pitch
Win the work with something they can click
Build the concept on real WordPress. Put that link in the proposal.
Show the client before you touch their site
Clone a client site, make the change in the copy, send back a link they can click.
sandywp cloner
client production
clientsite.com
untouched
sandbox copy
clientsite.sandywp.com
safe to break
Connect with a browser approval, or use a manual token when that better fits the client site.
Free plan, no card · the Cloner never writes to production
Trusted by
SandyWP / the week you actually have
Five jobs, and all of them go better on a copy
approval
Get sign-off before anything reaches their server
Clone it, change it, send the link. Production never moved.
maintenance
Find out what the update breaks on your time, not theirs
The WordPress major, the PHP bump, the nervous plugin release — on a copy.
onboarding
Hand the new developer a copy they cannot break anything with
Their own copy of the real stack, with an expiry date.
debugging
Reproduce the bug on their site, not on your clean install
The bug lives in their forty plugins, not your fresh install.
Four moves from “can we see it first?” to approved
Get their real site, not an approximation
The database and wp-content, packaged into a sandbox.
Break things where breaking is free
Every experiment costs a delete, not an incident report.
Send a URL, not a screenshot
A magic login opens wp-admin. No account to create.
Bank the approval, then deploy
Sign-off against what they saw. Ship it your usual way.
From pitch to sign-off, without a staging server
permanence
The demo that won the job never gets rebuilt
Promote it to permanent and it stops expiring. Same URL. Paid plans.
expiry
Old client copies clean themselves up
Pick a lifespan up front, from 1 hour to 1 month.
isolation
One client’s mess never reaches another’s
Its own container and database. Delete it and their data goes too.
SandyWP / templates
The first day of a project stops being setup
- Your plugins, theme and settings, active
- Starter pages, menus and demo content
- WordPress and PHP versions frozen in
- Every launch fresh, nothing leaking between projects
your templates
Agency starter
12 plugins · brand theme · sample pagesWooCommerce build
shop configured · payment sandbox · demo productsLanding page kit
page builder · forms · analytics stubkickoff
Build on day one instead of configuring.
sales
Every prospect gets their own copy.
training
A throwaway copy per person.
SandyWP / upgrade rehearsals
Rehearse the update, then bill for a known answer
- Pin to the version they run today, then upgrade
- Nothing to roll back — you delete it
WordPress
Latest · 7.0.37.1-RC17.0.37.06.96.86.76.6
PHP
8.38.28.17.4
Also switchable
Memory limitMax execution timeUpload max filesize Multisite
The Cloner reads production. It never writes to it. That is usually the exact fear that stops an agency trying this at all.
wordpress major
Run the update, then click the pages that matter
Pin the copy back as far as 6.6, upgrade, walk the checkout.
php bump
Answer the host’s deprecation email with evidence
Switch PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. The restart takes 5–10 seconds.
ahead of release
Be the agency that already checked
Run 7.1-RC1 against their real stack, with a plugin build up to 50MB.
SandyWP / client-facing demos
The demo they open in the meeting is a fresh one
Tuesday’s prospect can’t break Thursday’s meeting.
- Turn off “Powered by SandyWP”
- Optional email gate, so a click leaves an address
- See who launched, and export the list
- No account their side — the link is the onboarding
The toggle removes our branding from the launch page, not the SandyWP URL.
launch · agency-starter
app.sandywp.com/templates/agency-starter ● publicHide “Powered by SandyWP” on
Ask for an email before launch on
Copy lifespan 1 week
Every visitor gets their own copy.
debug · inherited-site
Debug mode on
Write to wp-content/debug.log on
Show errors in the page off
[23-Jul-2026 09:14:02 UTC] PHP Deprecated:
Creation of dynamic property Legacy_Slider::$cache is deprecated in
/wp-content/plugins/legacy-slider/loader.php on line 214
[23-Jul-2026 09:14:02 UTC] WP_Error: checkout_gateway_missing
Same screen as the toggles. No FTP client.
SandyWP / the site you inherited
Work out what the site nobody documented is actually doing
- WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG, WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY and SCRIPT_DEBUG behind toggles
- One click into database admin, on a short-lived scoped link
- Reset to a clean install when the experiment is spent
Nobody has to change how they already work
shell
A real shell for the times a UI won’t do
wp-cli preinstalled, key-based auth, opt-in per sandbox. 15-minute idle timeout, 4-hour cap, 3 sessions.
$ sandywp ssh harborlaw-revieweditor
The sandbox as a folder in your editor
Mounts at ~/SandyWP/<name>. Save a file, refresh the browser. Any SFTP client works.
$ sandywp mount harborlaw-reviewterminal
The whole thing without leaving the terminal
Create a sandbox, mirror a local install up, or push a plugin ZIP.
$ sandywp pushno setup
And for when setting any of that up isn’t worth it
A browser file tree and code editor. No SSH key needed.
