WordPress Multisite: The Pros and Cons from Real Experience

WordPress Multisite sounds appealing: one installation, one set of updates, multiple sites. In practice, it introduces complexity that is only worth it in specific scenarios.

When Multisite Makes Sense

Multisite works well when you have many sites that share the same plugins and themes. University departments, franchise businesses, and agency client portfolios are good fits. The sites share a codebase but have separate content and can have different themes activated.

When It Does Not

If your sites need different plugins or significantly different configurations, Multisite becomes a burden. Every plugin is installed network-wide — you cannot have Plugin A on Site 1 and Plugin B on Site 2 without both being installed for all sites. Plugin conflicts multiply across the network.

The Shared Database Problem

All sites share one database with prefixed tables. This means a database issue affects every site. Backups are all-or-nothing by default. And some hosting providers charge more or have restrictions for Multisite installations.

// Each site gets its own tables with a numeric prefix
wp_1_posts    // Site 1
wp_2_posts    // Site 2
wp_3_posts    // Site 3
// But wp_users and wp_usermeta are shared across all sites

My Recommendation

For most scenarios, separate WordPress installations managed with a tool like MainWP or ManageWP give you better isolation with similar convenience. Reserve Multisite for cases where tight integration between sites is actually needed — like a blog network where users need a single login across all sites.