A Year of Momentum: 2025 Year in Review

This year, Dennis asked me to write about my reflections on MainWP in 2025; the idea being that I might bring in a different perspective than that of a founder. It’s an honor that he would trust me with the annual wrap-up. When I think about 2025, I don’t think about one defining announcement or accomplishment. I think about how the product feels now compared to where it was a year ago. I think about how the team continually comes in with an attitude of “we’re just getting started” even though it’s 12 years later. I am blown away by the enthusiasm that comes with every new idea. I’m excited by the fact that there ARE still new ideas. And lastly, I’m inspired by the amount of consistent humility that’s shown by every member of the team.

Let’s start with the accomplishments

Core Developments in 2025

Throughout 2025, MainWP shipped 29 Dashboard releases and 15 updates to the Child plugin. Some of it addressed security issues. Some of it improved performance on larger site networks. Some of it was cleanup that had been sitting on a list for too long.

I know that a lot of these changes don’t seem exciting, but they do just make the product behave better. Instances like a sync completing without hanging, background tasks running without getting stuck, or even a setting that used to take extra steps becoming simpler change how the whole system feels over time. It’s these things that make the user feel that it “just works.”

At the start of the year, our goal was to work toward version 5.5. But as development continued, the scope expanded (I KNOW you know about scope creep). In our internal discussions, we continually layered in improvements and prioritized fixes that had been postponed. Eventually it became obvious that what we were building had outgrown the original label. When someone suggested we move the versioning, we realized that v6.0 reflected the amount of change under the hood.

If you’ve been following our newsletters throughout the year, you no doubt noticed that the Early Release Program also became more central to how we build (I’m fairly certain we mentioned it a wazillion or so times). We pushed multiple Early Releases before broader rollout. People installed them in real environments and gave us direct feedback. This allowed for issues to surface earlier than normal and allowed for decisions to be challenged before they became set in concrete. That process tightened the final releases in ways internal testing alone could not.

Extension and Integration Growth

The extension ecosystem moved in a noticeable way this year. More than 40 official extension and integration updates shipped, many of them addressing real-world agency needs rather than cosmetic tweaks. Pro Reports gained additional flexibility. Monitoring and security integrations were tightened. Bulk handling improved across multiple add-ons. Long-standing edge cases were cleaned up.

We also released two new official add-ons during 2025, expanding what can be managed directly from the Dashboard.

On the third-party side, the ecosystem continued to grow. The Advanced Access Manager (AAM) integration launched. SureTriggers expanded its MainWP use cases. Existing integrations like WP Rocket, Wordfence, and BackWPup continued to mature. Community-built additions such as the Cloudflare Bridge showed how developers are extending MainWP using our documentation and open framework. We even dipped our toes into the hosting world by bringing MainWP integration into hosting control panels.

That mix of internal development and external contribution matters. It shows the platform isn’t just being maintained. It’s being expanded.

When independent developers choose to build on top of your platform, that’s meaningful. It reflects a foundation strong enough to support it, which is one of the advantages of building in an open source environment.

Community and Content Expansion

Content and community efforts continued alongside development. We released more than nine new MainWP 101 and tutorial videos. Seven privacy and compliance-focused feature articles By Donata Skillrud of Termageddon were published. We added or significantly updated more than ten Knowledgebase entries. During Black Friday, we featured around 250 deals that featured software or services that benefit the greater WordPress Community.

Public Presence and Industry Engagement

On the public side, it was an active year. I was kept busy between recurring WP-Tonic Roundtable participation, appearances on This Week in WordPress, other guest spots, and expert interviews I conducted, there were more than 25 podcast and video appearances during the year. That kept MainWP engaged in the broader WordPress conversation while staying focused on the product itself. (Small plug here – I love appearing on podcasts, and I almost always have an opinion. If you need a guest, hit me up!)

Award recognition came again this year in the form of the Monsters Awards, where we recaptured 1st place, which we appreciate. What matters more is the number of agencies and freelancers who rely on MainWP every day to run real businesses and manage real client sites. That trust builds through consistent updates and long-term reliability. The awards, which are voted upon by the WordPress Community, tell us that we’re doing what matters.

Looking at 2025 as a whole, the pattern was steady output. Core releases continued throughout the year. Extensions evolved. Integrations expanded. Feedback shaped decisions. The platform is more capable now than it was twelve months ago.

If you tested Early Release builds, submitted feedback in Voice, built integrations, appeared on a show with us, partnered with us, or simply used MainWP as part of your daily workflow, you were part of that progress. We genuinely value that. Your feedback improves releases. Your use cases surface issues we don’t see internally. Your continued trust allows us to keep investing in the platform long term.

And that momentum doesn’t stop simply because we’re into a new year.

In 2026, we’re staying the course. We’ll keep building MainWP as a self-hosted dashboard for those who want full control of their infrastructure. MainWP v6.0 introduces AI integration that makes sense, and a brand new partnership with the folks at Patchstack. And, as I said at the beginning: We’re just getting started. The team is committed, the community is involved, and the goal remains simple: make MainWP better than it was yesterday.

By the Numbers (TLDR)

Core

• 29 Dashboard releases
• 15 Child plugin releases
• 5+ Early Release / Beta builds
• Major progression from 5.4 to 6.0

Extensions & Integrations

• 40+ official extension and integration updates
• 4 new third-party integrations
• 4+ community-built add-ons highlighted

Content & Ecosystem

• 9+ tutorial and 101 videos
• 7 privacy and compliance feature articles
• 10+ Knowledgebase additions or major updates
• 250+ Black Friday deals featured

Public Presence

• 25+ podcast appearances, roundtables, and expert interviews