10 Must-Have Tools for WordPress Web Agencies [Free & Paid]

WordPress runs 43.5% of the web. For agencies, that means both power and pain.

The market is flooded with tools claiming to be essential. Most aren’t. They waste your time and bloat your sites.

This guide cuts through the noise by narrowing down the 10 tools that matter.

10 Tools for WordPress Agencies

Multiple WordPress Site Management  

WP Umbrella

WP Umbrella is an all-in-one WordPress site management tool that handles everything from performance optimisation to backups and security monitoring, saving you hours of tedious work. Instead of juggling multiple plugins and dashboards, you get one central command center where you can manage all your sites, track problems before they happen, and automate routine maintenance tasks.

What makes WP Umbrella different is how it combines power with simplicity. You don’t need to be a tech expert to use it. The dashboard shows you exactly what needs attention across all your sites, lets you update multiple websites with a single click, and alerts you instantly when something goes wrong. 

Key Features

• Uptime Monitoring: Get instant alerts when your site goes down, with customizable monitoring frequencies from 2 to 30 minutes and monitoring locations worldwide.
• Performance Tracking: Monitor critical metrics like Time to First Byte, First Contentful Paint, and Google PageSpeed scores to keep your sites running at peak efficiency.
• Comprehensive WordPress Security: Detect vulnerabilities in plugins, themes, and WordPress core before they become problems, with automatic scanning every 6 hours.
• Smart Backup and Restoration System: Create automatic incremental or manual backups when needed, with one-click restoration capabilities.
• Bulk Management: Update plugins, themes, and WordPress core across multiple sites simultaneously.
• White Label Features: Customize or completely hide the WP Umbrella plugin to maintain your brand consistency when working with clients.
• Maintenance Reporting: Generate beautifully branded maintenance reports for clients that showcase your work and reinforce your value.
• PHP Error Monitoring: Catch and resolve PHP errors before they impact your website’s performance or user experience.
• 1-Click Admin Access: Log into your WordPress sites directly from the WP Umbrella dashboard without entering credentials each time.
• Safe Updates Feature: Choose between Quick, Classic, or Advanced modes when updating your sites, with automatic restore points and optional visual regression testing to prevent updates from breaking your websites.

WP Umbrella Pricing: $1.99/month/site. 14-day free trial available; no credit card required. 

Local Development Environments 

DevKinsta

DevKinsta cuts the hassle from local WordPress development. Built by Kinsta hosting, it lets you create, clone, and test WordPress sites locally without the usual Docker challenges. 

DevKinsta delivers a production-like environment on your laptop with zero setup pain. It’s perfect for agencies juggling multiple client sites.

Key Features

• One-click site creation with your choice of PHP versions (7.2 through 8.3)—no more fighting with XAMPP or MAMP.
• Built-in email capture system lets you test contact forms and site notifications without sending emails.
• Seamless Kinsta integration—pull down live sites to work locally, then push changes directly to staging with a click.
• Docker-powered containers that work: lightweight, secure, and faster than clunky VirtualBox alternatives.
• Proper database management through Adminer: edit tables, run SQL queries, and fix data issues.

Pricing: Free

Local

Local stands as the workhorse of WordPress development environments. Created by the folks at Flywheel, it transforms the pain of local setup into a streamlined process. 

Unlike other solutions that require endless configuration, Local delivers a complete WordPress environment with a few clicks.

Key Features

• Instant WordPress setup with SSL included; no more challenges with certificates or database configurations.
• Hot-swap between PHP versions (7.3 through 8.0+) and web servers (NGINX or Apache) with a single click; test compatibility without rebuilding your environment.
• Live Links creates shareable URLs for your local site: clients can review work without deployment, and you avoid the “works on my machine” problem.
• Push and pull directly to Flywheel or WP Engine hosting: MagicSync intelligently handles file differences to prevent overwriting essential changes.
• Built-in mail catching, database tools, and one-click admin access: the small touches that save hours of frustration every week.

Pricing: Free

Website Builders

Elementor

Elementor dominates the WordPress page builder landscape for a good reason. Unlike clunky competitors, it delivers real-time visual editing that works exactly how you’d expect. 

With over 18 million websites built using it, Elementor bridges the gap between drag-and-drop simplicity and professional design control.

Key Features

• True front-end editing where every element appears as visitors will see it—no more switching between editor and preview.
• Works with virtually any WordPress theme without breaking your site when you switch themes.
• Built-in marketing tools like popups and forms—no need for additional plugins that slow down your site.
• WooCommerce integration that lets you design custom shop pages without touching code.
• AI-powered features that generate layouts and copy based on your brand; skip past blank page syndrome and build faster.

Pricing: Paid plans start at $4.99/m, billed annually.

Beaver Builder

Beaver Builder solves the endless struggle of creating custom WordPress sites. Unlike page builders that break your theme or leave a mess of shortcodes, Beaver Builder creates clean code while giving you total design freedom. It works with any WordPress theme and won’t trap you in a proprietary system.

