoSSL and Let’s Encrypt both provide free SSL with automatic renewal.
What InMotion includes as standard:
- ModSecurity WAF with actively updated rule sets
- Smart Routing for bot and brute-force mitigation
- Free AutoSSL and Let’s Encrypt SSL with automatic renewal
- SSH access with SFTP and key-based authentication on all plans
- PCI compliance support on VPS and dedicated plans
What costs extra or is not included:
- Daily automated backups require the Backup Manager add-on at $2.99/month
- No CDN included on shared plans, so edge-level traffic filtering requires manual Cloudflare setup
- No CloudLinux account isolation specified on shared plans
- Corero-grade DDoS protection is only available on dedicated servers
7. Server Locations Comparison
Both Hosts Run Three Data Centers; KnownHost’s Free Cloudflare Inclusion Gives It the Edge for Global Reach
KnownHost Server Locations
KnownHost operates three data centers, with US locations in Atlanta, Georgia, and Seattle, Washington, and a European facility in Amsterdam. The Atlanta location runs within Evocative’s carrier-neutral infrastructure. Seattle uses a BGP blended bandwidth setup drawing from Level 3, NTT, and TATA Communications, with direct peering through the Seattle Internet Exchange.
Amsterdam provides European origin server placement for GDPR-compliant data residency.
I selected Germany as my test data center during signup and used Check-Host ping results to verify the latency advantage. Connections from Frankfurt came back at 2.5ms and from the UK at 23.2ms, reflecting genuine origin proximity rather than CDN edge delivery.
For Asian and South American audiences, neither of KnownHost’s US locations is particularly close, and the included Cloudflare integration handles those regions for cached static content.
InMotion Hosting Server Locations
InMotion operates three active data centers in Los Angeles, Ashburn, Virginia, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. All three are owned and operated by InMotion directly rather than leased from a cloud provider or wholesale data center.
The Ashburn facility sits within NTT Global Data Centers in what is known as Data Center Alley, with redundant cooling, diverse fiber connectivity, and fortified power infrastructure. Amsterdam connects to four major internet exchanges and sits near several undersea cable landing stations, making it a strong choice for European audiences.
Location selection is available across all three active regions at signup.
A Singapore location is listed as coming soon but was not active during my evaluation period. InMotion does not include a CDN on shared hosting plans, which means audiences in Asia, Australia, and South America rely on the US or Amsterdam origin servers without an edge caching layer unless Cloudflare is configured separately.
InMotion Hosting vs KnownHost: The Bottom Line
KnownHost is the overall winner. LiteSpeed with LSCache by default on shared plans, CloudLinux account isolation at every shared tier, CSF/LFD firewall protection on all plans, Imunify360 and daily backups on managed WordPress, WP Toolkit for agency-level multi-site management, a 19-minute ticket response in testing, and a VPS entry price of $5/month deliver more technical depth and security than InMotion’s shared hosting stack at a comparable price point.
InMotion earns a direct recommendation for three specific cases. Sites with large media libraries or multiple database-heavy applications where the 200 to 300 GB NVMe storage at entry level is a hard requirement.
| Category | Winner | Why |
| Pricing | InMotion | Lower entry price, free domain, 90-day guarantee, dedicated servers from $45/mo |
| Customer Support | KnownHost | 19-minute ticket response vs InMotion’s 8-hour turnaround |
| Hosting Features | KnownHost | LiteSpeed, CloudLinux, WP Toolkit, managed WordPress, reseller hosting |
| Website Performance | KnownHost | 71ms TTFB, 606ms LCP, 1.5s fully loaded vs InMotion’s 178ms, 931ms, 5.2s |
| Ease of Use | InMotion | Direct live chat, single-panel AMP, guided signup, less two-portal complexity |
| Privacy and Security | KnownHost | CloudLinux isolation, CSF/LFD on all plans, Imunify360 and JetBackup on managed |
| Server Locations | KnownHost | Free Cloudflare included via cPanel vs InMotion’s no CDN on shared plans |
