This is the legacy left in their long history of sucky-ness.
- Known in the developer community for being a ripoff company.
- Poor code quality.
- Poor support quality.
- Poor business practices.
I hate wasting time on inferior products when I could be covering much more incredible solutions used everyday by professionals. But here I am…re-explaining myself for the 30 millionth time about why nobody should ever use any WPMU DEV products or ever take them seriously.
WPMU DEV is a ripoff company with fancy marketing.
When I was first aware of WPMU many over 5 years ago, WPMU DEV was a pretty much a GPL license abuser. If you don’t know what that means…it basically means anybody can create derivatives of your code work (basically “steal”) and relabel it as their own, even resell it for profit if they want. All WordPress extensions are bound by that license by default.
Whatever popular plugins were around at that time, WPMU DEV had their own generic store-brand version of it.
- Forms
- Membership
- Seo
- Image compression
- Caching
- Comments
- Ads
- Pop-ups
- Marketing
- Security
- Social
- Oh yeah, they had a pagebuilder, too!
- See their list of 100+ legacy WPMUDEV plugins.
- All their list of current premium WPMUDEV plugins.
You name it, they had it. Whatever plugin was successful, they did a copycat version of it. It was their attempt at (WordPress) world domination.
WPMU DEV plugins are mostly crap.
This is probably why most of you are reading this page. It’s because you’re wondering about their plugins. If you don’t already know. Most of their plugins are junk and made fun of by developers all the time. Anytime we see a site with WPMU DEV plugins, we immediately assume the previous developer didn’t know what they were doing or not really even a “developer” at all.
Why are they crap? Who knows…
Maybe outsourced or built by low-grade developers. Maybe they have so many plugins that they don’t have time to properly maintain each one throughout the many updates of WordPress, PHP, or overall compatibility with other plugins.
- Hummingbird (cache) – crap.
- Smush (image compression) – crap. (Although some people like it.)
- Defender (security) – crap.
What makes them crap?
Poor coding, doesn’t work right, conflicts with other plugins, bloated, high memory use, etc. I can’t remember all the plugins I’ve seen and why I hated them. You’re welcome to research for yourself.
WPMU DEV has a long history of poor support.
I know companies with only 1 or 2 plugins that are buried by support requests. So I can’t even imagine what WPMU DEV’s support staff handles in supporting dozens of copycat plugins. There’s scathing reviews all over the internet.
WPMU DEV has a long history of unethical business practices.
Generally, they were overselling their plugins (gimmicky marketing) and then being difficult to refund or giving bad attitude in support requests when their customers weren’t happy.
Should you give WPMU DEV a chance?
I have the same answer all developers have….NO.
WPMU is probably the laughing stock of the WordPress extension eco-system, just like the AVADA theme. Will they improve? Are they getting better?
Actually, I think they’ve improved for sure. It used to be that they were called a FRAUD or SCAM…but now, they’re only associated with bad coding. I think it was a great move that they dropped so many plugins to focus on only a few. I do feel their support got better over the years (naturally due to having fewer things to support).
But I don’t see them ever becoming a quality development company in the future. They still don’t specialize in any particular niche. Still doing copycat plugins…check them out. The other thing too…is that if you’re going to do a copycat plugin, you plugin needs to have a unique feature or something to make it better than what it’s copying. But all their copycat works never ascend to that. They’re just copycats (if even that) and completely inferior. At best, they price their plugins cheaper and that’s it.
Hey, if you like the cute superhero branding and low pricing, give WPMU DEV a try. But if you want serious plugins developed by people who actually care and passionate about providing solutions…try out a real development company.
How recent is this review?
I know many of you reading this might be reasonbly skeptical. Maybe you think I haven’t tried the absolute latest new-and-improved versions of WPMU. (And you’re right.) But my clients and other developers I know have. And the complaint is still a lot of the same. Bloated stuff, not-so-great support. I think if I heard nonstop positive reviews about them for just 1 year straight…I’ll consider them again. But that hasn’t happened yet.
Nice infomations, thank you very much!
I´m not sure how bad their plugins were 3 years ago, but at this time, I can´t agree with this post. I find several of their plugins working very well on my test site and have not seen any drop in page speed using them on my Genesis Framework. I just began setting up Hummingbird on my webbyfreelance.com website I am developing at this time.
I fully agree with you and had the same experiences with any of their plugins that I tested, except one that I find way better than similar ones: Forminator.
It works really great, it’s free and their support has always been fast and efficient.
There is always one exception that confirms the rule…
Glad you liked something. I personally prefer WP Fluent Forms or Caldera for forms. But Caldera’s free form-protection is almost non-existent.
I also like Forminator, as they offer conditional logic, calculations, and built in integrations with PayPal and Stripe in the free version.
