Are you trying to manage multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard? Are you looking for an easy solution?
Without the right WordPress management tools, managing multiple websites takes a lot of time: updates, backups, monitoring, reporting, etc.
You need to perform daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance tasks.
That’s why it’s common for agencies to control multiple websites with the help of a management plugin or tool. Such tools save a ton of time and can help you prove your work’s value to your clients.
In this article, I’ll share with you the best tools to manage multiple WordPress sites like a pro and with a minimum of effort.
Table of contents
There has been a lot of talk about WordPress multisite since its launch. WordPress multisite allows you to control multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard and administer them easily if they share similar functionalities.
Despite this, WordPress Multisite does have some limitations when it comes to managing many sites for a variety of clients who use different environments (server configuration, plugins, etc).
The right WordPress management tool will help you automate your workflow on multiple websites and run them all in just a few clicks via a single dashboard.
Most of them also include features that will help you to prove the value of your work to your clients so they can better understand why they are paying for a WordPress maintenance package.
Despite the ease and simplicity of WordPress as a CMS, managing multiple WordPress admin panels can become increasingly complicated and time-consuming.
With multiple sites, you must manually update plugins and themes, and keep track of core updates and many other critical things.
Making WordPress maintenance on several websites requires a single-interface solution where you can access a comprehensive overview of what is going on and act accordingly. This is the only way to manage multiple WordPress sites efficiently.
When you first thought about managing client websites, you were excited about the potential revenue growth. It probably didn’t take you long to realize how big this whole thing could become without the right tools.
Here is what you should always do when you are trying to maintain and manage several WordPress websites for your clients:
On top of that, you can also add punctual website edits, custom development, web hosting, domain management, and much more.
As soon as you get more than 5 websites, you will need a tool.
We have reviewed and compared the top ten WordPress management tools that you can use to supervise multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard:
| WordPress Management Tool | Monthly price by site | G2 Score | Trustpilot Score | TLDR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP Umbrella | $1.99 – pay as you go all features included | 4.9/5 | 5/5 | WP Umbrella is a new WordPress management tool that offers a refreshing user experience and clear pricing. WP Umbrella is reliable and provide you with all the features that agencies and freelancers need to manage multiple WordPress sites. |
| ManageWP | Up to $8.2 with must-have ad-ons | 4.4/5 | 3.6/5 | ManageWP is the most popular WordPress management plugin. The tool has almost not been updated since it was acquired by GoDaddy in 2016. ManageWP offers a comprehensive set of features. |
| iTheme Sync | $6.99/month for 5 websites | not listed | 2.4/5 | iTheme Sync Pro is a part of a broader family including iTheme Security and BackupBuddy. While iTheme Security is a great security plugin, iTheme Sync Pro is clearly not up to the competition. |
| MainWP | $29/month unlimited website | 4.6/5 | 4.3/5 | MainWP is a good tool if you like open source self-hosting solutions. However, if you are looking for productivity and peace of mind, there are better alternatives like WP Umbrella. |
| InfiniteWP | $1.2/month by website | 4.2/5 | 3.8/5 | InfiniteWP provides you with all the features you need to control multiple WordPress websites. However, the dashboard is not handy and this plugin has had many security issues in the past. |
| WP Remote | $49/month for 5 websites | 4.6/5 | Not listed | WP Remote is the most expensive WordPress management tool. It’s a comprehensive solution that will help you to govern many WordPress sites from a single dashboard but you should watch your billing! |
| CMS Commander | $8/mont for 5 websites | 4.2/5 | Not listed | CMS Commander is an old WordPress management tool optimized for PBN (private blogs network) and black hat SEO, but there are better alternatives if you are selling WordPress care plans to your clients. |
| The Hub WPMU DEV | Free | 4.8/5 | The hub is not listed on Trustpilot. | The Hub by WPMU DEV is a great tool if you decide to host your websites on the hub. If you have a different hosting provider, most of the features are not as reliable as they should be. Plugin updates often fail for example. |
| Jetpack | $24.99/month by website billed yearly. | 4.3/5 | 3/5 | Jetpack is made by Automattic, the company behind WordPress. However, this doesn’t mean that Jetpack is outstanding: the plugin might slow down your website and lack of features. |
| WP Blazer | $49.97/month for 25 websites | 4.3/5 | 3.9/5 | WP Blazer is a new tool to for bloggers and agencies willing to maintain up to 25 websites. Features are less reliable on WP Blazer than other tools like WP Umbrella, MainWP, ManageWP or WP Remote. |
Let’s take a closer look at each tool!
WP Umbrella is a newcomer in the world of WordPress management tools. It was created in 2020 with the ambition to become the best alternative to ManageWP.
WP Umbrella provides all the must-have features you need to manage dozens of websites from a single dashboard: automatic backup, update management, uptime monitoring, automated maintenance reports, 1-click access to wp-admin, etc.
This management software for WordPress has been designed to help WordPress agencies and freelancers with their WordPress maintenance business.
