{"id":5120,"date":"2026-05-15T13:34:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/?p=5120"},"modified":"2026-05-15T13:34:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:34:27","slug":"stellarwp-is-no-more-whats-changing-for-givewp-learndash-solidwp-and-your-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontlinenewsng.org\/?p=5120","title":{"rendered":"StellarWP Is No More: What\u2019s Changing for GiveWP, LearnDash, SolidWP, and Your Site"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you woke up to news that StellarWP is being dissolved as a brand, you probably have questions.<\/p>\n

Back in 2021, hosting company Liquid Web (the same parent that owns Nexcess) launched StellarWP as an umbrella brand to bring together a growing portfolio of WordPress plugins it had been acquiring since 2020.<\/p>\n

Over the years, that lineup came to include some of the most recognized names in the ecosystem: GiveWP, LearnDash, SolidWP (formerly iThemes<\/a>), and more. Each had its own community, support team, and product roadmap.<\/p>\n

This week, their parent company Liquid Web<\/a> (Nexcess)<\/strong> confirmed that those independent brands are being consolidated into a smaller set of products under the Liquid Web Software umbrella.<\/p>\n

Since the announcement, many WPBeginner readers have emailed us asking what this means for their sites, whether their licenses still work, and which alternatives we\u2019d recommend. So we put together this guide to lay out exactly what\u2019s changing, what it means for your site, and what your options are if you decide to move on.<\/p>\n

\"StellarWP<\/figure>\n

What Liquid Web Actually Announced<\/h4>\n

In their official announcement<\/a>, Liquid Web confirmed that they\u2019re reorganizing the StellarWP portfolio around four core products: Kadence<\/a><\/strong>, LearnDash<\/a><\/strong>, The Events Calendar<\/a><\/strong>, and Give<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what that means in practice:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Brand You Knew<\/th>\nWhat It\u2019s Becoming<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1. SolidWP (Security & Backup)<\/td>\nFolded into Kadence Security<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2. IconicWP (WooCommerce add-ons)<\/td>\nFolded into Kadence Shop Kit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3. Restrict Content Pro (Memberships)<\/td>\nFolded into Kadence Memberships<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4. MemberDash (LMS Memberships)<\/td>\nAbsorbed into LearnDash<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5. GiveWP<\/td>\nRebranded as Give under Liquid Web<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6. LearnDash<\/td>\nContinues as a Liquid Web core offering<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7. The Events Calendar<\/td>\nContinues as a Liquid Web core offering<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8. Kadence<\/td>\nExpanded into the new flagship suite<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Liquid Web has been clear that this is not a forced migration. From their announcement:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYour current plan, pricing, and tools remain the same unless you choose to upgrade. This is a new option for customers who want more, not a forced migration.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

They\u2019ve also committed to continuing development on the features existing customers rely on (legacy plans aren\u2019t being frozen) and keeping everything self-hosted (your hosting setup doesn\u2019t change). They also plan to provide critical security patches through April 2027 for the brands being absorbed.<\/p>\n

There is, however, one important caveat in the announcement: \u201cIf your subscription lapses, you\u2019ll need to purchase one of the new software plans to reinstate access.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In other words, your legacy pricing is protected only as long as you keep renewing. If you miss a renewal for any reason, you can\u2019t reactivate your old plan, and you\u2019ll be required to purchase a new Liquid Web Software plan at current pricing. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a current customer, the single most important thing to do today is confirm auto-renew is enabled on your account.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re a current customer, nothing breaks tomorrow. But the road ahead is worth thinking about now, while you have time to plan rather than react.<\/p>\n

What This Means for Your Site<\/h4>\n

We\u2019ve been around this industry long enough to know that when a brand gets absorbed into a parent product, a few things tend to happen over time, even when the parent company has the best intentions:<\/p>\n

1. Roadmap priority shifts.<\/strong> Products like SolidWP and IconicWP were built and championed by their original founders. Once they become a \u201cmodule\u201d inside a larger suite, the feature development typically slows. The new roadmap belongs to the parent brand, not the original product.<\/p>\n

2. Support and community change.<\/strong> The dedicated forums, Slack groups, and founder-level responsiveness that long-time users counted on often get turned into a generic support queue.<\/p>\n

3. Pricing leverage shifts to the new plans.<\/strong> Liquid Web has confirmed legacy pricing applies as long as you keep renewing. The catch we flagged above\u2026 that a lapsed subscription forces you onto a new plan at current rates. That means renewals are no longer fully in your control. And over time, bundled offerings tend to nudge existing customers toward higher-tier plans.<\/p>\n

None of this is a prediction. It\u2019s a pattern we\u2019ve watched play out across many WordPress acquisitions over the past decade.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a happy customer and your site is running smoothly, then you don\u2019t need to do anything right now. Your license still works, and updates are still coming.<\/p>\n

But if you\u2019ve been thinking about switching, or if this news has made you worried about the long-term direction of these tools, this is a reasonable moment to look at alternatives.<\/p>\n

If You\u2019re Switching: Here Are the Alternatives We Trust<\/h4>\n

We\u2019ve been recommending and using WordPress plugins at WPBeginner for over 17 years. Below are the alternatives we trust for each affected category.<\/p>\n

For Donations & Fundraising: Use Charitable Instead of GiveWP<\/h5>\n
\"Charitable<\/a><\/figure>\n

