Why WordPress Multisite isn’t the answer (and what to do instead)

If you manage more than one WordPress site, you've probably come across the idea of running everything through a single WordPress Multisite network. For a long time, it promised an elegant solution: one installation, one dashboard, multiple sites under your control. You could be the master or mistress of your multiple domains.

But the web has evolved. WordPress has evolved. Hosting has evolved.

And the truth is, the reasons Multisite used to be helpful have largely been replaced by better, simpler and safer alternatives.

So instead of teaching you how to set up a Multisite with different domains (as our older guide did), we're going to walk through why you probably shouldn't — and what you should do instead.

The promise of Multisite (and the reality of today)

On paper, Multisite looks pretty appealing. You can manage multiple sites from one place, update plugins once, and avoid juggling several dashboards. But beneath that convenience lies complexity that often causes more trouble than it solves.

Modern hosting platforms now give you clean, isolated WordPress installs that are just as easy to manage, without the hidden risks. And those risks are worth understanding.

1. Shared security means shared vulnerability

All sites in a Multisite network share the same WordPress core, plugin stack and database. That shared environment becomes a single point of failure. If one plugin has a vulnerability, or one site is compromised, every site in the network becomes exposed.

As attacks become more automated and AI-powered, containment matters more than ever. With separate sites, a problem is isolated. With Multisite, it spreads instantly.

2. Performance problems ripple across the whole network

A Multisite setup draws all sites from the same pool of server resources. If one site experiences a traffic spike, a poorly coded plugin starts looping, or a heavy process kicks off, everything slows down.

Optimising a Multisite for consistent performance requires specialist knowledge and often more powerful hosting. The simplicity you gain at the start is quickly lost to troubleshooting bottlenecks later.

3. Plugin and theme flexibility becomes limited

Multisite centralises control. Only the super admin can install plugins and themes, which then become available across the network. That may sound efficient, but it also means:

• individual sites lose customisation freedom
• incompatible plugins can affect unrelated sites
• testing becomes more complex
• site-specific needs are harder to meet

If you work with clients or maintain sites with different purposes, this centralised approach becomes restrictive very quickly.

4. Migrating a single site out is rarely quick or clean

Ask anyone who has tried to extract a subsite from a Multisite network: it's almost never straightforward.

Because all sites share tables within one database, pulling out one cleanly means disentangling media paths, plugin settings, custom data, users, and internal links. It's not uncommon for a single extraction to take dozens of hours. And even then, manual fixes are often needed.

If there's even a chance you'll ever want to move one site independently, Multisite will turn that process into a potential headache.

5. Backups and restores get complicated fast

Backing up a Multisite network means backing up everything. Restoring a single site without affecting others is possible, but rarely simple, and it usually requires specialist tools.

Standalone sites avoid all of this. You can back up, restore, clone or roll back one site without worrying about the rest.

6. You'll likely need heavier hosting

Multisite looks efficient on the surface, but behind the scenes it places far more strain on your infrastructure than a standard WordPress install. Every site in the network draws from the same pool of resources — memory, CPU, database queries and storage — and that shared load ramps up quickly.

To keep a Multisite running smoothly, you often need:

• More RAM and CPU to handle concurrent activity across all subsites
• Database tuning to manage significantly larger, more complex tables
• Persistent object caching to avoid bottlenecks
• Greater control at the server level, including access to configuration files not available on standard shared hosting

This is why most shared hosting plans simply aren't designed for Multisite. They can't offer the isolation, performance headroom or configuration flexibility that a networked installation demands.

In practice, anyone running Multisite for more than a handful of low-traffic sites usually ends up upgrading to a VPS, dedicated server or high-spec cloud environment. By the time you've invested in the resources required to keep the network stable, the cost advantage that attracted you to Multisite in the first place tends to disappear into thin air.

So what should you do instead?

For most people, the modern solution is far simpler: run separate WordPress installations, each isolated, secure and easy to manage. With the right hosting, this approach gives you all the convenience Multisite promised, without the risks.

If you're using Krystal Managed WordPress, you already get the tools that make this effortless:

• A unified dashboard for every site you manage
• Intelligent Protection powered by Patchstack, included free, which shields each site individually from vulnerabilities
• Automated performance optimisation, backups and updates
• The AI Site Builder, which can generate a complete site in minutes. Ideal when you're spinning up multiple projects
• Isolated environments so one site can't affect another

You get the flexibility to build, run and customise each site independently, but with the ease and efficiency of managing everything from one place.

In other words, the benefits people used to use Multisite to get — centralised management, smoother updates, one home for all your projects — now come built into the hosting layer, without the structural drawbacks and security risks of tying everything together.

When Multisite still makes sense

OK, let's be fair to Multisite. It isn't completely obsolete. It's just that it solves a much narrower set of problems than it used to. It can still be a fairly decent option when:

• all sites share identical functionality
• strict, centralised control is essential
• individual autonomy isn't important
• you're running a large publishing network, franchise system or university-style structure
• migrations are unlikely
• you have in-house WordPress expertise

But for anything else, standalone sites are easier to run, easier to secure and easier to evolve.

Simplicity wins

Although not quite put out to pasture yet, Multisite was built for a different era of the web. Today's tools and hosting platforms make running multiple standalone WordPress sites easier than ever, without the technical overhead and risks Multisite brings.

If you'd like help choosing the right setup, or want to chat through how to manage multiple sites efficiently, just get in touch with our friendly team. We're always happy to advise.