For those who occur to awoke to knowledge that StellarWP is being dissolved as a brand, in case you have questions.
Once more in 2021, hosting company Liquid Web (the equivalent mom or father that owns Nexcess) presented StellarWP as an umbrella brand to put across together a emerging portfolio of WordPress plugins it had been acquiring since 2020.
Over the years, that lineup were given right here to include some of the a very powerful most recognized names inside the ecosystem: GiveWP, LearnDash, SolidWP (up to now iThemes), and additional. Each and every had its non-public workforce, enhance group of workers, and product roadmap.
This week, their mom or father company Liquid Internet (Nexcess) confirmed that those impartial producers are being consolidated proper right into a smaller set of products beneath the Liquid Web Software umbrella.
Since the announcement, many WPBeginner readers have emailed us asking what this means for their web sites, whether or not or no longer their licenses however art work, and which imaginable alternatives we’d suggest. So we put together this knowledge to position out exactly what’s changing, what it means on your internet website, and what your alternatives are if you make a decision to move on.
What Liquid Web In fact Presented
In their professional announcement, Liquid Web confirmed that they’re reorganizing the StellarWP portfolio spherical 4 core products: Kadence, LearnDash, The Occasions Calendar, and Give.
Proper right here’s what that implies in observe:
| Brand You Knew | What It’s Turning into |
|---|---|
| 1. SolidWP (Protection & Backup) | Folded into Kadence Protection |
| 2. IconicWP (WooCommerce add-ons) | Folded into Kadence Retailer Bundle |
| 3. Prohibit Content material subject matter Skilled (Memberships) | Folded into Kadence Memberships |
| 4. MemberDash (LMS Memberships) | Absorbed into LearnDash |
| 5. GiveWP | Rebranded as Give beneath Liquid Web |
| 6. LearnDash | Continues as a Liquid Web core offering |
| 7. The Events Calendar | Continues as a Liquid Web core offering |
| 8. Kadence | Expanded into the new flagship suite |
Liquid Web has been clear that this isn’t a pressured migration. From their announcement:
“Your provide plan, pricing, and tool keep the equivalent excluding you choose to strengthen. It is a new selection for customers who want additional, now not a pressured migration.”
They’ve moreover devoted to continuing development on the choices provide customers rely on (legacy plans aren’t being frozen) and keeping up the whole thing self-hosted (your hosting setup doesn’t change). Moreover they plan to provide crucial protection patches through April 2027 for the producers being absorbed.
There’s, on the other hand, one vital caveat inside the announcement: “If your subscription lapses, you’ll want to achieve one of the crucial new tool plans to reinstate get right to use.”
In several words, your legacy pricing is secure only as long as you keep renewing. For those who occur to overlook a renewal for any reasons why, you’ll’t reactivate your earlier plan, and likewise you’ll be required to shop for a brand spanking new Liquid Web Software plan at the moment pricing.
For those who occur to’re a gift purchaser, the only most vital issue to do in recent times is verify auto-renew is enabled on your account.
So whilst you’re a gift purchaser, no longer anything else breaks tomorrow. Then again the road ahead is worth fascinated about now, in case you have time to plot somewhat than react.
What This Manner for Your Internet web page
We’ve been spherical this industry long enough to take into account that as soon as a brand gets absorbed proper right into a mom or father product, a few problems generally tend to happen through the years, although the mum or father company has the most efficient intentions:
1. Roadmap priority shifts. Products like SolidWP and IconicWP had been built and championed by way of their original founders. After they change into a “module” within of a larger suite, the serve as development maximum regularly slows. The new roadmap belongs to the mum or father brand, now not the original product.
2. Fortify and workforce change. The faithful forums, Slack groups, and founder-level responsiveness that long-time consumers counted on eternally get was a generic enhance queue.
3. Pricing leverage shifts to the new plans. Liquid Web has confirmed legacy pricing applies as long as you keep renewing. The catch we flagged above… {{that a}} lapsed subscription forces you onto a brand spanking new plan at the moment fees. That means renewals are actually no longer utterly on your control. And through the years, bundled alternatives generally tend to nudge provide customers against higher-tier plans.
None of this is a prediction. It’s a construction we’ve watched play out all over many WordPress acquisitions during the last decade.
For those who occur to’re a contented purchaser and your internet website is operating simply, you then definately don’t want to do the remaining right now. Your license however works, and updates are however coming.
Then again whilst you’ve been fascinated about switching, or if this knowledge has made you fearful regarding the long-term process the ones tools, this is a affordable 2nd to take a look at imaginable alternatives.
If You’re Switching: Proper right here Are the Conceivable alternatives We Trust
We’ve been recommending and using WordPress plugins at WPBeginner for over 17 years. Beneath are the selections we imagine for each and every affected elegance.
For Donations & Fundraising: Use Charitable As an alternative of GiveWP
For those who occur to run a nonprofit, church, faculty, or any kind of donation advertising marketing campaign on WordPress, then Charitable is what we’d point you against.
