MainWP vs WPCentral (2026): Which Is Right for Your Agency?

Key takeaway: our top pick for agencies is Glow, because it combines client support tickets, WordPress maintenance and white-label reports in one hosted dashboard, with backups, uptime and security built in and your first site free. Between these two, choose MainWP, because WPCentral looks dormant: its connector plugin has been permanently closed on WordPress.org since 3 July 2023 at the author's request, the version its site still serves (1.5.7) is listed as affected by CVE-2023-41854 with no fix shown on WPScan, and its blog stopped in August 2021. MainWP is actively developed, open source and free for unlimited sites, so it is the best choice if you must self-host.

Disclosure: Glow is our product. Competitor details are from their own websites, checked November 2026.

• Choose Glow (best overall for agencies) if: you run care plans that include client support, maintenance and reporting, and want backups and security included on every site.
• Choose MainWP if: you want a free, open-source dashboard on your own server and a flat-priced Pro licence for unlimited sites.
• Avoid starting with WPCentral: its plugin is no longer distributed on WordPress.org and shows no sign of active development.

How do MainWP and WPCentral compare side by side?

Prices as of November 2026, from each vendor's own pages. "Not found" means we did not find it on the vendor's pages.

	Glow	MainWP	WPCentral
Model	Hosted SaaS + free plugin	Self-hosted, open source (GPL) dashboard + Child plugin	Hosted dashboard + connector plugin
Starting price (as of November 2026)	First site free; $1.95 per site per month	Free core; Pro $29 per month or $599 lifetime	Free plan; paid plans listed from $2.50 per month for 1 site
Free tier	First site only, all features	Yes, unlimited sites	Yes, unlimited sites (listed)
Bulk updates	Yes, with Safe Updates and rollback	Yes	Yes
Built-in backups	Yes: daily, last 7 kept, 10GB per site, EU or US storage	Through backup plugins you configure (UpdraftPlus, WPvivid and others)	Yes, local and remote (listed)
Security	Vulnerability alerts, safe patching, login protection, file scan	Vulnerability scanner (NVD API, Jetpack Protect)	"Regular security checks" (no detail published)
Client reports	Included, white-label, automated	Yes	Mentioned; white label not stated
Support tickets	Yes, shared inbox with time tracking	Not found	Not found
AI assistants (MCP)	Claude and ChatGPT connector	Open-source MCP server (alpha)	Not found
Client plugin status	On WordPress.org	Updated 10 November 2026, 700,000+ active installs	Closed on WordPress.org since 3 July 2023
Best for	Best overall for agencies: support, maintenance and reports in one place	Technical agencies that want to self-host	Existing Softaculous users only

MainWP: best for self-hosting and owning your data

MainWP is an independent, open-source dashboard licensed under the GPL. You install it as a plugin on your own WordPress site and add the MainWP Child plugin to every site you manage. Both were updated on 10 November 2026, and the Child plugin has more than 700,000 active installs.

The free core manages unlimited sites. MainWP Pro is priced per account, not per site: $29 per month or $599 for a lifetime licence as of November 2026. A yearly plan is also offered; a sale was running when we checked, so check the vendor's site for its list price. MainWP covers bulk updates, a vulnerability scanner, client reports, team roles and white-labelling of the Child plugin, and it has an open-source MCP server for AI clients, described as alpha.

Honest limitation: you host, secure and maintain the dashboard yourself. Backups and uptime run through third-party plugins and services that you configure and may pay for separately, and the pricing page does not clearly separate free and Pro features.

WPCentral: dormant since 2023

WPCentral, part of Softaculous, was built around a free dashboard for unlimited sites and integration with the Softaculous installer. Its site is still online and lists paid plans from $2.50 per month for 1 site to $34 per month for 100 sites, plus a free plan and a 7-day trial. Listed features include bulk updates, automated local and remote backups and reports.

Its status is the deciding factor. WordPress.org closed the wpCentral plugin on 3 July 2023 and marks the closure as permanent, at the author's request. The site's download button still links to version 1.5.7, and CVE-2023-41854 (a cross-site request forgery issue disclosed on 10 October 2023) lists versions 1.5.7 and below as affected, with no fix shown on WPScan. The newest blog post is from 20 August 2021.

Honest limitation: without an active, distributed plugin, you cannot rely on WPCentral for security fixes or compatibility with new WordPress releases. No client support tickets, client portal or white-label reporting were found either.

Which should you choose?

• You sell care plans with client support: Glow, our top pick. Tickets, maintenance, backups, security and reports are in one dashboard, and the first site is free.
• Self-hosting is a must: MainWP. It is the most actively developed self-hosted option, with a GPL core and no per-site fees.
• Under 20 sites: MainWP's free core may be all you need, provided someone on the team is happy to run the dashboard. Otherwise a hosted tool removes that job.
• 20 to 100+ sites: MainWP's flat Pro licence gets cheaper per site as you grow, but budget for backup and uptime services and for the time spent maintaining the dashboard.
• Existing WPCentral users: migrate to a maintained tool and remove the wpCentral plugin from client sites.
• If you also run client support: neither lists a ticket system, so plan for a helpdesk or a combined tool.

Is there an option that does both? Glow, best overall for agencies

Yes, and it is our top recommendation for agencies: Glow combines support tickets, WordPress maintenance and white-label client reports in one hosted dashboard. Clients email in, and your team replies from a shared inbox with assignment, private notes and time tracking against monthly time budgets per client.

Backups and uptime are built in, so there are no third-party services to wire up: daily backups with EU or US storage per site and 1-click restore, uptime monitoring from 3-minute intervals, Safe Updates with automatic rollback and Glow Security for vulnerability alerts and safe patching. Like MainWP, Glow works with AI assistants: Claude or ChatGPT connect over MCP via Glow's AI connector, read-only by default. Your first site is free, then $1.95 per site per month for sites 2 to 100 (see pricing).

Where MainWP relies on third-party plugins and services for backups and uptime, Glow builds them in, so there is nothing extra to configure or pay for. If you are moving off WPCentral anyway, connecting sites to Glow with its free plugin from WordPress.org is a clean break. Compare in more detail: Glow vs MainWP.

Honest limitation: Glow is hosted SaaS only, with no self-hosted option, so it is not a like-for-like swap if you need to run the dashboard on your own server.

Frequently asked questions

Is WPCentral still safe to use?

We would not install it on new client sites. Its plugin has been closed on WordPress.org since July 2023, and the version still served from its site (1.5.7) is listed as affected by CVE-2023-41854 with no fix shown on WPScan.

Is MainWP really free?

Yes. The MainWP dashboard is open source under the GPL and its free core manages unlimited sites. MainWP Pro adds premium extensions for $29 per month or $599 lifetime as of November 2026.

Does MainWP include backups?

MainWP manages backups through plugins such as UpdraftPlus, WPvivid, BackWPup and others. Storage is wherever you configure those plugins; MainWP does not host backup storage itself.

Is there a hosted alternative to MainWP?

Yes. Our top pick is Glow, which is hosted and includes client support tickets, backups and security on every plan. ManageWP and WP Umbrella are other hosted options.

Does MainWP work with Claude or ChatGPT?

MainWP has an open-source MCP server, described as alpha, that AI clients can use. Glow also has an MCP connector listed in Claude's connector directory and ChatGPT's app directory.

Start free with Glow: free for your first site, no credit card.