Can you recommend any other form plugin that is better constructed, less bloated, etc, which also offers these features free?
Thanks
100% Agree.
Another shiv delivered by Master Johnny! Always found their plugins bloated.
They have poor support because staff are not allowed to “waste” time, we had to have all the time to pretend to like racistic jokes from a ashole in charge there.
Hello Janet,
Can you please share more about this? I’m a WPMUDEV ex-employee too, but I’m not comfortable enough to share my identity yet. You can leave specifics out if you wish to, but I’m so eager to know whether the person you’re referring to here is the same one I think.
I have joined WPMU DEV a long time back. Quit after 1 year.
Smart man! 🙂
Once I had a conflict with them, they were exceptionally rude. I really can’t recall anything even remotely like it. It would be better for the market if they went out of business.
I just bought the agency package from them after testing with the trail, but I regret a bit after reading this, or maybe not.
I do not completely agree with everything you write here, it seems that you have a conflict with them, without me having to comment on it further.
The systems of WPMU are actually very good and visually the clint page is even better than what others offer. They will also soon come with subscriber service for my customers, so I can easily control everything from “the hub”. In a total package that you sell is more enough for most people, and those who need a little more, it is no problem to implement other plugins that meet their needs. Mainly I like WPMU because it is very user-friendly and clear, with a nice customer portal you can set up. And do not forget their hosting offers that one can set up for the customers.
I can not notice that you have had any tests with other muli-site wordpress providers like ManageWP and InfiniteWP.
I am looking for a professional system that ensures that my small and large enterprise customers get what they pay for, and that the solutions are optimal for a comfortable user experience. Do you have any recommendations for who I should use?
Whoever wrote this…the email you put makes your whole comment extremely dubious. Anyway, I still hear people complaining about WPMU today. I just don’t like them period. I suppose I might change my mind one day if I heard nothing but positive reviews (from people I trust) for at least 1 year straight…and that hasn’t happened yet.
My partner currently works for them and often cries daily about the shitty way that management treat their staff. The internal politics are abysmal and scummy, noone should have to fear for their job based on how directors feel, but that’s just what is happening. The owner, James, may wake up and decide to have one of his bipolar episodes and let go of several people because of something out of their control, and that’s not even the end of it. Internal corruption makes this place an absolutely awful place to work, it’s an absolute joke and I feel so sorry for anyone employed by such an unethical company.
I masked my identity in this comment to avoid any potential backlash, but I really needed to post my two cents. Some free plugins are alright (they do the job), however most fall short and I just can’t get over how the staff are treated.
Would never recommend giving money to them.
Things haven’t changed much! That damn bus driver was capable of ruining anyone’s day with his stupid jokes and racist comments about fellow developers, writers, support team etc. The target was always women and people from Eastern Europe and Asia, there were days that I felt like I was going to throw up on the computer screen.
All the positive reviews they have out there are written by themselves, they have hundreds of users on wordpres.org for example.
The service itself sucks pretty badly..
My experience was the following: Left a good shared hosting in their favor to pay 500+ USD for something that was supposed to provide performance..
Well… my website is broken, the tech support is that stupid that they can’t even provide you with a proper explanation or argument for some common server configuration..
I created and hosted thousands of wordpress sites everywhere i could possibly host them but this wpmu dev crap is the shittiest service i ever tried
They are total jerks, they deletes the comments of users who expresses their true experience while keeping some fake comments out there that brags about them
This is a pathetic and they are very low people …
Just avoid them as you may end up with your website fully broken and no explanations just a usual bs they throw about refunding .. even if you spent days with them trying to troubleshoot things from THEIR END and not your website ..
Overall: i dont know where these good feedbacks comes from but this is seriously a piece of crap type of service..
Really sorry to hear about this and hope you find a new service that fits your needs.
Well I discovered their offer today, as an agency the HUB seems to have lots of potential, so I decided to give it a shot.
When installing my first website (I’m managing 50+ websites at the moment), I noticed that we have to use their proprietary plugins in order to get datas like Perfomance, Analytics etc.. Why not allowing third party services like Google Analytics, GT Metrix / Google Speed, etc..?
I can’t change all my websites to comply with this, plus leaving them would mean, some datas will be lost because it’s linked to their services only.
I don’t mind managing my maintenance work using their HUB except, if I can’t use my already installed from many years services that works and are optimized well.
So I will stay with my actual service for the moment as I can manage all my websites using my actual plugins.
Couple of things
1. WPMUDEV and what they provide shits all over this JohnnyVPS trash. Look up ‘Johnny VPS issues’ on google and you’ll see who he really is.
The guy who you said has a dubious email is right, you compare WPMUDEV to other managed software like managedwp to get a better understanding of what it’s all about.
