10 Best Companion Auto Update Alternatives in 2026
Updated September 7, 2026 · Ranked by how closely each plugin matches, from WordPress.org data · How this works
Companion Auto Update has 40,000+ active installs on WordPress.org. These 10 plugins share its category or its tags on WordPress.org, are actively maintained, and each has at least 100 active installs. They are ordered by how closely they match, not by our opinion.
The 10 closest alternatives to Companion Auto Update
- 1
MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies
4.9 (2,348) 20,000+ active installsRun updates, backups, security and reporting across all client sites from your own server. Keep data private and prove your value with branded reports …
Shares the security, update tags on WordPress.org. About half the installs, rated 4.9 against 4.8, last updated 13 days ago.
- 2
Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites
5.0 (126) 40,000+ active installsManage all your WordPress sites from one place. Automate updates, backups, uptime monitoring, security, reports, and more.
Shares the security, update tags on WordPress.org. A similar number of installs, rated 5.0 against 4.8, last updated 3 days ago.
- 3
MainWP Child
Paid version availableMainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites
5.0 (70) 700,000+ active installsMainWP Child establishes a secure link between your WordPress sites and your self-hosted MainWP Dashboard, simplifying site management.
Shares the security, update tags on WordPress.org. About 18 times the installs, rated 5.0 against 4.8, last updated 13 days ago.
- 4
4.6 (202) 300,000+ active installsLimit rate of login attempts, including by way of cookies, for each IP. Fully customizable.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.8, no update since April 4, 2023.
- 5
4.6 (312) 300,000+ active installsLets you edit the WordPress admin menu. You can re-order, hide or rename menus, add custom menus and more.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 7.5 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.8, last updated 19 days ago.
- 6
4.4 (177) 200,000+ active installsInstall this plugin on unlimited sites and manage them all from a central dashboard. This plugin communicates with your InfiniteWP Admin Panel.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 5 times the installs, rated 4.4 against 4.8, last updated 19 days ago.
- 7
Activity Log – Monitor & Record User Changes
4.3 (74) 200,000+ active installsMonitor every change on your WordPress site — who did what, when, and where it came from — for a complete audit trail and stronger security.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 5 times the installs, rated 4.3 against 4.8, last updated 5 days ago.
- 8
WP Ghost (Hide My WP Ghost) – Security & Firewall
4.5 (372) 100,000+ active installsHide and Secure WP paths with the 8G Firewall, Brute Force protection and Passkeys. AI security explanations available with a subscription.
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, rated 4.5 against 4.8, last updated 4 days ago.
- 9
4.9 (83) 100,000+ active installsWPS Limit login limit connection attempts by IP address
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, rated 4.9 against 4.8, last updated 24 days ago.
- 10
4.6 (123) 100,000+ active installsFree daily vulnerability scans & WordPress security, powered by WPScan (an Automattic brand) and its 60,000+ vulnerability database. No setup needed!
Shares the security tag on WordPress.org. About 2.5 times the installs, rated 4.6 against 4.8, last updated 26 days ago.
Switching from Companion Auto Update: common questions
What is the best alternative to Companion Auto Update?
MainWP Dashboard is the closest match: it shares the same WordPress.org tags and has 20,000+ active installs with a 4.9 out of 5 rating.
Which Companion Auto Update alternative has the most users?
MainWP Child, with 700,000+ active installs reported by WordPress.org.
Which Companion Auto Update alternative is rated highest?
Modular DS, rated 5.0 out of 5 by 126 reviewers. Only plugins with at least 50 reviews are counted.
Are these Companion Auto Update alternatives free?
Every plugin listed here is free to install from WordPress.org. Where WordPress.org marks a plugin as commercial, the developer also sells a paid version or add-ons, and that is shown on each plugin.
How are alternatives chosen?
Automatically, from WordPress.org data: plugins that share a category top 10 with Companion Auto Update score highest, then plugins that appear in the same WordPress.org rankings, then plugins with the same tags, weighted so rare tags count more than common ones. Plugins by the same author and plugins rated under 4.0 are left out.
How we choose these alternatives
Nothing on this page is picked by hand. Every day we walk the whole WordPress.org directory, then score every plugin against Companion Auto Update on three signals: sharing a category top 10 counts most, then appearing in the same WordPress.org rankings, then carrying the same tags, with rare tags counting for more than common ones like "wordpress". Plugins by the same author are excluded, so an author's own add-ons cannot fill the list, and so is anything rated below 4.0 or with fewer than 100 active installs. The ten highest scores are what you see, in that order. Full methodology.
The bottom line
MainWP Dashboard is the closest match to Companion Auto Update by the data we track, and MainWP Child has the widest reach with 700,000+ active installs. Modular DS shipped the most recent release, on September 4, 2026. The list is rebuilt every day from WordPress.org, so a plugin that stops being maintained drops out on its own.
Weekly · free
What moved this week
One email a week, built from the same daily snapshots these rankings come from: the plugins that climbed, what launched, and one ranking worth a look.