Help Documentation

VMP™ Security plugin documentation and support

Free Support

Support for users of the free version of the plugin is available on our support forums. The majority of features shown are available in the free version of VMP™ Security which helps protect millions of sites around the world.

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License Key

VMP Security has two license tiers: Free and Premium. The free tier is the default; you do not need to enter a license key for the plugin to work. A Premium key unlocks real-time premium malware signatures and a few additional features such as the Real-Time IP Blocklist.

In This Article

Using the free tier

VMP Security activates in the free tier automatically — no key required. The free tier includes the full firewall, all 9 malware scanners, country blocking, audit log, 2FA, brute force protection, and live traffic monitoring. The plugin checks in with the VMP Security API on its normal schedule to receive rule and signature updates.

Installing a Premium license key

  1. Sign in to your account at vmpsecurity.com and copy the license key for the site you are setting up.
  2. On the WordPress site, open VMP Security → All Options and find the License Management section.
  3. Paste the key into the License Key field and save. The plugin validates the key against the API and switches the site to Premium.

Sites connected to VMP Security Portal can also install or upgrade keys from the Portal’s site detail page without signing in to the WordPress admin on each site.

Managing your license keys

The Licenses page in your VMP Security account is the central place for license management. From there you can:

  • See which keys are issued to which sites.
  • Copy a key for installation on a new site.
  • Renew a key manually, or enable / disable auto-renewal.
  • Purchase additional keys.
  • Reset a Premium key so you can install it on a different site.

How many license keys do I need

One key per WordPress installation. A multisite network counts as one installation, so a single key covers a network with any number of sites in it.

Renewals

Premium subscriptions are annual and renew automatically by default. You receive a notification before each renewal. If a payment fails, the system retries on a known schedule before the license expires; if all attempts fail, the license expires and the site falls back to free behavior. You can manually renew an expired key at any time from the Licenses page.

Using a license on a staging site

A Premium key issued for a production site is normally fine to use on a corresponding staging or development site. Common staging subdomain prefixes (staging., stage., stg., dev., test., local.) are recognized automatically. If you have a non-standard staging URL, contact support so we can add it to the recognized-staging list.

Troubleshooting

“Error installing license”

Almost always a copy-paste issue: the key was truncated, partially overwritten, or has trailing whitespace. Clear the field and re-paste from the source. If that does not work, request a fresh key from the Licenses page.

License keeps reverting to free

The plugin re-validates the license against the API on a regular interval. If validation fails repeatedly (because the API is unreachable, or because the key was reset), the site falls back to free. Open Tools → Diagnostics to confirm outbound connectivity to the VMP Security API.

Move a key to a different site

Reset the key from the Licenses page in your VMP Security account, then install it on the new site.

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