Email to renew Pro licence… I never had one

Same here — except that I have had the free plugin even longer — and also purchased the addons bundle so long ago that I can’t find a record of it. However, I just searched my emails and I found an old email dated November 12, 2022 that I hadn’t seen before, with this text: (So almost a year ago).

Subject: [PayPal Notice] An important update to the plugin pricing model

This is Vova from Shortcodes Ultimate.

I’m excited to announce that Shortcodes Ultimate will transition from selling Premium Add-Ons to Pro versions on Wednesday, 2 November 2022. This will bypass the burden our customers have to bear when installing multiple add-ons, which can create incompatibility issues, conflicts, and other problems. It will also make shipping features much faster, as we will no longer need to assess compatibility between individual add-ons and the core plugin.?

To learn more about these updates, please?read the announcement.

Important to note:

• There’s a new way to access premium features called?Shortcodes Ultimate Pro.
• Premium add-ons will continue receiving updates until October 31, 2025.
• Premium add-ons are no longer for sale.

We’ve also partnered with WordPress sales platform Freemius and will be making some changes to the plugin pricing model. We believe this is a step in the right direction that will allow us to dedicate more time to product development and support to ensure that our customers receive excellent service.

Here’s a link to the announcement on their website:
https://getshortcodes.com/shortcodes-ultimates-pricing-update/

I think we’re ok to ignore the renewal request unless there is something in particular you want/need with the plugin.

Interesting. I don’t have that email, and I don’t ever remember seeing it previously.

This irks me considerably:

“Premium add-ons will continue receiving updates until October 31, 2025.“

And after that, they will undoubtedly break at some point and become useless, ruining your site unless you take an annual subscription.

Not the first time I’ve had software which sold me a supposed “lifetime” licence, then tried to subtly force me into an ongoing subscription. Very shady practice, and I ditched the last software that did this.

I don’t object to paying for software, but for a simple hobbyist site which makes no money, ongoing subscriptions beyond the web hosting fees aren’t really feasible, that’s why I specifically look for plugins with a one-off payment. So I guess I’ll have to start looking for an alternative, or redesigning my site and removing this plugin.

I get why they might need to move to subscriptions, I really do. But if you’ve sold someone a “lifetime” licence (or 3 in my case), my feeling is that it should be honoured. I’m sure they could work it so that existing “lifetime” licence owners got a lifetime Pro licence, even if they don’t sell them to new customers.

Totally agree with @paranoimia. Lifetime license owners shouldn’t have to suddenly pay for continued updates of the same product (with a new name).

Also, is there anywhere on their website or elsewhere where we can see if this “new” Shortcodes Ultimate Pro plugin is even receiving regular updates? I ask, as the last Shortcodes Ultimate plugin update here is listed as being 3 months ago…

I have the same sentiment. Purchased a “lifetime license” back then, now the “update to the plugin pricing model” means I need to pay to keep using the same features I bought a lifetime license for.

I’m also not against a paid subscription model per se, but you can’t first sell a lifetime license and then spin it into a paid subscription for the same features.

I guess it’s a universal problem with lifetime licenses: you become a worthless customer. Still, some companies care more about ethics and trust than others.

Even the updater for the 3 exact plugins I bought a lifetime license for, is telling me “Payment Required”.

To be fair, the plugins bundle was useful for some time. Now I will be looking for alternatives, merely because of unethical business practices I don’t want to deal with.