LightCMS (discontinued) vs. ManageWP

LightCMS is perfect for 90% of websites out there. It has all the basic modules like calendars, photo galleries, news/blog, or forms building built in. Small businesses to mid-sized businesses are perfect for LightCMS. We use other solutions when the requierments for the website include a lot of third party integrations or custom modules. As a hosted CMS it has the same limitations as others with server-side development.

If you are a WordPress development shop, or host a number of WordPress websites, this is for you. Even if you only have one website but are looking for an easy way to make updates, schedule backups and keep track of the maintenance of your site, this would be a great tool. The cost is reasonable and it saves time, while adding peace of mind with "Safe" updates.

Incentivized

• LightCMS provides all the major functionality 90% of sites need. It keeps out of its own way by making these solutions intuitive and simple and not trying to solve every problem for everyone which would over-complicate the tool-set.
• This is the easiest to use CMS we have ever seen. I tell my client's that if they can make a Facebook post, they can manage their website, and it's true. Their UI is so easy and keeps getting easier to use. Untrained users get it in minutes and are able to manage their sites without our help.
• LightCMS's code is simple and light-weight. Sites are fast and the CMS doesnt get in the way of performance.
• You can do almost anything you want (except server-side programming) with LightCMS. So, we can create any design we want and it works great with Light CMS's tokens and editable regions concept (which is also simple to implement.)
• Constantly upgraded and fixed, the product is 1000x better after 10 years of working with it, but is still simple and not bloated.

• Managed Wordpress Updates - ManageWP allows you to update all out-of-date themes, plugins and core files on all your websites with the click of a button.
• Automated Backups - ManageWP allows users to setup an automated schedule of backups (including free monthly backups).
• Maintenance & Development Mode - ManageWP allows users to place a specific site into Maintenance or Development Mode, allowing them to block users from accessing the site with a click of a button.

Incentivized

• While keeping it simple is LightCMS's thing, some of the elements/modules could use deeper options or control for advanced users.
• Some content, such as calendars, cannot have data exported/imported easily.
• Support was amazing 10 years ago. We openly talked about how awesome they were... it isn't as good as it once was, but is still way above almost every support of other CMS systems we have used.

• The reports could be prettier, more templates in order to avoid having to customize for each client so heavily.
• It would be nice to see if recommended plugin updates are actually production and not beta versions.

Incentivized

We have looked at hundrends of CMS's and LightCMS is a perfect entry-level system for most of our small to mid sized clients. LightCMS's feature set is less complex than almost every other system and the actual interface is miles ahead of most other CMS systems. It's simply thought out better. It lacks sensibility and an API as well as other advanced features many more expensive or more DIY systems have, but the simplicity makes up for it.

Prior to ManageWP, we utilized InfiniteWP, a free (with paid extensions), self-hosted alternative. We found the interface to be unwieldy, and the paid extension pricing to be a bit confusing. The headache of maintaining the software and server infrastructure to run the platform, overshadowed the cost savings for us.

Incentivized

• While I always think the price could be cheaper, LightCMS is incredibly inexpensive if you consider the costs of hosting, support, and upgrading is all included.
• As part of their partner program, we are able to control client accounts from our master account, making moving between clients easier and supporting them faster which ultimately makes our labor costs better.

• High positive ROI as it has saved us doing manual updates on multiple website
• It has helped us scale our careplan offerings to service more clients
• Helps with automation and admin time

Incentivized