SolidWP Review: Is It The Best WordPress Security Plugin?

iThemes has changed to SolidWP!

This change happened recently, and many people are wondering if this change will affect the products or entire software.

For many years, iThemes has provided WordPress users with excellent website themes. Now, they have rebranded to be more than just a theme plugin. 

In fact, iThemes shifted from offering themes to helping WordPress users secure their sites from hackers. The rebranding is a pivotal contributor to the name change. However, the name didn't just change; the software became better. 

SolidWP is not a themes plugin but one of WordPress's best security plugins. It also serves as a backup and site management plugin.

As a software lover and WordPress user, I created a detailed SolidWP review to share what the software does and see if it's worth the hype. 

What is SolidWP, and What Does it Do?

Before I review SolidWP, let me give you a brief background story about the history of the software.

SolidWP is a security plugin for WordPress sites. Before now, it was known as iThemes. 

SolidWP (then iThemes) was created by Cory Miller in 2008, making it one of the first premium WordPress companies. However, in 2018, Cory sold it to Liquid Web. 

In 2023, iThemes changed to SolidWP and is under StellarWP, still owned by Liquid Web. 

Over the years, iThemes rebranded from being a WordPress theme plugin to providing security, backup, and site management to WordPress users. It also offers educational resources. 

SolidWP aims to provide a solid foundation for WordPress websites. 

SolidWP's Products (all rebranded from iThemes)

As iThemes changed to SolidWP, so did its products. Here is how the change went: 

• iThemes Security — Solid Security 
• Backup Buddy — Solid Backups 
• iThemes Sync — Solid Central 
• iThemes Training — Solid Academy 

Then, there is the ultimate product, Solid Suite. Each product has its pros and cons that make it unique from other similar products. 

Solid Security (formerly iThemes Security)

Solid Security helps prevent brute force attacks. This product has Brute Force Protection that stops unauthorized users from gaining access to your website. 

User login is the most common way hackers access websites. Hence, Solid Security plugin helps you create a passkey or two-factor authentication (passkeys and biometric passwords) for a more secure login. 

Additionally, SolidWP has partnered with Patchstack to scan your website for security threats to your site. They scan to identify any vulnerabilities, automatically updating the vulnerable software. 

Solid Security Pros 

• It has different site templates to fit any website you have
• Easy to use, install, and configure
• Safely secures your websites from hackers and fraudulent users
• Uses brute-force protection to prevent wrong logins
• Offers various security features and tools to protect your website
• It has a dashboard to show you your site's security health easily

Solid Security Cons

• It is only compatible with WordPress sites
• It can be expensive, especially if you are using only one site
• Although it's easy to use, some features may require more time and technical knowledge

Solid Backup (formerly Backup Buddy)

Although your site is secured, you still need to back up your important data. That's where Solid Backup comes in. 

You don't need to worry about your files or database getting lost. You can backup specific files and folders or the entire filesystem and database. 

It's one thing to back up your information and another thing to export the backed-up files. 

Solid Backup helps you securely encrypt your backed-up files and export them to your email or cloud storage, like Google Drive, Amazon S3, Dropbox, or OneDrive. 

The files are also stored in your backup archives. 

There is a feature I love so much — setting backup schedules. If you are someone like me who can forget to back up your files, you can use Solid Backup to set a backup schedule. 

I've always been a big fan of automation, and SolidWP's backup product just does it right. 

You can choose to backup your data hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. Anyone that works for you is fine. 

I think there is no "yearly" option because a year is too long. Anything can happen. 

Once the backup is complete, Solid Backup sends you a notification. 

Solid Backup Pros

• Schedules and automates backup for your files and database
• It offers cloud-based storage options, although you can store the files in an external cloud-based storage 
• Restores archived or backed-up data with one click
• It has a very easy-to-use dashboard

Solid Backup Cons

There are no cons so far. I highly recommend this product.

Solid Central (formerly iThemes Sync)

If you have multiple WordPress sites, you can easily manage them all at once with Solid Central. 

As an admin on all your websites, you don't need to log in to each one to perform admin tasks. I find that to be very exhausting. 

With Solid Central, you can create a central dashboard where you can manage all your sites, monitoring their uptime, downtime, and speed.

Solid Central can connect with Solid Security and Solid Backup so that you can secure your sites and back your files from the central dashboard. 

Still, from the same dashboard, you can monitor the overall performance of all your sites and get real-time reports. 

