The G2 on MainWP

MainWP Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users value the full control over their data with MainWP's self-hosted approach, enhancing security and ownership. (1 mentions)

Users report mediocre 3rd party extensions for MainWP, which impact the overall effectiveness of the plugin. (1 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of MainWP

1. Features

Users value the full control over their data with MainWP's self-hosted approach, enhancing security and ownership.

See 1 mentions

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David C.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Self Hosted Excellence"

What do you like about MainWP?

MainWP is self hosted rather than a SAAS product so you have and retain full control over all of your Data

Top Cons or Disadvantages of MainWP

1. Plugin Issues

Users report mediocre 3rd party extensions for MainWP, which impact the overall effectiveness of the plugin.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

David C.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Self Hosted Excellence"

What do you dislike about MainWP?

Some 3rd party extentions are mediocre at best, this isn't really the fault of MainWP but rather the 3rd party

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David C.

Web Developer

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

7/11/2024

"Self Hosted Excellence"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

MainWP is self hosted rather than a SAAS product so you have and retain full control over all of your Data Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

Some 3rd party extentions are mediocre at best, this isn't really the fault of MainWP but rather the 3rd party Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Harley C.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/14/2024

"Tried and tested them all - MainWP suits me best"

4.5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

The fact that it doesn't force me into using another ecosystem of plugins or tools. I can use my preferred plugins that I always use, and there's an extension that supports it (hint: if you use one of the 'main' ones - it's probably covered). It picks up on these data feeds and can splice them into reports for clients.

Updating plugins and themes seems flawless. Integration with pagespeed is nice. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

While MainWP has ticked all the boxes, it took me a solid day or so to set it all up. This includes getting through their extensions, reading the docs, and the absolutely heinous Google Analytics setup process (sorry guys, but it's a total PITA). The reports also look pretty average. Basically, I needed to manually extend the reports side by editing one of the existing templates, and implementing my own styles and font. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is MainWP solving and how is that benefiting you?

I went through all of the testing. Umbrella WP, WPMU Dev, ManageWP, WP Remote, and so on. What I found is that most of those other platforms were charging a high price (e.g. WPMU wants you on $1200+ p/a! Granted you get a lot of value, but still), and only covered about 60% of the functionality I was after.

Just to be clear - all of these platforms have the capability of updating your site remotely, and most of them allow you to whitelabel the plugin. The missing link for me was:

- Integration with Analytics

- Integration with Wordfence

- Large control over reports

I was initially turned away from MainWP as you need to self-host it (what a pain?!) - however, it sort of makes sense now that I've got it up and running. Spin yourself up a new hosting environment - set yourself plenty of RAM/CPU resources - and give it a shot.

The end result is really great though. The reports look schmick and as good as WPMU Dev's reports - but without needing to commit to their ecosystem of plugins. I'm really excited to see what the MainWP team pulls together over the next year or so. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Steven J.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

7/30/2023

"I just started using MainWP. HUGE time-saver"

4.5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

This is the only Wordpress management tool I have ever tried to use. Since setting it up to manage my customer websites, a few minutes every day keeps everything up to date. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

I have purchased the pro version. I am still figuring out how to use some of the extensions most effectively Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hello Steven,

Thank you for your kind words, and we are glad to know that MainWP is proving to be valuable for your business needs.

To learn more about MainWP Extensions, you can find detailed information by visiting the relevant Extension page and exploring our comprehensive knowledge base.

Additionally, we would love to see you a part of the "MainWP Community", it will give you the opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals, share experiences, and gain insights that can benefit your business.

Once again, thank you for being a part of MainWP, and we look forward to continuing to support your business growth.

Eric B.

CEO

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/19/2022

"The only one..."

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

Ease of use. Lots of integrations. Powerful.

I have left MainWP many times, testing other plugins and being sure i can find better than MainWP...And each time, i went back to MainWP ! Now, I have stopped testing others, as i know I'm at the right place to manage all my clients websites ! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

Would love to be able to do the "update Elementor database" that Elementor sometimes requires but we need to log to the website to see that... Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hello Eric,

It's always interesting to hear from people who have used other tools.

We truly appreciate your kind words and are glad to hear that it is meeting your business needs and saving you time.

For the Elementor DB update, it sounds like an excellent addition, and we encourage you to submit it to our feedback portal: https://feedback.mainwp.com/ so that others can also upvote it and we can track and prioritize it accordingly.

Once again, thank you for choosing MainWP.

Verified User in Design

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/15/2023

"Simplified Admin"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

Everything you need to keep you various WP websites up to date quickly. And you can do so much with the free plan if you only have a few sites. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

No complaints! MainWP is very generious. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hello,

Thank you for sharing your experience with MainWP!

We're happy to hear that MainWP is proving to be a valuable tool for easily managing your various WordPress websites.

We remain dedicated to continuously enhancing MainWP to meet your website management needs and provide you with even more value in the future.

Thanks again for choosing MainWP.

