Pluginsforwp.com Review: Best GPL Club for Themes & Plugins?
WordPress is blessed with tons of developers creating plugins and themes for the platform. As a user, you benefit from the quick installation of the styles you need on your website.
Most WordPress plugins run on a freemium model, where you can access some features for free, but others are only available through a premium subscription or purchase.
In this article, I will quickly review the PluginsforWP platform, which serves as a marketplace to get WordPress items at a fraction of the price.
Important: We highly recommend you check our best GPL sites collection to make the right decision and to know Pluginsforwp position in the market.
Understanding WordPress GPL Themes and Plugins
Before we can understand what PluginsforWP is, we first need to understand WordPress GPL.
What exactly is GPL on WordPress?
GPL stands for General Public License, an open-source software license used by applications like WordPress. GPL allows developers to freely showcase their work and its derivatives.
There are four main freedoms that come with the GPL license:
1. Use the software for any purpose — You have the freedom to use the software in any way that fits your needs, whether it’s for personal or commercial use.
2. Access and modify the source code — This freedom lets you take the software’s source code, which is the behind-the-scenes structure, and make changes to it. This is particularly useful for developers who want to customize a theme or plugin to better suit their project.
3. Distribute the original software — You are allowed to share or redistribute the original software without any legal repercussions. For example, if you download a plugin and want to share it with someone else, you can legally do so.
4. Share modified versions — Even if you make changes to the software, you are free to share the modified version under the same GPL terms. This means that anyone who receives the modified version also gets the same freedoms.
What Do These Freedoms Mean for Developers?
Unfortunately, if you want to develop software for WordPress, you must comply with these freedoms. This can feel like a disadvantage for developers, who lose control over how their work is used, modified, or shared. Essentially, once a product is released on WordPress under the GPL, developers can’t stop others from redistributing their work.
What Do These Freedoms Mean for WordPress Users?
For WordPress users, these freedoms offer more flexibility and control. You can use, modify, and share software as you please. However, it’s important to use these freedoms responsibly and ethically. While it’s legal to download and share GPL products, purchasing directly from developers supports their hard work and ensures you get support and updates.
Many users aren’t aware of these rights, so they end up not fully benefiting from them.
Introducing Pluginsforwp
WordPress is known for having tons of great themes and plugins. But sometimes, the premium ones can be expensive.
That’s where PluginsforWP comes in. It’s a website that offers GPL-licensed WordPress themes and plugins for a much lower price. With over 10,000 products, PluginsforWP is quickly becoming one of the biggest sources for WordPress tools.
In this review, we’ll look into two big concerns:
- How safe is PluginsforWP
- Are the products updated?
1. How Safe is PluginsforWP?
To make sure PluginsforWP is safe, we tested several products using the VirusTotal scanner. We didn’t find any viruses or security risks. When we installed the plugins on our website, almost everything worked as expected.
However, about 2% of the products had issues. These were plugins that weren’t very popular, and they were either outdated or not premium versions (just the free ones from WordPress.org).
I contacted their support team, and they were quick to help. They uploaded new versions for some of the products and refunded me for the others. From this, it’s clear that PluginsforWP only deals with GPL-licensed products, which are safe.
2. Are PluginsforWP Products Updated?
For popular plugins, updates are frequent, and you’ll usually find the latest versions. But for less popular items, updates can take longer. Still, even if a plugin isn’t the newest version, it’s usually not far behind.
A simple way to check is to compare different GPL sites to see which has the most up-to-date products.
PluginsforWP has a vendor program that helps keep many of its products current. This allows users to submit premium versions they’ve acquired from developers, which are then reviewed and made available on the site.
Features That Make PluginsforWP Stand Out
1. Automatic Updates via Plugin Manager
PluginsforWP offers a plugin manager that lets you update your downloaded themes and plugins directly from your WordPress dashboard.
2. Version Control
This feature allows you to switch between older and newer versions of a theme or plugin. It’s helpful when the latest version has issues.
3. Vendor Program
The vendor program lets users upload premium versions of themes and plugins, which are reviewed and shared on the site. You can even earn money from it when people download your uploads.
Pricing
Here are the pricing options on PluginsforWP:
- $4.99 per item
- $14.50/month for unlimited downloads (20 per day)
- $99.50/year for unlimited downloads (50 per day)
- $399 for lifetime access (100 downloads per day)
Pluginsforwp Alternatives and Competitors
While we preach Pluginsforwp.com as the best GPL site for wordpress, there are other amazing clubs that you can find worth the use. Some of these alternatives can cater to CMSes beyond wordpress.
Here are the best Pluginsforwp alternatives online at the time of writing.
- Srmehranclub: A GPL site that offers solutions beyond WordPress (33,500+ products | 17,500 for WordPress)
- WorldPressIT: A WordPress GPL club best suited for single-download options due to its bargain (3,500+ products)
- GPL Vault, another great place for GPL Downloads (4,700+).
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Access to premium products at huge discounts
- Automatic updates right from WordPress
- You can use different versions of products
- Vendor program for earning money
Cons:
- No pay-as-you-go option
- Slower updates for less popular products
- Some update delays
Conclusion
PluginsforWP is one of the few GPL websites that keeps growing. With features like automatic updates and version control, it’s a reliable option for WordPress users looking to save money.
However, it’s important to remember that using GPL products for long-term projects might not be the best. It’s always better to support the original developers for continuous updates and support.