How To Manage Multiple WordPress Sites From One Dashboard?

Having more than one site under control brings up need to manage multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard. Managing multiple WordPress websites can be a challenge. In addition to updating each site to the latest version of WordPress, you also have to update plugins and themes regularly.

Other tasks, such as moderating comments, editing and publishing content can also be time-consuming because you have to switch between websites constantly.

How much time does doing this take you? Now increase that amount by the number of websites you handle. You could spend time creating better material, writing content, getting traffic, on SEO optimization and more.

Luckily, there are a plenty of tools available that make managing multiple WordPress sites very easy. That saves time as you don’t need to login to each site, make updates, moderate comments, do backups, etc.

 

Manage Multiple WordPress Sites Tools Comparison

Here is a comparison of most popular tools and plugins to manage multiple WordPress websites from one dashboard.

Be noted that data stated in comparison tables may be outdated. Tools get updates, changes, redesigns and it is hard to keep all information accurate. Please visit official sites for most up to date info.

 

ManageWP vs CMS Commander vs Infinite WP

manage wordpress sites from one dashboard
  • Name
  • Manage Posts and Pages
    View, delete or edit posts and pages on multiple WP blogs
  • Bulk Posting
    Create new pages and posts on multiple WP blogs at the same time
  • Theme Updates
    Update themes for all sites from same dashboard
  • Plugin Updates
  • WordPress Updates
  • Admin Login
    Login to Your WordPress Sites
  • Bulk Edit WordPress Posts and Pages
  • Bulk Plugin and Theme Installation
    Install new theme or plugin to any number of blogs simultaneously
  • Manage Comments
  • Manage User Accounts
  • Bulk Create User Accounts
  • Edit WordPress Settings
  • Configure Automatic Updates
  • WordPress Backup and Restore Feature
  • Scheduled Backups
  • Backups to Amazon S3
  • Backups to Dropbox
  • Backups to Google Drive
  • Website Cloning
    Copy entire website with all content and files to different hosting or domain
  • Maintenance Mode
    Take your site temporarily offline and display custom notice for visitors
  • SSL Encyption
    Communication between your sites and management control panel is secured with SSL encryption
  • Uptime Monitor
    Monitor the uptime of your sites and be notified if they go down
  • Sucuri Scanner Integration
    Perform malware scans via Sucuri
  • Google Analytics Integration
  • SEO and Keyword Tracking
    Track performance of your sites in search engines
  • Automatic Content Integration
    Get related content from YouTube, Amazon, Flickr and other services
  • White Label
    White label the description of the management client plugin on your sites
  • Activity Reports
  • Storage Space for Plugins, Images and Files
    Upload plugin and files to management service in order to use them across all sites
  • Database Optimization
  • Code Snippets
    Execute custom PHP code on your sites
  • Sub Users
    Create sub accounts that can manage specific sites or access specific features
  • Autoposting & Schedule Content
    Create any number of articles and then schedule them on your blogs so that fresh content gets published in regular intervals.
  • Rewriting And Article Spinning
    You can use any of the integrated rewriting software to spin content and create unique article variations to post to multiple of your sites.
  • Affiliate Network Integrations
  • Pagespeed Monitoring
  • Wordfence Security Integration
  • iThemes Security Integration
  • Google Webmaster Integration
  • Broken Link Checker
  • File Uploader
    Uploade files to WordPress site like you do via cpanel or FTP
cms commander vs manage wp
  • CMS Commander
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
managewp vs cms commander comparison
  • ManageWP
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
  • Not available in free plan
infinite wp vs manage wp vs cms commander
  • InfiniteWP
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ per year
  • Paid addon
    Price starting from 50$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price 50$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year for addon Cloud backups and it consists of Google Drive, Amazon S3 and Dropbox backup
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year for addon Cloud backups and it consists of Google Drive, Amazon S3 and Dropbox backup
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year for addon Cloud backups and it consists of Google Drive, Amazon S3 and Dropbox backup
  • Paid addon
    Price for this addon is 100$ per year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ per year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 100$ per year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price starting at 199$
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 70$ a year
  • Paid addon
    Price is 50$ a year

