Patch It or Move It: Two Ways to Get Your Site Out of the PHP2Shell Blast Radius

If your website runs on PHP, you have two good options right now. Patch and harden what you have, or move to a platform where server patching isn't your job anymore. We do both, and we'll tell you honestly which one fits.

Step one for everyone: a free check

Send us your URL. Within one business day we'll tell you your PHP version, whether your host has applied the October 21 fix, and anything that looks like a problem. No sales pitch attached.

Option A — Patch and harden

Best if your site works well, you're happy with it, and you just need it safe.

• Confirm or get PHP updated to a fixed version (8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 or 8.2.35)
• Handle older sites still on PHP 8.1 or earlier, which PHP no longer supports
• Set up a web application firewall in front of the site
• Check for signs someone got in before the patch: rogue admin users, unfamiliar files, injected code
• Rotate admin passwords and API keys
• Clean out abandoned plugins and themes
• Optional: ongoing monitoring so the next one gets handled the day it lands

[STEWART: price or "starting at" figure]

Option B — Move to Webflow

Best if your site is mainly marketing (services, team, case studies, blog) and you're tired of updates and plugin worries.

• No server for you to patch and no plugins running your business logic
• Webflow handles hosting and platform security updates
• We carry over your content, URLs and SEO with proper redirects, so you don't lose rankings
• Your team can still edit everything in a visual editor
• Often a chance to fix the site you've been meaning to fix anyway

If you sell online, we'll usually point you to Shopify instead.

The R&D Dept. is a Webflow Expert Partner, and Webflow is where we build most client sites.

[STEWART: price or "starting at" figure, timeline]

Which one is right for you?

• Site works, budget is tight, you need it safe this week: patch and harden.
• Custom features that only exist as WordPress plugins: patch and harden, then plan.
• Mostly marketing pages, updates feel like a chore: move to Webflow.
• Site is old, slow or overdue for a refresh anyway: move to Webflow.
• You sell products online: move to Shopify.

A lot of clients do both: patch now so they're safe today, then migrate on a calm timeline.

Get your free check

Request your free site check → Or call 509-570-2002.

Want background first? Read what PHP2Shell is and why we've been steering clients this way for years.