VPS internet hosting is usually anticipated to return in two flavors: managed, and unmanaged. But there may be more and more a 3rd tier, a halfway level between the 2. Both InMovement Hosting and Liquid Web provide a “relaxed” managed VPS internet hosting tier of plans, so we checked out every supplier to see how these plans differ, and aid you make the precise selection.
In temporary, a relaxed, part-managed VPS provides you the internet hosting package deal with all the things arrange, prepared so that you can set up WordPress or add your individual internet software program. Maintenance (backups, updates, and so on.) is all on you, and in case you want assist from the host, you might have the selection of working it out for your self, getting guided assist… or paying for assist.
Infrastructure
Liquid Web’s servers run with no less than Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6426Y 2 @ 2500.000 MHz CPU, and are labeled as utilizing commonplace SSD drives. Meanwhile, InMovement Hosting’s servers have a minimal Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5118 @ 2.30GHz, however use NVMe SSD drives.
Both hosts provide VPS servers hosted inside their very own knowledge facilities. This is essential to notice because it qualifies them as real VPS hosts, somewhat than cloud VPS (the place knowledge is saved within the cloud by way of AWS, Google Cloud, and so on.).
InMovement Hosting gives internet hosting in North America (Los Angeles, CA on the West Coast, Ashburn, VA on the East Coast), within the EU (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and in Asia (Singapore).
Liquid Web’s knowledge facilities are situated in North America (Lansing and Southfield, MI, for “central” places, Phoenix AZ and San Jose CA for West Coast, and Ashburn VA on the East Coast), Europe (London and West Sussex, UK and Amsterdam, Netherlands) and it has a knowledge middle in Australia to cowl the Asia-Pacific market. Its servers are primarily based on Intel Xeon Gold 6426Y CPUs, and commonplace SSDs are employed on its VPS plans.
Plans
InMovement Hosting gives three tiers of VPS plans: Starter, Custom, and Premier Care, and every has its personal vary of VPS specs. The plans have come restricted configuration choices earlier than you must take into consideration add-ons. You have the choice of a PHP-focused configuration, WordPress-focused, or an ordinary config. You also can specify the info middle location.
You also can discover shared internet hosting and devoted server internet hosting with InMovement Hosting, which ought to cowl all budgets.
If you’re Liquid Web, it has a server configuration device that lets you choose from numerous {hardware} specs. You also can use this to construct a customized plan utilizing self-managed, core managed ($21/mo), or totally managed ($39/mo) choices. Otherwise, you’re 4 managed VPS choices.
As properly because the anticipated shared internet hosting alternate options, Liquid Web additionally has devoted internet hosting plans and even GPU internet hosting for AI workloads.
Pricing
With InMovement Hosting’s Premier plan, you’ll be able to anticipate to pay between $80.49/month and $110.49/month relying on {hardware} selection. The Custom plan is $14.99/month to $44.99/month, whereas Starter is simply $4.99/month (these costs signify long-term offers with reductions, and a 90-day money-back assure is obtainable). All plans embrace launch help, which units up your VPS for you – a key purpose for choosing managed internet hosting.
Meanwhile, Liquid Web has 4 managed VPS plans, starting from $5/month for essentially the most fundamental to $45/month for the highest tier 16GB RAM possibility (that is with a two-month low cost, and normally prices $90/month).
The {hardware} on provide with InMovement Hosting covers extra prospects than Liquid Web; InMovement Hosting tops out at 16 vCPU/32GB RAM/460GB NVMe storage on each the Premier Care ($110.49/month) and Custom plans ($44.99/month), whereas Liquid Web’s greatest VPS plan is 6 vCPU/16GB RAM, and 440GB SSD ($45/month).
Similarly, whereas the InMovement Starter has 2 vCPU cores/4GB RAM, and 50GB NVMe SSD, Liquid Web’s most simple plan doesn’t match this. Instead, its $8.50/month 4GB plan is nearer, with a 2-core vCPU and 80GB SSD.
Based on this, InMovement gives a less expensive {hardware} specification.
Features
Liquid Web
Selecting between Linux-based operating systems (AlmaLinux 9 is the default) and Windows Server 2025 Standard Edition has no extra value, however in case you want a server admin interface, you’ll want cPanel (an additional $31/mo), Plesk ($26/mo) or Interworx, (Liquid Web’s personal too, for $11/mo). Additional IP addresses cam even be added at $6/mo per deal with. Backups are free if saved within the Liquid Web cloud, or you’ll be able to pay $17/mo for Acronis. Paid add-ons for Advanced DDoS and ThreatDown antimalware safety are additionally out there.
