SolidWP Alternatives in 2026: After the Move to Kadence

Phil Storey

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Key takeaway: SolidWP no longer exists as a brand: as of November 2026, Solid Security is Kadence Security, Solid Central is Kadence Central, and both are sold by Liquid Web inside Kadence bundles (solidwp.com now redirects to Liquid Web). Glow is our top pick for agencies reviewing their options after the change: it combines client support tickets, maintenance, white-label reports, backups and security in one dashboard for $1.95 per site per month (first site free), with no theme or plugin bundle attached. ManageWP (free core on unlimited sites) and Wordfence (free plugin firewall with a free multi-site console) are the other strong options.

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

Choose Glow if you want site management, client support tickets, reports, backups and security in one dashboard, independent of any theme or plugin suite.
Choose ManageWP if you want a free management dashboard on unlimited sites.
Choose MainWP if you want to self-host with a free open-source core.
Choose WP Umbrella if you want one per-site price with EU backups and safe updates.
Choose Wordfence if you mainly used Solid Security for its firewall and login protection.
Choose Patchstack if virtual patching was the feature you valued most.
Stay with Kadence if you build on Kadence and your licence already includes Central.

What happened to SolidWP?

SolidWP was the brand iThemes became in 2023. Its products have now moved under Kadence, Liquid Web's WordPress brand:

Solid Security (formerly iThemes Security) is now Kadence Security. The free plugin on WordPress.org, with 700,000+ active installs, now carries the Kadence name.
Solid Central (formerly iThemes Sync) is now Kadence Central. Its helper plugin now carries the Kadence name.
Solid Backups (formerly BackupBuddy) is now Kadence Backups.

Standalone security pricing is no longer published. Liquid Web says Security and Backups are included with Kadence Pro and Elite, and Kadence Central is Elite only. Liquid Web staff have said existing active and lifetime licences remain valid and grandfathered.

What do Kadence Security and Kadence Central do well?

Kadence Security has a strong login protection set: local and network brute force protection, free two-factor authentication, passkeys in Pro, file change detection, a site scanner for known vulnerabilities, and on Pro a real-time firewall and Patchstack-powered virtual patching for some vulnerabilities. Kadence Central adds unlimited connected sites, bulk plugin and theme updates, one-click rollback, uptime history with email alerts, role-based access and white-label client logins, plus syncing of Kadence design patterns across sites.

The trade-offs: Central is only on the top Kadence tier, the security is sold inside bundles with a site builder and unrelated plugins, and we found no client ticketing or time tracking. The product line has changed names twice, which has left some users unsure which plugin and licence they need.

How do the SolidWP alternatives compare?

Prices are list prices in US dollars, as of November 2026, taken from each vendor's pricing page.

Tool	Model	Starting price (as of November 2026)	Free tier	Client reports	Support tickets	Built-in backups	Security	Best for
Glow	SaaS + plugin	First site free, then $1.95 per site per month	First site	Yes, white-label	Yes	Yes, daily, EU or US	Auto-patching, login protection, file scan; no WAF	Support and maintenance in one
Kadence Central and Security	SaaS + plugins	Central: Kadence Elite only, check liquidweb.com	Free Kadence Security plugin	Not found	Not found	Kadence Backups (Pro and Elite)	Firewall and Patchstack virtual patching (Pro)	Kadence builders
ManageWP	SaaS + plugin	Free core; add-ons from $1 per site per month	Yes, unlimited sites	Basic free; advanced $1/site	Not found	Monthly free; frequent $2/site	Free security check; vulnerability protection $2/site	Pay only for what you use
MainWP	Self-hosted plugin	Free; Pro $29 per month	Yes, open source, unlimited sites	Yes	Not found	Via third-party backup plugins	Vulnerability scanner	Self-hosting
WP Umbrella	SaaS + plugin	€1.99 per site per month ($2.19)	No (14-day trial)	Yes, white-label	Not found	Yes, EU, 50 days	Vulnerability alerts, hardening; firewall €2/site add-on	Simple per-site pricing
Wordfence	Security plugin + free console	Free; Premium $149 per site per year	Yes, plugin and Central	Not found	No	No	Plugin WAF, malware scan, 2FA	Firewall and login security
Patchstack	SaaS + plugin	Developer $69 per month, billed annually	None listed	Yes, white-label	No	No	Virtual patching, vulnerability monitoring	Virtual patching at scale

Glow: best overall for agencies (our top pick)

Glow is not tied to a theme or plugin suite, so it works on every client site whatever it is built with. It combines a client support ticket system (shared inbox, assignment, private notes, time tracking, monthly time budgets) with Safe Updates and automatic rollback, built-in backups (daily, last 7 kept, 10GB per site, EU or US), uptime monitoring and automated white-label reports. Glow Security covers much of what agencies used Solid Security for: login protection (lockout after 5 failed logins), vulnerability alerts with automatic patching when a fix exists, daily file checks against WordPress.org checksums, hardening switches and alerts for new admins. WordPress Access adds 2FA for WordPress admin, and you can connect Claude or ChatGPT over MCP via AI assistants.

