ManageWP vs MainWP
ManageWP is a hosted WordPress management service from GoDaddy, with a free core and add-ons billed per site each month. MainWP is two free, open-source plugins: MainWP Dashboard turns a WordPress site you own into your MainWP Dashboard, where you manage unlimited client sites, and MainWP Child connects each site to it. MainWP Pro adds every premium add-on for one flat price.
As a ManageWP alternative, MainWP handles the same bulk updates, backups, client reports and one-click logins. The difference grows with your client list: MainWP Pro costs the same at 10 sites or 500, the free MainWP Core already includes daily backups, uptime checks and an activity log, and your client data stays on your own server. The MainWP Dashboard and MainWP Child plugins are also open source, while ManageWP’s dashboard is a proprietary hosted service.
Over 20,000 MainWP Dashboards manage over 700,000 child sites, and MainWP has over 2,200 five-star reviews on WordPress.org.
What do ManageWP and MainWP cost per year?
Both tools start free for unlimited sites. MainWP charges one price for MainWP Pro, and ManageWP charges for each add-on on each site, every month. These are both companies’ regular list prices on November 3, 2026.
| Plan and price | What you get |
|---|---|
| MainWP Core Free |
Unlimited sites, with updates, Built-In Backups, uptime monitoring, Network Activity, clients and Cost Tracker, MainWP MCP and the free MainWP Essentials add-ons. |
| MainWP Pro $29 a month, $199 a year, or $599 once for lifetime |
Everything in MainWP Core, plus over 30 Pro add-ons such as Pro Reports, White Label, Team Control, Staging and Regression Testing, and priority ticket support. Unlimited sites. |
| ManageWP free core Free |
Unlimited sites, with bulk updates, a monthly backup, security and performance checks you run by hand, client reports you send yourself, one-click login and collaborators. |
| ManageWP Backups $2 a site a month, or $75 a month for up to 100 sites |
Daily backups kept 90 days, plus Safe Updates and Clone. |
| ManageWP $1 add-ons $1 a site a month each, or $25 a month each for up to 100 sites |
Uptime Monitor, Security Check, Performance Check, Client Reports, White Label, SEO Ranking and Link Monitor. Each adds one tool: uptime alerts, scheduled checks, scheduled and branded client reports, a renamed Worker plugin, keyword rankings or link checks. |
| ManageWP Vulnerability Protection $2 a site a month |
Adds a Patchstack firewall with virtual patching. |
| ManageWP All-in-one package $150 a month for up to 100 sites |
Backups and the seven $1 add-ons above, for up to 100 sites. |
A year at those prices, by number of sites. The ManageWP full set is Backups, Uptime Monitor, Security Check, Client Reports and White Label, the add-ons closest to MainWP Pro:
| Sites | MainWP Core | MainWP Pro | ManageWP Backups | ManageWP full set |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | $0 | $199 | $240 | $720 |
| 25 | $0 | $199 | $600 | $1,800 |
| 50 | $0 | $199 | $900 | $1,800 |
| 100 | $0 | $199 | $900 | $1,800 |
From 10 sites, MainWP Pro costs less than ManageWP’s daily backups on their own. From 25 sites, the ManageWP full set costs $1,800 a year, the price of the All-in-one package. One package covers up to 100 sites, and a second covers the next 100. Vulnerability Protection adds $2 a site a month on top. MainWP Pro stays at $199 a year for every site you add. With the free MainWP Core, updates, backups and uptime checks for all of those sites cost you the WordPress hosting your MainWP Dashboard runs on and the storage you pick for backups. Compare the free MainWP Core with MainWP Pro.
How do ManageWP and MainWP compare, feature by feature?
MainWP features are part of the free MainWP Core unless they’re marked MainWP Pro.
