At a glance
Maintenance
Great looking maintenance, coming soon & under construction pages. Put your site under maintenance in minutes.
LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder
Easy Drag & Drop Page Builder that adds a splash page to your site that it's perfect for a coming soon page, maintenance or landing page.
Full Comparison
Technical Specs
| Metric | Maintenance | LightStart |
|---|---|---|
| Requires WP | 4.4+ | 4.7+ |
| Requires PHP | 5.2+ | 7.1+ |
| Tested up to WP | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Plugin age | 14 yrs | 16 yrs |
Quick Verdict
Maintenance wins this comparison. It has 2.5x more installs than LightStart, and 82% of its reviews are five stars. If you need a reliable maintenance mode WordPress plugin that works out of the box, start with Maintenance. LightStart offers a drag-and-drop builder, but its smaller user base and lower satisfaction rate make it the riskier choice for most sites.
Feature Comparison: Maintenance vs LightStart
| Feature | Maintenance | LightStart |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Maintenance, coming soon, and under construction pages | Maintenance mode, coming soon, and landing pages |
| Page builder type | Pre-designed templates | Drag-and-drop builder |
| Page types supported | Maintenance, coming soon, under construction | Maintenance, coming soon, landing, splash page |
| Landing page support | Not advertised in features | Yes, built-in landing page builder |
| Splash page support | Not advertised in features | Yes, splash page is a primary tag |
| Setup time estimate | Minutes per the plugin description | Drag-and-drop implies longer initial setup |
| Design flexibility | Choose from pre-built styles | Build layouts visually with drag-and-drop |
Who Should Use Maintenance
- Site owners who want a coming soon page WordPress plugin that works immediately, trusted by 1.0M+ active installs.
- Anyone who values high satisfaction rates, 82% of reviewers gave Maintenance five stars, and only 9% gave it one star.
- Teams that need a simple way to put a WordPress site in maintenance mode without learning a new builder or customizing templates.
Who Should Use LightStart
- Users who need a custom coming soon page WordPress layout and prefer a drag-and-drop builder over pre-made templates.
- Marketers building landing pages with the same tool, LightStart supports landing pages and splash pages alongside maintenance mode.
- Site owners who want a splash page for events or product launches, a feature that is not advertised in Maintenance's feature list.
Community & Support
Maintenance has 82% five-star reviews and 9% one-star reviews from 856 total ratings. The support sample for both plugins is too small to draw conclusions. LightStart has 77% five-star reviews and 13% one-star reviews from 867 total ratings. The gap in one-star reviews is notable, LightStart's 13% rate is nearly 50% higher than Maintenance's 9% rate, which suggests a higher proportion of dissatisfied users.
Verdict: Maintenance or LightStart for WordPress sites?
Pick Maintenance if you want a proven solution for your WordPress maintenance mode page. It has 2x more installs than LightStart and a 5% higher five-star rating (82% vs 77%). The one-star review gap is even wider, 9% for Maintenance vs 13% for LightStart. These numbers point to a more consistent experience.
Pick LightStart if you must build a drag-and-drop coming soon page from scratch, or if you need landing page and splash page features that Maintenance does not advertise. Just know that you are choosing a less popular plugin with a higher dissatisfaction rate. For the majority of WordPress sites, Maintenance is the safer, more trusted choice.
This comparison is AI-generated from live WordPress.org data. Install counts, ratings, versions and support statistics sync weekly, so the numbers on this page stay current. Content passes automated quality checks before publishing, and pages below our quality threshold are held for human review.
Read our full methodologyFrequently Asked Questions
Q How many people use Maintenance compared to LightStart?
Maintenance has 1.0M+ active installs while LightStart has 400K+, meaning Maintenance is used on more sites.
Q Which has better user ratings — Maintenance or LightStart?
Maintenance averages 4.4/5 from 856 reviews, while LightStart averages 4.3/5 from 867 reviews — Maintenance has the higher average rating.
Q Which is more actively maintained — Maintenance or LightStart?
LightStart was last updated on May 19, 2026 and Maintenance on Apr 2, 2026, so LightStart received the more recent update.
Q Are Maintenance and LightStart both free?
Yes — both Maintenance and LightStart are free to install from the official WordPress.org plugin directory. Some features may require a paid upgrade offered by the plugin author.
Q Is Maintenance or LightStart better for WordPress sites?
LightStart is the better pick for most sites because it was updated more recently and includes landing page features, not just a maintenance screen. Maintenance works fine if you only need a simple coming soon page, but LightStart gives you more flexibility for under construction and splash pages.
Q Which is easier to set up for a WordPress beginner — Maintenance or LightStart?
Maintenance is easier for a beginner because its feature set is smaller and more focused, so there are fewer settings to figure out. LightStart adds landing page options that can overwhelm someone who just wants to flip a switch and hide the site.
Q What is the biggest feature difference between Maintenance and LightStart?
The biggest difference is that LightStart includes landing page and splash page features, while Maintenance is limited to just coming soon and maintenance mode pages. If you want to build a custom under construction page that looks like a real site, LightStart gives you that ability.
Q Can you switch from Maintenance to LightStart (or the other way) without losing data?
Yes, you can switch between them without losing your WordPress content because neither plugin stores your posts, pages, or settings in a way that conflicts with the other. Just deactivate one and activate the other, then set up your new maintenance or coming soon page from scratch.
Q Which type of site should choose Maintenance, and which should choose LightStart?
Pick Maintenance if you just need a quick, no-fuss maintenance mode page while you update your site. Choose LightStart if you want a custom coming soon or landing page that looks like a real site, because it gives you more design control and splash page options.