Pluginsforwp.com Review: Best GPL Club for WordPress?
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’s position in the industry.
Understanding WordPress GPL
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 11,000 products, PluginsforWP is one of the largest GPL clubs available right now.
In this review, we’ll look into three big concerns:
- Is PluginsforWP legal?
- How safe is PluginsforWP
- Are the products updated?
1. Is PluginsforWP legal?
Yes, PluginsforWP is legal in its act of redistributing WordPress solutions at a low price.
GPL which is the WordPress License that oversees the conduct of the CMS gave everyone not just PluginsforWP the right to redistribute everything.
The GPL on WordPress is the reason why the CMS is still on the top in the industry — Developers leverage it to make plugins/themes and to better existing ones, Users use its power to go limitless in site’s creation and design.
2. 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 mostly safe.
We also had scanned the products using Anti-malware like Malwarebytes, and the reports were all negative, meaning no virus.
Relying on VirusTotal alone ain’t safe. This is why we carried out lots of tests to ensure the Platform is safe to use like advertised.
We also used plugin-based tools like Quttera, Sucuri, and Wordfence to scan the products after uploading and activating them on a test site. The scan from the WordPress area helped touch all the areas; so even when “obfuscated scripts and viruses that run after activation” were present, it would read negative.
In short, Pluginsforwp is mostly safe to use, but it’s still recommended to run a scan of all products coming from there before uploading on your site. It pays to do that!
3. 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 in our best list to see which has the most up-to-date version of the product you need.
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.
Unlike most GPL websites, Pluginsforwp came to change the beat. Now, users can have almost the same upgrade experience (for Plugins/Themes) as they used to get from actual developers.
2. Request Missing Items
You can request missing items on Pluginsforwp and they will attend to them earlier.
If lots of people make a request, then the faster the release.
If you’re requesting under a paid membership account, things could be accelerated.
3. Unlimited Domains/Downloads
Needless to say, the item you get from GPL websites like Pluginsforwp isn’t restricted to a Domain.
You can use it with any website without facing domain usage limits unlike seen from the developer’s side.
Plus, you get unlimited downloads for WordPress solutions as well. Its lowest plan allows 20 downloads/day and is more than enough for the average user.
4. Templates/Kits
The platform doesn’t only offer themes and plugins. It has a good library of templates and page builders’ kits which you can use to design a website fast.
5. Report Issue and Refund
Pluginsforwp gives users the option to report issues they have encountered with their offerings so that products are always in good condition.
You can write your complaint and wait for Pluginsforwp’s friendly customer support to attend to you.
For refunds, the best GPL websites including Pluginsforwp offer a clear refund policy.
I have experienced that myself — Even when you get a single product (at $4.99), they are always ready to provide a refund should they not serve you well.
6. 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.
The ultimate aim of the Progam is to expand its coverage and to have the latest versions at all times.
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 (40,000+ products | 18,200 for WordPress)
- GPL Vault, another great place for GPL Downloads (4,100+).
- WorldPressIT: A WordPress GPL club with competitive pricing (7,300+)
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Access to premium products at huge discounts
- A money-saver when it comes to short-term usage needs like for Product testing or review
- Automatic updates right from WordPress
Cons:
- Slower updates for less popular products
- Some update delays generally
- Can harm efforts of main developers.
Conclusion
PluginsforWP is one of the few GPL websites that keeps growing. With a huge library size (11k+) and features like automatic updates, it’s one of the best options for GPL Clubs.
As the name of the platform may disclose, it deals more with plugins than themes.
Currently, it has the highest number of plugins than others in the top list (6,700+). For themes, the platform doesn’t took last either, its number of 4,300+ made it sit among the top 3 GPL theme sites.
Using Pluginsforwp can save you lots of money. It’s particularly useful when you’re doing product testing or review.
While the platform can be a huge money-saver, it can also be disastrous to the effort of developers when used wrongly.
I think that – Any product that has to sit long on your site shouldn’t come from these GPL Websites. By so doing, you’re helping to balance the case so that the beauty of WordPress isn’t completely wiped out.
Above all, patronizing the main makers of wordpress plugins and themes would come with the best experience regardless of the so-called imitating support and updates from GPL sites.
FAQs
Are wordpress themes and plugins GPL?
Yes, all the items used on WordPress both the ones found directly on WordPress.org directory are all licensed under GPL.
Must a theme or a plugin be GPL on WordPress?
Yes, before submitting a theme or a plugin to WordPress, you must first comply with the GPL license.
In essence, every themes and plugins on WordPress are GPL products.
What’s a GPL club site?
A GPL club or a GPL website is a platform that exploits the licensing loophole (of wordpress, in this case — the GPL or any other CMS) to provide themes and plugins for free which aren’t initially meant for free (as in price) by the developer).
A GPL club is legal because the GPL license which wordpress uses gives it the full right in the first place.
It’s worth noting that these GPL platforms charge a small fee (not 100% free in price) to continue to provide WordPress products at a lower cost.
Is Pluginsforwp legal?
Pluginsforwp is one of the best GPL websites. It’s legal on every side and is not breaking any laws.
The platform appears the first in our collection.
Is Pluginsforwp safe?
Yes, the platform is mostly safe to use. The products shared are actual WordPress derivatives gotten from the main developers.
What Pluginsforwp’s team normally do is to remove the license key restriction so that everyone can use for free.
What’s the best GPL website for themes and plugins?
There’s no one-size-fits-all to this question.
GPL websites change everyday. Features are upgraded and new ones are being added.
But you can always find the best website currently for your GPL needs on our collection – Best GPL clubs for themes and plugins.
Right now, it’s Pluginsforwp.
When should I use content from GPL websites?
Content from these GPL sites can be beneficial for testing purposes or any short term usage need.
Such purposes don’t require or won’t pay for full purchase from direct developer. So in those cases, using a GPL website can be recommendable.
When should I not use free GPL Redistributed Themes and Plugins?
If you want to launch a certain functionality on your site that will last for long, you shouldn’t be using GPL clubs.
An actual license key from the main developers will not only be helpful to you in terms of quick update and better security, but will also keep those in production going forward.
Therefore, it’s crucial to understand when to use and when to say NO to GPL websites.
