InMotion Hosting is an independently owned shared and WordPress hosting provider, co-founded in 2001 by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson in Virginia Beach, Virginia. All three current shared plans (Launch, Power, and Pro) bundle unlimited domain email accounts through cPanel, differentiated by per-inbox storage rather than mailbox count: 5 GB per inbox on Launch, 10 GB on Power, and 20 GB on Pro. Outbound email is routed through MailChannels (a hosted spam-filtering and delivery network deployed across InMotion’s shared servers in December 2024), which scans server-sent mail before forwarding it. Sending limits are 250 emails per hour per domain, 6,000 per day, and 50 recipients per message; SMTP ports 465 and 587 are open and InMotion does not publish an external-SMTP block. The Launch plan renews at $13.99/month (introductory from $4.99/month); Power renews at $17.99 and Pro at $24.99.
Email on InMotion Hosting
How wp_mail works by default
A fresh WordPress install on an InMotion shared plan sends mail through PHP’s mail() function, which hands off to the server’s local mail handler. Since December 2024, that outbound mail passes through MailChannels before reaching the recipient: MailChannels scans for spam and phishing content, then routes clean mail through its delivery network. The result is that WordPress password resets and order confirmations go out via InMotion’s server-initiated path, filtered and delivered by MailChannels, which is a meaningful improvement over plain shared-IP exim delivery.
There is, however, a DNS implication. MailChannels delivery requires the domain’s SPF record (the DNS entry that tells receiving mail servers which senders are authorised to send on the domain’s behalf) to include include:relay.mailchannels.net. InMotion’s domains with DNS managed through InMotion’s cPanel received this update automatically in December 2024. Domains using self-managed DNS (Cloudflare is the common case) require a manual SPF update and a new _mailchannels TXT record with value v=mc1 auth=inmotionhosting. An operator who moved DNS to Cloudflare but left email at InMotion and has not made these updates may be experiencing elevated bounce rates without an obvious explanation.
DKIM signing (the per-message cryptographic signature that receiving servers use to confirm the message wasn’t forged in transit) is configured per mailbox through cPanel’s Email Deliverability panel. It does not automatically apply to PHP mail() from a From address that doesn’t match a DKIM-enabled cPanel mailbox. The first-move fix for most WordPress operators: create the wordpress@<domain> mailbox, enable DKIM via Email Deliverability, then configure an SMTP plugin (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, or Post SMTP) to authenticate through that mailbox. That path keeps the MailChannels routing, adds DKIM, and documents the message path as an authenticated connection rather than anonymous PHP mail().
Outbound SMTP port status
InMotion does not publish a port-blocking policy for shared hosting. Standard SMTP ports are open for both bundled mailbox access and outbound connections from WordPress SMTP plugins.
| Port | Status | Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| 465 | Open | SMTPS (implicit TLS) |
| 587 | Open | SMTP with STARTTLS |
| 993 | Open | IMAPS (incoming) |
| 995 | Open | POP3S (incoming) |
The MailChannels deployment is an outbound filter for server-initiated mail, not an external-SMTP block. Third-party SMTP relay connections (from WP Mail SMTP to Postmark, from FluentSMTP to Mailgun) operate on 465 or 587 using the relay’s own credentials and bypass InMotion’s server-side MailChannels path entirely. This is the same architecture as Hosting.com, where MailChannels handles PHP mail() but a complete external-SMTP block is also applied on top; InMotion has the MailChannels layer but not the external-SMTP block.
Sending limits
InMotion publishes documented sending limits for shared hosting:
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Emails per hour | 250 (per domain) |
| Emails per day | 6,000 |
| Recipients per message | 50 |
The 250/hour limit is applied per domain, not per cPanel account. An account hosting three domains on a Power plan (which supports up to 10 websites) has a separate 250/hour pool for each domain; the pools do not aggregate. When a domain exceeds its hourly threshold, the server rejects additional messages with a bounce noting the domain has exceeded the per-hour limit; the messages are not queued for later delivery.
Limit exception requests are handled through InMotion’s Account Management Panel (AMP). InMotion will consider raising the cap on a per-account basis for demonstrated legitimate volume.
For comparison: SiteGround publishes 400/hour on its entry plan; GreenGeeks publishes 100/hour on Lite 25 and 300/hour on Pro 50. InMotion’s 250/hour sits in the mid-range and is one of the more clearly documented limits in the category.
Mailboxes, forwarding, DNS
All three InMotion shared plans ship with unlimited mailboxes. The differentiator between plans is per-inbox storage: 5 GB on Launch, 10 GB on Power, 20 GB on Pro. For comparison, GreenGeeks defaults to 250 MB per mailbox; InMotion’s 5 GB floor on the entry plan is substantially more generous for operators who run heavy email workflows. Mailboxes are accessible via IMAP, POP3, and cPanel webmail (Roundcube or Horde, both available).
