Watchman Tower
Centralized WordPress monitoring for agencies. Track uptime, performance, SSL, and site health across multiple client sites.
Solid choice
Watchman Tower is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 20+ sites and was last updated 2 months ago, and scores 63/100 on our health check.
- Tested with the latest WordPress (7.1)
- Small user base (20+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Watchman Tower stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| agency | >100 |
| performance monitoring | >100 |
| site health | >100 |
| uptime monitoring | #55 |
| wordpress monitoring | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Watchman Tower
From the official readme · v2.1.2Description
Watchman Tower helps agencies and multi-site managers monitor multiple WordPress client websites from a single dashboard.
Track uptime, response time, SSL certificates, domain expiry, and WordPress health signals, before your clients notice problems.
Designed for growing agencies, Watchman Tower lets you start with 10 sites for free and upgrade as your portfolio expands.
Installation takes seconds. Create a Watchman Tower account directly from the plugin settings (no password required to start) or connect instantly using an existing integration token.
Once connected, your WordPress site sends lightweight heartbeat signals including performance metrics, version information, update statuses, and health diagnostics. All monitoring results and alerts are visible in your Watchman Tower dashboard.
All monitoring results and alerts are visible inside your Watchman Tower dashboard:
https://app.watchmantower.com
More details: https://www.watchmantower.com
Watchman Tower is ideal for individual site owners, developers, and agencies.
The platform supports up to 10 monitored sites for free, making it one of the most accessible monitoring solutions for WordPress users.
This plugin is lightweight, secure, cron-friendly, CDN-compatible, and optimized for high-performance environments.
⭐ Key Features
Core Monitoring
- 24/7 uptime monitoring
- Response time tracking
- Latency breakdown (DNS, TLS, TTFB)
- SSL certificate expiry alerts
- Domain expiry alerts
- Multi-region monitoring (global probe checks)
WordPress-Specific Monitoring
- WordPress core update alerts
- Plugin update visibility
- Theme update visibility
- PHP version tracking
- Active plugin list reporting
- Cron health checks
- Security posture visibility (XML-RPC, open registration)
Integration Features
- Automatic site registration with Watchman Tower
- Secure token-based communication
- Lightweight heartbeat system (no performance impact)
- Cache-compatible and CDN-safe request structure
- Manual “Send Heartbeat Now” action
- One-click unlink functionality
Agency & Multi-Site Support
- Manage all client WordPress sites from one centralized dashboard
- Start with 10 monitored sites for free
- Upgrade seamlessly as your agency grows
- Share public status pages with clients
- Configure alerts via Email, Slack, Push, and SMS
You need a Watchman Tower account to use this plugin.
You can create one directly inside the plugin settings screen or by visiting:
https://app.watchmantower.com
External Services
This plugin connects to the Watchman Tower monitoring platform in order to create accounts, send heartbeat signals, and retrieve site status.
The following API endpoints are used:
-
https://api.watchmantower.com/api/auth/wp/create-account
– Used to create a Watchman Tower account directly from WordPress.
Data sent: site URL, admin email, optional full name, optional password. -
https://metric.watchmantower.com/wp/heartbeat
– Sends periodic uptime and performance heartbeat signals.
Data sent: WordPress version, PHP version, plugin list, server performance metrics, response time, site URL, integration token. -
https://metric.watchmantower.com/wp/unlink
– Used when disconnecting the WordPress site from Watchman Tower.
Data sent: integration token and site identifier. -
https://metric.watchmantower.com/wp/status
– Retrieves the current connection status for the site.
Data sent: integration token.
All requests are authenticated with a secure token stored inside your WordPress database.
Privacy
To learn more about how data is handled, please refer to:
- Privacy Policy: https://www.watchmantower.com/privacy-policy
- Terms of Service: https://www.watchmantower.com/terms-of-service
Installation
- Upload the plugin ZIP via Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
- Activate the plugin
- Go to Settings → Watchman Tower
- Choose one of two options:
- Create a new account: Sign up directly with your email (password optional)
- Use existing token: Paste your Watchman Tower integration token
- Complete the connection setup
- Heartbeat and performance metrics will begin automatically
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Watchman Tower account?
