If you look after more than one UniFi location, you know the friction: a separate address for every console, a separate login, a separate browser tab. This is exactly where the UniFi Site Manager comes in – Ubiquiti’s free management layer that lets you keep an eye on all your UniFi consoles and sites in one place. This guide explains what Site Manager does, where its limits are, and why it complements a hosted controller rather than replacing it.
What is the UniFi Site Manager?
The UniFi Site Manager is a central web interface at unifi.ui.com for managing every UniFi site you own or have administrative access to. It is tied to your UI Account: any console linked to that account appears in the dashboard automatically, with no extra configuration. Instead of signing in to each device individually, you view and control your entire environment from a single place.
Importantly, Site Manager is license-free. Ubiquiti charges no fees for remote management through this platform. That makes it useful for anyone running more than one console – from a small business with two branches to a managed service provider looking after networks for many clients.
Hybrid cloud: control locally, see centrally
Site Manager is part of UniFi’s hybrid cloud architecture. The principle is simple: the actual control plane stays local on your console or server, while the cloud only provides secure remote access and centralized visibility. Configuration and telemetry live right next to your switches and access points.
The practical benefit is that your network’s performance does not depend on the internet link to the cloud. If the line goes down, your devices keep running locally – you only lose remote access temporarily, not the network itself. Ubiquiti describes this as predictable performance regardless of WAN latency.
What you can do with Site Manager
Once your consoles are online, Site Manager gives you, among other things:
- All sites at a glance: status, load and alerts for every site in one dashboard.
- Remote access to any console: jump straight into a site’s management interface without knowing its local IP address.
- Grouping multiple consoles: if you have several UniFi consoles at one location, you can group them for centralized management so you don’t have to switch between them constantly.
- Merging consoles: consoles on the same UniFi network can be merged – handy when you add a second console but don’t want to manage it as a separate site.
The self-hosted UniFi OS Server – Ubiquiti’s successor to the classic Network Server – is compatible with Site Manager too. After installing it, you simply sign in with a UI Account to enable remote management.
Remote access: cloud relay or Direct Remote Connection
Remote management is enabled by default during UniFi setup. As soon as a console comes online, it is reachable through Site Manager. There are two ways the data can travel:
Cloud relay (default)
By default, the connection runs encrypted through Ubiquiti’s cloud infrastructure. This works anywhere and needs no special network configuration – ideal for connections without a static, public IP address.
Direct Remote Connection
For extra performance, Site Manager can use Direct Remote Connection to connect directly to your console over the internet instead of relaying through the cloud. This requires a UniFi Gateway with a public IP address and a free TCP port 443 that is not already used by a port forwarding rule. If you are behind Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT), you need to request a public IP from your provider. The upside: traffic flows directly rather than through Ubiquiti’s cloud, which is considered somewhat more private and performant.
The important catch: Site Manager is not hosting
This is where the most common misunderstanding arises. Site Manager is a management and monitoring layer – it does not run your controller. The control plane, meaning the actual controller software, still has to run somewhere: on local hardware such as a Cloud Key, on a self-hosted UniFi OS Server, or with a managed provider.
In other words, Site Manager solves the problem of central visibility, but not the question of where and how reliably your controller runs. If the hardware sits on your premises, power outages, hardware failures, updates and backups remain your job. Site Manager will show you that a console is offline – but you still have to deal with it yourself.
Site Manager and a hosted controller together
The two layers complement each other. A hosted cloud controller makes sure your control plane runs around the clock in a data center – including operation, updates and backups. Site Manager adds the central view across all locations on top. The table below shows which layer is responsible for what:
| Task | UniFi Site Manager | Hosted cloud controller |
|---|---|---|
| Central overview of all sites | Yes | – |
| Remote access to consoles | Yes | – |
| Running the controller (control plane) | No | Yes |
| Controller updates & backups | No | Yes (by provider) |
| Cost | Free | Monthly flat rate |
| Hardware resilience | – | Data center |
So if you value both central management and reliable, low-maintenance operation, the best approach is to combine the two: the free Site Manager for the overview, and a hosted controller for a stable foundation underneath.
Conclusion
The UniFi Site Manager is a powerful, free tool for managing multiple UniFi consoles centrally – especially for networks spread across several locations. But it does not take over running the controller: where and how reliably your control plane runs remains a separate decision. If you want to use Site Manager’s central overview while outsourcing controller operation, updates and backups, we run your UniFi cloud controller in a German, GDPR-compliant data center. Get in touch and tell us about your setup – we’ll find the right fit for you.
Frequently asked questions
Does the UniFi Site Manager cost anything?
No. Remote management through Site Manager at unifi.ui.com is license-free; Ubiquiti charges no fees for the platform itself. Costs only arise for running the controller – that is, for hardware, server rental or a managed service.
Does Site Manager replace a hosted controller?
No. Site Manager is a management and monitoring layer, not a controller operation. The actual control plane still has to run locally on hardware, on a self-hosted UniFi OS Server, or with a managed provider. The two layers complement each other.
Does Site Manager work with a self-hosted UniFi OS Server?
Yes. The UniFi OS Server is compatible with Site Manager. After installing it, you sign in with a UI Account to enable remote management, and the site then appears automatically in the dashboard.
What is Direct Remote Connection?
An option for higher-performance remote access in which Site Manager connects directly to your console instead of relaying through the cloud. It requires a UniFi Gateway with a public IP address and a free TCP port 443 that is not used by a port forwarding rule.
Does my network stay reachable if the internet connection fails?
Yes. Thanks to the hybrid cloud architecture, control stays local. If the internet connection drops, your devices keep working locally – you only lose remote access via Site Manager temporarily, not the function of the network itself.