Dashboard → Files ssh · harborlaw-review
$ sandywp ssh harborlaw-review
✓ connected · wordpress 7.0.3 / php 8.3
harborlaw-review:~$ wp plugin update woocommerce
Success: Updated 1 of 1 plugins.
harborlaw-review:~$ tail -f wp-content/debug.log
cli · project setup
$ sandywp create harborlaw-review
✓ ready · harborlaw-review.sandywp.com
$ sandywp push
✓ local database + wp-content mirrored up
$ sandywp deploy harborlaw-review harborlaw-blocks.zip
✓ installed and activated
SSH, SFTP and the CLI are on the paid plans. How SSH and SFTP work · Every CLI command
SandyWP / in the project channel
The people without a terminal stop waiting on the people with one
- Ask in a sentence, get a URL back
- Name up to 10 wordpress.org plugins, typos forgiven
- Attach a plugin ZIP, or deploy a branch
- Deleting needs a button press, not a lucky typo
# client-harborlaw
Priya 10:41
@SandyWP create a site with woocommerce and contact-form-7, wp: 7.0.3
SandyWP 10:41
Building… ✓ ready
harborlaw-demo.sandywp.com
2 plugins installed and activated
Dev 10:52
@SandyWP deploy development
SandyWP / if you already work this way
Give the AI assistant somewhere it can break things safely
An assistant can create, install, read and delete — inside a disposable copy, never the client’s live site.
If nobody works that way yet, skip it. It costs nothing switched off.
What an assistant can doendpoint
app.sandywp.com/mcptools
51, from create to deleteauth
OAuth, you approve itblast radius
your sandboxes onlySandyWP / what it costs you
Twenty-five client copies for less than one staging server
Per-site pricing punishes the exact habit that makes an agency safer.
Free
$0/mo
Free forever, no card
One client site.
- 2 active sandboxes
- 256 MB storage
- Expiring sandboxes only
no charge
Plus
$7/mo
or $70/yr
A freelancer or two-person shop.
- 10 active sandboxes
- 5 GB storage
- Permanent sandboxes
$0.70 each
Pro
$17/mo
or $170/yr
A retainer book of clients.
- 25 active sandboxes
- 15 GB storage
- Permanent sandboxes
$0.68 each
Max
$27/mo
or $270/yr
A studio with a long client list.
- 50 active sandboxes
- 30 GB storage
- Permanent sandboxes
$0.54 each
The arithmetic an agency actually does
25 client copies on Pro $17/mo
the same 25 at ~$2 a site a month $50/mo
difference $33/mo
Yearly is 2 months free: Pro is $170, not $204. The ~$2 figure comes from our InstaWP comparison.
There is no team seat yet
One account: no shared workspace, no per-person permissions, no billing split.
This is not where you go live
Deploy to the client’s host. Even a permanent sandbox is not hosting.
Storage is the ceiling you meet first: 5 GB, 15 GB and 30 GB across every active sandbox. Full plan limits.
One line each, in case one of them is the thing you needed
A live client site, no hosting login.
The ClonerYour house build, frozen and relaunchable.
TemplatesThe next major, against their plugins.
WordPress beta testingDebug flags and the log, no FTP.
Debug modeA real shell, or a local folder.
SSH & SFTPA site, asked for in the channel.
SlackA pull request, reviewed in a temporary WordPress site.
GitHub previewsScripted setup, and a local install pushed up.
The CLIAn assistant, pointed at a disposable copy.
AI & MCPEvery push, landed in wp-content.
Git deploymentWhat agencies ask before they try it
Does cloning touch my client’s live site?
No. It reads the database and wp-content out. Nothing is written back.
Do you need the client’s hosting credentials?
No. Install the free plugin in their wp-admin and approve once. No FTP, no SQL dumps.
Can I go live on SandyWP?
No. Build and rehearse here, then deploy to the client’s real host.
Can my whole team use one account?
No seats yet: one account, no per-person permissions, no billing split.
How big a client site can I clone?
Cloning is chunked and resumable, so storage is the limit: 256 MB Free, 5 GB Plus, 15 GB Pro, 30 GB Max.
Can a client see the sandbox without an account?
Yes, every sandbox has a public URL. Only wp-admin needs a magic login link.
How long does a sandbox live?
1 hour to 1 month, or permanent. Accounts default to a week, guests to 7 hours.
What happens when one expires?
It stops serving, then waits before deletion: 7 days paid, 12 hours Free, 6 hours guests.
Can I rehearse a WordPress or PHP upgrade?
Yes. Pin back to 6.6 or take the pre-release, and switch PHP 7.4–8.3 in 5–10 seconds.
What happens to the demo the client approved?
Promote it to permanent, same URL — or delete it once you deploy.
Is one client’s data visible to another?
Each sandbox is its own container and database. Treat the public URL like any staging link.
Do our developers have to work through a web UI?
No: git deploy, SSH with wp-cli, SFTP, a CLI and MCP. SSH, git deploy and the CLI are paid.
Let them click it before you deploy it.
Free account, no card. Have a link to send before the call is over.