WP Rollback alternative that checks the site after
A free plugin adds a chat to your WP dashboard. Ask for the plugin version that worked. It checks your site and undoes bad swaps. Not premium plugins or themes.
- Nothing changes without your OK
- Undo in one click, or a warning first
- No account, no password to share
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
WP Rollback is a trademark of its owner. CMSHands is not affiliated with it.
Flamingo broke my contact page after the update. Go back to the last version that worked.
Watch it do this on a real site
When it works
You ask
Before this run we updated Flamingo, the plugin that keeps the messages sent through the contact form, from 2.6.3 to 2.6.4, outside the chat. We didn't really break the Contact page. Then we typed this, the way an owner would.
Flamingo broke my contact page after the update. Go back to the last version that worked.
You see it first
It listed the plugins, read a file and the Contact page, then got the change ready. About 22 seconds after the request it showed a card, a box in the chat that shows exactly what would change: 2.6.4 out, 2.6.3 in. Nothing on the site had changed yet. One step, loading the page the way a visitor would, didn't work this time; the chat marked it “did not work”. Under the card it said what it could not check.
Ready for you to review — this puts Flamingo back on 2.6.3 (the release before 2.6.4); if the site breaks after the change, 2.6.4 goes back on its own. One thing the card can't show: Flamingo was not updated through me, so I have no record of the older version — 2.6.3 is its predecessor on WordPress.org. Your Contact page does load and the form is on it right now, so I could not confirm the break myself; if it is the sending that fails, this rollback may not fix it.
- 1 secondListing your plugins and themes
- 11 secondsReading a file on your site
- Looking for what you meant
- 14 secondsReading one of your pages
- 15 secondsLoading a page the way a visitor would
- 19 secondsPreparing the change for your OK
You press the button
Only now does it touch the site. It checked the site first, put 2.6.3 in place of 2.6.4, then checked the site again.
- 27 secondsChecking your site before the change
- 28 secondsPutting Flamingo back on 2.6.3
- Checking your site
Back on 2.6.3, and checked
The home page, the login page and the dashboard loaded as they did before, so 2.6.3 stayed. That last check took about 5 seconds. The card turned green, with an Undo link that would put 2.6.4 back. We didn't press it this time.
Flamingo is now on 2.6.3. I checked your homepage, login page and admin afterwards, and they load as they did before.
A real run on our test site, Quillmoor Pottery (WP 7.1.3, Twenty Twenty-Four), Oct 11, 2026. From asking to done, it took 33 seconds.
When an update breaks the site
Same request, same card
We broke the older version on purpose for this run: on our test site, Flamingo 2.6.3 now makes every page a visitor opens fail. Flamingo was on 2.6.4 again, and we typed the same request. This time it looked around longer, 17 steps in about two minutes, then showed the same card: 2.6.4 out, 2.6.3 in. Nothing on the site had changed yet.
Ready for you to review — this puts Flamingo back on 2.6.3, the release before the 2.6.4 you have now, and if the site gets worse after it, 2.6.4 goes back on its own. One thing the card can't show: your contact page and home page both load normally for me as I write this, so if it still looks wrong after this, tell me what you're seeing.
You press the button
It checked the site, put 2.6.3 in, then checked again. This time the check found errors. The check took about 20 seconds, and for those seconds the home page showed an error.
- 2 minutes 17 secondsChecking your site before the change
- 2 minutes 18 secondsPutting Flamingo back on 2.6.3
- Checking your site
2.6.4 goes back on its own
It put 2.6.4 back on its own, with no press from you. Right away the card said “Didn't work” and “Nothing was changed”. After a reload it reads “Rolled back”, and “No change used”: the rollback didn't count as one of your free changes.
- 2 minutes 38 secondsPutting Flamingo 2.6.4 back
Flamingo 2.6.3 broke your site when I checked it, so I put 2.6.4 back straight away. It is running 2.6.4 again.
We broke the update on purpose. A real run on our test site, Quillmoor Pottery (WP 7.1.3, Twenty Twenty-Four), Oct 11, 2026. From asking to done, it took 2 minutes 38 seconds. Shortened: 17 steps left out.
That's the whole job. The plugin is free: 3 changes to try it, no account. Nothing changes until you press the button.
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
Who should keep WP Rollback
Keep WP Rollback if you roll back themes, run a multisite network, or need plugins and themes you bought. Its free plugin moves any wordpress.org plugin or theme back or forward to any past release, betas included. WP Rollback Pro, from $49 a year, adds premium plugins and themes. CMSHands goes back only on plugins from the WP plugin directory, on one site, and never on themes.
