What AutomatorWP gets right
AutomatorWP is a flexible, open-source automation plugin, and it is genuinely good at what it does: connecting your WordPress plugins and outside apps with no-code recipes. You build automations as "when this happens, do that", when a user buys a WooCommerce product, enroll them in a LearnDash course and add a MemberPress membership. It integrates with 200+ WordPress plugins and external platforms, ships 600+ triggers and actions, supports webhooks, and runs scheduled and recurring automations.
It is also fairly priced: the core is free with no per-task fees or credits, and you extend it with per-integration add-ons only for the connections you need. It is actively maintained and has a strong, well-reviewed support reputation. If your automations are about wiring WordPress plugins and apps together, AutomatorWP is hard to beat.
The difference: connecting plugins versus operating WordPress
AutomatorWP is built to connect things. A trigger fires in one plugin, an action runs in another, or in an outside app. It is the glue between your LMS, your membership plugin, your forms, your CRM, and services like Mailchimp or Google Sheets.
TrueCommander is built to operate WordPress itself. Its 91 commands do the admin work directly, back up the site, optimize images, block brute-force logins, generate a WooCommerce PDF invoice, run a find-and-replace, send a templated email, and its Macros & Flows module chains those commands into multi-step jobs with branching, run on demand or on a schedule.
The honest way to read it: AutomatorWP automates between your plugins; TrueCommander automates the operation of your site. They solve different halves of automation, and plenty of sites run both.
This is a navigator search: type a few words to surface matching commands, macros, and features. Running a command directly uses advanced mode, where it starts with tp.
See the Macro Builder in action
A short, unscripted demo of macros doing the work: chain commands, add a trigger, and let it run.
AutomatorWP vs TrueCommander, feature by feature
An honest side by side. Both automate WordPress, but in different directions, and AutomatorWP wins outright on connecting plugins and apps.
| Feature | AutomatorWP | TrueCommander |
|---|---|---|
| No-code automations (when this, do that) | Macros & Flows | |
| Integrate 200+ plugins and external apps | Its core strength | Calls saved APIs (Stripe, Slack, etc.) |
| Triggers from plugin/user events (LMS, membership, forms) | 600+ triggers/actions | |
| 91 prebuilt admin operations (backup, security, WooCommerce, email, PDF) | ||
| Run a task on demand from a keyboard palette | ||
| Chain steps into a macro and run on a schedule | ||
| Write custom PHP commands and snippets | ||
| No per-task fees or credits | ||
| Price | Free core + per-integration add-ons | $59/year, everything included |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained, recent release | Actively maintained |
AutomatorWP figures (installs, rating, reviews, free vs add-on model) are from its WordPress.org listing as of June 2026 and will change over time. Check the live listing for current numbers.
When AutomatorWP is the right pick
For connecting your stack, AutomatorWP is the better tool, and we would point you to it ourselves. Choose it when:
- You want to wire plugins together: a purchase enrolls a student, a form submission tags a contact, a membership triggers an email.
- You rely on LMS, membership, forms, or CRM plugins and want their events to drive actions elsewhere.
- You need to connect external apps (Mailchimp, Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier) through built-in integrations and webhooks.
- You want a free core with no per-task fees, paying only for the integrations you use.
When to choose TrueCommander
TrueCommander is the better fit when the work is operating your own site:
- You want 91 ready-to-run operations, backups, security, WooCommerce, cleanup, email, PDFs, with nothing to wire up.
- You want to run a task on demand from a keyboard palette, not only on a trigger.
- You want to chain admin commands into a maintenance macro and schedule it, without buying a separate add-on per task.
- You want to write your own PHP commands and run them alongside the built-ins.
They work well together. Many sites use AutomatorWP to connect their plugins and apps, and TrueCommander to operate the site itself. The two solve different halves of automation and do not conflict.