WordPress multisite vs multiple WordPress installations: How to choose

Trying to decide between WordPress multisite and standalone WordPress installations?

Both methods are valid options if you want to run more than one WordPress site. Still, each has its own advantages and limitations, so finding the right fit depends on your particular requirements.

This guide will walk you through the essentials of WordPress multisite versus multiple installations. We’ll cover the pros and cons of each method, pose key questions to help you make your decision, and provide real-world scenarios for when one option may be better than the other.

How does WordPress multisite work?

WordPress multisite enables you to operate a network of sites using just a single WordPress setup. All network sites share user accounts and have access to the same installed plugins and themes—features that can be very convenient in various use cases.

To oversee your multisite network, you get a dedicated Network Administrator user role along with a separate dashboard for managing all sites. You can also assign specific users as the administrator for individual sites within the network.

Can each multisite network site have its own domain name?

With domain mapping, you’re able to assign a unique domain to each site on your network, allowing them to function as independent sites to visitors.

WordPress multisite offers three main ways to manage the URLs of each network site:

• Subdomain: Each site appears as a subdomain on your main domain, for example site1.yoursite.com, site2.yoursite.com, and site3.yoursite.com.
• Subfolder: Each site lives in a subfolder, such as yoursite.com/site1, yoursite.com/site2, and so on.
• Domain mapping: Each network site can use a distinct domain, such as site1.com, site2.com, and site3.com.

WordPress multisite: Pros and cons

With these basics in mind, let’s review the key benefits and drawbacks of a WordPress multisite network.

WordPress multisite pros

• Simplified site management: You can handle all your sites through a single dashboard and switch between them easily.
• Centralized user management: Manage user accounts across sites from one place. Users only need one login to access multiple sites, reducing hurdles for administrators and contributors.
• Streamlined updates: Apply updates to WordPress core, plugins, and themes just once, and changes are reflected on all network sites.
• Efficient extension management (plugins and themes): If your sites use similar plugins or themes, install and update them network-wide instead of managing each individually.
• Quick site creation: Launch new sites with just a few steps—or let users create their own sites on the network if needed.

WordPress multisite cons

• Single point of failure: If the network encounters an issue, all sites are affected because they run off one WordPress setup.
• Complex individual site migration: Moving a single site out of a multisite network is more complicated than migrating a standalone WordPress site.
• Plugin compatibility and licensing challenges: Not every plugin works with multisite, and some may require special licenses when used in a networked setup.
• Network-wide admin control: Site administrators have reduced control. For example, they cannot install their own plugins—only the network admin can. This may or may not fit your needs depending on how much autonomy you want to grant.
• Backup limitations: Restoring a backup for just one site in the network is complex. This can be a challenge if you need to roll back a single site due to a recent change or problem.

Multiple WordPress installations: Pros and cons

Now let’s consider the strengths and weaknesses of running separate WordPress installations for each site.

Multiple WordPress installations pros

• Greater control for each site: Independent installs mean total flexibility—customize plugins, themes, and configurations for each site as you wish.
• Resource flexibility: Host each site on its own server or hosting account. This prevents one site’s issues from affecting others, and allows for dedicated optimization based on each site’s needs.
• Redundant protection: If one site goes offline, others remain up so long as they’re isolated.
• Full administrator autonomy: Each site admin has unrestricted access and control of their own site, without needing approval from a network super admin.
• Straightforward site migrations: Moving a single site is simple and less prone to complications.
• Plugin compatibility: All plugins work out-of-the-box for single site installs, sidestepping the compatibility challenges of multisite setups.

Multiple WordPress installations cons

• Multiple dashboards to manage: Every site comes with its own dashboard and login, which can make managing many sites a little more time-consuming.
• User accounts don’t overlap: By default, users belong to individual sites. There are ways to share users, but it’s a more advanced process, unlike multisite where this feature is built-in.
• Updates must be managed per site: You’ll need to update WordPress core, plugins, and themes separately for each installation.
• Plugin licensing may add up: Some plugins charge per installation, so costs and license management complexity can increase as you add sites.

You can address some of these downsides with third-party tools. For example, with a plugin like MainWP you can oversee separate installs from a single centralized dashboard.

Some hosts offer management dashboards and automated update tools to help streamline administrating multiple single-site installations safely and efficiently.

Questions to answer when choosing between WordPress multisite vs multiple installations

Here are several important questions to help steer your decision between multisite and separate installations.