It’s the most popular donation plugin for WordPress that isn’t owned by way of a hosting massive, and the group of workers at the back of it’s been laser-focused on serving nonprofits for over a decade.
With Charitable, you get countless donations, extraordinary giving, peer-to-peer fundraising, fee recovery, Stripe and PayPal integration, and beautiful advertising marketing campaign pages out of the sector.
The group of workers moreover built a one-click GiveWP importer specifically to make this transition easy. You’ll be capable to switch your donors, donations, and campaigns over without rebuilding from scratch.
Just remember to double-check your Stripe or PayPal webhook connections after importing to make sure your extraordinary donations continue without any hiccups.
For a whole side-by-side breakdown of various alternatives, see our roundup of the very best WordPress donation plugins.
For Online Categories & Memberships: Use MemberPress As an alternative of LearnDash & MemberDash
For those who occur to advertise classes, run a coaching trade, or prepare paid communities, then MemberPress is one of the crucial whole variety on the market.
What used to require two products (LearnDash for classes + MemberDash for membership wrappers) is built into MemberPress as a single integrated device.
You get an entire learning regulate device (LMS) with quizzes, certificates, and drip content material subject matter, plus native enhance for memberships, coaching methods, workforce choices, and digital downloads.
The migration path is also easy. Masses in reality creators have moved from LearnDash to MemberPress.
For those who occur to’d like to compare other alternatives, our knowledge to the very best WordPress LMS plugins covers all of our tips.
For Gated Content material subject matter: Use MemberPress vs Prohibit Content material subject matter Skilled
For herbal membership and content material subject matter restriction (paywalls, member-only content material subject matter, gated assets, subscription billing), MemberPress is all over again our best possible make a choice.
It was produced from the ground up for this use case, and the depth of restriction rules, price gateway enhance, and member regulate choices goes well past what RCP presented.
We’ve moreover compared the very best WordPress club plugins facet by way of facet whilst you’d like to evaluate other alternatives first.
For Popups & Optins: Use OptinMonster As an alternative of Kadence Conversions
For those who occur to’ve been using Kadence Conversions for popups, optin bureaucracy, or on-site promoting campaigns, then OptinMonster is our actually helpful variety.
It’s one of the crucial broadly used conversion optimization tool inside the WordPress ecosystem, with A/B trying out, exit-intent detection, difficult targeting rules, and dozens of selling marketing campaign types inbuilt. That time of depth is hard to match from a bundled theme addon.
For those who occur to’d like to compare other alternatives, merely see our roundup of the very best WordPress popup plugins.
For Backups & Migration: Use Duplicator As an alternative of SolidWP
For backups, migrations, and disaster recovery, Duplicator is the plugin we imagine on each WPBeginner-managed internet website.
It’s one of the popular backup and migration solutions inside the WordPress ecosystem, with over 1.5 million full of life installs. The Skilled type accommodates scheduled cloud backups (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive) and one-click internet website migrations… choices that SolidWP customers paid additional for up to now.
For those who occur to bought into SolidWP’s package deal deal for the combined backup-and-security experience, then Duplicator handles the backup facet utterly. For protection specifically, we’d pair it with a loyal protection plugin like Sucuri or Wordfence somewhat than a bundled tool.
In our experience, specialized solutions outperform combined suites proper right here. Our Wordfence vs. Sucuri comparability is a wonderful place to start out out if you want to learn additional.
For deeper comparisons, see our roundup of the very best WordPress backup plugins and the very best WordPress safety plugins.
For Match Calendars: Use Sugar Calendar As an alternative of The Events Calendar
For those who occur to run a venue, host workshops, prepare church or faculty events, or simply want a clean fit calendar on your internet website, then Sugar Calendar is a great lightweight selection.
It’s depended on by way of fit organizers on over 10,000 web sites and was built specifically given that group of workers felt The Events Calendar had change into bloated and sluggish over the years.
You get extraordinary events, ticket product sales, Zoom integration, calendar feeds, and elegant front-end displays without the potency hit.
For lots of small to mid-sized organizations, Sugar Calendar is faster, more straightforward to use, and significantly reasonably priced.
We’ve moreover written a beginner-friendly instructional on learn how to create a easy match calendar with Sugar Calendar, plus a roundup of the very best WordPress match plugins if you want to read about alternatives.
For WooCommerce Add-ons: Use Carrier supplier As an alternative of IconicWP / Kadence
Retailer Bundle
WooCommerce store house owners who relied on IconicWP’s product variation swatches, speedy views, provide date pickers, and other UX add-ons have a strong variety in Service provider from aThemes.
Carrier supplier bundles 40+ WooCommerce conversion modules, along with variation swatches, sticky add-to-cart, acquire now buttons, size charts, pre-orders, regularly bought together, and additional proper right into a single plugin.