You can create one directly from the plugin settings page, or use an existing account with an integration token.
Can I create an account from the plugin?
Yes! You can create a new Watchman Tower account directly from the plugin settings page using just your email address (password is optional).
Does this slow down my site?
No. All requests are lightweight and run on a controlled schedule via WordPress Cron.
What metrics are collected?
Heartbeat signals including uptime, performance data, WordPress version, PHP version, active plugins, and security posture (XML-RPC and open-registration state).
Is my data secure?
Yes. Tokens are stored securely in your WordPress database and all communication happens via HTTPS with Bearer token authentication.
Changelog
Adds safeguards against connecting a register token to the wrong site domain and improves setup error messaging.
2.1.2
- Security: removed authentication debug details from unauthorized heartbeat responses.
- Security: removed the built-in fallback signing key; requests are now rejected outright when no site secret is configured.
- Fixed the REST health metric so it reflects an actual measurement instead of a hardcoded value.
- Fixed the manual-send flag so scheduled heartbeats are no longer reported as manual.
- Added the “Send Heartbeat Now” button to the Connected screen; it was documented but missing from the UI.
- Confirmed compatibility with WordPress 7.1.
2.1.1
- Added domain validation during registration to block tokens from being connected to the wrong WordPress site.
- Improved connection error handling so domain mismatch responses are shown clearly in the plugin UI.
- Added setup guidance on the account creation and existing token screens to remind users to use a token for the current site domain.
2.1.0
- Refactored the Connected screen Quick Actions area into a dedicated component.
- Added domain monitoring details to the Quick Actions status widget.
- Added SSL monitoring details to the Quick Actions status widget.
- Added visual severity badges for domain expiry, SSL expiry, and certificate trust state.
- Improved Connected screen status rendering with cleaner client-side structure.
2.0.0
- Major release with complete UI overhaul and enhanced monitoring features.
- Added ability to create Watchman Tower account directly from WordPress settings.
- Improved connection flow with step-by-step guided screens.
- Enhanced heartbeat system with real-time status updates.
- Added manual “Send Heartbeat Now” functionality.
- Improved connection status tracking and display.
- Added one-click site unlinking capability.
- Enhanced error handling and user feedback.
- Optimized API communication for better performance.
- Updated admin interface with modern, user-friendly design.
- Added comprehensive site health reporting.
- Improved security with enhanced token management.
1.0.1
- Added custom header metadata to all outgoing API requests for improved request tracking.
- Minor code cleanup and stability improvements.
1.0.0
- Initial release
- Lightweight heartbeat system
- Plugin settings page
- Secure authentication
- Scheduled metric sending
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
Watchman Tower: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 18, 2026
Is Watchman Tower free?
Yes. Watchman Tower is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Watchman Tower safe to use in 2026?
Watchman Tower is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. It runs on 20+ sites and was last updated 2 months ago, and scores 63/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Watchman Tower?
Watchman Tower is active on 20+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 848 times since it launched in December 2025. It was downloaded 68 times in the last 30 days.
Does Watchman Tower work with WordPress 7.1?
Yes. The developer has tested Watchman Tower up to WordPress 7.1.3, the latest release. It requires WordPress 5.8 or newer.
What PHP version does Watchman Tower need?
Watchman Tower requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Watchman Tower last updated?
The latest version, 2.1.2, was released on August 16, 2026 (2 months ago).
Who makes Watchman Tower?
Watchman Tower is developed and maintained by watchmantower.
What are the best alternatives to Watchman Tower?
The most popular alternatives to Watchman Tower are Automattic For Agencies Cli… (20K+ installs), Essential Real Estate (7K+ installs) and ERE Colors (1K+ installs).
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