After more than ten years of continuous service, Advanced Database Cleaner is entering a new era. Version 4.0.0 is not just an update – it’s an entirely new plugin, rebuilt from the ground up with a modern architecture, smarter modules, and a more sustainable model for the future.
Below, we’ll explain why we took this major step, what’s new, and why we’ve transitioned from a lifetime license to a subscription-based plan.
1. Why We Built a Whole New Plugin Instead of Upgrading the Old One
When we began working on version 4.0.0, our first intention was to improve the existing plugin. However, the more we explored the old codebase (originally written between 2016 and 2018), the more we realized that a simple refactor wouldn’t be enough.
The plugin had served users exceptionally well for years, but the internal structure was no longer suited to today’s WordPress environment. It was built on older technologies, lacked modularity, and didn’t support the flexibility or scalability needed for the next decade.
To truly evolve, we needed to start fresh.
That’s why Advanced Database Cleaner 4.0.0 was completely rewritten from scratch using the latest WordPress standards – including a REST API–driven backend and a React-powered interface. Each cleanup module now has its own dedicated endpoint and logic class, making the plugin cleaner, faster, and easier to maintain.
Beyond the architecture itself, this rewrite also introduced a brand-new UI/UX experience. The plugin now features a modern, fully responsive design built with React, offering a smoother, more intuitive workflow. Every interaction – from running scans to reviewing cleanup results – is faster, clearer, and optimized for both desktop and mobile devices.
This new foundation not only future-proofs the plugin but also allows us to:
- Deliver updates more efficiently
- Introduce new modules without touching the core
- Offer deeper integration with other WordPress components
- Provide a superior and more modern user experience
2. New Features in the Premium Version
Version 4.0.0 is the biggest update in the history of Advanced Database Cleaner. Alongside the modernized interface, we’ve added a series of new modules and enhancements that bring professional-grade maintenance capabilities to your WordPress database.
🔹 Expanded General Cleanup
We’ve introduced several new cleanup types, making it possible to detect and remove even more unnecessary data safely:
- Duplicated user meta
- Duplicated term meta
- Duplicated post meta
- Duplicated comment meta
- oEmbed caches
- Action Scheduler completed actions
- Action Scheduler failed actions
- Action Scheduler canceled actions
- Action Scheduler completed logs
- Action Scheduler failed logs
- Action Scheduler canceled logs
- Action Scheduler orphan logs
These additions ensure that your site stays light, efficient, and free from accumulated background data that can slow it down.
🔹 Advanced Management Tools
- Transients Management – Easily view, analyze, and delete expired or orphaned transients across single or multisite installations.
- Post Meta Management – Inspect, filter, and clean unnecessary post meta safely with advanced control over what to keep or remove.
- User Meta Management – Review and remove unused user meta entries to maintain a clean and optimized user data structure.
- Database Analytics – Get clear insights into your database size, table growth, and potential optimization areas.
- Addons Activity Tracking – Monitor plugin and theme activity, including activation, deactivation, and uninstall events.
- Errors Logging System – Access detailed logs for all cleanup operations to ensure transparency and traceability.
- Remote Scan (Cloud-Based) – A powerful new feature that works alongside the local scan to let you analyze your database remotely using secure cloud infrastructure. It helps identify orphaned data with exceptional precision, without overloading your website’s resources.
All of this is built on a modern, modular system, ensuring smooth performance and allowing us to expand the plugin with new features quickly and safely. Combined with the new React interface, these tools make Advanced Database Cleaner faster, clearer, and more user-friendly than ever before.
3. Why We Moved from Lifetime Licenses to Subscriptions
We understand that moving from a lifetime license to a yearly subscription is a significant change – especially for a product that has existed for more than a decade.
This decision wasn’t taken lightly. Here’s why it became necessary and beneficial for everyone in the long term.
1. A Two-Year Development Effort
Building this new version took two full years of research, development, testing, and investment. We rebuilt the entire architecture, redesigned every screen with a new React interface, and introduced cloud-powered features that simply weren’t possible before.
This level of effort comes with real ongoing costs – and the old one-time pricing model could no longer sustain that.
2. Cloud Infrastructure and Ongoing Costs
The new Remote Scan feature relies on a secure cloud infrastructure that we continuously maintain and upgrade. This involves ongoing server, storage, and security expenses – essential to guarantee both speed and privacy for our users.
A subscription model allows us to keep this service reliable, secure, and regularly improved.
3. A Commitment to Continuous Innovation
Unlike the older versions, the new modular architecture enables us to release new features more frequently. We already have a roadmap packed with upcoming modules and integrations – updates that will keep your sites running faster and cleaner than ever.
To support this continuous innovation, we needed a pricing model that aligns with ongoing development and maintenance efforts.
4. Long-Term Sustainability
After ten years and more than 200,000 active installations, our priority is to ensure Advanced Database Cleaner continues to evolve for another decade.
Subscriptions give us the stability to maintain top-quality updates, provide responsive support, and invest in security, compatibility, and new features that meet the expectations of modern WordPress users.
In Short
Advanced Database Cleaner 4.0.0 isn’t just an upgrade – it’s a complete evolution of the plugin.
It was rebuilt to serve modern WordPress standards, enhanced with powerful new features and a fully redesigned interface, and backed by a sustainable model that ensures continuous growth and innovation.
We want to thank our long-time users for their trust and support throughout the years. Your feedback shaped this new version, and your continued use helps us make Advanced Database Cleaner the most reliable, complete, and future-ready database optimization tool for WordPress.
