Being a veteran WordPress user, I’ve tried a lot of different tools to manage multiple WordPress sites.

Since 2012, I’ve used InfiniteWP and they are good! The main system is free which is awesome and no monthly fee (huge deal). The only issue is – their add-ons are very expensive. I missed out on their initial low cost deal. It’s my fault. I snoozed and I lost. Even so, I used it because it is good and it helped a great deal but I was always on the lookout for more pocket friendly alternatives. Not just for me but for you too.

When a power WordPress user and developer recommended MainWP to me, I immediately paid attention.

At that time, they charged $79 a year for unlimited sites, free for 5 sites and I think the extensions were $20 each. Not bad considering prices from the competition. Then they changed their entire model. You now get free unlimited sites.

Overall, I’ve been happy enough with it that after 6 months, I moved all sites over to MainWP.

Easy On The Wallet

I already mentioned you can get MainWP free. If you need premium ticket support it’s $49.99 a year. If you want to add functionality via extensions, they are $20 each with a few exceptions being around the $40 mark. That’s a lot better than $49 – $99 each. Plus, they regularly run deals for their extensions as well.

Extension System

Extensions are “plugins” that extend the functionality of MainWP. I get the ones that are useful for me and forget about the rest. Saves me money and keeps the site that is managing all the rest leaner.

Lately, they’ve also been very prolific in releasing new extensions. Which is nice because it just makes the system better overall.

Runs On My Server

MainWP runs off WordPress. Truth be told, this is my biggest gripe in the beginning. I didn’t like having to install WP just to manage other WP sites. However, after giving it a good try, this is now a negligible issue for me. What’s more important is, it runs off my web host and I control it.

Naturally, this is not for everyone. If you are less technically inclined, a system like ManageWP probably works better since there’s nothing to install as far as the manager portion of that goes. Overall, I just like it better that all this data etc is on my host not someone else’s.

Support Has Been Good to Me

I’ve never had to use premium support yet, but have forked over a fair chunk of change for extensions. I’ve asked questions about those extensions and its usage in the forum and they’ve been responsive.

It’s Developer Friendly

This again may not be for everyone but I like that it is open source. They have instructions to encourage other developers to create extensions. This means I can really dig into it and create something custom to for my business and clients. Or, I can create something that can potentially be sold.

If you’re looking for something to manage a growing list of WordPress sites that you own or to support your clients, take MainWP for a test drive.