TL;DR
- Usually, yes. Most premium plugins bill every year. Some bill monthly.
- When a license lapses, updates stop. That includes security fixes. Some plugins also switch off features.
- Buy every license in your own name. Webmaster For Hire recommends that every business own its premium licenses, with its own login, so it never loses them when it changes webmasters.
- Renew what your site depends on. Cancel what it doesn’t.
What Is a Premium Plugin?
A premium plugin is one you pay for to add special functionality, like an advanced page builder, an events calendar, or a membership area. Most come with a yearly license (your paid right to use the plugin and get its updates).
The license is tied to an account with the company that makes the plugin. You get a license key (a code that connects your website to that account), and it gets entered on your site.
Free plugins from the WordPress.org directory get their updates through WordPress itself. Premium plugins get their updates from their maker, and only while your license is active.
What Webmaster For Hire Recommends
- Own every license. Buy premium plugins in an account your business creates, with your own login. If you change webmasters, the license stays with you.
- Go free or one-time when you can. We look for free or pay-once plugins first, and we always tell you before installing anything with a yearly fee.
- Renew what your site depends on. If no other plugin does what it does, keep the license.
- Drop what you don’t use. Remove plugins your site no longer needs, and cancel their renewals.
- Watch auto-renewal. If auto-renewal gets turned off, updates stop with no warning.
Why Licenses Belong in Your Name
We’ve had many clients come to us who didn’t own their own licenses. Their old developer had bought them, so they had to buy every one all over again.
There’s a security reason too. Plugin companies only deal with the account holder. That protects you. If anyone could ask for your license, a scammer could steal it.
When a site we manage needs a premium plugin, this is how it works:
- We send you the link and tell you which plan to buy.
- You buy it in your own account.
- You send us the license key, and we apply it to your site.
Ask about license ownership before you hire anyone. See Should I Run WordPress Updates Myself or Hire a Webmaster?
What Happens When a License Lapses
- Updates stop. Security fixes included.
- Your webmaster stops getting update notices. We can’t install updates the plugin company won’t send.
- Some features may switch off. Every company handles this differently. Some plugins keep running without updates. Others lock their premium features. Check the plugin company’s own license page.
- Out-of-date code invites trouble. We’ve seen a hacked site where the way in was a slider (a rotating image banner) bundled with a premium theme whose license had expired. Cleaning up a hack does no good if the theme and plugins can’t be updated afterward. On another site, we found a course plugin with a known security hole. Its renewal had stopped three years earlier.
What About Lifetime Licenses?
Read the fine print. We recently checked a plugin sold as a “lifetime” license that only included one year of support and updates. After that year, you’d be running code that never gets another fix, so we recommended the yearly license instead.
Plugins you pay for once and own outright can be a good deal. Just confirm what “lifetime” actually covers before you buy.
:: Common Questions ::
Who Pays for Premium Plugins on a Site You Manage?
You do, directly to the plugin company. Those costs are separate from our fees, and we always let you know before installing anything with a yearly fee.
What If My Old Developer Bought My Licenses?
If you can’t get into the account they used, buy a new license in your own name. Your former developer may also have been paying for it this whole time without realizing it. We see that all the time.
Not Sure Which Licenses Your Site Depends On?
Request a consultation to talk through your premium plugins and who owns each license. Or see the monthly plans on our WordPress Support Services page. For how licenses fit into regular updates, see How Often Should I Update WordPress and My Plugins?
