The hosting plan we recommend for the programme.
You can complete the whole programme locally and for free with LocalWP. But deploying, migrating and debugging on a real server is the skill clients actually pay for, so from week one we recommend a real hosting account, bought in your own name. This page is the plan we teach on, why we chose it, and how to buy it so it works for the course.
Affiliate link disclosure
Read firstThe InMotion Hosting links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one of them, InMotion pays us a commission. You pay InMotion's own price, or less when the link carries a discount, and the commission never changes what we teach: InMotion is in this programme because it is what we use in class, not the other way round. Full policy: affiliate disclosure.
Six sites, one control panel, a server you can break and fix.
Over sixteen weeks you build six complete sites and then migrate, speed up, harden and hand over a seventh. A hosting plan has to meet the list on the right or you will hit a wall around module seven.
- cPanel. It is the panel we teach in module 1 and use in every live class. A proprietary dashboard means translating every lesson.
- Room for all six course sites, plus your first client sites. Entry plans cap the number of websites; you will run out before the WooCommerce module.
- Free SSL, daily backups and staging. Modules 10 and 13 are built on restoring a backup and working on a staging copy.
- Support around the clock. When something breaks at midnight, the host's team is your first call, not your instructor.
- A yearly term. The sites you build are your portfolio. A plan you keep after week sixteen is worth more than one you cancel.
Where hosting appears in the programme
12 modules- Wk 1FoundationsChoosing hosting, domains, DNS and SSL. Installing WordPress on shared hosting.
- Wk 9WooCommerceA real store on a real server, with payments in test mode.
- Wk 12Speed & Core Web VitalsServer caching, Cloudflare in front, measured on your own site.
- Wk 13Security, backups & migrationRestore from a backup, move a site between accounts, clean a compromised one.
- Wk 16Client handoverHand a finished site to a client on hosting in their name, which is how you will work for real.
InMotion Hosting, Pro shared plan, on a one-year term.
It is the plan the instructors use in class, the one the walkthroughs are recorded on, and the one that has room for the whole programme and your first paying clients afterwards.
InMotion's entry plans.
- Fine for one personal site
- Website limit is too low for six course projects
- You would upgrade mid-programme
Not recommended for the programme.
The plan used in every live class.
- cPanel, exactly as taught in module 1
- Room for all six course sites and your client sites
- Free SSL, daily backups, staging
- NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth
- Support by chat and phone, 24/7
- Money-back guarantee on yearly terms
Affiliate link. Buy it in your own name, with your own card. The account is yours; we never hold a student's hosting login.
If Pro is more than you need today.
- Enough websites for the six course projects
- Same cPanel, SSL and backups
- Less room once client work starts
A reasonable budget choice. Upgrading to Pro later is a one-click change inside your account.
Prices and plan details are InMotion's and change with their promotions; check the current figure on their site before you buy. The figure we quote in class is updated for every cohort.
How to buy it so it works for the course.
Choose Pro, 12 months
The monthly term costs more over a year and loses the money-back guarantee. Longer terms are fine if you are sure; one year is the sensible default.
Use your own details
Your name, your email, your card. The account, the sites and the domain are yours from day one, and that is how you will later set clients up too.
Pick the nearest data centre
InMotion offers US and European locations. For Gulf, Levant and North African visitors, choose Europe.
Bring your cPanel login to week one
Module 1 starts with a live install on your account. Keep the login in a password manager and turn on two-factor authentication in your InMotion account settings.
Hosting, answered honestly
No. Any plan with cPanel, free SSL and backups will get you through the programme, and the lessons apply to all of them. We recommend InMotion because the live classes are taught on it, so what you see on screen matches what you see in your own account. If you already have hosting that meets the list above, keep it.
Because you will outgrow it before the course ends. Budget plans cap the number of websites, skip backups or staging, and put thousands of accounts on one server. Module 12, where you measure your own site's speed, is where that shows. The difference in price over a year is less than one hour of the freelance work the programme prepares you for.
Yes, and it is labelled as one wherever it appears. If you buy through it, InMotion pays the institution a commission out of its own marketing budget. Your price is the same as going to InMotion directly, or lower when the link carries a promotion. If you would rather not use it, go to inmotionhosting.com yourself; the recommendation does not change.
Yearly. The programme runs sixteen weeks, the sites you build are your portfolio afterwards, and InMotion's introductory price and money-back guarantee apply to yearly terms. Monthly billing costs more over the same year and can be cancelled in week five, which is usually when people cancel the course too.
Not on day one; the temporary address your hosting gives you is enough for the first modules. By the WooCommerce module you will want a real domain, registered in your own name. We cover registrars, DNS and SSL in module 1 so you can do it properly when you are ready.
No. Every student buys their own account, in their own name, with their own payment method, and keeps the only login. It is the first professional habit the programme teaches, because it is how you will protect your clients later: whoever pays for the hosting should own it.
Buy it in your name. Bring the login to class.
One account, one year, cPanel, backups and support. Everything else the programme teaches you to do yourself.