 

iControlWP vs MainWP vs iThemes Sync

manage wordpress sites from one dashboard
  • Name
  • Manage Posts and Pages
    View, delete or edit posts and pages on multiple WP blogs
  • Bulk Posting
    Create new pages and posts on multiple WP blogs at the same time
  • Theme Updates
    Update themes for all sites from same dashboard
  • Plugin Updates
  • WordPress Updates
  • Admin Login
    Login to Your WordPress Sites
  • Bulk Edit WordPress Posts and Pages
  • Bulk Plugin and Theme Installation
    Install new theme or plugin to any number of blogs simultaneously
  • Manage Comments
  • Manage User Accounts
  • Bulk Create User Accounts
  • Edit WordPress Settings
  • Configure Automatic Updates
  • WordPress Backup and Restore Feature
  • Scheduled Backups
  • Backups to Amazon S3
  • Backups to Dropbox
  • Backups to Google Drive
  • Website Cloning
    Copy entire website with all content and files to different hosting or domain
  • Maintenance Mode
    Take your site temporarily offline and display custom notice for visitors
  • SSL Encyption
    Communication between your sites and management control panel is secured with SSL encryption
  • Uptime Monitor
    Monitor the uptime of your sites and be notified if they go down
  • Sucuri Scanner Integration
    Perform malware scans via Sucuri
  • Google Analytics Integration
  • SEO and Keyword Tracking
    Track performance of your sites in search engines
  • Automatic Content Integration
    Get related content from YouTube, Amazon, Flickr and other services
  • White Label
    White label the description of the management client plugin on your sites
  • Activity Reports
  • Storage Space for Plugins, Images and Files
    Upload plugin and files to management service in order to use them across all sites
  • Database Optimization
  • Code Snippets
    Execute custom PHP code on your sites
  • Sub Users
    Create sub accounts that can manage specific sites or access specific features
  • Autoposting & Schedule Content
    Create any number of articles and then schedule them on your blogs so that fresh content gets published in regular intervals.
  • Rewriting And Article Spinning
    You can use any of the integrated rewriting software to spin content and create unique article variations to post to multiple of your sites.
  • Affiliate Network Integrations
  • Pagespeed Monitoring
  • Wordfence Security Integration
  • iThemes Security Integration
  • Google Webmaster Integration
  • Broken Link Checker
  • File Uploader
    Uploade files to WordPress site like you do via cpanel or FTP
  • WooCommerce Integration
  • Piwik Integration
  • WP Rocket Integration
icontrol wp vs main wp
  • iControlWP
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • WorpDrive backup
  • WorpDrive backup
  • WorpDrive backup
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
  • Paid pricing plan
mainwp vs ithemes sync
  • MainWP
  • Comments Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Clone Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Maintenance Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Google Analytics Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • SEO Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Branding Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Client Report Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Code Snippets Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Spinner Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Page Speed Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Wordfence Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • iThemes Security Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • Broken Link Checker Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • File Uploader Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • WooCommerce Status Extension
    Provides quick insights into the status of all your stores from one central location.
  • Piwik Extension
    Included in $29/mo plan
  • WP Rocket Extension
ithemes sync vs manage wp vs cms commander
  • iThemes Sync
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • Can be integrated with BackupBuddy
  • iThemes Sync Pro
  • iThemes Sync Pro
  • iThemes Sync Pro
  • iThemes Sync Pro

 

Why Manage Multiple WordPress Sites With ManageWP?

Managing multiple WordPress blogs is not an easy task. Some sites will definitely be neglected. Especially if you focus on ones that get you the most money.

You need to take care of many things like adding new plugins, optimizing your blog, monitoring uptime, keeping track of stats, SEO improvement and much more.

ManageWP is one of the popular tools for quickly balancing between multiple sites. It is an online platform, which will let you add the unlimited number of WordPress sites.

ManageWP is long time expert in providing services to manage multiple WordPress sites. It allows you to add any number of websites to manage them from a single dashboard. You need to install ManageWP worker plugin on your site and add your site/s to manage wp dashboard.

Features:

  • One-click Access – Manage WordPress sites from one place within one dashboard. Just click on the WordPress site you want to manage. You’re then instantly logged in and ready to administer. No need to remember admin username and password for each website.
  • Easy Management – Manage and update all your themes and plugins on just one site or all of them.
  • Easy Upgrades – All WordPress sites will be updated to the latest version.
  • Uptime Monitoring – Know if WordPress website is down with uptime monitoring tools.
  • Notifications – Be notified as soon as a new update for the theme, plugin or WordPress is available.
  • Traffic Alerts – Be notified when someone linked to your site if the post has gone viral, etc.
  • SEO Analysis – Use information collected with SEO analysis tools to know where you stand, and use it to improve search engine rankings.
  • Keyword Rankings – Keyword research and ranking tools included. Have insights in which words your sites rank well and identify the other areas where you can improve. With collected info, you can optimize your content and rank better.
  • Google Analytics – Check site’s performance with Google Analytics integration.
  • Backups – Backup service for all WordPress sites (check best free WordPress backup plugins).
  • Automated Scheduling – Automate backups on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
  • Backup Data – Choose to store backup data on Dropbox, Amazon S3, FTP or even email.
  • Mass Migrations – If you need to change website host, ManageWP can take all of your WordPress sites from one web host and move them to another.
  • Content – Publish content on your site from ManageWP dashboard. Pick your site, write content and publish without the hassles of logging into various sites.
  • Bulk Posting – Post content to multiple blogs.
  • Security – Secure ManageWP and the sites with encryption and security standards.
  • Sucuri.net Integration – Integration with Sucuri.net will ensure that all of your sites are free of malware and other harmful viruses.

These are just a few of the features, but there are much more which will make the life of any blogger or internet marketer smooth and hassle-free.

 

ManageWP Options & Settings

In June this year (2017), Manage WP service took a significant change with the launch of Orion update. With it came some brand new features, cosmetic tweaks, and a redesigned dashboard.

Features split into free and paid. ManageWP is impressively affordable. You can use ManageWP completely free of charge. On an unlimited number of websites. No catches.

The free tier of ManageWP supports 11 useful features, called “add-ons.” You can mix-and-match these add-ons as you please to use the features you require.

The free functionality can also be upgraded and extended by purchasing the ManageWP premium add-ons. Most paid add-ons cost only $1 per month and per site. So premium add-ons can get a bit pricey as the number of websites stacks up.

Free add-ons:

  • Manage Updates, Plugins & Themes
  • Monthly Cloud Backup
  • One-Click Login
  • Performance Check
  • Security Check
  • Collaborate with Team & Clients
  • Analytics
  • Manage Comments
  • Code Snippets
  • Maintenance Mode
  • Client Reports
  • Premium Cloud Backup
  • Clone
  • White Label
  • SEO Ranking
  • Uptime Monitoring
  • Advanced Client Reports

To use ManageWP you first need to install the ManageWP Worker plugin. The plugin connects your site to the ManageWP dashboard.

The dashboard features a navigation panel and filter on the left-hand side of the screen, plus four panels in the center for updates, comments, optimization, and services.

You can also add new websites to your ManageWP account at any time by clicking on the plus icon in the top-left corner. ManageWP allows you to categorize your sites by assigning them tags. You can then click on the filters to manage websites in a particular category.

 

manage multiple wordpress sites plugin

 

The dashboard interface is intuitive to use and contains all of the functionality you require to manage multiple websites. You can add hundreds of websites to your ManageWP account and keep them up to date, backed up, secure, and spam-free, just by investing a few minutes of your time per day.

 

Alternate Methods To Manage Multiple Sites From One Dashboard

If ManageWP is not what you need or lack some of the features here are alternative tools and services to manage multiple WordPress sites from one place.

 

CMS Commander

CMS Commander has one of the most practical interfaces for managing multiple websites. From the main dashboard, you can see a list of all of your websites, a stats overview and details of what needs to be updated.

 

manage many wordpress sites from same place

CMS Commander boasts an intelligent interface that cuts down management time significantly. CMS Commander has a lot of unique features such as the ability to integrate affiliate networks into your website and the ability to clone websites.

You can also bulk edit posts across your whole portfolio and copy entire articles from one website to another. Automatic backups are available too.

Prices start from $8 per month for up to five websites. Included is a 14 day trial of all premium features. Afterward, you can continue to use CMS Commander completely free on five blogs with essential features.

 

iControlWP

iControlWP has a lot of great features such as an automated update option, bulk actions for all websites, a malware scanner, and automatic backups. The main dashboard also lets you performs manual updates and moderate comments.

 

manage multiple wp sites

 

With iControlWP, you need fewer WordPress plugins on your sites because you can centrally manage much more from within your control panel.

iControlWP cheapest plan is $15 per month for five websites. There is $29 worth plan for up to 15 sites and if you intend to add 50 or more sites then be ready to pay $49.

This should work out cheaper for most WordPress users as other services use fixed pricing plans. They offer a 30-day free trial that lets you try out the service. There is no free plan or free option except trial.