If you run a nonprofit, church, school, or any kind of donation campaign on WordPress, then Charitable<\/strong><\/a> is what we\u2019d point you toward.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the most popular donation plugin for WordPress that isn\u2019t owned by a hosting giant, and the team behind it has been laser-focused on serving nonprofits for over a decade.<\/p>\n

With Charitable, you get unlimited donations, recurring giving, peer-to-peer fundraising, fee recovery, Stripe and PayPal integration, and beautiful campaign pages out of the box.<\/p>\n

The team also built a one-click GiveWP importer<\/strong> specifically to make this transition easy. You can move your donors, donations, and campaigns over without rebuilding from scratch.<\/p>\n

Just remember to double-check your Stripe or PayPal webhook connections after importing to make sure your recurring donations continue without any hiccups.<\/p>\n

For a full side-by-side breakdown of other options, see our roundup of the best WordPress donation plugins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Online Courses & Memberships: Use MemberPress Instead of LearnDash & MemberDash<\/h5>\n
\"memberpress<\/a><\/figure>\n

If you sell courses, run a coaching business, or manage paid communities, then MemberPress<\/a><\/strong> is the most complete alternative on the market.<\/p>\n

What used to require two products (LearnDash for courses + MemberDash for membership wrappers) is built into MemberPress as a single integrated system.<\/p>\n

You get a full learning management system (LMS) with quizzes, certificates, and drip content, plus native support for memberships, coaching programs, community features, and digital downloads.<\/p>\n

The migration path is also easy. Thousands of course creators have moved from LearnDash to MemberPress.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to compare other options, our guide to the best WordPress LMS plugins<\/a> covers all of our recommendations. <\/p>\n

For Gated Content: Use MemberPress vs Restrict Content Pro<\/h5>\n

For pure membership and content restriction (paywalls, member-only content, gated resources, subscription billing), MemberPress is again our top pick.<\/p>\n

It was built from the ground up for this use case, and the depth of restriction rules, payment gateway support, and member management features goes well beyond what RCP offered.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also compared the best WordPress membership plugins<\/a> side by side if you\u2019d like to evaluate other options first.<\/p>\n

For Popups & Optins: Use OptinMonster Instead of Kadence Conversions<\/h5>\n
\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019ve been using Kadence Conversions<\/strong> for popups, optin forms, or on-site marketing campaigns, then OptinMonster<\/strong><\/a> is our recommended alternative. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the most widely used conversion optimization tool in the WordPress ecosystem, with A\/B testing, exit-intent detection, advanced targeting rules, and dozens of campaign types built in. That level of depth is hard to match from a bundled theme addon.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to compare other options, just see our roundup of the best WordPress popup plugins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Backups & Migration: Use Duplicator Instead of SolidWP<\/h5>\n
\"Duplicator\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

For backups, migrations, and disaster recovery, Duplicator<\/strong><\/a> is the plugin we trust on every WPBeginner-managed site.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the most popular backup and migration solutions in the WordPress ecosystem, with over 1.5 million active installs. The Pro version includes scheduled cloud backups (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive) and one-click site migrations\u2026 features that SolidWP customers paid extra for in the past.<\/p>\n

If you bought into SolidWP\u2019s bundle for the combined backup-and-security experience, then Duplicator handles the backup side perfectly. For security specifically, we\u2019d pair it with a dedicated security plugin like Sucuri<\/a> or Wordfence rather than a bundled tool.<\/p>\n

In our experience, specialized solutions outperform combined suites here. Our Wordfence vs. Sucuri comparison<\/a> is a good place to start if you want to learn more. <\/p>\n

For deeper comparisons, see our roundup of the best WordPress backup plugins<\/a> and the best WordPress security plugins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Event Calendars: Use Sugar Calendar Instead of The Events Calendar<\/h5>\n
\"Sugar<\/a><\/figure>\n

If you run a venue, host workshops, manage church or school events, or simply need a clean event calendar on your site, then Sugar Calendar<\/strong><\/a> is a great lightweight option.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s trusted by event organizers on over 10,000 sites and was built specifically because the team felt The Events Calendar had become bloated and slow over the years.<\/p>\n

You get recurring events, ticket sales, Zoom integration, calendar feeds, and elegant front-end displays without the performance hit.<\/p>\n

For most small to mid-sized organizations, Sugar Calendar is faster, easier to use, and significantly cheaper.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also written a beginner-friendly tutorial on how to create a simple event calendar with Sugar Calendar<\/a>, plus a roundup of the best WordPress event plugins<\/a> if you want to compare options.<\/p>\n

For WooCommerce Add-ons: Use Merchant Instead of IconicWP \/ Kadence
Shop Kit<\/h5>\n
\"Merchant\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

WooCommerce store owners who relied on IconicWP\u2019s product variation swatches, quick views, delivery date pickers, and other UX add-ons have a strong alternative in Merchant<\/strong><\/a> from aThemes.<\/p>\n

Merchant bundles 40+ WooCommerce conversion modules, including variation swatches, sticky add-to-cart, buy now buttons, size charts, pre-orders, frequently bought together, and more into a single plugin.<\/p>\n

Most of the IconicWP features you depended on are covered in the free version, with the pro modules priced well below what an IconicWP stack used to cost.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a free version of Merchant<\/a> that includes 16+ WooCommerce modules for you to try out.<\/p>\n

For Your Theme: Use Sydney or Botiga Instead of Kadence<\/h5>\n
\"Sydney<\/a><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019ve been using the Kadence theme and want to explore alternatives outside of the Liquid Web ecosystem, aThemes<\/strong><\/a> offers two excellent options:<\/p>\n