SiftWP and WP Umbrella compared
| SiftWP | WP Umbrella | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Security scanning and fixing | Managing many sites from one dashboard |
| Backups | Not included | Included, with hourly backups as an add-on, according to WP Umbrella |
| Uptime and performance monitoring | Not included | Included |
| Client reports and multi-site dashboard | Not included yet. Each site is managed separately. | White-label reports and a multi-site dashboard |
| Security | Weekly scan of core files, database and malware patterns. An agent investigates each finding. | A Security add-on, listed at about 2 euros per site a month, adds a firewall with virtual patching and a daily malware scanner with cleanup on request |
| How it connects | A dedicated SSH key. No plugin. | A WordPress plugin |
| Pricing | $9, $29 or $49 per site per month, with 100 free credits to start | A base price of about $1.99 per site a month, with add-ons priced separately. Confirm current prices. |
Start with the job you need done
If you run client sites, most of your weekly work is updates, backups and checking that nothing is down. WP Umbrella is built around that work, and it puts all of it in one dashboard. Security is one feature among many.
SiftWP has no dashboard for managing sites. It does a single thing: every week it connects over SSH, checks whether a site has been tampered with, and deals with what it finds. The question is whether you need a site manager, a security specialist, or both.
Where WP Umbrella is stronger
- Everything outside security. Backups, uptime, performance checks and white-label client reports are not part of SiftWP.
- One dashboard for many sites. SiftWP works per site and has no multi-site view yet.
- Price per site. On list prices, WP Umbrella's base plan with its Security add-on costs less per site than SiftWP's plans. If budget decides it and you want a firewall, that is a real advantage.
- A firewall. Its Security add-on includes one. SiftWP does not filter traffic.
Where SiftWP is stronger
- An agent that investigates. Each finding is read and judged, not only flagged. Many matches for patterns like
evalturn out to be legitimate plugin code, and the agent is instructed not to treat a match as malicious until it has read the file. - Approvals for risky changes. Safe fixes are applied automatically. Renaming an admin account or deactivating a plugin you may use waits for your yes, and every action is logged.
- Nothing deleted. Suspicious files are quarantined, so a false positive can be undone.
- No extra plugin on the client site. The scan runs from outside over SSH.
Using both on client sites
Many agencies will not choose between them. WP Umbrella can handle updates, backups, uptime and client reporting, and SiftWP can sit on the sites where you want a weekly security investigation. They do not conflict, because SiftWP installs nothing in WordPress. The limit to plan for: you will review SiftWP results site by site.
Which one fits your work?
Choose WP Umbrella if...
- You need one dashboard for backups, updates, uptime and client reports across many sites
- You want predictable per-site pricing that covers more than security
- Security is one need among several, and a firewall add-on is enough
Choose SiftWP if...
- Security is the problem you are solving, not general site management
- You want an agent to investigate findings and fix the safe ones
- You would rather not add another all-purpose plugin to client sites