Email forwarders, catch-all addresses, and autoresponders are standard cPanel features available on all plans. Catch-all routes all unmatched addresses at the domain to a designated mailbox, which avoids silent message loss when senders mistype an address.
InMotion manages DNS for domains registered or pointed through the account, which is the condition under which December 2024’s MailChannels SPF and TXT records were applied automatically. Self-managed DNS requires manual addition of include:relay.mailchannels.net in the SPF record and a _mailchannels TXT record.
Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
As of December 2024, InMotion’s recommended SPF configuration for shared hosting domains includes MailChannels:
include:relay.mailchannels.netadded to existing SPF record
_mailchannelsTXT record:v=mc1 auth=inmotionhosting
InMotion Hosting MailChannels blog postInMotion-hosted DNS receives these records automatically. Self-managed DNS requires manual update; without it, MailChannels-routed mail from the domain may fail SPF at the receiving server.
DKIM is configured per mailbox through cPanel Email Deliverability. InMotion documents the one-click “Install the Suggested Record” flow, which publishes SPF and DKIM together for the mailbox’s domain when InMotion manages the DNS. DKIM applies per mailbox once enabled; PHP mail() from a From address without a corresponding DKIM-enabled mailbox sends unsigned.
DMARC is manual. The operator publishes a _dmarc TXT record through cPanel’s Zone Editor. InMotion’s documentation notes that the MailChannels _mailchannels record works alongside DMARC; an operator publishing p=reject should ensure both the SPF and DKIM paths are configured and consistent before advancing from p=none.
When adding a third-party mailer to an InMotion account, the SPF record needs to include both include:relay.mailchannels.net (for server-initiated mail) and the third-party service’s include (for relay-routed mail). Publishing only one or the other produces a split-path SPF failure for whichever route is missing.
What InMotion Hosting does not provide
- A dedicated sending IP address. MailChannels routes through a pool of over 4,000 managed IPs shared across InMotion and other MailChannels customers. Sites that need IP-level reputation isolation need a sending service with a dedicated IP option: Postmark on the Dedicated IP add-on, Mailgun on Foundation, SendGrid on Pro.
- Per-message delivery events exposed to the operator. MailChannels provides a dashboard (accessible from cPanel) showing aggregate sending metrics, but not the per-message event log (bounce, delivery, rejection) that third-party services publish as webhooks.
- Marketing or bulk email allowance. The 250/hour and 6,000/day caps are documented limits for transactional flows; campaigns belong on a dedicated platform.
- An unlimited recipient-per-message cap. The 50-recipient-per-message limit is the tightest in this comparison; Hosting.com also sets 100 recipients per message. Sites that send to mailing lists via PHP
mail()need to batch carefully or use a relay that manages the split internally.
When a third-party relay is needed
The InMotion default path (PHP mail() through MailChannels, DKIM enabled for the matching cPanel mailbox) covers personal blogs, small WooCommerce stores, and membership sites whose transactional volume stays within 250/hour. The triggers for adding a relay:
- You need delivery events. MailChannels’ dashboard shows aggregate metrics but not per-message events. Any third-party service with a webhook or per-message log does. Postmark is the cleanest option for transactional sites; Mailgun exposes a full log API.
- You are approaching 250/hour on a single domain. A busy WooCommerce launch, a membership platform mid-campaign, or any site that sends 200+ A transactional email is the automated message a WordPress site sends in response to a single user action – a password reset, an order confirmation, a form receipt – addressed to the user who triggered it. Read full reference → in a spike hour is close enough to the ceiling to need a relay or a documented exception process. The AMP exception path is a one-time request; a relay doesn’t require ongoing approvals.
- A missed transactional email costs revenue. Sites where a missed password reset or order confirmation means a churned customer need guaranteed delivery with per-message visibility, not shared-pool MailChannels routing.
- You are sending newsletters. InMotion’s limits are not designed for campaign traffic; bulk belongs on a dedicated marketing platform.
Because InMotion does not block external SMTP, both SMTP-based plugins (WP Mail SMTP, FluentSMTP, Post SMTP) and API-based integrations (Postmark’s WordPress plugin, Mailgun’s native integration) work on any plan without modification. The SPF record needs the relay’s include added alongside include:relay.mailchannels.net when both server-initiated and relay-routed mail are in use.
Verdict
InMotion Hosting is a reasonable pick for operators who want an independently US-owned shared host with unlimited bundled mailboxes, clear documentation of its sending limits, and MailChannels outbound filtering as a meaningful deliverability baseline. The 250/hour-per-domain cap and the MailChannels SPF requirement are the two operating facts that determine whether the default path is sufficient or a relay is needed. Open SMTP ports keep relay options frictionless when the bundled path isn’t enough.
For the WordPress email setup that supplements InMotion Hosting’s default path, see how to configure WordPress email.
Corrections
- 2026-06-18: an earlier version described the 250/hour sending limit as combined across all cPanel email addresses on the account; InMotion applies the limit per domain.