Editorial

Reasons to Stay Away from Nulled Themes and Plugins for WordPress

WordPress offers a vast array of premium plugins and themes. At some point, you might have been tempted to find these for free, leading you to discover nulled WordPress plugins and themes.

Nulled plugins and themes are modified versions of premium products that are available for free. However, if this seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. These versions lack the features, support, and security integrity of the originals.

Using nulled plugins can be harmful to your website. Despite their growing popularity, many websites encounter issues they weren’t aware of before installation.

As the WordPress ecosystem has expanded, so has the accessibility of these tools. They are easily found through a simple Google search, causing many beginners to unknowingly install them and face subsequent problems.

What Are Nulled Themes and Plugins in WordPress?

Nulled themes and plugins in WordPress are essentially pirated copies of premium products. These copies are modified to remove official branding and are then distributed for free or at a significantly reduced price.

While most pirated items are illegal, nulled themes and plugins often exploit a loophole. Many WordPress plugins and themes are released under the General Public License (GPL), which allows for free and unrestricted distribution. This means that altering and redistributing these plugins can be legal, to some extent.

Pirates typically remove trademarked material, add their own branding, and then distribute these nulled versions. 

Although you might not face legal trouble for using them, it’s generally not advisable due to several reasons, including potential security risks and lack of official updates.

Nulled WordPress Plugins & Themes Don’t Get Updates

Unlike Official/ Original Plugins or Original Themes, nulled versions do not receive regular updates. This means your website will miss out on bug fixes, feature improvements, and new features. This can also lead to security vulnerabilities.

When you install a nulled plugin in WordPress, it essentially remains as it was the day it was pirated. This isn’t just inconvenient; it can be devastating. Many plugins need updates to work with the latest WordPress core files or other plugins. Without these updates, your website may stop functioning or even become completely unusable.

The same applies to nulled WordPress themes.

While some websites intentionally use older versions of WordPress, this practice is not recommended. Maintaining a website on outdated versions can lead to numerous issues.

In summary, if you continue to update other elements of your website but fail to update a theme or plugin, your website will eventually stop working.

We don’t hand over a license key - since we offer installation/ activation services - when you purchase a product from PROPLUGINS.NET you will benefit from the manual installation of the premium plugins and original license on your (client's) website.

Nulled WordPress Plugins & Themes Don’t Get Updates

Unlike Official/ Original Plugins or Original Themes, nulled versions do not receive regular updates. This means your website will miss out on bug fixes, feature improvements, and new features. This can also lead to security vulnerabilities.

When you install a nulled plugin in WordPress, it essentially remains as it was the day it was pirated. This isn’t just inconvenient; it can be devastating. Many plugins need updates to work with the latest WordPress core files or other plugins. Without these updates, your website may stop functioning or even become completely unusable.

The same applies to nulled WordPress themes.

While some websites intentionally use older versions of WordPress, this practice is not recommended. Maintaining a website on outdated versions can lead to numerous issues.

In summary, if you continue to update other elements of your website but fail to update a theme or plugin, your website will eventually stop working.

When you purchase a product from PROPLUGINS.NET you will benefit from automatic updates for the available premium original themes and plugins, together with the manual installation of the plugin and original license on your website.

They Can Seriously Impact Your SEO

Every website aims to climb the search rankings by improving SEO, a process that can take months or even years. Installing a nulled plugin can undo all that hard work in just a few days.

These plugins might distribute malware to visitors or redirect them to malicious websites, which is not only harmful to their devices but also detrimental to your site’s reputation. Search engines like Google will delist your site if it is associated with malware, effectively removing it from search results. This can be a death sentence for your website, as it eliminates the chance of getting organic clicks.

Even if the links included in these plugins aren’t malicious, they are often low-quality. Having links to low-quality websites can make Google perceive your site as low-quality by association, further harming your SEO performance.

In either case, using nulled plugins can severely damage your SEO efforts.

They Can Still Cause Legal Issues

While nulled plugins and themes exploit a licensing loophole to be legal, you can still face legal trouble for using them in some cases.

It depends on the specific plugin or theme. Developers have become savvy and use other methods to protect their products from being freely distributed under the GPL loophole, such as copyrighted code.

Dealing with such legal issues can be a major headache and far more costly than purchasing an original plugin or theme activation. In the worst-case scenario, your entire website could be shut down, not to mention potential legal fees and fines depending on your location.

With the lifetime official license activation services from PROPLUGINS.NET, you not only gain access to lifetime updates but also the confidence that you’re using a trusted, legitimate solution.

They Are a Security Risk That Can Be Hard to Detect

Plugins and themes are regularly updated to fix security vulnerabilities, but these updates are not available for pirated versions. This means that from the moment a plugin is nulled, it could contain severe vulnerabilities.

Even more concerning is that pirates often embed malware within the code. As mentioned earlier, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Getting premium plugins for free is a prime example. Pirates distribute these plugins to gain access to the websites that use them.

