Is there a way to report CoSchedule?

Hi @karigme,

Sorry for the confusion. Our plugin is free, but the CoSchedule service behind it has a monthly cost. We have multiple subscription options to fit your needs.

Also, there is a free 14-day trial to get started. No credit card is required to signup for the free trial.

If you have any further questions about the service, we are happy to help if you email [email protected]

Thanks!

Lance Hendrickson
CoSchedule Customer Success Lead

So basically, what you are saying is:

“You can download the plugin for FREE, but you have to PAY to use it. Otherwise it’s just a useless piece of code.”

But let me tell you:

It’s just wrong.

And you know it.

You know you use WordPress repository to promote your service in a devious way. And It’s even more disappointing because I loved reading your blog, and I trusted you.

You could have chosen to have the same high ethical standards as companies like Moz or premium plugins like Gravity Form. But you didn’t.

Well… whatever… I’m just disappointed because I really liked your brand before.

Hi, I’m the rep for the plugin review team.

It’s not a violation as the plugin makes use of their external service. Services don’t have to be free.

Basically, the plugin operates in a similar fashion to Akismet. The comment is sent to their service, which analyzes it for spam and such, and returns a pass or fail. Same basic principle. Akismet is free, but only for personal use. It has pay options as well. The fact that this is pay-only doesn’t make it fall afoul of our guidelines. We care about the plugin code, and in this case, that code is indeed free and open. It just uses a service which is not free.

Keep in mind, people who make ‘services’ just so they can skirt this guideline will find themselves banned. The service has to be a REAL service, and not just some license check, nor can it offload essential parts of the code to create a false dependancy. We’re pretty picky on these things. YouTube is a service. Someone calling jQuery from their own servers to track users is not.

Well… You call the shots not me. But as a user there is a huge difference between this and Akismet.

Akismet provides at least a free version for personal users. CoSchedule provides nothing free.

Anyway that’s your call but I think you are doing a disservice to the community.

CoSchedule provides nothing free.

Just to clarify our position on this matter: We don’t actually require that they offer a free tier to be in the directory. Services cost money. Bandwidth. Storage space. Things like that. While many services are free, some are not, and that’s okay too.

Our concern is not with the cost of the service, but with freedom of the code in our systems. As long as their plugin code is free, then others can use it, modify it, make a competitor if they like. That’s what’s important to us here on www.ads-software.com.

As I said it’s your call. I’m just telling you how I feel as a user and web designer.

I spent thousands of dollars on plugins outside of www.ads-software.com but I would love to have a repository of free plugins. I understand it’s not what you want to provide here…

So maybe there is an opportunity for someone who wants to build one. ??

Anyway let’s end our discussion here. Have a nice day. Bye.