Zack E.

Web Developer

Marketing and Advertising

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

8/13/2022

"Continuous Focus on Improvement"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

MainWP is critical in enabling my team and clients to have a simplified ability to manage Wordpress websites. Wordpress is a huge part of our business and any tool that helps us save time and stay secure is an instant buy. The team behind MainWP have continuously worked to improve the product and listen to the needs of their users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

I've used other management services like ManageWP and there are a few features that I would like to have integrated a bit more tightly - visual diff checking for updates (with automatic backup trigger option prior to an update), at a glance vulnerability from an alternative source from WPScan now that the business model of WPScan is changing from API-usage to per site usage due to their acquisition from Automattic (just discovered this after a call with WPScan after seeking to increase API usage). Neither of these is the fault of MainWP as since it is open source, if there's a high enough interest there's nothing stopping my own dev team from implementing solutions if needed and the huge notice to the above is I haven't added them to the proper feedback channels in MainWP, so don't misconstrue the list as a fault of MainWP. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hello Zack,

We truly appreciate your kind words and are glad to hear that MainWP is a critical part of your business, saving you time while staying secure.

We strongly believe in your privacy, this is why we are open source and a self-hosted solution.

Thanks for your honest feedback. We understand the WPScan limitation and are in discussion with another security solution as an alternative. Stay tuned!

Above all, we would appreciate it if you keep submitting your feedback on our portal: https://feedback.mainwp.com/ so that others can also upvote and we can easily track and prioritize accordingly.

Thanks again for choosing MainWP.

Michael M.

Founder / CEO

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/20/2023

"Incredibly powerful tool -- we love MainWP!"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

It's incredibly feature-rich and once you have the hang of how to set it up, very easy to manage all your sites within the dashboard. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

There was a small learning curve to understand how to set it up. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hi Michael,

Glad to hear that MainWP is helping with your business needs.

A warm welcome to the MainWP family.

Fred C.

Technical Director

Computer Networking

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/27/2022

"Great product and great support"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

I love the fact that you can do so much with this tool straight out of the box. You also have the ability to select what tools you use and where you want to store informaiton. Unlike other companies that require you to use their services, and store on their servers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

There are a couple of features I'd like to see but are not there yet. The guys at MainWP are open to suggestions though so I'm sure that will happen very soon. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering MainWP:

I would say try it. The base package is free, so if you do, you won't be disappointed. Many cool features and quick replies to support questions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is MainWP solving and how is that benefiting you?

MainWP allows me to see all the sites I manage under one pain of glass. No more having to log into each site individually and check things out. I can see them all at once. With a click of one button, i can update all the sites at the same time. Big time saver for me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hello Fred, thanks for sharing your experiences.

Yeah, you got it right. The limitless possibilities to customize MainWP Dashboard & Privacy-focused solution is what differentiates MainWP from the rest.

For the features you want to see in MainWP, would you mind submitting them to our Feedback portal so that other users can also vote to make it a priority?

https://feedback.mainwp.com/

And yes, the one-click solutions to most of the tasks save a lot of time.

We are looking forward to continuing this association for years to come.

Wendell H.

Owner / Web Professional

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/24/2022

"MainWP is the best of the bunch"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

I love that I install it into my own WordPress instance so I have complete control. I love how easy it is to use and how quickly I can perform updates and required maintenance for my clients. I've been a paid customer since they first launched and I've not regretted it once. It's the best investment I've made for my business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

As I sit here and ponder what I might dislike about MainWP, replaying previous experiences in my head, I can only think of one thing and it's not really that big of a deal -- I do wish that the email reports system was more robust, perhaps a drag-and-drop report builder would be helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is MainWP solving and how is that benefiting you?

I don't use MainWP to its full potential. But the parts I do use are amazing and work beautifully. I particularly like the plugin/theme updater and the Lighthouse extension. One of the best new features is the domain manager, so I can easily notify clients when their domains are nearing expiration. The overview page is nicely laid out, and I can get a general idea of how the maintenance side of my business is doing quickly and easily. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Hello Wendell, thanks for sharing your experiences.

The drag-and-drop report builder seems interesting. Would you mind submitting it to our Feedback portal so that other users can also vote to make it a priority?

https://feedback.mainwp.com/

We received so much love for the Lighthouse & Domain monitor extensions we released in early 2022.

And yes, being a self-installed and open source solution, the "total control" takes MainWP ahead of the competition.

We are looking forward to continuing this association for years to come.

Verified User in Industrial Automation

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5/11/2023

"very satisfied"

5/5

What do you like best about MainWP?

Been using the product for years, and does what it is supposed to do, stable, fast, and simple. a more than fine product Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about MainWP?

nothing, it's good as it is, im happy with the product Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Marc Benzakein of MainWP

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Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences with MainWP!

Hearing from users like you who have been with us for years helps us to stay motivated and keep building exciting features for you.

Thanks again for choosing MainWP.