One of the first things a WordPress developer realizes after managing multiple sites is the huge advantage it’d be to have a one-stop management tool. There are several viable options available to do just this, with varying features and functionality. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
CMS Commander
CMS Commander manages multiple types of Content Management Systems (CMS), not just WordPress. It will also manage Drupal, Joomla, and phpBB websites. This is a great option if you are managing various types of content management systems.
Besides the standard functionality that comes with a typical multi-site management tool, CMS Commander includes an auto-posting option to retrieve content from over 15 different sources.
Here’s a quick look at some of CMS Commander features:
- Create categories
- Create new user
- One-click plugin updates
- Install plugins and themes to multiple sites with one click
- Modify or create new posts to any of the CMS websites
- Approve or delete new comments
- Conveniently backup all your CMS sites
- Powerful affiliate content generation capabilities
- Manage affiliate ads for all your websites from one place
CMS Commander is currently in open(free) Beta.
Atarim
Atarim is an excellent tool that agency owners or web developers can use to manage multiple websites through a single dashboard. If you manage sites for different clients, Atarim lets you review all relevant development tasks associated with each site.
Atarim lets you log into different sites using a single login, which reduces the hassle involved in logging in and out of each site or maintaining a Google Sheets document with sensitive login information.
If you run a design and development agency and need a streamlined dashboard that lets you manage multiple sites through a single dashboard, Atarim has everything that you could need.
From tracking time to checking new updates or reviewing any issues, Atarim lets you log into the backend and make adjustments directly. You can even create automation recipes using Zapier, letting you create triggers and simplifying basic tasks.
Signup for Atarim Project Management System
InfiniteWP
InfiteWP differs from other options in that it runs on your own server vs on another website. You’ll need to upload the files to your server. Then add the InfiniteWP client plugin to each WordPress site you want to manage.
InfiniteWP was released just a few months. It has developed a strong support community and looks very promising. It is the only multiple site management tool that can run locally which allows WordPress developers to update their local test sites and their live remote sites simultaneously.
- One master login for all WordPress sites
- One-click updates for plugin on multiple sites
- Instant backup and restore
- Install multiple plugins on multiple sites simultaneously
- Activate & deactivate multiple plugins and themes instantly
- Manage local sites and remote site
The basic services of InfiniteWP are free. Additional add-ons are available at additional cost. They are currently determining their pricing structure for these add-ons and welcome any suggestions you might have.
Premium Add-ons
- Google anaytics
- Manage and post comments
- Scheduled backups
- WordPress install and clone
- Bulk create posts, pages & links
- Front-end editor
- Backup to amazon s3 and dropbox
- Manage users
Download Infinite WP
WP Remote
Easily monitor and manage all your WordPress sites from one dashboard using WP Remote. Add your WordPress sites to your WP Remote account and easily glance through each site for status, backups, and history (changes to site).
After setting up an account at wpremote.com, the wpremote plugin needs to be installed on each managed WordPress site. There is no limit to the number of sites you can add.
- Core WordPress updates
- Plugin updates
- Theme updates
- Full off-site backups
- Smartphone app
- No limit to number of sites
WP Remote is free.
Sign up for WP Remote
Manage WP
ManageWP lets you manage all your WordPress sites from one location, keeping them updated and secure. Their interface is intuitive and one can easily find any detected issues.
ManageWP is free for the basic services. Additional services and functionality can be added to the basic services for a fee.
- One-click access to any site
- Manage themes and plugins with one click
- Upgrade to latest version of WordPress instantly
- Monitor uptime
- Sends out notifications when there is an update to a theme, plugin, backup, or WordPress
Premium Options
- Receive an alert when traffic suddenly changes
- SEO analysis tools
- Powerful keyword research and ranking tools
- Integrate with google analytics
- Backup services with automated scheduling
- Clone option
- Write and publish content to multiple sites
What has been your experience with multi-site management tools? Which one do you recommend?
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9 Responses
Hi Carma,
would you mind to update the article? Especially with respect to woocommerce?
Nevertheless, please note that the site does somehow not load css correctly. Is this just the case for me?
Thanks for the article about the available options but this information is a little dated. One thing I’ve noticed is that CMSCommander might be only available for wp now.
Mark
I know this post is older but we have released a comparison for all the WP management products discussed here which makes it possible to filter all of them based on the users needs. You can enter the amount of websites you want to manage and which features you need and get all prducts ordered by the cheapest that matches most of your requirements. Maybe it proves useful to someone still looking for a WordPress management solution:
Is anyone using InfiniteWP on a Windows Server? I host mostly DNN and ecommerce sites, but can not seem to get away from WP. I am not faced with a management challenge, and from the list it appears I would prefer InfiniteWP . Anny thoughs or comments / recommendations welcome.
I have now tried out InfiniteWP and while the dashboard does take a bit to get used to, I have found it to work very well on about 19 sites that I have.
I have tried the ignore feature and that works as well.
I like it well enough to have committed to it and switched from my previous solution – WP Remote.
So far I don’t have a need for the premium features, the free version gives me what I need the most. I prefer BackupBuddy and Amazon S3 for my automated backups.
I’ve been testing out InfiniteWP with 22 wordpress sites, and although it’s a bit scary to hit “Update All” – this last WP upgrade went through without a hitch.
I still need to test the ignore feature (for a few of my clients who have heavily modified WooCommerce files, for instance). And the dashboard is a bit confusing in some areas, but overall I’m happy with it’s performance and the time it’s saved me.
I’m on the fence about the premium offer they’re running this month… and I’m curious to hear other people’s opinions of the plugin to see if it’s worth $199.
I have been using WP Remote and have been mostly pleased with it. For a free product is does a decent job, but I have noticed there are a few premium plugins it doesn’t seem to recognize and there is no ability to manage plugins across sites.
I have been looking into Manage WP but haven’t signed up yet. I had not heard of InfiniteWP before and now I am very curious about that one. I may try it first. It reminds me of the first service I tried which eventually died, WP Status Dashboard. That was one you also installed on your local server, however it didn’t have the robust features of InfiniteWP.
Thanks for the review!
Greg – Thanks for sharing your experience! I am also keeping my eye in Infinite WP.
Greg – I’ve been using Infinite WP for a few months now and I love it. Makes it easy to keep my client sites updated. I’m going to be purchasing a few of the backup add-ons in the next few months. I definitely recommend trying it out.