Plugin Guidelines require plugin to be GNU General Public License

  • sqzr

    (@sqzr)


    7 years ago

    So I have a freemium plugin I want to upload to the WordPress plugin store. My plugin is free to use and you can purchase addon features (so theres only 1 plugin you just unlock features).

    According to WP guidelines, the plugin must use the license GNU General Public License. Doesn’t that license contradict the freemium sales model or not? Can I distribute the plugin under the GNU General Public License and not violate it by being freemium?

    Or do I have to distribute my plugin through another means, like envato or something, because my plugin is freemium?

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  • The GPL thing is not your issue. The guidelines explicitly state:

    Plugins may not contain functionality that is restricted or locked, only to be made available by payment or upgrade. They may not disable included functionality after a trial period or quota. Paid functionality in services _is_ permitted (see guideline 6: serviceware), provided all the code inside a plugin is fully available.

    A common business model is to make a free version available on .org without any restricted features and then sell a separate plugin elsewhere that either includes all the features or just adds them to the free version.

    This is a policy of .org and not necessarily a legal matter.

    Regarding legal issues you probably shouldn’t listen to strangers on the internet. But this is a topic that has been written about extensively. I found this article particularly good: https://michaeltorbert.com/wordpress-plugin-theme-gpl/

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