Price, as of November 2026: first site free, then $1.95 per site per month for sites 2 to 100, falling to $1.65 above 400 sites, with every feature and unlimited team seats.

Honest limitation: Glow is not a firewall and has no virtual patching, so it patches a vulnerability only once an update exists.

ManageWP: best for a free management dashboard

ManageWP (owned by GoDaddy) is free on unlimited sites with updates, a monthly cloud backup, security and performance checks, basic client reports and 1-click login. Vulnerability Protection, uptime and frequent backups are per-site add-ons.

Price, as of November 2026: free core; Vulnerability Protection $2, Backups $2 and Uptime Monitor $1 per site per month.

Honest limitation: add-ons stack per site, and we found no ticketing.

MainWP: best for self-hosting

MainWP is a free, open-source (GPL) dashboard on your own WordPress install, managing unlimited sites with team roles and a vulnerability scanner. An open-source MCP server is available in alpha.

Price, as of November 2026: free core; Pro $29 per month, or $599 one-time lifetime.

Honest limitation: you maintain the dashboard, and backups depend on third-party plugins.

WP Umbrella: best for one per-site price

WP Umbrella includes safe updates with rollback, EU-hosted backups kept 50 days, uptime and performance monitoring, Patchstack vulnerability checks, hardening, 2FA and white-label reports.

Price, as of November 2026: €1.99 per site per month ($2.19); firewall and malware scanning add-on €2 per site per month.

Honest limitation: no free plan, and we found no ticketing.

Wordfence: best for a free firewall and security console

Wordfence has more than 5 million active installs. It offers an endpoint firewall, a malware scanner, login protection and free 2FA, and Wordfence Central is a free console for security status across any number of sites.

Price, as of November 2026: Free; Premium $149 per site per year. Wordfence has announced Premium will rise to $199 per year from 3 December 2026.

Honest limitation: on the free plan, firewall rules and malware signatures arrive 30 days late, and it does not handle updates, backups or reports.

Patchstack: best for virtual patching

Patchstack powers the virtual patching in Kadence Security Pro and sells it directly, with vulnerability monitoring across many sites and white-label reports.

Price, as of November 2026: Developer $69 per month billed annually, which Patchstack's docs say covers 25 sites.

Honest limitation: no malware scanning or cleanup, and the minimum price is steep for small portfolios.

How do you choose a SolidWP alternative?

You build on Kadence: check whether your licence includes Central; if it does, staying may be simplest.
Under 20 sites: Glow (first site free) or ManageWP free, plus the free Wordfence or Kadence Security plugin if you want a firewall.
20 to 100 sites: Glow or WP Umbrella at about $2 per site; Glow if you also handle client requests.
100+ sites: Glow's volume pricing falls to $1.65 per site; MainWP has a flat fee. Add Patchstack if virtual patching matters.
Self-hosted vs SaaS: only MainWP is self-hosted.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to Solid Security and Solid Central?

Liquid Web moved them under its Kadence brand. Solid Security is now Kadence Security and Solid Central is now Kadence Central. As of November 2026, solidwp.com redirects to Liquid Web.

Is my Solid Security licence still valid?

Liquid Web staff have said active and lifetime licences remain valid and grandfathered. Check with Liquid Web for your specific licence.

How much does Kadence Central cost?

Kadence Central is included only with Kadence Elite. We could not confirm the Elite price on an official page in November 2026, so check liquidweb.com.

What is the best SolidWP alternative for agencies?

Glow, for management, client support, reports, backups and security in one dashboard. For a free firewall, Wordfence; for virtual patching, Patchstack.

Does Glow replace a security plugin?

Glow covers patching, login protection, file checks, hardening and alerts, but it is not a web application firewall and does not clean malware. Sites that need those can run Wordfence or a similar plugin alongside Glow.

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