Simple Maintenance vs WP Maintenance Mode
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Simple Maintenance v1.0.4 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.6/5 Visit Details | WP Maintenance Mode v2.6.24 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.3/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 1,000+ | 400,000+ |
| Last updated | November 12, 2024 | September 29, 2026 |
| Editions | Simple Maintenance | LightStart |
| Pros | Works on activation with no setup; Sends a 503 status so crawlers treat the outage as temporary; Logged-in users keep seeing the live site | Free, with maintenance and coming soon pages; Subscriber list stored in the database; Login form shortcode for visitors; Setup wizard with page templates via Otter Blocks |
| Cons | Page design is fixed and cannot be edited in the admin; Has no scheduling or per-page exceptions | The setup wizard can install and activate Otter Blocks; Usage tracking is offered in the setup wizard; Subscriber data is kept in the site database, not in an external service |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 3 |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Maintenance page on front end while active, 503 Service Unavailable status for visitors, Logged-in users bypass the maintenance page, Login and register pages stay reachable | Maintenance and coming soon page, Subscriber list table, Login form shortcode, Shortcode wrapper for page content, Setup wizard with template choice, Google Analytics code on the page, Abilities API registration |
| Integrations | ||
| Analytics | — | Google Analytics, ThemeIsle SDK telemetry |
| Plugins | — | Otter Blocks |
| Requires WordPress | 3.0 | 4.7 |
| Requires PHP | — | 7.1 |
| Tested up to | 6.7 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | Only if you agree |
| External services | — | api.themeisle.com, translations.themeisle.com |
| Custom tables | — | 1 |