InMovement Hosting
With Inmotion Hosting’s VPS plan, you get free cPanel admin (valued at $25.50/mo) with its Premier Care plans, and all VPS plans have Launch Assist (free onboarding and server setup, value $199), which implies you don’t have to put in the internet hosting atmosphere. The Premier Care plan additionally provides you Monarx Security, 300GB backup storage, and precedence assist, all for an extra $40/mo.
For the lower-end VPS plans from Inmotion Hosting, a backup supervisor provides $2.99 to your month-to-month invoice, whereas the cPanel various Control Web Panel is $5/mo (cPanel is $25.50/mo, with a minimal of 5 licenses). Email may also be added for $3/mo.
While each hosts provide cPanel and AI-based site-building instruments, the expertise couldn’t be extra totally different. In every case, Liquid Web made all the things straightforward with its slick person interface and extra accommodating internet hosting atmosphere.
Conversely, InMovement Hosting’s VPS administration back-end restricted what ought to be a simple cPanel arrange. Meanwhile, importing a pre-built WordPress backup with WooCommerce resulted in confused credentials and database names. Liquid Web dealt with this import with no issues.
Performance comparability
WordPress benchmarks
This free plugin for WordPress scores the server atmosphere on CPU, RAM, file transfers, database, and community velocity.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Liquid Web |
InMovement Hosting |
|
CPU & Memory |
Row 1 – Cell 1 | Row 1 – Cell 2 |
|
Operations with massive textual content knowledge |
5.86 |
4.9 |
|
Random binary knowledge operations |
8.26 |
6.38 |
|
Recursive mathematical calculations |
6.5 |
4.07 |
|
Iterative mathematical calculations |
9.6 |
6.01 |
|
Filesystem |
Row 6 – Cell 1 | Row 6 – Cell 2 |
|
Filesystem write potential |
9.43 |
8.23 |
|
Local file copy and entry velocity |
9.66 |
8.45 |
|
Small file IO take a look at |
10 |
9.92 |
|
Database |
Row 10 – Cell 1 | Row 10 – Cell 2 |
|
Importing great amount of information to database |
7.77 |
7.12 |
|
Simple queries on single desk |
9.72 |
9.18 |
|
Complex database queries on a number of tables |
9.64 |
3.14 |
|
Object cache |
Row 14 – Cell 1 | Row 14 – Cell 2 |
|
Persistent object cache enabled |
0 |
0 |
|
Network |
Row 16 – Cell 1 | Row 16 – Cell 2 |
|
Network obtain velocity take a look at |
9.53 |
10 |
|
Server rating |
8.1 |
6.1 |
Support
As talked about, InMovement Hosting’s Premier Care plan is the total managed VPS possibility, with backup storage, enhanced Monarx safety, and precedence assist. This means 24/7 entry to the most effective technicians for quick error decision. With Custom and Starter, you’re restricted to the usual assist queue. I discovered this to be ample for the needs of working a WordPress-based retailer, nonetheless, with queries shortly deal with.
Interactions with the Liquid Web assist workforce had been reassuring. Both the gross sales and billing brokers and the assist workforce supplied assured responses, and the swap from AI-based response to chatting with a human occurred comparatively early within the exchanges. In phrases of data, the tech employees I chatted with was capable of deal with my question about working a number of PHP variations on the VPS.
Verdict
Determining which is the most effective host isn’t all the time easy, however due to a transparent distinction within the benchmarking scores, Liquid Web’s VPS choices provide a marked enchancment over InMovement Hosting. Server administration is simple, it’s clear, and it’s intuitive. Conversely, InMovement Hosting sports activities a person interface that appears round a decade outdated, which conspires with poor performance to make administration clunky and painful.
Meanwhile, Liquid Web is a pleasure to make use of, organising a web site with the AI device is easy, as is putting in WordPress. Disregarding Liquid Web’s reductions signifies that the pricing is unquestionably in InMovement Hosting’s favor, however the truth is that you just really feel such as you’re getting extra with Liquid Web, because the expertise is best in any respect levels.