Your maintenance page displays. Even with a cache plugin.
A header alone is not enough when a page cache serves your pages without going through WordPress. Maintenance GENIUS switches off or empties the cache of the cache plugins it supports, installs a mu-plugin that loads before other plugins, and checks with a real request that your visitors actually get the page, with an HTTP 503 for SEO. And for sites in pre-launch, Coming Soon mode collects your first emails before your site goes public.
Built by WordPress maintenance pros, for pros — since 2008.
What it does during an update
Maintenance GENIUS switches off or empties the cache of the cache plugins it supports, installs a mu-plugin that loads before other plugins, and checks with a real request that your visitors actually get the page.
Everything you need for
an update without surprises
Everything below is in the free version — no site limit, no watermark, no time limit.
Cache plugins handled, not just flagged
Exit verification
Two modes, one plugin
All presets and themes
The complete design studio
Image, video, parallax and Lottie
Complete access control
Scheduling
Countdown, 3 styles
Visitor sign-up
SEO protected
8-point diagnostic
Private by default
Cloudflare Turnstile
Visit statistics
Export and import
Setup wizard
Everything above is in the free version. See what the PRO add-on covers
One switch
before you update
Try it yourself: flip the toggle and instantly see the effect on your site. The same toggle also drives Coming Soon mode (HTTP 200) for pre-launch sites.
- Instant activation without reload
- Administrators see the normal site (unless their IP or user agent is on the blacklist)
- Floating buttons to preview live
- Correct HTTP 503 code for SEO
- Standalone page: it does not depend on your theme
- No "Powered by" credit unless you turn it on
Professional designs
ready to use, all free
Nine of the eleven designs have an original full-screen background, and each one applies a complete design. Customize them to your brand or use them as-is.
GENIUS Orange
Soft & Pastel
Construction
Dark & Elegant
Light & Clean
Professional
Startup
Nature
Futuristic
Playful
Christmas
💡 Tip: Every preset is customizable — change colors, text, images and fonts from the WordPress admin.
Maintenance GENIUS at a glance
Each feature, and exactly what it does. Everything is included in the free version.
| Feature | Maintenance GENIUS Free · PRO optional |
|---|---|
| 🛡️ Cache plugins handledOn toggle, the page cache of supported plugins is switched off, removed from .htaccess or emptied; on exit, what was switched off is put back. Varnish, Nginx and CDNs are not changed. | ✓ |
| ✅ Exit verificationUp to 6 key pages are recorded before maintenance and compared on exit; the result appears in the General tab, under “Last update check”. A request from the server confirms that the 503 is really served. | ✓ |
| 🧪 8-point diagnosticEmail sending, database writes, maintenance page and 503, Cache Guard, cache plugins, WP-Cron, Turnstile and server environment — checked in one click from the admin. | ✓ |
| 🚀 Built-in Coming Soon mode (HTTP 200)Two modes in one plugin: Maintenance (503) for sites under work, Coming Soon (200 + noindex) with the Horizon theme and pre-launch email collection. | ✓ |
| 🧙 Setup Wizard5-step guided setup: title and message, style, visitor access, optional credit, activation. | ✓ |
| 🔐 Hashed password + SHA-256 cookieVisitor password hashed by WordPress (bcrypt since 6.8), SHA-256 signed cookies, httponly/secure/samesite flags. | ✓ |
| 🔑 Named Access TokensUnique access links per person (client, tester), with expiry date and individual revocation. | ✓ |
| 🛡️ GDPR mode on by defaultNo animation loaded from another website; all fonts are bundled with the plugin, with no Google Fonts call. | ✓ |
| 🎬 YouTube or Vimeo video + Lottie + parallaxYouTube or Vimeo video background, Lottie vector animations and a parallax effect that follows the mouse. | ✓ |
| ⏱️ Custom countdown (3 styles)Boxes, Minimal or Circles countdown — automatic disabling on expiry. | ✓ |
| 📧 Email collection"Notify me" form with automatic notification to all subscribers when the site reopens. | ✓ |
| 🔍 HTTP 503 + Retry-After SEOThe status code Google recommends for temporary unavailability. | ✓ |
| Price | Free PRO add-on in preparation |
The whole plugin is free.
PRO will cover the update itself.
Maintenance GENIUS is free, with no site limit. The PRO add-on, in preparation, will install alongside it for those who work on several sites: it will not replace the free version.
Friday, 5 p.m. An update breaks the site. Here is what the PRO add-on will do.
- The breakage will be detected.
