MainWP
MainWP is a self-hosted, open-source WordPress management platform that lets agencies run updates, backups, monitoring, and white-label reporting across unlimited client sites from their own infrastructure via a free core plugin and paid Pro add-ons.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersFlorida, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What MainWP does
MainWP is a self-hosted WordPress site-management platform built for agencies, freelancers, and web-maintenance companies that oversee multiple client installations. The product is delivered as a WordPress plugin: the MainWP Dashboard is installed on the user's own WordPress site and connects to Child plugins on each managed site via a REST API secured with OpenSSL and SHA-256, giving agencies full data ownership rather than relying on a vendor-hosted SaaS. The platform supports batch plugin, theme, and core updates; centralised uptime, SSL, and vulnerability monitoring; white-label client reporting; role-based technician access; cost tracking for plugin licences and renewals; and version locking to prevent regressions. A modular architecture exposes core Sites, Clients, Cost Tracker, and Insights modules, with an add-on marketplace extending coverage into backups, security scanning, SEO, performance auditing, comment moderation, and time tracking.
The business runs on a freemium model: the core Dashboard is free open-source software distributed via the WordPress.org plugin repository, while revenue is generated from paid annual Pro add-on subscriptions (notably Pro Reports and Advanced Uptime Monitor) and a 15% affiliate program offering 12-month recurring commissions. Recent product development has emphasised developer and automation extensibility through a REST API v2, Abilities API, MainWP Control CLI, and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server exposing 64 tools to AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and OpenAI Codex. MainWP is founder-run (co-founder Dennis Dornon), privately owned, debt-free, and profitable since its founding in 2014, operating with a remote distributed team of 1–10 people and a customer base of more than 20,000 site owners managing over 700,000 WordPress sites.
MainWP firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- MainWP
- Legal name
- MainWP
- Website
- https://mainwp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- MainWP is a self-hosted, open-source WordPress management platform that lets agencies run updates, backups, monitoring, and white-label reporting across unlimited client sites from their own infrastructure via a free core plugin and paid Pro add-ons.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
MainWP industry classification
Industry- Product category
- WordPress Management Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Service Catalog, ITSM & Self-Service Provisioning for Private Cloud (HDABABAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Private Cloud Observability, Performance & Capacity Management (HDABABAL), Webhooks, Eventing & Message Streaming (BPAMAOAE)
Keywords
Where MainWP is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Florida
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
MainWP business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Premium Add-ons/Subscriptions: MainWP offers a free core plugin with premium add-ons for advanced features. The Pro version includes reporting, uptime monitoring, and team workflow capabilities. Pricing appears to be subscription-based with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Affiliate Program: 15% commission per sale with 12-month recurring commissions on subscriptions. Affiliates can promote MainWP through direct links or affiliate links. Paid via PayPal with 30-day cookie duration.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free version with unlimited site management |
| Subscription | Annual | Pro Add-ons with 30-day guarantee |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
MainWP product offering
Product offeringCore offering
MainWP provides a self-hosted WordPress management platform built as a WordPress plugin (MainWP Dashboard) that connects to child plugins on client sites, enabling agencies to centrally manage unlimited WordPress installations with batch updates, backups, uptime and security monitoring, white-label client reporting, and cost tracking. The core plugin is free and open-source, with revenue generated through paid Pro add-on subscriptions covering reporting, advanced uptime monitoring, and team workflow extensions.
Product overview
MainWP is a self-hosted WordPress management platform for agencies, offering a free open-source core (MainWP Dashboard) plus a premium Pro subscription. The platform provides a modular architecture built around core modules: Sites (centralized update and backup control), Clients (profile and access management), Cost Tracker (license and expense tracking), and Insights (usage analytics). The add-on ecosystem extends functionality across backups, security scanning, SEO, performance auditing (Lighthouse), professional reporting (Pro Reports), time tracking, and comment moderation. Technical integrations include a REST API v2, MCP Server for AI assistant connectivity (64 tools), and CLI tooling. The platform targets agencies managing 30-200+ WordPress sites, emphasizing data privacy, no SaaS lock-in, and open-source extensibility.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- MainWP Dashboard (Free) Free, open-source self-hosted WordPress management plugin that enables agencies and developers to centrally manage unlimited client WordPress sites, run batch updates, perform backups, and monitor site health from a single dashboard installed on their own WordPress.
- MainWP Pro (Premium Subscription) Premium subscription that unlocks Pro add-ons including white-label reporting, advanced uptime monitoring, and team workflow extensions for agencies managing client WordPress sites.
- Pro Reports Extension White-label reporting add-on that generates comprehensive client reports including updates, uptime, security scans, Google Analytics, Matomo, Sucuri, Wordfence, and WooCommerce status data.
- Advanced Uptime Monitor Extension Uptime and availability monitoring add-on that provides centralized uptime tracking across all connected child sites and feeds data into client reports.
- SSL Monitor Extension Extension that tracks SSL certificate status, expiration, and validation across all managed child WordPress sites.
- Domain Monitor Extension Extension for monitoring domain registration status, expiration dates, and DNS configuration across client sites.
- Lighthouse Extension Performance auditing extension that runs Google Lighthouse tests across all managed sites to measure page speed, accessibility, SEO, and best practices.
- Time Tracker Extension Client billing and time tracking extension for logging billable hours against managed sites and clients within the MainWP Dashboard.
- Comments Extension Extension for managing and moderating comments across all connected WordPress sites from a centralized dashboard with bulk actions.
- Cost Tracker Add-on Expense tracking module for managing plugin licenses, hosting costs, and service subscriptions with renewal forecasting and profit margin visibility inside the MainWP Dashboard.
