Stackbrace vs ManageWP
ManageWP works from inside a WordPress site, through a plugin with administrator access, and does things to it: updates, backups, cloning. Stackbrace works from outside, on any site, and never holds a login; it tells you what is wrong and who can fix it. They answer different questions.
ManageWP’s side as read on managewp.com/pricing, 26 October 2026; Stackbrace’s from its plan settings
| ManageWP | Stackbrace | |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | WordPress only, through its Worker plugin | Any website, from outside; WordPress checked in more depth |
| Access it needs | Administrator access to each site | None. It reads what a visitor can see, and never stores a login |
| Price | Free for unlimited sites; add-ons from $1 to $2 a site a month; bundles for agencies with more than 25 sites | free for 1 site and 2 people, checked daily; $19 a month for 5 sites and 3 people |
| Updates and backups | Runs plugin, theme and core updates; backups monthly free, more often paid; clone and migrate | Does not touch the site. Records where backups are kept and when a restore was last tested, and reminds you |
| Uptime | An add-on, $1 a site a month | Included; every 5 minutes on paid plans, with the layer that failed and who holds its login |
| Security | Security check add-on (a scan of the site), vulnerability protection add-on | Daily: known holes in core, plugins, themes and libraries, holes used in attacks, email records, hijack signs, Google's blocklist |
| Who controls the layers | Not recorded | The registry: registrar, DNS, hosting, backups and application, with who holds each login, dated |
| Client reports | Client reports, advanced and white-label as add-ons | A health card per site with your mark, on Agency; a site report for handovers |
| If the service is breached | Every site's administrator access is exposed | There are no site logins to take; the record says where they are kept, never what they are |
Choose ManageWP if
- You want one place to run updates and backups across many WordPress sites.
- You clone and migrate sites regularly.
- You are happy to give a service administrator access to every client site.
Choose Stackbrace if
- You will not hand a service the keys to every client site.
- Your sites are not all WordPress.
- The problem you have is not running updates but knowing who holds what, and who to call at 2am.
- You want the daily security scan and the alert that names the layer, without a plugin on the site.
Using both
Agencies that use ManageWP for the doing often use Stackbrace for the knowing: ManageWP runs the updates, Stackbrace keeps the record, watches from outside and raises the alarm. Nothing in Stackbrace needs ManageWP to change.