CompatNav Pro · add-on for the free plugin
PHP upgrades without surprises, on every site you manage.
The free plugin checks your site once. Pro watches it, tells you when something new will break, shows how to fix it, and gives you a report your client understands.
CompatNav Pro launches on 31 October 2026. The button opens an email to us: send it, and we write to you once, when Pro can be bought. No newsletter.
- Mon 03:00 Scheduled scanSafe to upgrade to PHP 8.5: nothing active will break
- Wed 14:12 Acme Booking updatedOne scan 15 minutes after the last change
- Wed 14:27 Scan after a change1 new problem that will break
- Wed 14:27 Alert email sentand a post to Slack, if you added one
Why Pro
Better than the other ways to find out
Most PHP problems are found after the switch, by a visitor or a client. Here is what changes with Pro.
Instead ofUpgrade PHP and see what breaks
With ProYou know before, on a schedule, by email or chat.
Instead ofA checker that lists every PHP change ever
With ProOnly what changes between your PHP and the target, up to PHP 8.5, on your own server.
Instead ofCommand-line code sniffers
With ProNo setup per site and plain words inside WordPress, with a WP-CLI command for CI if you want one.
Instead ofClicking around a staging copy
With ProThe scan reads every file, and the runtime logger records what PHP reports on real requests.
Instead ofPaying a developer for an audit
With ProPro finds and explains, every week; your developer’s time goes to the fixes.
Watch
Hear about a problem the day it appears, not the day the site breaks.
- Alerts only for new problems. Scans weekly or daily, compares each with the one before, and emails you only when something new will break. Deprecation notices never trigger one. At most one alert a day; a plugin that newly breaks goes out at once.
- Updates are checked for you. A scan 15 minutes after plugins or themes are updated, installed or activated (at most one every 6 hours).
- In the channel your team reads. Slack, Microsoft Teams or Discord (opt-in), as well as email.
- Problems a code scan can’t see. The runtime logger (opt-in, 1–30 days, stops by itself) records what PHP reports on real requests. On a test site with popular plugins it found 6 places of a PHP 8.5 change that no code rule can detect. 0.07 ms per request; visitors’ pages byte-identical; no web addresses, users or IP addresses kept.
- One sentence: better or worse? “What changed since the last scan”, and a trend of the last 12 scans.
Fix
Start with what matters, and know a fix worked.
- Start here. Fix first: the five plugins or themes that matter most, the quickest sure fix first.
- Know if an update fixes it, before you install it. “Does updating fix it?” (opt-in) downloads the update from wordpress.org only, checks it against wordpress.org’s checksums and scans it without installing it.
- The exact change for code nobody else maintains. For custom plugins and themes: patch files for 14 kinds of findings. Each is checked first (valid PHP on your current and target version, the finding gone, nothing new), and each kind was tested on the official PHP builds (87 of 87 checks). Never applied automatically: you review every fix.
- Confirm it’s really fixed. “Was the fix applied?” checks the places again without a full scan, on one click or by itself after WordPress updates a plugin.
Report
A report your client understands, with your name on it.
- Your logo and colours. Verdict, action plan and who does what, in plain words; an optional appendix for developers; CompatNav’s name can be hidden.
- One file, anywhere. A single HTML file that loads nothing from elsewhere and prints to PDF from any browser.
- A link instead of an attachment. Share link (opt-in): a read-only summary page for your client, with no file paths or versions; it expires after 1–90 days and can be revoked at once.
- Reports that send themselves. The client report by email, weekly or monthly, from your own site.
Automate
Put it in your pipeline, and add your own checks.
- In your deployment pipeline.
wp compatnav-prowith JSON and CSV output and exit codes: 0 safe, 1 will break, 2 files not checked, 3 error, 4 license. - Your team’s own checks. Agency rules: up to 50 checks of your own (functions your team banned, old APIs you are removing), checked in the background after each full scan and listed apart, with import and export. They never change the PHP verdict.
- Every site of a network. On multisite, each site is scheduled at its own time, so they don’t all scan at once.
Privacy
What Pro sends, and when
The scans stay on your server, as with the free plugin. No analytics, no tracking, no usage data.
Stays on your server
- Your code and file names
- Findings and reports
- Runtime results
- Alert emails (sent by your own site)
Leaves your server: only this
- License and update checks → api.compatnav.comLicense key, site address, Pro version. Weekly and when WordPress checks for updates.
- “Does updating fix it?” → wordpress.orgOpt-in. Downloads update packages; nothing about your site is sent.
- Chat alerts → Your Slack, Teams or DiscordOpt-in. Site name, plugin names, counts; never code or file paths.
Every detail, to whom and for how long: what leaves your site. The free plugin on its own sends nothing at all.
Why now
PHP versions end on fixed dates
After its last security fix, a PHP version gets no more fixes from the PHP project, and hosts may move sites to a newer one. Security support ends on these dates, from php.net:
- PHP 8.231 December 2026
- PHP 8.331 December 2027
- PHP 8.431 December 2028
- PHP 8.531 December 2029
Before you buy
The promises behind the button
- Your code never leaves your server. Pro contacts only our license service, and, if you turn them on, wordpress.org and your own chat webhooks.
- Nothing is changed automatically. Ever. Pro reads files; you review every fix.
- Built not to slow your site. Scans run in the background in small steps through WP-Cron.
- If your license ends. Automatic monitoring pauses after 14 days. Your reports and settings stay, and nothing on your site breaks.
- 30-day refund. Full refund, no questions asked, for every purchase and renewal.
- The free plugin stays free. Fully functional on wordpress.org. Pro is an add-on.
Pricing
All features in every plan. Plans differ by sites.
Questions
Frequently asked
Do I need the free plugin?
Yes. CompatNav Pro is an add-on: it needs the free CompatNav – PHP Upgrade Checker from wordpress.org, WordPress 6.5 or newer and PHP 7.4 or newer. The free plugin stays free and fully functional: nothing it does moved to Pro.
Will it slow my site down?
Scans run in short background steps through WP-Cron, as in the free plugin. The optional runtime logger adds 0.07 ms per request (median, measured), and visitors’ pages stay byte-identical.
Does it change my site’s files?
No. Like the free plugin, it only reads files. It never installs, updates or changes plugins, themes or code. Fix suggestions are patch files for a developer to review and apply.
Does a staging copy count as a site? And multisite?
Each WordPress site where you activate the license counts, staging copies included. A multisite network counts as one site. Deactivate a site in CompatNav Pro to free its place for another.
How do renewals and refunds work?
Plans are yearly and renew unless you cancel; a cancelled license keeps working until the end of the year you paid for. Within 30 days of buying or renewing, you get a full refund, no questions asked. See the Terms and the Refund policy.
What happens when my license ends?
If your license ends, automatic monitoring pauses after 14 days. Your reports and settings stay, and nothing on your site breaks. Updates and support stop at the end date; renewing resumes everything with the same settings.
Stop finding PHP problems after your client does.
Pro watches every site you manage and tells you before the switch.