Liquid Web has announced a major restructuring of its WordPress software business, consolidating its sprawling portfolio of plugins and tools into four core products. The move effectively ends the standalone sales model for several well-known WordPress brands including SolidWP, IconicWP, Restrict Content Pro, and MemberDash.
The new strategy centers around four flagship products:
- Kadence — positioned as an all-in-one website building and security platform
- LearnDash — focused on e-learning and memberships
- The Events Calendar — event and ticketing management
- GiveWP — fundraising and donation management
The restructuring combines formerly standalone products into these larger platforms. SolidWP’s security tools now live inside “Kadence Security,” IconicWP’s WooCommerce tools are now “Kadence Shop Kit,” Restrict Content Pro has become “Kadence Memberships,” and MemberDash has been folded into LearnDash.
The company framed the move as an attempt to simplify the increasingly fragmented WordPress software ecosystem.
“For WordPress professionals, agencies, and site owners, this consolidation simplifies something that’s always been fragmented. Instead of managing separate purchases, portals, and support relationships, customers can now get the full stack in one place.”
History of Acquisitions
The announcement marks the culmination of years of acquisitions and consolidation inside the Liquid Web ecosystem.
Liquid Web was founded in 1997 in Lansing, Michigan, and gradually expanded through acquisitions. It acquired WiredTree in 2017, followed by iThemes in 2018 — later rebranded as SolidWP. In 2021, the company created StellarWP, bringing together several acquired WordPress companies including Kadence WP, GiveWP, LearnDash, and The Events Calendar.
The company itself changed hands in 2023 when Liquid Web was acquired by One Equity Partners and merged into CloudOne Digital.
In 2024, Liquid Web acquired Nexcess, which specialized in WooCommerce and Magento hosting. Initially maintained as a separate service, Nexcess was fully absorbed into the Liquid Web brand by October 2025.
Familiar WordPress Brands Disappear Overnight
The transition appears to have caught many customers by surprise.
Websites for LearnDash, The Events Calendar, Kadence, IconicWP, GiveWP, and other StellarWP-era brands were either taken offline or redirected to simplified landing pages and the new Liquid Web software portal.
The sudden changes led to confusion among customers, especially Kadence users who found the familiar KadenceWP website replaced overnight. Some users reported being unable to log in, while others said their lifetime license purchases were missing from the new dashboard.
The situation became so chaotic inside the “Web Creator Community (by Kadence WP)” Facebook group that the moderator intervened to slow down repeated posts. Michelle Nunan wrote:
“There are multiple posts addressing the situation with the Kadence > Liquid Web migration, and the posts waiting for approval are repeating the same questions. I understand the frustration (right there with you!) but please scroll the group before posting as flooding the feed with the same questions helps no one. Plus, it’s just little old me here moderating right now, and I’m tired.”
The consolidation also marks the effective end of StellarWP as a standalone identity. Liquid Web created StellarWP brand in 2021 to unify its growing collection of WordPress companies, including Kadence WP, LearnDash, GiveWP, and The Events Calendar.
Addressing Customer Concerns
Jack Kitterhin, Director of Product Management at StellarWP, replied that login issues and missing purchases affected “a small number of customers.” and the development team is working to fix the issues.
He wrote:
“Please be assured there is nothing neferious here at all. Lifetime customers are all in the new system and still have the same access as always. Nothing has been removed or taken away from you all.”
Support emails sent to customers similarly attempted to reassure users that lifetime licenses had not been lost and that the missing data was only a display issue caused during migration to the new unified software portal.
Kitterhin also confirmed that the free Kadence Theme and free Kadence Blocks plugin would continue to exist. “We aren’t discontinuing the free products. They are a key part of the Kadence product line and important for hundreds of thousands of websites world wide.”
Existing Customers Can Keep Current Plans
Liquid Web emphasized that upgrading to new plans is optional. Existing customers retain their current pricing, license keys, and features. If subscriptions lapse, reinstatement requires purchasing one of the new plans. For those who switch, credits for unused time will be applied automatically in the new customer portal.
The company also stressed that older plans are not being frozen or abandoned, though several older products and add-ons are being retired. Critical security patches for retired tools will continue through April 2027.
New Kadence
Kadence appears to be the centerpiece of the new strategy. The reimagined Kadence platform now bundles:
- Website building tools
- Themes and design tools
- Security and backups
- WooCommerce enhancements
- Membership management
- Content restriction tools
Features previously sold separately through SolidWP, IconicWP, and Restrict Content Pro are now integrated directly into Kadence.
However, several older Kadence-related tools are being retired, including:
- WooCommerce Elementor
- WooCommerce Elementor Pro
- WooCommerce Site Origin Builder
- AMP
- Full Pane Vertical Slider
- Slider Pro
- Pricing Table
- Related Content
These products will continue receiving security patches until April 2027 but will no longer receive feature updates.
LearnDash Adds AI Features
LearnDash is also being repositioned as a broader learning and membership platform.
The LMS plugin now includes:
- AI Quiz Builder
- AI Course Structure Builder
- Community and membership features
- Student progress tracking
- Instructor management
The company introduced three new LearnDash tiers: Essentials, Pro, and Elite.
MemberDash functionality has now been fully absorbed into LearnDash. Solid Academy has also been discontinued.
Events Calendar and GiveWP Shift to Unified Plans
Both The Events Calendar and GiveWP are abandoning their longstanding add-on-based sales structure.
Historically, users purchased separate extensions with different licenses and renewals. Under the new model, each platform will now offer a single product with tiered pricing plans.
Liquid Web says this provides customers with:
- One license key
- One customer portal
- One subscription plan per platform
Existing users, however, will retain their current plans and pricing structures if they choose not to migrate. Several older bundles and integrations are also being retired.
For The Events Calendar, retiring products include:
- Complete Collection Bundle
- Event Marketing Bundle
- Events Importer Bundle
- Community Manager Bundle
- Venue Manager Bundle
- Image Widget Plus
For GiveWP, the MemberDash integration is being retired.
IconicWP Users Face Migration Challenges
Among the biggest migration concerns involve IconicWP customers, particularly users of WooThumbs.
Liquid Web says core WooThumbs functionality is available inside Kadence Shop Kit, but some features will not carry over, including:
- Inline gallery video playback
- Global product videos
The company also acknowledged that customers upgrading to Shop Kit will need to manually recreate variation and attribute images until a migration tool becomes available.
Community Reaction
Several founders associated with the acquired brands reacted emotionally to the changes on social media.
Justin Ferriman, founder of LearnDash, tweeted: “RIP to the LearnDash brand”. James Kemp founder of IconicWP, wrote: “Looks like that’s the end of iconicwp.com – what a ride it was!”
Cofounder of GiveWP, Matt Cromwell reflected on the emotional side of acquisitions: “Every founder who sells their company has to let go. I’ve been letting go since last fall. It’s still hard to see a brand you built destroyed.”
Katie Keith of Barn2 Plugins described the move as: “It’s the end of an era – StellarWP is no more.”
Not everyone viewed the consolidation negatively. Rodolfo Melogli of Checkout Summit argued the move could strengthen the ecosystem long-term “Consolidating under Kadence and moving toward a single ecosystem can actually be a strong long-term move, especially when you’re no longer optimizing for standalone product visibility but for platform competition.”
This consolidation marks the end of an era for several beloved WordPress brands.