Summary
Liquid Web has announced it is retiring the StellarWP brand and consolidating many of its acquired WordPress products under a smaller set of core offerings inside the Liquid Web Software umbrella. The move is not an immediate forced migration, but it does change branding, packaging, and long-term product priorities. This guide explains what changed, how it affects your site, and practical alternatives if you want to move away from the new stack.
What Liquid Web announced
– The StellarWP portfolio will be reorganized around four core products: Kadence, LearnDash, The Events Calendar, and Give (GiveWP rebranded).
– Several previously independent brands will be folded into these products. Examples: SolidWP features folded into Kadence Security, IconicWP into Kadence Shop Kit, and Restrict Content Pro into Kadence Memberships. MemberDash is being absorbed into LearnDash.
– Liquid Web says current plans, pricing, and tools remain the same as long as subscriptions remain active. They also committed to critical security patches for absorbed brands through April 2027.
– Important caveat: if a subscription lapses, legacy pricing and reactivation at old terms will not be available. You would need to buy a new Liquid Web Software plan at current pricing to regain access.
Immediate action for current customers
– Confirm auto-renew is enabled on accounts if you want to preserve legacy pricing and uninterrupted access.
– Nothing breaks immediately: updates and support continue for active subscriptions and critical patches will be provided through April 2027 for the absorbed products.
What this change typically means for your site
– Roadmap priority shifts: features that were driven by original founders or small teams may slow as those features become modules inside a larger product.
– Support and community changes: dedicated forums and founder-level responsiveness often become centralized support queues.
– Pricing and packaging shifts: bundled offerings can nudge customers toward higher-tier plans, and missed renewals force customers onto new plan structures.
These are patterns we have seen in many past WordPress acquisitions. If your site is stable and you are happy with current tools, you can stay put, but now is a good time to plan for long-term continuity.
Where to look if you want alternatives
Below are reliable, independent alternatives for each affected category and why we recommend them.
Donations and fundraising
– Charitable: Independent, nonprofit-focused donation plugin. Supports unlimited donations, recurring giving, peer-to-peer, fee recovery, Stripe and PayPal. Offers a one-click GiveWP importer to move donors, donations, and campaigns.
Online courses and memberships
– MemberPress: Combines LMS and membership features in one integrated system. Supports courses, quizzes, certificates, drip content, and membership billing. Migration guides exist for moving LearnDash content to MemberPress; test on staging first.
Membership and gated content
– MemberPress: Also our top pick for content restriction, subscription billing, and member management, offering deeper restriction rules and gateway support than many legacy tools.
Popups and optins
– OptinMonster: Advanced conversion tool with A/B testing, exit intent, advanced targeting, and many campaign types. More feature-rich than basic theme add-ons.
Backups and migrations
– Duplicator: Trusted backup and migration plugin with scheduled cloud backups and one-click migrations in the Pro version. Pair with a dedicated security plugin for a complete backup-plus-security setup.
Security
– Sucuri or Wordfence: Dedicated security plugins are preferable to bundled theme add-ons for firewall, malware scanning, and login protection. Add an activity log plugin if you need detailed user-change tracking.
Event calendars
– Sugar Calendar: Lightweight, fast, and focused on core event features like recurring events, ticket sales, Zoom integration, and calendar feeds. Simpler and often faster than more feature-heavy calendar plugins.
WooCommerce add-ons
– Merchant by aThemes: Bundles many conversion modules for WooCommerce, covering product swatches, quick views, sticky add-to-cart, buy now buttons, pre-orders, and more. A free version is available to try.
Themes
– aThemes (Sydney, Botiga): Independently maintained themes that work well with Merchant and other plugins. Sydney is a flexible multipurpose theme; Botiga is optimized for WooCommerce.
Quick brand mapping
– SolidWP (security and backups) -> Kadence Security
– IconicWP (WooCommerce add-ons) -> Kadence Shop Kit
– Restrict Content Pro -> Kadence Memberships
– MemberDash -> folded into LearnDash
– GiveWP -> rebranded as Give under Liquid Web
– LearnDash and The Events Calendar -> continue as Liquid Web core offerings
– Kadence -> expanded as a flagship suite
Final thoughts and recommendation
You have time to decide. If your site is running well on legacy tools and you keep your subscription active, nothing changes immediately. But over the long term, acquisitions often shift development focus and support models. For the most control and predictable long-term support, consider plugins maintained by small, focused teams whose main business is the product itself. If you prefer to move now, the alternatives above are stable and widely used.
Frequently asked questions
– Will my existing licenses still work? Yes, as long as your subscription remains active. If it lapses, you will need to purchase a new Liquid Web Software plan to regain access at current pricing.
– What happens if I miss a renewal? Legacy pricing and reactivation at old terms will not be available. Enable auto-renew to avoid this risk.
– How long will security updates continue for absorbed products? Liquid Web has committed to critical security patches through April 2027 for the absorbed brands. After that, you should have migrated to a replacement or the new Kadence-branded equivalent.
– Is GiveWP being shut down? No. GiveWP is being rebranded as Give and will remain a core Liquid Web offering, though its standalone brand identity is retiring.
– Can I migrate GiveWP data to Charitable? Yes. Charitable provides a GiveWP importer for donors, donations, and campaigns. Verify payment webhook settings after migration.
– Can I migrate LearnDash to MemberPress? Yes. Migration guides exist, but test on a staging site first to preserve course and student data.
– Should I switch from The Events Calendar? The Events Calendar remains a flagship Liquid Web product, so if it works for you there is no urgent reason to switch. If you find it bloated, consider Sugar Calendar for a lighter alternative.
If you want help evaluating alternatives or a migration checklist tailored to your setup, say which plugins or features you use and I can outline a step-by-step plan.