| Pricing | |
|---|---|
| MainWPOne price for unlimited sites | ManageWPFree core, with add-ons billed per site each month |
| Where it runs | |
| MainWPYour MainWP Dashboard, on a WordPress site you own | ManageWPManageWP’s hosted dashboard |
| Open source | |
| MainWPMainWP Dashboard and MainWP Child plugins, GPL, public on GitHub | ManageWPProprietary hosted dashboard with no published source code, and the ManageWP Worker plugin under GPLv3 |
| Updates | |
| MainWPBulk updates, automatic updates for the plugins and themes you trust, an update delay, and Safe Updates with WordPress rollback | ManageWPBulk and scheduled automatic updates, free |
| Testing updates | |
| MainWPSafe Updates with WordPress rollback in the free MainWP Core, plus Staging and Regression Testing add-ons with MainWP Pro | ManageWPSafe Updates with an HTTP check, before and after screenshots and an optional restore, with the Backups add-on |
| Backups | |
| MainWPBuilt-In Backups: full, database, files-only and incremental, daily, weekly, monthly or every few hours, encrypted, sent to S3-compatible storage, Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox or SFTP | ManageWPA monthly backup free, and daily backups with the Backups add-on, kept 90 days on ManageWP’s servers in the US or EU |
| Security | |
| MainWPSite hardening checks and the free Vulnerability Checker, Patchstack, Jetpack Protect, Sucuri and Security Ninja add-ons. Wordfence, Solid Security, Virusdie and Jetpack Scan with MainWP Pro | ManageWPFree vulnerability detection, scheduled security checks at $1 a site, and a Patchstack firewall with virtual patching at $2 a site |
| Uptime | |
| MainWPHTTP, ping or keyword checks every 5 minutes to once a day, with down and up emails. SSL Monitor and Domain Monitor with MainWP Pro | ManageWPUptime Monitor add-on at $1 a site, checking every 1 to 15 minutes, with email, SMS or Slack alerts |
| Activity log | |
| MainWPNetwork Activity, including changes made in each site’s own WP Admin | ManageWPCollaborator history in the ManageWP dashboard |
| Client work | |
| MainWPClient profiles and Cost Tracker. Pro Reports, White Label and Team Control with MainWP Pro | ManageWPTeam and client collaborators and client reports you send by hand, free. Scheduled, branded reports and White Label at $1 a site each |
| AI assistants | |
| MainWPMainWP MCP, free and open source, with over 100 abilities that preview each update and deletion before it runs | ManageWPNo MCP server among ManageWP’s listed features |
| API and scripts | |
| MainWPREST API, WP-CLI, MainWP Control and over 1,000 actions and filters for your own add-ons | ManageWPNo public API or CLI among ManageWP’s listed features |
| Support | |
| MainWPDocs and the MainWP Discord community for everyone, plus priority ticket support with MainWP Pro | ManageWPContact form and in-dashboard support |
Which ManageWP add‑ons does the free MainWP Core already include?
ManageWP’s free core covers bulk updates, a monthly backup, one-click login and reports you send by hand. The free MainWP Core covers bulk updates and one-click login too, and includes these tools that ManageWP sells as per-site add-ons:
- Daily backups: Built-In Backups run full, database, files-only and incremental backups daily, weekly, monthly or every few hours, encrypt them, send them to the storage you pick and restore them. ManageWP’s daily backups are $2 a site a month.
- Uptime monitoring: HTTP, ping or keyword checks for every site, with down and up emails. ManageWP’s Uptime Monitor is $1 a site a month.
- Safe Updates: WordPress rollback keeps the working version of a plugin or theme in place when an update runs into an error. ManageWP includes Safe Updates with its Backups add-on.
Your free MainWP Dashboard also includes client profiles with Cost Tracker, Network Activity to see who changed what across your sites, and MainWP MCP, the REST API, WP-CLI and MainWP Control for your AI assistant and scripts. Every one of these works for unlimited sites. See everything MainWP includes for free.
Where do ManageWP and MainWP keep your data, and which is open source?
ManageWP runs the dashboard for you and keeps your backups on its own servers, in a US or EU data center you pick for each site, for 90 days.
Your MainWP Dashboard runs on a WordPress site you own. Your client list, site data and history live on your server, and your backups go to the storage you choose. Each child site connects with its own key pair, and your MainWP Dashboard signs every request it sends, so each site can verify it came from you.
The MainWP Dashboard and MainWP Child plugins are open source under the GPL and public on GitHub, so you, or a client’s IT team, can read every line of code before it runs on a client site, and you can change or extend it. ManageWP’s dashboard is a proprietary hosted service from GoDaddy, with no published source code, and its Worker plugin is under GPLv3. See how MainWP keeps your sites secure.
Can developers build on ManageWP or MainWP?
MainWP is built for developers to extend. Your MainWP Dashboard runs over 1,000 actions and filters, so your own plugin can change the logo, add a menu entry or a column in Manage Sites, or become a full MainWP add-on with its own pages, settings and widgets. If you make a plugin or tool, you can sell its MainWP add-on from your own site and keep your sales.