Consider these factors:

• Purpose of the site
• Plugin requirements
• Design and theme customizations
• User roles and access
• Expected traffic and server resources
• Main stakeholders for each site
• Possibility of future migrations

Will the sites have similar purposes?

While there’s no strict rule, multisite often works best when your sites share the same overarching purpose.

For instance, if you’re building a university site with a section for each department, all the department sites share common goals—so multisite is often an ideal solution in this case.

When your sites share a purpose, chances are higher that they’ll also have similar plugin, theme, and resource needs, making multisite a logical choice.

Will the sites use similar plugins?

Since every site in a multisite network draws from the same set of installed plugins, consider if your sites will use the same or different plugins.

You install plugins at the network admin level. You can then choose to activate a plugin across the entire network or give individual site admins the option to activate them as needed.

Allowing different sites to use different plugins is possible, but it gets complicated quickly if each site requires a unique mix. Tracking plugin compatibility and licensing across various sites can become a challenge.

Will the sites have similar designs?

The same plugin considerations apply to themes—shared themes work well when sites need similar designs, but things get more complex if each site needs a custom look.

Customizing a network-activated theme affects every site using it. To create unique designs per site, you may need a plugin for custom CSS or rely on individualized settings in the Site Editor or Customizer.

If your sites need dramatically different designs, separate installations might be the way to go. However, there are workarounds for multisite if most of your needs align with using a networked approach.

Will similar users need access to the sites?

Another consideration: do users or administrators need to access more than one site?

There are two user types to keep in mind:

• Backend users: Staff like admins, editors, or authors with dashboard access.
• Frontend users: Visitors who create accounts, such as subscribers or custom roles you define.

By default, someone who subscribes to any network site will also be recognized as a subscriber on all sites. However, higher-level privileges (like Editor or Admin) must be granted site-by-site within the multisite network.

If it’s important to share user accounts and manage privileges across several sites, multisite is a strong contender for your setup.

Will the sites have similar traffic and resource usage (now and in the future)?

With separate WordPress installs, you can host each site in its own environment or together, as fits your needs. A multisite network, though, hosts all network sites on the same server infrastructure.

This becomes a concern if your sites have vastly different traffic levels. For example, a site with millions of monthly visitors could negatively impact smaller network sites with less resource demand.

Consider not just current traffic, but how usage patterns might change in the future. If some sites might grow faster or need specialized hosting, separate installations provide more flexibility for individual scaling.

If you choose multisite, make sure your host can meet the requirements of running multiple sites in one WordPress environment.

Will the sites have different primary stakeholders?

Think about whether each site is managed by a different party. For example, freelancers sometimes place client sites in a single multisite network for convenience.

This can lead to problems: if a site managed by one client crashes, it can affect every site in the network. Generally, if each site has a separate main stakeholder, separate installations are more reliable and fair to all involved.

Is there a chance of needing to migrate one of the sites?

It’s smart to assess whether you might need to move just one site to another server or provider later. This is most common when sites are owned by different people, but it can come up in other contexts too.

Migrating a site out of a multisite network is tricky and prone to issues. If you think individual site migrations might be a reality, you’re probably better off with separate installs.

Real-world examples of when to consider WordPress multisite

Here are some practical situations where using WordPress multisite makes sense:

• Organizations with multiple branches or service sites: For example, a gym chain with multiple locations can set up a site per branch within a multisite network. Similarly, a real estate firm could provide separate network sites for each agent.
• Higher education: Multisite is commonly used for university websites. Each department, college, or even student can have their own site while remaining part of the larger university network.
• School districts: It’s possible to allocate a network site to each individual school or department within the district.
• Website-as-a-service (WaaS): Multisite is ideal if you’re letting users spin up sites on your network, either as a free or paid service.
• Multilingual websites: With tools like MultilingualPress, multisite offers robust solutions for managing different language versions of your main site.
• Corporate intranets or team sites: Assign each department or team their own privately managed site within your corporate network.
• Associations and clubs: Local chapters can each run their own content spaces as part of a larger network.
• Blogging networks: If you’re running several closely related blogs—such as city-focused travel guides—you can manage them all under one multisite umbrella, with each city having its own team and style (see examples like Spotted by Locals and a city guide for Montreal in Canada).