Solid Central Pros

• Uses Solid Security to prevent blacklisted IP addresses from accessing your site
• Allows you to see all your websites' activities and performances from one central dashboard 
• You can also manage up to 100 sites and perform admin tasks on all of them at once

Solid Central Cons

• Like other Solid products, Solid Central doesn't offer live chat support 
• It offers a minimum of 5 sites; hence, you will still pay for 5 sites even if you have less than that

Solid Academy (formerly iThemes Training)

Solid Academy gives you access to WordPress's premium courses, training, tutorials, and guides. Unlike other products, Solid Academy does not stand alone. You can only get it with other SolidWP products. 

Through its academy, SolidWP hosts monthly live sessions on its Solid Academy YouTube channel. In these sessions, you get training on technology and business topics. 

You also get updates about WordPress's latest features and how to use it. 

Solid Academy Pros

• Premium access to WordPress's training, guides, tutorials, courses, and other resources from experts
• Monthly live training sessions on various topics like technology, SEO, and business topics
• Access to WordPress's extensive library 

Solid Academy Cons

• You cannot get Solid Academy as a stand-alone product like the others. However, this is not much of a con because it comes as a freebie when you get any product, including Solid Suite.

Solid Suite

Solid Suite is the complete SolidWP package. It comes with all the SolidWP products, including Solid Academy. 

Solid Suite comes highly recommended by the company because you get premium access to all the products and Solid Academy's premium courses at a discount price. 

In my opinion, Solid Suite is actually a better package for you if you want to enjoy all that SolidWP has to offer fully. 

Pro

One significant "Pro" I love about SolidWP is that it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. This means you can enjoy all the SolidWP products risk-free for 30 days.

That is a lot of time to decide if Solid Suite is suitable for your website or not. 

Con

But a major con is that SolidWP only works for WordPress. You cannot use it for non-WordPress sites.

Let me show you what each product contains, as well as their pros and cons.

Overall Features of SolidWP

SolidWP's primary features consist mainly of its products. All other features are based on these products. 

Each product has its features that make the software an excellent WordPress plugin to have. 

1. Solid Security Features

Solid Security focuses primarily on securing your site against unauthorized access and site hackers. Its primary features include: 

• Brute force protection to identify and lock out bad users and bots
• 2-part authentication login
• Biometric passwords — that work with Apple ID, face ID, and Windows Hello
• Site Scanner in partnership with Patchstack to check for any vulnerabilities
• Security site templates for different types of websites — e-commerce, non-profit, networking site, blog, brochure, or portfolio 
• Passkeys
• Security dashboard for monitoring your site's security activities and giving real-time reports
•  on vulnerability checks and security updates. 

2. Solid Backup Features

Solid Backup focuses on backing up and storing your important files. It also allows you to restore those files with a single click. 

Its primary features include:

• Automated scheduled backups
• One-click restore button
• Off-site storage for exporting and storing backed-up files on the cloud or via email

3. Solid Central Features

Solid Central focuses on helping you manage your multiple WordPress websites from one central dashboard. 

Its primary features include:

• One central dashboard to monitor all your WordPress websites at once, remotely
• Exclusive access to the dashboard for team members 
• Integration with Solid Security and Solid Backup
• WordPress Comment Manager for viewing all comments on your websites
• SEO Checker, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics for tracking SEO metrics on your sites
• Customizable client dashboard and WordPress role manager 
• Site notes and tags
• Whitelabel report emails

SolidWP Pricing Plan

You can purchase Solid Security, Solid Backup, and Solid Central individually. Each one gives you access to Solid Academy.

SolidWP's product pricing differs based on the number of sites you want to use. For example, Solid Security and Solid Backup cost $99 each for one site. 

Solid Central charges differently. You can only get a minimum of 5 sites, which is $69 annually. You have the option of paying monthly or yearly. 

However, Solid Suite costs $199. With Solid Suite, you will get all three paid products for a discounted price here.

Remember I mentioned earlier that Solid Academy is not a standalone product, so it doesn't have a price. It comes with any package you choose. 

Note: As of the time of writing this review post, SolidWP is offering a 40% discount for its Black Friday sale. 

Best Alternatives to SolidWP

UpdraftPlus

Best and cheaper alternative to Solid Backup

UpdraftPlus is the perfect alternative to Solid Backup. It is also a backup WordPress plugin.

UpdraftPlus provides security and multiple backup features for WordPress users. 

However, UpdraftPlus is cheaper than SolidWP and, hence, can be suitable for smaller websites. If you want to experience what it means to back up your files but at a more affordable cost, you can try UpdraftPlus. 

But even though it's cheaper, UpdraftPlus can be complex to use, especially if you are doing so for the first time. 

The backup and restore process is relatively slow compared to Solid Backup, which is fast and visually appealing. 