The MainWP REST API v2 connects a billing system, a client portal or a nightly script to your sites, clients and costs, and the MainWP docs publish an OpenAPI 3.1 file for it. WP-CLI adds wp mainwp commands on your Dashboard’s server, and MainWP Control, free and open source, runs your Dashboard’s abilities from the command line. ManageWP’s site, as of November 3, 2026, lists no public API or CLI. See what developers build on MainWP.
Can ManageWP or MainWP work with your AI assistant?
MainWP connects your sites to AI assistants through MainWP MCP. ManageWP’s feature pages, as of November 3, 2026, list no MCP server or public API for an assistant to use.
MainWP MCP is free and open source, and it reaches over 100 abilities your MainWP Dashboard registers with the WordPress Abilities API. Ask Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot or OpenAI Codex which sites need updates or which sites are due for a backup, then have it run the updates or the backups. MainWP MCP previews every update and deletion and runs it after you confirm. See what your AI assistant can do with MainWP.
Should your agency choose MainWP or ManageWP?
Find the row that matches how you work:
| If you | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Manage 10 or more client sites | MainWP. One price for unlimited sites keeps your cost flat as you grow. |
| Want daily backups, uptime checks and an activity log at no cost | The free MainWP Core, for every site you manage. |
| Want client data on a server you control, and open-source code you can build on | MainWP, self-hosted and open source, with over 1,000 actions and filters for your own add-ons. |
| Want an AI assistant that acts on your sites with your approval | MainWP, with MainWP MCP. |
| Need branded client reports, white label and team roles | MainWP Pro, at one price for every site. |
How do you move from ManageWP to MainWP?
You can move your sites over in batches, with ManageWP still connected while you check each one:
- Install the free MainWP Dashboard plugin on a WordPress site you control. The install guide walks through it.
- Install and activate MainWP Child on a group of sites with ManageWP’s bulk plugin install: select the sites on Websites, then Tools > Plugins.
- Import that group on Sites > Import Sites with a CSV file of each site’s name, URL, admin username and password.
- Check the sites on Sites > Manage Sites, then remove them from ManageWP once your last reports have gone out.
The Switch to MainWP guide covers each step.
ManageWP vs MainWP FAQ
Is MainWP cheaper than ManageWP?
Yes. The free MainWP Core costs nothing for any number of sites, and it includes the daily backups and uptime checks ManageWP bills per site. When you want the Pro add-ons, MainWP Pro is $199 a year for unlimited sites, while ManageWP’s daily backups alone come to $240 a year for 10 sites and its All-in-one package to $1,800 a year.
Do you host MainWP yourself?
Yes. Your MainWP Dashboard runs on a WordPress site you own, on the hosting you choose. Hosting it yourself is what keeps your client data on your server, and unlike ManageWP’s hosted dashboard, the MainWP Dashboard is open source under the GPL.
How many plugins does MainWP add to each client site?
Every site needs one plugin, MainWP Child, in place of ManageWP’s Worker plugin. Updates, Built-In Backups and Network Activity work through it, and uptime checks run from your MainWP Dashboard. Add-ons that connect a third-party tool, such as Wordfence or UpdraftPlus, work with that tool’s own plugin on the sites where you use it, and Pro Reports records site changes through the free MainWP Child Reports plugin.
Can MainWP back up sites like ManageWP?
Yes. MainWP Built-In Backups are part of the free MainWP Core. They run full, database, files-only and incremental backups daily, weekly, monthly or every few hours, encrypt them, and send them to S3-compatible storage, Google Cloud Storage, Dropbox or SFTP. A restore can take a safety backup of the site first.
Does MainWP scan sites for vulnerabilities and malware?
Yes. The free Vulnerability Checker add-on finds known vulnerabilities in your plugins and themes, and MainWP runs site hardening checks on every site. Free add-ons connect Patchstack, Jetpack Protect, Sucuri and Security Ninja, and MainWP Pro adds Wordfence, Solid Security, Virusdie and Jetpack Scan.
Can you try MainWP while you still use ManageWP?
Yes. Connect a few sites to your MainWP Dashboard while they’re still in ManageWP, try it on real work, and move the rest when you’re ready.
What support comes with MainWP?
MainWP Pro includes priority ticket support. Everyone, including users of the free MainWP Core, has the MainWP docs and the MainWP Discord community.