- The site will go back into maintenance: your visitors will see a clean page instead of an error.
- The files will be restored from the snapshot taken before the update.
- The site will be tested again. If it works, maintenance will be lifted.
- If it still does not work, maintenance will stay on and you will get an email saying so.
The site will only be reported as restored after this check.
Free
- ✓ Maintenance (503) and Coming Soon (200) modes
- ✓ All themes and design presets
- ✓ Complete design studio — colors, gradients, typography, animations
- ✓ Background image, video, parallax, Lottie
- ✓ Countdown and scheduling
- ✓ Whitelist (IP, URL, roles, user agent) and blacklist (IP, user agent)
- ✓ Time-limited access tokens
- ✓ Visitor password and Turnstile
- ✓ Cache handling and exit verification
- ✓ 8-point diagnostic, export / import, statistics
- ✓ GDPR mode on by default
- ✓ Unlimited sites
Solo
- ✓ The free version stays installed and active
- ✓ Breakage detection and return to maintenance, without you
- ✓ File rollback from the snapshot taken beforehand
- ✓ After-the-fact verification — no “it's fixed” without proof
- ✓ Email alert with the reason when putting the site back online is refused
- ✓ Up to 5 sites
- ✓ Updates included during the subscription
Agency
- ✓ Everything in Solo
- ✓ Unlimited sites
Get notified when PRO launches
One email, on launch day. Your address is deleted afterwards.
Stored on our server, never sold or used for any other purpose. Privacy policy
The PRO add-on is in preparation: the prices shown will be the launch prices.
At launch: payment by Stripe or PayPal, cancel anytime and a 30-day guarantee.
All prices are in Canadian dollars.
Designed in Québec.
Built for agencies.
WordPress-specialized web agency since 2008 — Montréal, Québec. Support in French and English, privacy policy written for Québec's Law 25 and the GDPR, prices in Canadian dollars.
Why a maintenance page is not enough during an update
A WordPress maintenance plugin shows visitors a temporary page while you work on your site: a major update, a redesign, a hosting migration, or an urgent fix. Maintenance GENIUS offers two distinct modes — maintenance mode, which returns an HTTP 503 code (the code Google recommends to signal temporary unavailability), and coming soon mode (HTTP 200 with noindex) designed for pre-launch sites. The latter includes the dedicated "Horizon" launch theme and "Notify me" email collection: build your subscriber list before your site even exists publicly, then automatically notify everyone when you open.
The main pitfall of a maintenance page is the cache. When WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Fastest Cache or Seraphinite serve a cached version of your site, the maintenance page may not show — or may stay displayed after you turn it off. A header alone is not enough when the cache serves the page without going through WordPress. During maintenance, WP Fastest Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, Hummingbird, Breeze and SiteGround Optimizer have their page cache switched off; the .htaccess blocks of WP Fastest Cache, WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache are removed; these caches, and those of WP Rocket, WP-Optimize, Cache Enabler and Seraphinite Accelerator, are emptied. On exit, only the settings the plugin switched off are put back (if they have not changed in the meantime) and the .htaccess file is restored. Varnish, Nginx and CDNs such as Cloudflare are not changed. A must-use plugin, loaded before other plugins, keeps pages from being cached while maintenance lasts, and a real request to your site checks that the 503 code is actually served. Built after 18 years of WordPress maintenance at an agency.
The plugin is entirely free, with no site limit: all presets and themes, the complete design studio, background image and video, parallax and Lottie animations, the countdown, scheduling, the visitor password hashed by WordPress, time-limited access tokens, whitelists and blacklists, Turnstile protection, visit statistics, export and import, the 8-point diagnostic and GDPR mode on by default. No watermark, no time limit, no licence check. The PRO add-on, in preparation, will be a separate add-on installed alongside the free plugin without replacing it: it will cover the update itself — detecting a breakage, putting the site back into maintenance automatically, restoring files from a snapshot taken beforehand, then checking before reporting the site as restored.
Built in Québec by 1001Web™, a Montréal WordPress agency founded in 2008, Maintenance GENIUS is developed and supported in Canada. Whether you're a freelancer, an agency or a nonprofit, you start free and grow at your own pace — no hidden subscriptions, no dependency on external servers, with real French-language support.
Frequently Asked Questions
about Maintenance GENIUS
Start for free.
Grow with the suite.
The plugin is free, with no site limit. The PRO add-on, in preparation, will be there when you work on several sites.
By 1001Web™ · Montreal, Quebec · Since 2008