Also, UpdraftPlus doesn't offer cloud-storage options like Solid Backup does. Hence, there is no guarantee that backed-up files are safely secured. 

BlogVault

Best Backup alternative for WordPress and non-WordPress sites 

BlogVault is very similar to Solid Backup. It doesn't just back up your files but also offers security features to protect your site. 

However, while Solid Backup is only limited to WordPress websites, BlogVault also works on Woocommerce websites. 

Compared to Solid Backup, BlogVault is cheaper. But you can get a more effective deal with the Solid Suite package. On its own, Solid Backup doesn't offer a free trial, but with the Solid Suite, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee. On the other hand, BlogVault offers a 7-day free trial. 

BlogVault has a slow backup process, especially for large websites. It also has limited cloud storage options. If you own a small website, you'll have absolutely no problem. But not for large websites. 

Also, compared to SolidWP's backup product, BlogVault has better customer support. The software has live chat support, but Solid Backup doesn't, nor does it have responsive email support. 

JetPack

Best alternative to SolidWP in terms of security, backup, and site management 

Jetpack is the best and closest alternative to SolidWP as it is almost one of the most used security WordPress plugins.

However, JetPack doesn't have the 2-factor authentication login feature to prevent unauthorized access. For me, this is an essential feature for a security plugin. 

Both scan your website for any security threats. But SolidWP (precisely Solid Security) partners with Patchstack to scan for site vulnerabilities and fix them immediately. 

Also, both of them offer a money-back guarantee. While SolidWP provides a 30-day money-back guarantee for annual plans, JetPack offers 14 days. 

But when it comes to pricing, JetPack is more affordable. It also has more backup storage space than SolidWP. 

For example, JetPack starts with a backup storage of 10GB, while SolidWP's basic plan gives access to only 1GB of backup storage. 

MainWP

Best alternative to Solid Central for multiple-site management 

MainWP is a free website management WordPress plugin. You can manage multiple WordPress sites on one dashboard. This makes it a free alternative to Solid Central, as users can also monitor their sites' health and uptime from one screen.

Both Solid Central and MainWP partner with security plugins to protect connected sites. MainWP partners with JetPack Protect to secure all connected sites.

On the other hand, Solid Central integrates with Solid Security for the same purpose. 

Although MainWP is free, there is also a paid version that gives you access to all the premium extensions and more features. Solid Central doesn't have a free version. 

WPBlazer

Best multi-site management option that integrates with social media to increase site traffic 

As a site-management plugin, WPBlazer has all the essential features other WordPress site-management plugins offer. 

For example, WPBlazer users can monitor all sites' uptime and downtime, secure and back up the connected sites, etc. 

However, WPBlazer goes further to include an auto-sharing feature for SEO. You can autostart your posts on your social media page. This is an excellent way to boost traffic to your sites. 

Solid Central doesn't offer the feature. 

Also, instead of integrating with security plugins like most site-management plugins, WPBlazer has its built-in malware Scanner that automatically scans for security threats on your websites.

FAQs About SolidWP

1. When did iThemes Change to SolidWP?

The change happened on October 29, 2023. However, earlier in the year, StellarWP announced that iThemes would undergo a rebrand to SolidWP so that it wouldn't be a surprise to users. 

2. Will My Backed Up Files Be Affected From the Rebranding?

No. It won't. In fact, iThemes had been offering file backup for a while before the change. The previous name was iThemes BackupBuddy before it became Solid Backup. 

3. How Much Does SolidWP Cost?

You can get the whole package (Solid Suite) for $199. However, you can also get each product individually, except Solid Academy. 

4. Can I Cancel My SolidWP Subscription?

Yes, you can. SolidWP offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all first-time users, including Solid Suite users. 

5. Is There a Refund Policy for SolidWP?

Yes. SolidWP has a refund policy. If you purchased a yearly package, your refund window is valid for 30 days. But if you purchased a monthly package, it is open for seven days. 

6. Which Product is the Best from SolidWP?

I would choose Solid Security. Since SolidWP is primarily a security plugin, it has a range of features that focus on securing your website. 

Final Thoughts on SolidWP Review: Is It Worth It?

From the review, you can see that SolidWP is an excellent WordPress plugin. No wonder it is still one of the most downloaded plugins for WordPress. 

From site security to backup and management, the software offers many features, so it seems you are getting a complete package. 

I think this rebrand is just the first of many changes to come. In future years, SolidWP will most likely release more features for each of its products. 

Although I wish they had a live chat support to assist and guide new users on how to use the features. 

Finally, Solid Suite is a better option if you want to experience all that SolidWP has to offer fully. The fact that they offer a 25% discount is even more reasonable to try it out.

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