2. To the latest comment from the agency guy in Jan 2022. Why can’t you use any plugin and have it show in the WPMUDEV dashboard? Understand web/software development first before asking dumb questions. You agency fools take our business but you know nothing and the sites you produce are shitty WordPress templates that have barely any custom work on them and you charge 10k.
Couple of things
1. Nice that you found a slander article on me by one of the most banned/hated people on the internet. I suggest you read my full review of LittleBizzy (Jesse Nickles) or at least know who I am before making a judgement based on some guy who’s been running from slander lawsuits for god knows how long.
2. Being that you didn’t bring up any legit counter-points or even provide a real name and email/url…I’m just gonna assume you’re either a troll/shill, WPMUDEV employee, or otherwise someone without reputation/experience/balls/points to back up their argument.
Next time you wanna comment something unsubstantial, please go all the way by not commenting at all. Peace!
I signed up to their agency package a couple of years ago and am still with them now. The main pull for me was the Hub. The competition in this field just didn’t sit right for me as they charge per site / per addon which makes things more complicated to manage – not easier.
Anyway that aside, the HUB is the only reason I’m still with them. I really really REALLY want them to be good and improve but they just arent. I have so many bugs with their plugins that I’ve slowly dwindled them down and replaced with other plugs.
– Forminator doesn’t offer basic styling functionality so ditched them.
– Defender gives me 600 false positives (ABOUT THEIR OWN PLUGINS). It also has terrible reporting functionality that is so overly complicated to just do the basic task of EMAIL ME ONLY WHEN IT SEES AN ISSUE
– Smushpro serves a decent purpose, but their CDN is trash. Im not lying when I say I’ve watched one last image on my site take 20 seconds to load, coming from their CDN. Regularly this happens.
– Hummingbird has just now bit the dust when I installed it and configured it on a new site and got an E rating on GTmetrix. I then installed WP Rocket, and ticked about 3 boxes and got an A rating. No exaggerations. (This is why I searched for WPMUDEV rubbish on google and found this article today)
I have never been that happy with them, which is why I never took the plunge into their client / hosting services. I am already too embedded with them via the hub, but at least that is reasonable to get out of.
Anyway… i will be leaving them soon. I just wish I knew of an affordable Hub-like alternative. Not that janky free one (MainWP) but a good high-end one like ManageWP that has a consistent fee. I will probs research this after I hit send 🙂
Hi Joe,
Thanks for laying out your thoughts like this in such a detailed manner. It’s exactly the insight I’m all about sharing and helpful for other readers as well.
Interesting, I was tempted to work with WPMU Dev but after seeing so many negative reviews it has put me off.
What attracted me was their Hub 2, I am not bothered about their plugins, never used them, and never will. I know I shouldn’t be fooled by a pretty UX, but I must admit it looks smooth and tests so far have been positive.
The other alternative is Growth Suite which is now available for WPEngine as opposed to only being available to Flywheel customers.
Still, relying on third parties in my view is a bit of a gamble. You are at their mercy. Perhaps i’ll just stick with WHCMS and MainWP going forward.
Hmm.. I was thinking of partnering with them for my planned hosting agency but this article and the latest comment has somehow put that to a hold. I really liked how I can white label everything so easily so I can focus on other aspects of my business. Is there by any chance that you have alternatives to WPMUDEV in terms of hosting? WHMCS is kinda pricey for a starter like me but you get what you pay for.
WP Engine / Flywheel + Growth Suite is interesting. Thinking of using it myself.
PS. WPMU DEV refunded my $500 Black Friday purchase no questions asked.
Maybe they are changing? I don’t like their plugins but Hub with client subscriptions and the automated provisioning they are working on (talked about on Cody Miller’s podcast with Farmer as a guest) was interesting to me.
I’ll have to check their reputation in a few years, though companies rarely pull off a pull 180. Just look at GoDaddy. They’re no longer sleazy but customer service still stinks and it’s like they have a big fat bin of blacklisted IP’s they just love reaching into.
I just wish WP Engine would work on automatic provisioning. To be able to let customers sign up and choose a starter site then get to work on it themselves would be a great time saver. Theme shops and niche builders would love it. Anybody could create their own WordPress.com, so to speak.
I love WPMUDEV & support. IDK if I’ll ever use anyone else. & their affiliate program is unique.
Many issues with plugins / themes / options and that gets worse depending on what your using, hard to blame their plugins. Like 15 yrs ago I remember thinking those plugins sucked. Here I am using them no complaints. O k I thought i had a issue with cache recently & I worried about Smush for nothing and thought of wp super fast cache plugin but It was my fault for missing a manual switch I had to hit. So much options/settings.
