Leave the dashboard server behind, keep the control
MainWP gives you ownership by making you the host. Migrating to WPCentrify removes the server you have to patch, back up and keep online, without giving up data exports, hosting neutrality or the ability to leave.
Assisted migration is free. We do the connection work with you.
Why self-hosted stops paying for itself
MainWP's argument is a good one, and it is honestly made: your data lives on infrastructure you control, there is no per-site SaaS fee, and the extension model means you can bend the tool to your workflow. For agencies with strong server skills and a large portfolio, that maths genuinely works.
What tends to change the calculation is the dashboard itself. It is a WordPress site, and it needs everything a WordPress site needs: hosting, updates, security hardening, its own backups, PHP version management and occasional debugging. When it goes down, you lose visibility across every client at once. When it gets slow at two hundred sites, tuning it becomes your problem rather than your vendor's.
The second thing is the extension bill. MainWP's core is free, but a working agency setup usually means a stack of paid extensions, and each one is another thing to update and keep compatible. Agencies often arrive having calculated that their free setup costs several hours of maintenance a month plus extension renewals.
What the switch actually costs you
Your MainWP dashboard keeps running throughout. Child sites can hold both the MainWP child plugin and the WPCentrify connector simultaneously with no conflict, so there is no cutover moment.
- No DNS change, no hosting move, no downtime
- Sites stay connected to MainWP until you disconnect them
- Run both platforms side by side for as long as you want
- We delete nothing on the other side
What moves across from MainWP
Some things transfer automatically, some are rebuilt during onboarding, and a few never move at all. Here is the honest split.
Transfers automatically
- Site list and URLs
- Client and group structures
- Team users and role assignments
- Update schedules
- Backup cadence settings
- Uptime and monitoring configuration
Rebuilt during onboarding
- Extension-specific configuration with no direct equivalent
- Custom report templates
- Cost-tracking records
- Bespoke automation built with MainWP hooks
- Notification routing
Stays exactly where it is
- Your MainWP dashboard, for as long as you want it
- Your hosting arrangements, unchanged
- Any MainWP extension licences you have bought
- Historical data stored on your own server
How an assisted migration runs
Most portfolios under fifty sites are fully connected within one working session. Larger portfolios are staged in batches so nothing is rushed.
Scoping call, 20 minutes
We look at your MainWP setup together, count the sites, note the plans and groupings you use, and agree a batch order. Ecommerce and business-critical sites usually go last, once you have seen the workflow on lower-risk sites.
Bulk connector deployment
MainWP can bulk-install plugins across every child site from your existing dashboard, which makes this the fastest migration path of any tool in the category. One action pushes the WPCentrify connector to your whole portfolio.
Verification pass
Every connected site runs a first health check: WordPress version, plugin inventory, update backlog, backup presence, SSL expiry and an uptime baseline. You get a portfolio report before you have changed a single setting.
Policies and client mapping
We rebuild your update schedules, backup frequencies, client groupings, report templates and team permissions to match what you had, then automate the parts that were previously manual.
Parallel running
Keep MainWP active as long as you like. Most agencies run both for one billing cycle, confirm the backups and reports agree, then disconnect.
What you gain, and what you give up
What you gain is the removal of an entire class of work. There is no dashboard to patch, no PHP version to manage, no dashboard database that grows until queries slow down, and no 3am problem where the management layer is the thing that broke. Monitoring runs from our infrastructure rather than from cron on your server, which means uptime checks keep working even when your own hosting has a bad day.
What you give up is literal possession of the database. We take that seriously rather than waving it away: every account can export its full dataset at any time in a machine-readable format, we are hosting-neutral, we publish what we store and where, and the connector can be removed from any site without residue. What we cannot offer is the thing MainWP is uniquely good at, which is the file sitting on a disk you own.
Practically, most agencies find the trade acceptable once the portfolio passes about twenty sites, because that is roughly where dashboard maintenance stops being trivial. Below that, MainWP's economics are hard to beat and we will say so.
Where you may prefer to stay
Migration is not automatically the right call. Be honest about these before you move:
- Data residency on your own hardware is a contractual requirement
- You have deep custom automation built on MainWP hooks
- Your team includes someone who enjoys and is good at server maintenance
- Your portfolio is large and your extension set is already paid for
We would rather you stayed on MainWP than switched badly. Our MainWP comparison sets out where it is genuinely the better product.
Questions about leaving MainWP
Yes. The MainWP child plugin and the WPCentrify connector are independent and do not conflict. Running both during transition is the recommended approach, and it is how most migrations from MainWP are done. Disconnect MainWP only once you are satisfied.
You lose physical possession of the database, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. What you keep is portability: a complete export of your account data in a machine-readable format, on demand, at any time. We are hosting-neutral, we document what we store, and removing the connector leaves no residue on client sites. If contractual data residency on your own hardware is a hard requirement, MainWP remains the better fit.
They remain yours and continue to work with your MainWP dashboard for as long as the licences are valid. Nothing about migrating cancels them. Agencies who keep MainWP running for a transition period usually let the licences lapse naturally at renewal.
Configuration transfers, historical time-series data does not. MainWP stores that on your server in its own schema. We start a fresh baseline at connection. If historical uptime figures matter for an SLA report, export them from MainWP before you decommission the dashboard.
Per site, almost always yes, because MainWP has no per-site fee. The comparison that matters is total cost: MainWP's licence plus extensions plus dashboard hosting plus the hours your team spends maintaining it, against a WPCentrify plan with no infrastructure work. Which side wins depends heavily on what your time is worth and how large the portfolio is.
In batches, using MainWP's own bulk plugin installation to push our connector out in groups of twenty to fifty. We stage large portfolios over several sessions rather than in one pass, so that any connectivity problem affects a small group and can be resolved before continuing.
Before you decide
MainWP alternative
A balanced feature and pricing comparison, including where MainWP still wins.
Read the comparisonPricing
What WPCentrify costs at 10, 50 and 200 sites, with no per-feature add-ons.
See pricingSecurity practices
How connections are authenticated, what we store, and how to revoke access.
Read securityMove off MainWP on your own schedule
Tell us how many sites you manage and we will plan the batches with you. No cancellation deadline, no forced hosting change.
Free during early access. No credit card required.