How they compare
| CMSHands | WP Rollback | |
|---|---|---|
| How you do it | Ask in a chat in your WP dashboard, the screens you log in to at yoursite.com/wp-admin. A card, a box in the chat that shows exactly what would change, waits for your OK | Click Rollback next to the plugin on the Plugins screen, pick a version from the list, then confirm4 |
| Which version | The release before yours, from wordpress.org. It works even if the update didn't go through the chat | Any past release on wordpress.org, betas included, picked from a list. It can roll forward too1 |
| Checks | Checks the release before the card appears and your site before the swap. After it, it checks your home page, login page and dashboard. If they got worse, the version you had goes back on its own. We tried it with 2.6.3 broken on purpose: 2.6.4 was back about 20 seconds later | Checks that the download is there and is a valid zip before any file changes. If a step fails, the version you had keeps running. Its docs list no check of your site after: they say to test it yourself2, 5 |
| Undo | Undo on the card puts the newer version back. It keeps that copy for 7 days; after that, Undo fetches it again from wordpress.org | Pick the newer version from the same list1 |
| Plugin settings | Stay as they are. It swaps the plugin's files, not what the plugin saved in your database | Stay as they are. Its docs say settings saved in the database are kept2 |
| Themes | No | Yes, themes from wordpress.org1 |
| Premium plugins | No. A plugin you bought updates through its maker | With WP Rollback Pro, from a shared library of versions or from copies saved on your site before premium updates2, 3 |
| Many sites | No: one site per install, not multisite | Multisite networks in the free plugin. Pro licenses cover up to 25 sites3, 5 |
| What it connects to | Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com, where the chat runs | The free plugin works only with plugins and themes hosted on wordpress.org1 |
| Also does | Updates and installs plugins, changes words on pages, answers health questions, all by asking | Rollbacks. Pro adds a dashboard, a history, email reports and WP-CLI commands5 |
| Price | Free to start: 3 changes, then 10 a month with your email. A paid plan is coming | Free. Pro is $49 a year for 1 site, $99 for up to 5, $199 for up to 251, 3 |
- 1. https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-rollback/, 2026-10-11
- 2. https://docs.wprollback.com/how-rollbacks-work, 2026-10-11
- 3. https://wprollback.com/pricing/, 2026-10-11
- 4. https://docs.wprollback.com/plugin-rollbacks, 2026-10-11
- 5. https://wprollback.com/features/, 2026-10-11
WP Rollback is a trademark of its owner. CMSHands is not affiliated with WP Rollback.
Can you use both?
We haven't tested the two side by side on our test site yet. If you keep WP Rollback for themes or plugins you bought, roll back each plugin from one of them, not both, so you know which one changed what. The chat only knows the changes it made itself. In the run above, Flamingo had been updated outside the chat. It said so, and took the release before 2.6.4 from wordpress.org.
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
What it won't do here
Premium plugins and themes
It checks that pages load, not that forms send
A switched-off plugin isn't checked
Backups
WP itself
Questions
Is CMSHands made by WP Rollback?
No. CMSHands is a separate product from a separate company, and it isn't affiliated with WP Rollback. If you're looking for WP Rollback itself, it's at wordpress.org/plugins/wp-rollback.
Is WP Rollback safe to use?
Its makers say the swap is safe: every download is checked before a file changes, and the version you had comes back if an install fails. It runs on 300,000+ sites, rated 4.9 of 5 on wordpress.org. Its docs list no check of your site after. They say to back up first, try it on a test copy of your site, and test the site yourself after (read Oct 11, 2026).
How do I roll back a plugin without a rollback plugin?
Download the old version from wordpress.org and upload it. On the plugin's page, open Advanced View, pick the version under Previous Versions and press Download. In your dashboard, go to Plugins › Add Plugin and press Upload Plugin. Choose the zip, press Install Now, then Replace current with uploaded. Nothing checks your site after, so open a few pages yourself.
What if the older version breaks my site?
It puts the newer one back on its own. On our test site we broke Flamingo 2.6.3 on purpose, then asked for it. After the swap the check found errors, and it said: “Flamingo 2.6.3 broke your site when I checked it, so I put 2.6.4 back straight away. It is running 2.6.4 again.” For the 20 seconds the check took, the home page showed an error. The rollback didn't count as one of the free changes.
Will going back to the old version fix my problem?
Not always. In our run the Contact page loaded fine, so it said it couldn't confirm the break, and that going back might not help if the form's sending was what failed. If the older version makes the site worse, the newer one goes back on its own. If it doesn't help, Undo on the card puts the newer one back.
Written by CMSHands team. Checked on WP 7.1, Oct 11, 2026.
Try it on your own site
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
Download the plugin.
It's free: 3 changes to try it. No account, no card.
Upload and activate it.
In your dashboard: Plugins › Add Plugin › Upload Plugin (Add New Plugin on older WP). Choose the file, press Install Now, then Activate Plugin.
Press Turn on.
Press Turn on CMSHands. No account, no key, no password.