Safe
The component's published requirements are satisfied by your PHP and WordPress versions, and its author has tested it at or above your version.
AI Update Guard
Every other host updates your plugins and hopes. We check first.
"Automatic plugin updates" means we will break your site on a schedule and you will find out from a visitor. AI Update Guard checks every plugin and theme you have against the PHP and WordPress versions your site actually runs, grades each one, and offers only the ones that pass. Every 7 days on a subscription, or a single check before you press update.
- 58languages, end to end
- 14 daysfree trial, no card required
- 30 daysmoney-back guarantee
The verdict is arithmetic. The AI only explains it.
This matters more than it sounds. A language model is never the thing that decides whether we touch your site — three version comparisons are.
For every plugin and theme you have installed, we read what its author published: the minimum PHP it needs, the minimum WordPress it needs, and the highest WordPress version they have actually tested it against. Then we compare those three numbers to what your site is really running. That comparison is ordinary arithmetic, it is the same every time, and you can check our working — every reason we give names the two versions it compared.
The AI writes the explanation afterwards. If it were unavailable you would still get every verdict, because the verdicts were never its to make. We think that is the right way round for anything that decides whether to change a live website.
Caution
It will probably run, but its author has not tested it this high. You are told exactly which two versions disagree.
Unknown
We cannot check it — it is not in the public directory, so there is no published compatibility data. It is never quietly graded safe.
It checks everything installed, not just what has an update waiting
The interesting failure is not usually the update you are about to apply. It is the plugin that has been sitting there since your last WordPress upgrade.
WordPress's own "updates available" list comes from a cache that can be hours stale, and can be switched off entirely. More importantly, "is your current version safe on your current WordPress" is the same question one step earlier — and it is the one that actually catches things.
On a real site we checked, every plugin reported no update waiting, and the directory said one of them had only ever been tested up to WordPress 6.9.7 while the site was running 7.0.4. A tool that looked only at pending updates would have reported "nothing to check".
- Every installed plugin and theme, whether or not an update is waiting.
- Checked against your site's real PHP version, read from the server.
- Checked against your real WordPress version, including what the author tested.
- A verdict per component, each naming the two versions it compared.
- Anything we cannot check is reported as unknown, with the reason.
- The ones that pass are offered for you to apply with a single click.
How often it runs, and what that costs
On a subscription it runs automatically every 7 days, and you can run a check yourself any time in between at no extra cost — which is the one you will use most, right before you press update. A single check can also be bought on its own.
- On a subscription — an automatic check every 7 days, plus unlimited checks you run yourself.
- One check, on demand, no subscription. Buy it the moment before you update something you are nervous about.
- The subscription is exactly 10% below the price of a single check.
- It runs more often than AI Webmaster because a compatibility check is a comparison, not a model call — so it costs us far less to run.
- Available on every hosting line, including Footprint-Free.
Against the alternatives
What actually happens to a WordPress site when an update lands.
| AI Update Guard | Automatic updates | Checking by hand | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checks PHP compatibility first | Yes | No | If you remember |
| Checks tested-up-to version | Yes | No | If you remember |
| Checks components with no update waiting | Yes | No | Rarely |
| Refuses an update that would break | Yes | No | Only if you spot it |
| Tells you why, with the versions | Yes | No | You worked it out |
| Installs without asking | Never | Always | No |
| Time per site per check | None | None | 20–40 minutes |
| Cost | On a subscription | Free, until it isn't | Your hourly rate |
What it does not do
The honest limits, because a verdict you cannot check is just a confident tone.
- We grade against the compatibility information the author publishes. We do not install the update on a copy of your site and test it — no hosting package on our estate currently permits a staging clone, and we would rather say so than imply a rehearsal that did not happen.
- It never installs anything by itself. You approve every update, every time.
- A plugin that is not in the public WordPress directory cannot be checked — including our own. Those come back as unknown, never as safe.
- A passing verdict means the published requirements line up. It is not a guarantee that a specific plugin has no bug in a specific version.
What a real check looks like
A genuine pre-flight check on one of our own sites, run on 2026-08-19, quoted in full. Every reason names the two versions it compared — you can check our working.
- WordPress 7.0.4 on PHP 8.3 — 8 components checked.
- [CAUTION] plugin classic-widgets 0.3 — the author has only tested classic-widgets up to WordPress 6.9.7; this site runs 7.0.4.
- [UNKNOWN] plugin zinn-cache 1.0.0 — zinn-cache is not in the public WordPress directory, so there is no published compatibility information for us to check it against. (That is our own plugin, and it is still reported as unknown rather than assumed safe.)
- [SAFE] plugin litespeed-cache 7.9 — declares WordPress 6.0 and PHP 7.4 as its minimum and is tested to WordPress 7.0.4; this site runs 7.0.4 on PHP 8.3.
- [SAFE] theme twentytwentyfive 1.5 — declares WordPress 6.7 and PHP 7.2 as its minimum; this site runs 7.0.4 on PHP 8.3.
⭐ The third line is our own caching plugin, and it is graded UNKNOWN rather than safe, because it is not in the public directory and there is no published compatibility data for it. An unknown graded as safe is the failure this product exists to prevent, and we do not make an exception for ourselves.
What it costs
Run a pre-flight check when you want one, or subscribe and have every update checked before it runs.
AI Update Guard — Pre-flight Check — Monthly
$17.10/month
AI Update Guard — Pre-flight Check
$19.00one-off
Add-ons are bought per site from your dashboard and appear on your normal invoice — no separate account, no second bill and no minimum term. Prices exclude tax, which is worked out from your billing country at checkout.
Questions
How often does it run?
On a subscription, automatically every 7 days — and you can run a check yourself any time in between, included. If you buy a single check, it runs once, when you buy it. Most people buy the single check the first time because they are about to update something and want to know.
Does it install the updates for me?
Only if you ask it to, one at a time. Components that pass are offered as a one-click action in your dashboard. Nothing is ever applied automatically, and nothing that failed the check is offered at all.
What happens to a plugin you cannot check?
It is reported as unknown, with the reason — usually that it is not in the public WordPress directory, so there is no published compatibility data. It is never graded safe. Grading an unknown as safe is the exact failure this product exists to prevent.
Do you test the update on a staging copy first?
No, and we would rather be plain about it than let you assume otherwise. We grade against published compatibility requirements rather than rehearsing the update on a copy of your site. Staging clones are available on many of our plans — check yours — and you are welcome to test an update on one; the Update Guard simply does not drive them, and if that changes we will say so.
Is this not what automatic updates already do?
Automatic updates apply the update and find out afterwards. This checks first and refuses the ones that would not work. They are opposite products that sound similar.
Which hosting plans can buy it?
All of them, including Footprint-Free. It is priced per site.
Can I cancel?
Yes, whenever you like, from the same screen you bought it on.
Related
Check before you press update
Start a card-free 14-day trial and run a check on the site you are most nervous about. Subscribe for an automatic check every 7 days, or buy a single one. 30-day money-back guarantee.
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