- MainWP MCP Server Model Context Protocol server enabling AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and OpenAI Codex to manage WordPress sites through natural language commands via 64 exposed MCP tools.
- MainWP Control CLI Command-line interface tool for scripting and automating MainWP Dashboard operations from terminal, supporting scripts, cron jobs, and CI/CD pipelines.
- UpdraftPlus Extension Built-in extension that integrates UpdraftPlus backup functionality into the MainWP Dashboard, with automatic required plugin detection for child sites.
- MainWP Add-ons Marketplace Ecosystem of premium extensions for backups, security, SEO, monitoring, and reporting that extend MainWP functionality for specialized agency workflows.
Quantifiable outcome
- Save time managing updates across 50+ client sites
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use MainWP
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
MainWP technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration19 records
Feature14 records
MainWP partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
MainWP competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- WPMU DEV: WPMU DEV (Incsub) offers a comprehensive WordPress management suite with hosting, plugins, and agency tools. It targets the same agency segment as MainWP with overlapping functionality (updates, backups, security, reporting), and is one of the largest direct competitors in the WordPress management category.
- ManageWP: Owned by GoDaddy, ManageWP is the most prominent SaaS-based WordPress site management platform for agencies. It directly competes with MainWP on bulk updates, backups, monitoring, and reporting, but uses a per-site pricing model hosted on ManageWP's infrastructure — making it the closest functional alternative.
- InfiniteWP: InfiniteWP is a self-hosted WordPress management platform — like MainWP — that enables agencies to manage multiple sites from a single dashboard. The shared self-hosted architecture and focus on unlimited sites makes it the most structurally comparable peer.
- BlogVault: BlogVault (by Indusface) provides WordPress backup, migration, and site management with a focus on agencies and hosting providers. It overlaps with MainWP on backup, monitoring, and multi-site management workflows.
- iControlWP: iControlWP is a multi-site WordPress management dashboard aimed at agencies and developers, providing backup, update, and monitoring functionality across client sites — directly comparable to MainWP's core dashboard offering.
- WP Umbrella: WP Umbrella is a WordPress management and reporting platform purpose-built for agencies managing multiple client sites, with strong emphasis on automated maintenance and white-label client reporting — directly overlapping MainWP's agency workflow positioning.
Broad incumbents
- SolidWP (iThemes): SolidWP (formerly iThemes) provides a portfolio of WordPress security, backup, and management products (Solid Security, Solid Backups, Solid Central) targeting the same agency and SMB segments as MainWP, with broader feature breadth and corporate backing.
- Jetpack: Jetpack, built by Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com), bundles backup, security, performance, and site management into a broad WordPress super-plugin. It competes with MainWP at the periphery and benefits from deep integration with the WordPress ecosystem and Automattic's distribution scale.
Emerging players
- Patchstack: Patchstack is a WordPress-focused vulnerability intelligence and security platform with growing multi-site management capabilities. It intersects with MainWP on the security/monitoring layer and represents an emerging threat as security becomes more central to agency workflows.
- WP Remote (Human Made): WP Remote, by Human Made, provides lightweight multi-site WordPress management with a focus on updates and backups. It targets a similar developer/agency niche as MainWP but with a smaller feature surface and more limited ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
MainWP social profiles
Digital presenceMainWP compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
MainWP financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
MainWP leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
MainWP funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
MainWP M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about MainWP
What does MainWP do?
MainWP provides a self-hosted WordPress management platform built as a WordPress plugin (MainWP Dashboard) that connects to child plugins on client sites, enabling agencies to centrally manage unlimited WordPress installations with batch updates, backups, uptime and security monitoring, white-label client reporting, and cost tracking. The core plugin is free and open-source, with revenue generated through paid Pro add-on subscriptions covering reporting, advanced uptime monitoring, and team workflow extensions.
Is MainWP a public or private company?
MainWP is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was MainWP founded?
MainWP was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is MainWP based?
MainWP is headquartered in Florida, United States, in the North America region.
How does MainWP make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Premium Add-ons/Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are affiliate Program.
Who are MainWP's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are WPMU DEV, ManageWP, InfiniteWP, BlogVault, iControlWP and WP Umbrella. Broad incumbents are SolidWP (iThemes) and Jetpack. Emerging players are Patchstack and WP Remote (Human Made).
Does MainWP have an API?
Yes. MainWP offers a comprehensive REST API v2 and Abilities API for developers to build custom integrations and automate workflows. The API supports authentication via WordPress Application Passwords or bearer tokens. Key capabilities include: Sites management (list, add, edit, delete, sync), Clients management, Tags management, Updates management, Costs tracking, Posts and Pages management, Users management, Monitoring endpoints (uptime, incidents, heartbeat), Settings management, Extensions endpoints (Comments, SSL Monitor, Domain Monitor, Lighthouse, Pro Reports, Time Tracker), and Batch operations. Additionally, the MainWP MCP Server (available via npm as @mainwp/mcp) exposes 64 tools for AI assistant integration with Claude, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, OpenAI Codex, and other MCP clients. The MainWP Control CLI (available via npm as @mainwp/control) provides command-line access for scripts, cron jobs, and CI/CD pipelines. Developer documentation is at docs.mainwp.com.
What industry is MainWP in?
MainWP's product category is WordPress Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABABAH, Service Catalog, ITSM & Self-Service Provisioning for Private Cloud, with a secondary code of HDABABAL, Private Cloud Observability, Performance & Capacity Management. Its NAICS code is 5415 and its SIC code is 7372.