Numerous the IconicWP choices you depended on are covered inside the free type, with the pro modules priced neatly underneath what an IconicWP stack used to worth.
There’s moreover a loose model of Service provider that contains 16+ WooCommerce modules for you to try out.
For Your Theme: Use Sydney or Botiga As an alternative of Kadence
For those who occur to’ve been using the Kadence theme and want to uncover imaginable alternatives outdoor of the Liquid Web ecosystem, aThemes offers two excellent alternatives:
- Sydney: a flexible, fast-loading multipurpose theme great for trade and corporate web sites
- Botiga: a modern WooCommerce-optimized theme built specifically for online stores
Each and every are actively maintained by way of an impartial group of workers, and each and every pair neatly with the Carrier supplier plugin mentioned above.
For those who occur to’d like to compare additional alternatives, see our roundups of the very best WordPress industry issues and the quickest WooCommerce issues.
Final Concepts
Everyone knows change like this is frustrating, in particular when it affects tools that you just’ve built your small business or workforce spherical.
The good news is you’re going to have time and alternatives. Plus, the WordPress ecosystem however has excellent impartial imaginable alternatives for each elegance affected by this consolidation.
If there’s one lesson we’ve taken from observing acquisitions play out during the last decade, it’s this: the most efficient long-term wager is to select plugins built by way of small, centered teams who care about their product because it’s the main issue they do — now not some of the problems they happen to own.
That’s why we’ll keep recommending Charitable, MemberPress, OptinMonster, Duplicator, Sugar Calendar, aThemes, and the other products listed above. The ones are tools built by way of people who answer their own enhance emails and plan to however be doing this in years yet to come.
Regardless of you make a decision, crucial issue is choosing a tool that aligns with how you want to run your internet website for the next 5–10 years… now not merely the next two.
Endlessly Asked Questions About StellarWP & Liquid Web
Since the knowledge broke, our group of workers has gained a large number of messages from readers on the lookout for clarity.
That will help you out, we’ve compiled answers to the most common questions regarding the StellarWP and Liquid Web consolidation underneath.
Will my provide GiveWP, LearnDash, SolidWP, or RCP license however art work after the Liquid Web consolidation?
Certain. Liquid Web has confirmed that provide plans, pricing, and tool keep the equivalent as long as your subscription stays full of life. Alternatively, if your subscription lapses for any reasons why, you lose your legacy pricing and will want to achieve a brand spanking new Liquid Web Software plan to regain get right to use. Make certain auto-renew is enabled on your account.
What happens if I overlook my renewal date for a legacy StellarWP plugin?
Your legacy pricing is lengthy long past. Liquid Web’s announcement is particular: “If your subscription lapses, you’ll want to achieve one of the crucial new tool plans to reinstate get right to use.” You’ll be capable to’t simply reactivate your earlier plan at the earlier value. For those who occur to’re a gift purchaser, check your account settings now and ensure auto-renew is on.
How long will protection updates continue for the retired StellarWP products?
Liquid Web has devoted to crucial protection patches through April 2027 for the producers being absorbed (SolidWP, IconicWP, RCP, MemberDash). After that date, your situation is decided via whether or not or no longer you’ve migrated to the new Kadence-branded an identical or to every other.
Is GiveWP being shut down totally following the Liquid Web acquisition?
No. GiveWP is being rebranded as Give and remains one of the crucial 4 core Liquid Web alternatives. Alternatively, the standalone brand identity is going away. Promoting, packaging, and the roadmap will now sit down beneath Liquid Web somewhat than the original GiveWP group of workers.
Can I migrate my GiveWP donations to Charitable?
Certain. Charitable offers a built-in GiveWP importer that brings over your donors, donation history, and campaigns. Most consumers whole the migration in beneath an hour.
Can I migrate from LearnDash to MemberPress?
Certain. There are detailed migration guides for shifting classes, lessons, quizzes, and student construction from LearnDash to MemberPress. We suggest trying out the migration on a staging internet website first.
What about The Events Calendar… should I switch after the Liquid Web reorganization?
The Events Calendar is without doubt one of the 4 products Liquid Web is keeping up as a flagship offering, so it’s a lot much less affected than the absorbed producers. For those who occur to’re happy with it, there’s no urgent reasons why to switch. For those who occur to’ve found out it bloated or sluggish, Sugar Calendar is the other we’d point you against. You’ll be capable to moreover browse our record of the very best WordPress calendar plugins.
Are there any imaginable alternatives that replace Kadence Protection (up to now SolidWP) specifically?
For protection specifically (firewall, malware scanning, login protection), we advise pairing Duplicator with a loyal protection plugin. See our roundup of the very best WordPress firewall plugins for depended on alternatives. For those who occur to moreover want to track particular person changes like SolidWP did, you’ll merely add a loyal WordPress task log plugin for your setup.
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The submit StellarWP Is No Extra: What’s Converting for GiveWP, LearnDash, SolidWP, and Your Web page first appeared on WPBeginner.
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