Key Features

• True front-end editing: see what visitors will see while you build, not some abstract backend interface.
• Works with your existing theme and plugins: no forced lock-in or compatibility nightmares.
• Templates for everything from landing pages to pricing tables: start with a professional foundation and customize.
• Reuse your custom designs across multiple sites—save hours by building a library of modules you can drop into any project.
• Clean, lightweight code that won’t slow down your site, unlike bloated alternatives that kill page speed.

Pricing: Paid plans start at $89 per year.

Debugging Tools

Query Monitor

Query Monitor is that behind-the-scenes hero every WordPress developer needs in their toolkit. It lets you debug pretty much everything—database queries, PHP errors, hooks, blocks, scripts, and HTTP calls.

Query Monitor is super helpful in how it organizes information, grouping queries by plugin or theme so you can instantly spot what’s dragging your site down. No more guessing games when your site acts up!

Key Features

• Shows you exactly which database queries are slow or causing problems
• Highlights template files and hierarchy so you know what’s loading (or not)
• Flags PHP errors with clear info on what went wrong and where
• Tracks HTTP API calls to spot connection issues
• Lists all scripts and style sheets with their dependencies
• Works with both classic and block themes, including complete site editing
• Runs on WordPress (up to three years old) with PHP 7.4+

Pricing: Free

WP Debugging

WP Debugging automatically handles those pesky debug constants in your wp-config.php file. This open-source plugin toggles debug settings on activation and removes them when deactivated, so you don’t have to mess with code manually.

The included Debug Quick Look feature makes it really handy, helping you make sense of your debug.log file without diving into a sea of technical jargon. It plays nicely with Query Monitor and Debug Bar plugins for devs who want more firepower.

Key Features

• Sets up crucial debug constants automatically (WP_DEBUG_LOG, SCRIPT_DEBUG, SAVEQUERIES)
• Lets you safely modify debug-related settings through a simple interface
• Includes Debug Quick Look for easier log file reading
• Restores your original settings when deactivated
• Works with custom wp-config.php locations through filters
• Allows adding custom constants through WordPress filters
• Requires some basic technical knowledge to use effectively

Pricing: Free

Website Traffic and SEO

SEOPress

SEOPress cuts through the noise with a fast, powerful WordPress SEO solution that now includes AI capabilities. This plugin streamlines everything from setup to daily management with an intuitive interface that helps boost traffic and conversions. 

The quick installation wizard configures SEOPress in seconds, while the migration tool easily imports data from over 10 different SEO plugins. Once set up, it handles the technical SEO aspects automatically so you can focus on creating content.

Key Features

• Offers straightforward migration from other popular SEO plugins with just a few clicks
• Provides extensive developer tools, including hooks, REST API, and WP CLI commands
• Includes CSV import/export for managing redirects and SEO metadata efficiently
• Optimizes images automatically for better Google Images ranking and indexing
• Features built-in tracking integration for Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and GTM
• Includes user role management to prevent accidental setting changes
• Supports white labeling for agencies to rebrand for client work

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $49/year for 5 sites

Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO gives WordPress agencies a powerful toolkit to boost client websites in search rankings without the technical complexity. This popular plugin handles the SEO work by analyzing content for keyword optimization and readability in real time. 

It shows what needs fixing with simple red, orange, and green indicators that anyone can understand. Website owners get instant feedback on everything from sentence structure to keyword density.

Key Features

• Creates and updates XML sitemaps automatically so search engines can find all content
• Offers straightforward meta description editing to improve click-through rates
• Analyzes content readability with clear suggestions for improvement
• Identifies cornerstone content to prioritize your most important pages
• Adds proper social media tags so content looks great when shared online
• Suggests internal linking opportunities in the premium version
• Integrates with Google Search Console for direct performance insights

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plan is for $99/year (ex VAT)

Form Builder

ARForms

ARForms is a versatile WordPress form builder plugin that provides 50+ professionally designed form templates. It allows you to create simple and advanced form types. Create forms based on your industry like contact forms, surveys, multi-step forms, purchase forms, download forms, signature forms, etc. 

ARForms has a user-friendly interface with exclusive features. It can be used by beginners as well as advanced users with pro requirements. Its drag-and-drop interface with a real-time visual builder allows instant previews with a responsive layout. 

Key Features

• 33+ customizable form fields like multi-line input, radio buttons, checkboxes, dropdown, file upload, date, number, star rating, smiley, switch, spinner, matric, etc. 
• Provides built-in popup form builder without needing any additional plugins. 
• Multi-column layouts for up to 6 columns for flexible designing and customization. 
• Ability to create multi-step forms with progress indicators that are perfect for customer surveys and research. 
• Advanced conditional and math logic to create forms that are interactive and as per audience inputs. 
• Inbuilt payment integration with tools like PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, etc. 
• Anti spam features like Google and Cloudflare Turnstile reCAPTCHA to protect your forms. 
• Integrates with 12+ email marketing tools like Mailchimp, AWeber, HubSpot, etc. 
• Exclusive addons like PDF, Signature, Digital Download, Zapier, Google Sheets, etc. 
• Use the built-in analytics to track form performance, provide insights, and check submission rates. 

Pricing: Offers a free version with essential form building features along with anti-spam mechanism and PayPal support. Its pro version license is available at $39 with advanced form elements and 24+ third-party integrations.  

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