How to Set Up a Demo Site for Your WordPress Plugin

When you're developing a WordPress plugin, one of the best ways to market it is by offering a live demo for your plugin. Let users test-drive your plugin before they buy it ideally both public and the admin side. But how do you actually set up that live product demo?

Let’s explore the possible options.

Manual Setup (The Old-School Way)

The most straightforward method is to spin up a WordPress install manually, configure your plugin, and link users to it.

Steps include:

  • Install WordPress on a subdomain like demo.yourplugin.com
  • Upload and activate your plugin
  • Add some sample content and configuration
  • Make the site publicly accessible with the same admin password.

This works, but there are several caveats:

  • The site will get messy. Public demos are exposed to spam, junk posts, or worse.
  • No resets. You’ll have to manually reset or clean up the site regularly
  • It's not scalable. One shared instance means if one person breaks the settings, it’s broken for everyone
  • Security risks. A demo site left outdated becomes a target for hackers. And if it's hosted on the same account as your main site or client sites? You're opening a door to disaster

Build a Resettable Demo Site

A step above the manual method is to create a plugin demo site that resets itself every few hours.

You’ll need:

  • A cron job or scheduled script to reset the database and files
  • Knowledge in WP-CLI to automate the resetting of the demo site
  • A backup of the default state of the WordPress site
  • Site isolation preferably a separate cPanel or VPS server or account

While this is a more controlled setup, it’s still prone to problems:

  • If the reset fails, you’re troubleshooting broken demos
  • Maintenance becomes time-consuming
  • If hosted on your main server, the security risk remains
  • Visitors still might see the site mid-reset or in a broken state

The Problem with Self-Hosting Demos

Let’s talk real risks. Hosting your demos on the same server as your main website, clients, or production infrastructure is a gamble.

Why?

  • Outdated demos become vulnerable. Developers are busy. Updates get missed
  • One click away from disaster. If a hacker gets into the demo site, they might try to access other sites that are on that hosting account - e.g. client sites, your business and access client data.
  • Manual upkeep becomes a distraction. Every hour spent fixing or monitoring a demo is an hour not spent on development or marketing

That’s why it’s often better to isolate the demo site. Use a dedicated service, or at the very least, a completely separate hosting account or VPS.

Use a Hosted Demo Solution like WPDemo.net

This is where things get interesting. Instead of building your own infrastructure, you can use a service like ours - WPDemo

What WPDemo.net does:

  • Spins up a fully isolated/sandboxed WordPress demo site for each user
  • Automatically expires and cleans up the sites after a certain time
  • Supports themes, plugins, and full WordPress setups
  • Keeps your demos private, secure, and consistent
  • The users can't install new plugins and can't access your code
  • Offloads all the hosting and resetting hassles to a purpose-built platform

This method is ideal because:

  • You’re not exposing your hosting account
  • The demos are easy to maintain and update
  • You can link directly from your plugin page or marketing site
  • You look professional and trustworthy

Conclusion: Choose a Smarter Demo Setup

You have options when it comes to demo sites, but not all of them are created equal. The wrong setup can lead to wasted time, security vulnerabilities, and a poor user experience.

Services like WPDemo.net simplify the process and take care of the technical and operational overhead, so you can focus on building a great plugin and letting users explore it with confidence.