Since the malware is embedded in the plugin or theme, malware scanners may not detect it. This malware can perform various malicious activities, from stealing data to redirecting users to harmful websites.

Sometimes, the malware isn’t even designed to affect the host website but rather to infect its visitors, which can destroy any chance of your website’s success.

Many website owners remain unaware of malware infections until they receive multiple complaints from users. By then, significant damage to your brand may have already occurred. Even if you fix the security breach, regaining user trust can be extremely difficult.

The Privacy of Your Website Can Be Compromised

While privacy concerns are closely related to security issues, they are significant enough to warrant their own discussion.

Hackers don’t need to take control of your website to steal information. Certain malware can copy user data and send it offsite without detection, meaning someone could be stealing your customers’ information.

Sometimes, this might be as benign as stealing email addresses to sign users up for newsletters—annoying, but not catastrophic. However, it can also involve more sensitive information like home addresses, credit card details, or social security numbers.

Depending on the type of information you collect, the consequences can escalate quickly, leading to identity theft and chargebacks, which can severely impact someone’s life.

This also brings legal repercussions for your website. If an investigation reveals that your site used pirated software containing malware, you could face fines that might end your business.

Data breach laws have become increasingly strict, so it’s crucial to exercise the utmost caution when collecting user data. Non-compliance with regulations like the GDPR can result in severe penalties.

Is It Actually Worth Using Nulled Plugins and Themes in WordPress?

Considering all the negatives associated with using nulled tools in WordPress, it’s clear that they are not worth the trouble.

You can choose to use free alternative plugins for nearly everything on the WordPress platform. These free tools are better options because they provide access to support, updates, and security without risking your SEO.

Additionally, you can build your website with a clear conscience, free from legal concerns using our Original Pro Plugins and Themes Installation and Activation Services.

Let’s talk about the cost. In the grand scheme of things, these tools are not very expensive. While there are some examples of bad pricing, most premium themes cost between $59 to $99 as a one-time fee, which is quite reasonable.

Plugins, on the other hand, often come with yearly licenses that can vary in cost. However, these are considered business expenses that you can write off, and they usually don’t impact a site’s profitability.

Most website owners understand this. It’s generally newer developers trying to save money who end up falling into the trap of using nulled tools.

You can get ”the best of two worlds” by choosing the activation services from PROPLUGINS.NET and you will benefit from the manual installation of the original plugin and official license on your website so you can get automatic updates for the product’s lifetime at a fraction of the cost.

Are Premium Plugins Better Than Free Plugins?

It’s well-known that many premium plugins also offer robust free versions. This raises an important question:

Are premium plugins truly better than their free counterparts?

In short, yes. Premium plugins often come with more features and quicker updates. 

Sometimes, the base plugin is completely free and fully functional, with the option to install premium add-ons. In some cases, the free plugin is usually sufficient for most sites.

There are also full premium plugins with no free version. If you look for alternatives, you’ll likely find several free options to choose from. However, you may end up installing many free plugins to get the features included in a single premium plugin. So, back to the question:

Generally speaking, premium plugins are better built, offer better service, and include more features. 

Therefore, it’s not worth risking a nulled version of a plugin or theme; in most cases, websites that sell GPL/ Nulled plugins and themes charge the same prices found on PROPLUGINS.NET for Original License Premium Plugins and Themes.

Do Websites Get Away With Using Nulled Plugins and Themes?

So, maybe you’ve read all of this and still plan on using a nulled plugin or theme. You might be wondering if you will get away with it.

Well, to be honest, it depends on the size of your website.

Taking legal action, even if a company is sure to win in court, is expensive. Even if a company has the resources, it’s often not worth the hassle for an individual or small website.

That’s why many companies don’t pursue every person who installs their software illegally. Instead, they choose their battles and take legal action where it will have the maximum effect.

Small to mid-size developers often lack the resources to battle every website using a nulled version of their tool. Instead, they keep track of websites using nulled tools (that they become aware of) and document it. If the website grows larger, it then becomes more reasonable to take legal action against the site’s owner.

So, while many users might get away with using nulled tools initially, it can catch up with them if their website becomes successful.

Don’t Use Nulled Plugins and Themes in WordPress

Given the extensive list of reasons why nulled plugins and themes are problematic, it’s clear that you should avoid using them. Opting for a free version of the plugin or the more affordable alternative to get the Premium version of the plugin or theme from PROPLUGINS.NET is a much better choice.

Paying for the plugin is also a better option. It’s considered a business expense, and you receive support from the developer. If a premium plugin breaks the bank, you can in most cases find the solution at PROPLUGINS.NET.

Now you can get all the PRO features of the plugins available on our website at a cheaper price. How is this possible? Even though we don’t hand over a license key (this being an installation service) you will benefit from the manual installation of the original plugin and official license on your website so you can get automatic updates for the product’s lifetime.

The risks of using nulled plugins and themes in WordPress far outweigh any potential benefits.