WP Umbrella offers clear pricing (only $1.99/site by month pay as you go) and an amazing user experience. This plugin is light, easy to use, and offers some unique features such as PHP error monitoring.
This helps you to troubleshoot PHP errors and identify conflicting plugins to make your site safer and improve its performance.
Finally, the WP Umbrella plugin can be fully rebranded and you can use it to edit beautiful maintenance reports and send them automatically to your clients with a custom sending domain.
It’s also the easiest to install.
WP Umbrella costs $1.99/ per month by website. All features are included. There is just one add-on to activate the hourly backup that costs $2.49/month. All the other backup frequencies (half-daily, daily, weekly, and monthly, are included in the initial plan).
WP Umbrella has pay-as-you-go pricing. This means that you will only pay for the websites that you add to the dashboard. The cost by website will always be the same.
WP Umbrella is rated 4.9/5 on G2, and people like this tool.
” Superb product: well designed, thorough and effective features, good value, and miles ahead of the competition. I like that it’s a genuine all-in-one solution, and how transparent the pricing is. The dashboard is a thing of beauty 😉 The regular updates give me the confidence to make it a major part of my work setup, especially after so long not enjoying using the competition. “
” It’s extremely refreshing to finally have a WordPress management tool that has a team behind it who actually wants to improve their product. Out of all the other platforms out there, we’ve found WP Umbrella to be the most stable and handles updates and backups effortlessly. The team behind the product is constantly improving the service by adding new features and providing real updates. I’m excited to see the future growth of the company moving forward. “
” WP Umbrella is great. Hands down the best WordPress website management tool you can use today. The white-label features are excellent to brand (or) hide the plugin, the report style is excellent and the user interface has both a nice modern design and more importantly is fast with a visual progress bar for updates. “
ManageWP is the most popular service out there. It was bought in 2016 by GoDaddy.
Its single dashboard allows webmasters to fully manage all their websites and makes updating, backing up, and carrying out security scans.
ManageWP’s dashboard can be accessed from the ManageWP website, and all your websites can be linked through the Worker plugin.
Some of ManageWP’s core functionality is free for unlimited sites. They do, however, offer many monthly subscription features. For example, free automated backups and security scans are included but real-time backups and automated security scans need to be purchased as an add-on.
This can quickly make ManageWP pricing unnecessarily complex.
Besides this issue with pricing, ManageWP is clearly overwhelming and if you are looking for peace of mind, it’s probably not a good fit for you.
ManageWP is supposed to be free on unlimited websites. However, if you want to activate the cool features (backups, uptime monitoring, white label, security, client reports, etc) you have to pay.
The cost for one website, with all add-ons included, is $9/month. On top of this, there is also an extra add-on for hourly backup at +$2.80.
The plugin is only rated 4.4 on G2. If the old reviews are good, the most recent ones are negative.
” Having used ManageWP for many years, I feel the system lacks active development. The dashboard feels dated and the pricing model isn’t as straightforward as some competitor solutions. “
” ManageWP still makes it easier to manage multiple sites, so it’s better to have it than not have it. But the support is rubbish. No improvements or updates or new features in years. “
iThemes Sync is another WordPress manager. The plugin was formerly named Better WP Security. It has a very limited free version.
With the free version, you can manage updates from a single dashboard. Themes and plugins can also be installed from WordPress.org or manually, by uploading them.
The paid plans are where the real power lies. You’ll get access to uptime monitoring, client reports, user management, security, etc.
The site’s management is simplified by an easy-to-use interface.
iTheme Sync is a premium plugin, with a 30-day free trial. The pricing is based on bundles of websites (5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 sites).
The 5 websites package costs $6.99/month. To manage 100 websites with iTheme Sync you will have to pay 69.99$/month.
iTheme Sync is not listed on G2 and has almost no reviews at all on other services. iTheme Sync is rated 2.4/5 on Trustpilot and the reviews are negative.
MainWP is another WordPress management solution. You have to set up a central hub on your main website and connect your other sites with the plugin MainWP Child. You can then manage your other websites, perform pending updates, monitor your uptime, create backups, and perform security scans from the central hub.
Additionally, MainWP allows you to configure .htaccess files, monitor SSL certificates, check error logs, manage users, tweak your site’s .htaccess files, plus perform dozens of other tasks.
Unlike InfiniteWP or CMS Commander, MainWP is a standalone solution. It is possible to download a free version but you won’t be able to select just the extensions you need: the whole package must be purchased. Setting up MainWP took the longest of all the plugins in this list. You also have to maintain it.
MainWP provides some flexibility but requires a ton of time to set it up correctly. In my opinion, MainWP is like Linux for desktops. It works and it’s a lot of fun, but nowadays there are better alternatives that will make your life easier.
MainWP has a free version for unlimited websites, but you will need a premium subscription to enable every add-on.
MainWP costs $29/month and there is a lifetime deal at $600.
The price of the premium version of MainWP is misleading because it doesn’t include the price that you will pay to use other applications. MainWP is mostly a connector.