 

InfiniteWP

InfiniteWP is a free application that you can install on your server to manage all of your WordPress websites. It allows you to create a master login that accesses all of your websites. One click updates are available, and you can bulk install favorite plugins with a single click. You can also use InfiniteWP to backup and restore your websites.

 

one dashboard for multiple wordpress sites

 

InfiniteWP is a self-hosted platform that is free to download. Although InfiniteWP is free to download, the basic version lacks many features that can be found on other services such as managing users, uptime monitoring, website cloning and scheduled backups.

All of these features can be purchased for a fee. Unfortunately, they are very expensive. For example, it will cost you $69 to purchase the add-on that lets you manage posts and pages across your websites and $49 to manage comments.

All add-ons can be purchased for $400. Whether InfiniteWP is good value for money depends on how many websites you own and what features you need.

InfiniteWP does not charge a monthly fee, and the application can be used on an infinite number of websites.

This is a better option for people who would have to pay a high monthly fee on a comparative service for the same features. In this case, you pay add-ons on a yearly basis and can choose only ones you intend to use.

In the long run, for some cases, InfiniteWP can end up being a far cheaper option as there are no monthly fees like in many other management tools.

 

MainWP

MainWP is a free, open source, and a self-hosted WordPress management plugin to manage hundreds of websites from a single WordPress website. This includes sites on other hosting providers as well.

Since MainWP is free, they sell extensions to make money. MainWP offers easy website management, backup scheduling, website cloning, domain monitoring, check Google Lighthouse stats of all connected websites on a single screen, and much more.

 

MainWP account dashboard.

 

The MainWP plugin is 100% FREE, forever! However, MainWP Pro offers a wide range of 13+ free and 29+ premium extensions at a single price. The extensions aren’t required but they extend the functionality to improve your workflows.

During the subscription, you’ll get priority support, important security and performance updates for existing extensions, and access to all new extensions.

Price:

  • Monthly: $29/mon
  • Yearly: $249/year (Saving 3 months)
  • Lifetime: $399 (One-time)

What makes MainWP stand out though is that it is a free self-hosted plugin with 2000+ five star reviews on WordPress repository. You can install the MainWP Dashboard on your own server and then add the child plugin to sites which you wish to manage to that location.

You are not relying on someone else’s servers or giving away information about your sites to a third party. Use coupon lovemainwp to get 15% off any full price MainWP Membership options, monthly, yearly or lifetime. Can not be used on sale items.

 

iThemes Sync

iTheme’s Sync WordPress management solution is a slightly simpler version of ManageWP. Like ManageWP, it gives you the ability to run updates on themes, plugins, and the WordPress core, as well as bulk install themes and plugins, and manage users and comments.

While it does not include an option for backups, it does integrate with iTheme’s BackupBuddy (check BackupBuddy review), as well as iTheme’s other software, such as iThemes Security (check iThemes Security review). You can control these plugins directly from Sync’s dashboard.

 

managing wordpress sites free in dashboard

 

The primary iThemes Sync plan allows you to manage up to 10 sites for free. Beginning paid plan is $50 a year for up to 25 sites.

There is also a pro version of Sync. With it, you’ll be able to hide certain menu items on your clients’ dashboards, provide uptime monitoring, track site performance, view analytics data, and share posts automatically to Twitter. iThemes Sync Pro starts at $130 a year for up to 10 sites.

 

Jetpack Site Management

This is a relatively new offering as part of the Jetpack plugin. And like most of the Jetpack modules, it is free. It provides you with a dashboard to manage all of your Jetpack connected sites. You can run updates, manage plugins, view Jetpack stats, and even post to each site.

 

Manage Multiple WordPress Sites Final Words

Are you running multiple WordPress blogs and find it tough to manage all of them? How painful is it to log in to all your WordPress blogs just to update a plugin?

Managing a high number of WordPress websites individually is time-consuming and impractical. A good WordPress management can streamline your administrative duties and potentially save you hours of work every week.

Most solutions mentioned in this post offer free trial or free plan. I recommend taking advantage of this and trying each option out before you hand over any money.

Be sure to pay attention to what functionality each solution offers and do not underestimate the power of a good user interface. If non of the mentioned tools are what you need, then I suggest you check my WP Umbrella review. It is great tool that can help with site maintenance and monitoring.

Hope this helped, and you found how to manage multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard. If you use some another service or think there are better options feel free to tell me in comments below.


DISCLOSURE: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, I might get a small commission, without any extra cost to you. Read more about it here.

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