Kinsta vs InterServer
Kinsta and InterServer compared on measured uptime, response time, pricing and features from our own tests. Kinsta scores higher overall.
By Jennifer T. · Updated
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Verdict
KinstaWins overall
Managed WordPress hosting from $30 a month with flat renewals, 30 data centers, edge caching and 14-day backups
Secaucus host since 1999 with a $7 monthly plan, stated resources, free migration and a 30-day refund
Kinsta wins 5 of the six sub-scores and comes out ahead overall (7.9 vs 7.5).
How do the scores compare?
Kinsta leads on 5 sub-scores, InterServer on 1. Higher is better.
| Kinsta | InterServer | |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 8.0 (better) | 7.5 |
| Uptime | 8.5 (better) | 7.0 |
| Support | 8.0 (better) | 7.0 |
| Features | 8.5 (better) | 8.0 |
| Value | 6.0 | 8.5 (better) |
| Ease of use | 8.5 (better) | 7.0 |
Which one is faster and more reliable?
| Kinsta | InterServer | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 7.9 (better) | 7.5 |
| Uptime (published)HostingStep 366 d vs Cybernews 14 d; methods differ | 100.00% | 100.00% (better) |
Which one costs less?
On renewal, InterServer is cheaper ($7.00/mo vs $30.00/mo). Intro prices need the listed term.
| Kinsta | InterServer | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan | Single 20GB | Standard |
| Intro price | $30.00/mo | $2.50/mo (better) |
| Renewal price | $30.00/mo | $7.00/mo (better) |
| Required term | 12 months | 1 months (better) |
| Websites | 1 | unlimited |
| Storage | 10 GB | Unlimited |
| Money back | 30 days | 30 days |
What does each include?
| Kinsta | InterServer | |
|---|---|---|
| Free domain | No | No |
| Free SSL | Wildcard certificates through Cloudflare on every plan | SSL support is listed on every plan |
| Backups | Daily automatic backups kept 14 days on the entry plans (20 or 30 days higher up), plus manual, downloadable and hourly add-on backups | Weekly backups on Standard |
| Free migration | Unlimited migrations by Kinsta's team | The migration team moves the site, database and email for new accounts |
| Free CDN | Cloudflare CDN with edge caching, 260+ points of presence per the pricing page; 125 GB of CDN bandwidth a month on the entry plans | Cloudflare CDN on every plan |
| Caching | Server-level caching and edge caching through Cloudflare | SSD caching servers, RAM caching for small files, LSCache for dynamic content and QUIC |
| Staging | Free one-click staging environments on every plan | No |
| No | Unlimited accounts with outgoing mail routed through smart hosts for deliverability; 200 emails an hour on Standard | |
| Resource limits | Each site runs in its own container; plans are sized by server bandwidth or visits, storage and CDN bandwidth, with PHP worker counts in the compare table | Printed per plan: cores, memory, IOPS, processes, entry processes, inodes and emails per hour |
| Data center choice | 30 locations chosen per site at creation | No |
| Uptime guarantee | 99.9% per month in the SLA updated 25 September 2025, with credits as a percentage of the monthly value once downtime passes 43 minutes; up to 99.99% on custom plans | No |
| Security | Fully managed WAF with DDoS protection, bot protection, free malware removal, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 | InterShield attack blocking, malware scanning and a machine-learning firewall, with free DDoS protection |
| Developer tools | SSH, WP-CLI, Git, DevKinsta local environment, Kinsta API, built-in APM | Not stated |
| Phone support | No | No |
| Windows hosting | No | A separate Windows hosting package |
Company facts
| Kinsta | InterServer | |
|---|---|---|
| Control panel | MyKinsta (Kinsta's own dashboard); no cPanel | DirectAdmin on Standard and Boost; cPanel on the cPanel hosting plan |
| Data centers | 1 | 3 (better) |
| Support channels | chat, ticket, knowledge-base | ticket, knowledge-base |
| Founded | 2013 | 1999 |