Real-world examples of when to consider WordPress multiple installations

Here are scenarios where it usually makes more sense to set up sites as standalone WordPress installations:

• High-traffic or resource-intensive sites: Sites that receive many visitors or have significant hosting needs often benefit from their own dedicated environments.
• Online stores: While multisite supports WooCommerce, running regular ecommerce sites this way introduces complexities and is rarely recommended.
• Websites for clients: Managing client sites within one multisite network generally isn’t advisable due to the potential for cascading issues or migration challenges.
• Sites with unique plugin requirements: If every site will need distinct plugins, standalone installs are much easier to handle.
• Sites with strict compliance demands: Multisite networks rely on shared user data, which can complicate compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR.

Additional Considerations When Choosing a WordPress Setup

Security Implications

Security is a core consideration when deciding between multisite and standalone installations. In a multisite network, a vulnerability in one plugin or theme can potentially compromise all sites on the network. Therefore, network admins must be especially diligent about security practices, including regular updates, strong passwords, and limiting plugin installations to trusted options. Using security plugins that are multisite compatible and setting up robust backup routines becomes even more essential.

For standalone installations, an attack or breach on one site typically does not carry over to other unrelated WordPress sites. This isolation can make recovery easier and limits the blast radius of any single compromise.

Backup and Restore Strategies

Backup strategies differ significantly between the two options:

• Multisite networks require backups at the network level. Restoring a single site can be tricky and may involve restoring the entire network or using specialized plugins or scripts. Some managed hosts offer tools designed for network-level and individual site backups on multisite.
• Standalone installations allow for granular, site-specific backups and restores through popular plugins or hosting control panels. This flexibility aids in rapid recovery for single sites without impacting others.

Maintenance Overhead

While multisite networks simplify many aspects of maintenance, they introduce unique administrative considerations. For instance, adding custom code or scripts to just one site is less straightforward since most changes apply network-wide. Debugging issues can also become more centralized, as diagnosing a faulty plugin or performance bottleneck for a single site involves reviewing the broader environment.

Standalone installs, while requiring duplicated maintenance (updating plugins, managing security, etc.), offer straightforward debugging and less risk of introducing problems network-wide when making site-specific changes.

SEO Impact

From an SEO perspective, both setups can be made highly effective, but there are nuances:

• Multisite with subdomains or domain mapping can allow all sites to appear as independent entities to search engines, preserving brand separation and allowing for individualized SEO strategies.
• With subfolders, Google tends to view each site as part of the root domain. This can be beneficial for a unified brand but may not be ideal if you want each site to stand alone with separate reputations.
• Standalone installations allow complete control over SEO settings and tools on a per-site basis, including sitemaps, robots.txt files, and performance optimizations tailored to specific content or audiences.

Performance Considerations

A multisite network often makes better use of shared hosting resources, especially when sites are low-traffic and similar. However, poorly optimized sites or a sudden spike in one can strain the network. In contrast, standalone sites can be distributed across multiple servers, use diverse performance plugins or caching layers, and scale independently as required.

Cost Considerations

The initial setup costs for multisite can be lower, especially if your host supports it and you only need to manage one set of plugins, themes, and server resources. Licensing for premium plugins and themes might also be more affordable if they offer multisite or unlimited-site licensing. However, if premium plugins charge per-site fees even on multisite, costs may rise with scale.

For standalone sites, costs can rise quickly with each new instance, especially if each requires its own commercial plugin, theme license, or hosting package.

Best Practices for Migrating Between Setups

• Moving from multisite to single site (or vice versa) is complex but feasible with specialized migration plugins and careful planning. Always conduct a dry run on staging before attempting live migrations.
• If unsure about long-term needs, it is generally safer to start with standalone installations. Scaling to multisite later is possible but always requires migration effort.
• Consult with your hosting provider about multisite support—some managed WordPress hosts have restrictions or require special configurations for networks.

Notable Plugins and Tools for Both Approaches

• For Multisite: WP MU Domain Mapping for custom domains, User Role Editor for advanced permissions, and Multisite Enhancements for better management UX.
• For Standalone Management: ManageWP and InfiniteWP for dashboard consolidation and update automation.

Expert Recommendations: When in Doubt

If you anticipate significant divergence in design, features, or autonomy—or foresee sites being sold, handed over, or migrated in the future—standalone installations offer the least friction and futureproofing.

If your sites are closely related, require shared userbases, or need centralized oversight for efficiency, WordPress multisite delivers powerful economies of scale for site management.

Ultimately, weigh your decision on long-term strategy, expected growth, and the technical resources available. Consulting with a WordPress developer experienced in both deployment methods can ensure your platform will serve your needs as your project evolves.

Summary

Ultimately, the decision between WordPress multisite and separate installations depends on your specific goals. By working through the questions and pros/cons highlighted above, you can select the best method for your needs.