If any support sucks I think Generatepress’s sucks, I like them but I dislike them, How difficult it was for them to just help with removing the “Home” tag home page header. – I dragged that out into email with another rep……only to finally be told there’s a button for that but it didn’t work( Pretty sure I drove myself crazy over it & had a fresh install / no plugins activated to officially confirm their shit wasn’t working). I saw plenty posts of the same issue or other things unanswered / solutions given not working at all. & They rejected my request to be an affiliate, I hate that yeah ok. & godaddy’s support is just as bad IDK why it takes so long to get help what are they doing or why they advertise chat 24/7 but even if your a customer with many purchases, I’ve experienced seeing that chat off for the longest time, and I like how I accidentally bought the wrong extension and I was meaning to refund it but they didn’t care. I had to open a private window to see their chat was on. & If hustling, they’ll block your IP. + idk why massive renewal fees. I heard Namecheap is 200x better than godaddy.
~~How come some of you have pics. Is it a gmail only thing. Flywheel oh I was going to say it looks interesting but meh. I remember how WPMUDEV used to not be a host. Now they’re like a one stop shop.
Studiopress a ponder 0.o why are they sooooooo expensive to buy individually. Saw that under Flywheel. When I’m unhappy with generatepress and someone here says GP is much better than Studio https://wpblogging101.com/generatepress-vs-genesis/
IDK
WPMU DEV has the best tech support ever! They have been fabulous at going above and beyond to sort out issues. Sometimes they even fix stuff that isn’t related to their stuff.
I have nothing but good things to say about them.
I’ve had nothing but great support from WPMU DEV. I don’t use that many of their plugins although a couple I use on all sites. I stay for the support & community discussions.
Wow, a big beware of WPMUDEV folks, they might randomly up and refund+ban you, leaving you up in the air about your property. I love it. I am really glad scenarios like this I actually saved several video proof , and some pictures what I was dealing with. Honestly feeling pretty cool that I thought of insuring myself with that. – Ironic / weird they do this though. I think they look incredibly bad now, it was such an incredibly stupid move that they did this. Wow…..as a loyal for yrs customer and owner with like 40 domains.
—- Everything was great , it’s really silly tho thinking they had such issues providing customer service and resolving the littlest issues & in something of a timely fashion like their ticket thing says- emphasis that my issue was a server host side thing , only they were able to resolve it – no amount of restoring from whatever far back back up or factory reset situated it with this 1 hidemywpghost plugin, — had everything working great with the liteversion mind you , but second premium rules were inserted by the host, suddenly its this big issue they can’t simply resolve it for me- going on waiting like 10 days patiently you know, like a patient polite person like help me please sir spare some change sir, absolutely no updates nothing. — EVERYTHING was working except the problem was I couldn’t SIMPLY drag rearrange menu items, + couldnt create new users, and couldnt click generate password.
Honestly – I never thought such a thing could happen, not with a big known website host. Really, and look at how I spoke of them before. And I will still say it……. yeah they are great, use them if you wish everything is good until it comes to a technical nginx server host side issue right. – Was working good the 1st time with lite, they couldn’t just resolve it. ”’ way to turn a loyal customer that spoke up for you into a real enemy ” and have others pondering if they could run into the same techinical random bs.
— So. it’s great. IDK what one even does from here. Asked Siteground, told them what happened, they always seem to be super available and helpful even in sales chat. – They had no idea. Still thinking of hosts not sure, but siteground seems nice.
This is ridiculous lol.
Let me be more clear *** a factory reset where there’s nothing on it, no plugins at all, and that menu and other issues were still there. Great service though other than this being very inconvenient and pissing me off IDK how a business handles business like this to be honest.
Unable to get codes or anything. can’t transfer. Amazing Wpmudev. A real piece of work.
I don’t even see a refund registering either to be honest – if they think doing a swift clean ban of all my crap and hoping a refund goes thru 😝, maybe I switched info , they don’t know,. It’s really messed up. They messed up.
Siteground did everything so quick and smooth like some james bond 007. Mission impossible done so swift like it wasn’t some big impossible issue. 7-24-23……. still the same situation regarding wpmudev. Sketchy thieves locked me out of everything.. no refunds either. I don’t understand the issue here – and I double checked I still have photos/ video proof showing I owned all my domains and pic saying one was xfered to their account like wtf. They weren’t close to expiring either. It amazes me.
I would like to be more helpful to everyone on this thread, but the best I can do is thank each of you for saving me $500. I was prepared to pay the annual agency next week.
I tried the free version on one site, but no real problems. However, as each of you realize, this internet world is full of promises, and not so much with good delivery.
Even scarier, be super cautious if you purchase anything through Warrior Plus. What a strange set up they have. If you need customer service they have NO assistance. “contact the creator”. Well, guess what, in at least 5 instances the “creator” disappeared.
I know I’m off subject here, and please accept my apology. It’s late at night and I’m venting.
Yes, I agree with you. Most of these plugins are useless and expensive.