MaintainHQ and Rocket.net
Rocket.net gives you fast hosting with an enterprise CDN. MaintainHQ adds an engineer for the WordPress layer.
Facts checked on 4 November 2026. Prices taken from each vendor's own website.
The short answer
MaintainHQ
MaintainHQ works with WordPress sites on any host, and also offers its own hosting at $5 a month per site with MaintainHQ built in. On whichever host you use, it looks after the WordPress layer: Gus diagnoses and fixes problems (your approval for every fix, staging or production as you choose, coding-standards checks, verification and automatic rollback), safe updates with pre-update testing, backups, malware scanning, uptime with incident autopilot, team roles and white-label reports across every site you manage.
Choose MaintainHQ if
- You want Gus to diagnose and fix problems, not only monitor and update
- Your sites are on several hosts and you want one place for all of them
- You want pre-update testing, incident autopilot and status pages
Rocket.net
Rocket.net is a managed WordPress host that includes Cloudflare Enterprise CDN and a web application firewall on every plan. Its Starter plan is listed at $30 a month, or $25 a month billed annually. Since 1 June 2026, sites hosted on Rocket.net get WP Umbrella free (its Site Protect and hourly backup add-ons stay paid).
Choose Rocket.net if
- You need hosting with an enterprise CDN and firewall
- The free WP Umbrella included with Rocket.net covers your maintenance needs
Use both
MaintainHQ does not ask you to leave Rocket.net. Rocket.net runs the servers; MaintainHQ and Gus look after the WordPress layer on top, across every host your clients use. MaintainHQ also offers its own hosting if you want servers and maintenance in one place, but for many agencies the right answer is to use both.
Side by side
- Included
- Paid add-on
- Not available
| Feature | MaintainHQ | Rocket.net |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Connects to WordPress sites on any host, and offers its own WordPress hosting ($5 a month per site, on servers MaintainHQ runs) with MaintainHQ built in. | Managed WordPress hosting |
| CDN | MaintainHQ Edge: a built-in CDN for connected sites | Cloudflare Enterprise CDN on every plan |
| Security | Daily read-only malware scan of files and database, vulnerability alerts matched to installed versions, firewall, hardening, login lockout and core file integrity checks | Web application firewall and malware protection |
| Updates | Bulk plugin updates, plus safe auto-updates with lanes, soak times, fleet waves and approval for major versions | WP Umbrella included for Rocket.net sites |
| AI that fixes | Gus diagnoses and fixes: your approval for every fix, on staging or production as you choose, WordPress coding-standards checks, a backup, verification and automatic rollback | Not offered for fixing sites |
| Pricing model | Flat plans: Starter $2.99/mo (1 site), Starter Plus $29/mo (5), Pro $79/mo (25), Agency $199/mo (unlimited). 7-day free trial. Gus is on every plan, with an allowance that resets every 6 hours and a weekly allowance, bigger on bigger plans. | Starter $30/mo, or $25/mo billed annually |
Pricing
Rocket.net charges for hosting (Starter from $25/mo billed annually) and includes WP Umbrella. MaintainHQ is a flat maintenance plan on any host, with Gus included.
Adding MaintainHQ to Rocket.net sites
Step 1: Keep your sites on Rocket.net. Nothing moves.
Step 2: Add the sites in MaintainHQ (one by one, or paste a list of addresses into the importer) and install the connector plugin on each one.
Step 3: Decide which tool owns updates and backups on each site. Many agencies keep Rocket.net's server backups as a second copy and let MaintainHQ run updates, monitoring and Gus.
Questions
Is MaintainHQ a replacement for Rocket.net?
It does not have to be. Your sites can stay on Rocket.net (or any other host): MaintainHQ connects to them with a plugin and handles maintenance and fixes on top. If you would rather have servers and maintenance in one place, MaintainHQ Hosting is $5 a month per site, on servers we run, with MaintainHQ built in.
Can I run MaintainHQ alongside Rocket.net and WP Umbrella?
Yes. The MaintainHQ connector is an ordinary WordPress plugin and runs alongside other plugins, Rocket.net and WP Umbrella included. The one thing to avoid is two tools auto-updating the same site, so pick one to own updates on each site.
Facts about Rocket.net checked on 4 November 2026 from their public websites. Prices and features change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. Product names belong to their owners.
Try MaintainHQ free
From $2.99 a month for 1 site, with a 7-day trial. Connect your first site in minutes and let Gus run a health check.