A ManageWP alternative for agencies

ManageWP’s core is free. You then pay per website a month for each add-on you turn on: backups $2, uptime $1, security $1, performance $1, reports $1, white label $1, and link monitor $1. Bundles cost $25 for 100 websites.

With digiWatcher you pick a plan by the number of monitors. Start costs €12 a month for 10 monitors, Profi €32 for 30, and Agency €66 for 100. Uptime checks, the WordPress agent, client reports, and status pages are part of the paid plans, not separate add-ons. digiWatcher’s prices on this page come from its current price list: in euros where digiWatcher sells plans in euros, otherwise in Czech koruna (CZK). We don’t convert between currencies.

The two models behave differently as a portfolio grows. With add-ons, the price rises with every website and every add-on you switch on. With a plan, it stays the same until you need a bigger one. Keep in mind that digiWatcher bills monitors, not websites: a fully used Agency plan works out at €0.66 per monitor a month, and that equals a per-website price only when each website is one monitor.

If you look after a few websites and need only one or two add-ons, ManageWP’s free core with per-website add-ons can cost less than a digiWatcher plan. You pay only for what you switch on, website by website.

ManageWP also lists add-ons that this page doesn’t compare, such as backups, performance, white label, and a link monitor. If one of those is the reason you use ManageWP, check its current scope on ManageWP’s pricing page before you decide.

The digiWatcher Agent is a WordPress plugin that the site’s administrator adds once and connects with a code from digiWatcher. By default it only reads: pending updates, versions, the plugin and theme list, and the state of the site. It changes nothing in the database except its own settings.

Updates from digiWatcher stay off until the site’s administrator turns on write access, and they can turn it off at any time. Each instruction is signed with a key only digiWatcher and that website know, can’t be sent twice, carries no package URL, and updates only to the version WordPress’s own update source offers.

The agent never installs plugins or themes, never uploads a ZIP file, and has no file editor. It can’t change the site’s settings. The full list of limits is on the safe WordPress agent page.

Portfolio and updates

The Overview shows what needs attention on each website, with outages and known vulnerabilities ahead of ordinary pending updates. The Plugins page shows which plugin runs on which websites, in which version, and how many known vulnerabilities it has. Bulk updates run one website at a time, and the first failure stops the rest of the batch. After each update digiWatcher checks the site from outside, and if it got worse, puts the original plugin or theme files back. More on the bulk WordPress updates page.

Monitoring and alerts

Uptime, response time, the SSL certificate, and domain expiry for every website, WordPress or not. An alert goes out only after consecutive failed checks, by email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, or other channels.

Team and clients

The Owner manages the account; Operators work on incidents but can’t delete websites, change settings, or start updates. Clients get a read-only portal with the websites you choose for them, and a monthly report can go to them by email automatically. More on the WordPress management page.

There’s no automatic migration from ManageWP. You add your websites in digiWatcher; on each WordPress site, its administrator adds the digiWatcher Agent plugin and pastes the connection code. digiWatcher doesn’t do that step for them. The steps are in the manual chapter on connecting WordPress.

You can keep ManageWP running while you check that digiWatcher fits your work, and switch off add-ons you no longer need. Updates from digiWatcher work only where WordPress can write files directly and not on multisite networks; digiWatcher shows next to each website whether it’s ready for updates and, if not, why.