MainWP is rated 4.6/5 on G2 and 4.3/5 on Trustpilot.
MainWP’s users are happy about the product but underline the lack of ease to use and set up.
Designed for agencies, developers, and freelancers, InfiniteWP provides site management functionalities.
Several options are available for free. However, this free version is only capable of updating WordPress themes, plugins, and core files. On-demand site backups are also available, but you’ll need to purchase an add-on to store them remotely.
With InfiniteWP’s premium plan, you get paid features like: uptime monitoring, client reports, managing comments, publishing posts and pages, two-factor authentication, broken link checker, etc.
You can also white label the plugin so your clients will see your logo instead of that of InfiniteWP.
InfiniteWP is a premium plugin. All plans offer the same kind of features. If you want to enable the multi-user capability, you will have to get the Enterprise plan which costs $647/year.
InfiniteWP pricing starts at $147/year for 10 websites.
InfiniteWP is rated 4.2 on G2, but there are only 10 reviews. There are only 2 reviews on Trustpilot (3.8/5).
InfiniteWP is rated 4.3/5 on WordPress.org.
WP Remote offers a variety of features to help you deal with all your WordPress sites from a single dashboard.
WP Remote is another fully-fledged tool to manage multiple WordPress sites. It provides automatic backups, daily malware scans, uptime and performance monitoring, two-factor authentication (2FA) for your sites, and more.
WP Remote pricing is based on the number of websites that you want to add, but also on the features that you need.
You have 3 plans (Basic, Plus and Pro).
If you want the white label option and the security feature, you need to get at least the plan Plus, which starts at $49/month for 5 websites (9$/month by websites).
You can also add an add-on if you want to make hourly backs/scans of your websites ($50/website per month) or if you want to get an extra staging website ($10/month).
WP Remote is rated 4.6/5 on G2, but only has 8 reviews. WP Remote is not listed on Trustpilot and is rated 4.3 on WordPress.org, but the reviews are old.
CMS Commander is another easy-to-use management tool designed to help WordPress developers with site management tasks. It helps you manage, monitor, and back up multiple websites.
Additionally, you will have access to essential marketing tools that will help you optimize your content and better monetize your website.
CMS Commander pricing is based on the number of websites you need to manage. It starts at $8/month for a package of 5 websites.
Packages of 100 or 200 websites are also available.
CMS Commander is rated 4.2/5 on G2. It is not listed on Trustpilot. Overall, this plugin lacks reviews.
The Hub by WPMUDEV lets you manage, optimize, and update unlimited websites in one location. It was created by the people behind Smush Pro and Hummingbird Pro, two other great plugins.
By using The Hub, you can see at a glance what needs to be done on your sites. Monitoring site uptime and performance, checking backups, and updating plugins and themes can be done easily without having to visit your websites.
The Hub by WPMUDEV is free. The only purpose of this plugin is the upsell hosting plans and premium plugins. There also is a $5/month add-on if you want to make hourly backups.
The Hub is rated 4.7 on G2 and 4.8 on Trustpilot. Overall, people seem happy about it, even though some highlight that it’s more complicated than necessary.
I’ve to admit that this review of the hub scared me a bit tough.
Jetpack offers several WordPress site management features in one package. Using Jetpack requires a WordPress.com account.
The free version lets you keep track of plugins and core updates across all your websites. There is also downtime monitoring, and basic brute force attack protection included.
In order to get more stuff, you will need to upgrade to their paid plans. A variety of features are available, such as automated backups with Jetpack, malware scanning, security fixes, and activity logs.
You can upgrade Jetpack to the premium version for $24.99/month which is billed yearly. You can enjoy 50% OFF for your first year. If you just want the backup add-on, it costs $9.99/month by website.
Jetpack is rated 4.3/5 on G2, 3.9/5 on WordPress and 3/5 on Trustpilot.
People mostly complain about poor customer service, the impact of Jetpack on loading times, and conflicts with other plugins.
WP Blazer is a new plugin that provides full WordPress management from a single easy dashboard. It allows you to do all the classic things that you need to do to maintain WordPress sites.
WP Blazer is a premium application. There are 3 packages on WP Blazer: one restricted for 3 websites with fewer features at $9.97/month, one for 5 websites at $24.97/month, and one for 25 websites at $49.97/month that includes all features.
WP Blazer is rated 4.3/5 on G2 and 3.9 on Trustpilot, but the plugin lack reviews and is not listed on the official plugin directory of WordPress.
Managing several WordPress sites might be time-consuming. Fortunately, several WordPress management tools can empower you to easily manage multiple WordPress sites from a single dashboard.
This will boost your productivity, give your peace of mind and help you to prove the value of your work to your clients.
The plugins and applications mentioned in the article will help you to:
Use one of these tools to make sure that all your sites are working properly and save time, regardless if you are a WordPress developer or an agency.
Learn how to establish strong relationships with new clients.
Are you trying to sell WordPress maintenance plans to your clients? You must sell WordPress […]
Discover the ultimate list of dev tools for WordPress that can help you in every aspect of the development process.
