What do you mean by nulled plugins and themes?
There are various definitions relating to the word canceled and therefore, if you search the web for this term, you will find many different opinions on this, which could be confusing. However, to avoid this confusion, we have simplified their meaning.
If you work as a WordPress developer, you need to know that there are two types of plugins and themes available on the web: free and paid.
Now, nulled plugins or themes are a paid or premium version type that has been modified or compromised to cause harm to users or to collect some private information. These plugins or themes generally come from a third party website and not from the original author or creator.
Sometimes these plugins or themes are manipulated in such a way that they can work even without any license key. In terms of software, you can say that it is the cracked version. Not all nulled plugins and themes are illegal, but using them for your website is not recommended.
Now, you all might be thinking about what the possible reasons could be for not using nulled WordPress themes and plugins.
To clarify, we have created this post. In this post, we’ll give you a list of reasons not to use nulled themes and plugins.
Reasons to stop using nulled WordPress plugins and themes
So, let’s get started right away!
You don’t know what’s in the code
Whenever you download a plugin or theme from a third party rather than the original author, there is no guarantee that the code will only contain the features you need.
There is every chance that the code may contain something malicious that can enter your system and break it down or collect your private information.
The same logic applies to the case of nulled themes and plugins where you are creating an opportunity for the hacker to manipulate your website.
Unless you are an experienced developer and have the time to go through all of the code, you will have no idea what else might be there besides the original code.
On top of all this, if you are using nulled plugins or themes, there will be no help from the original author in case of a hack. So, try to avoid using this type of thing.
No developer support
It’s another main reason to stop using nulled WordPress themes and plugins. Nulled themes or plugins will provide you with all the features you get with any premium theme or plugin, but they can’t offer the benefits that a genuine customer gets.
The reason is that when you buy a premium plugin or theme, the money will go to the developer for the GPL (General Public License). Also, when you buy a product, you have the option to contact the developer in case of any problems or bugs.
On the other hand, with nulled plugins or themes, you won’t get any developer support. The reason is that you have not paid the developer any amount and, as you know, nobody wants to work for free.
Any developer is committed to doing a lot of work putting a lot of effort into creating any premium plugin or theme and their ultimate goal is to solve a burning problem for the end user. Hence, it can be said that any developer has deserved a certain sum in return and a nulled plugin or theme will not make your life any more comfortable.
Therefore, you should avoid using nulled themes or plugins for your WordPress website
No automatic updates
As you all know, to enable updates for premium plugins or themes, you will need a license key. Without a license key, there will be no option for automatic updates. You have to manually update the plugin or theme every time a new update arrives.
However, there are two significant problems with this type of approach:
[1.] It takes a long time. You have to delete the plugin or theme from time to time, reload the plugin or theme, which is extremely annoying.
[2.] There are no notifications regarding the update, which means you have to manually check for the update at frequent intervals.
Imagine a situation where a developer releases an urgent security update, but you don’t get a notification for it. In this situation, you are exposing your website to the most common WordPress attacks. In today’s era, you can’t take this kind of risk and hence, it’s best not to use any canceled plugins and nulled themes.
Safety issues
Nulled WordPress themes and plugins are extremely dangerous for the security of your WordPress website. For those who don’t know, there are many WordPress security vulnerabilities due to the use of “undone” extensions.
Canceled WordPress plugin and theme code may contain malware. In this case, there is every chance that the malicious code could spread to your WordPress website and wreak havoc. The reason is that malware can disguise itself and therefore it becomes difficult to detect. You may also lose your data during the hacking process.
It affects your SEO
Nulled WordPress plugins and themes can eradicate your website’s SEO. The reason is that nulled WordPress themes and plugins can add spam links to your WordPress website and can redirect them to malicious sites affecting your user experience.
Now, it is common knowledge that user experience plays an important role in the SEO of your site and therefore when the user experience is not good, the SEO will suffer. These are the activities that are difficult to detect by human eyes. The reason is that when you log into your WordPress website, you will not be redirected. Hence, you will always be under the illusion that your site is safe.
However, search engines may notice this change and hence it will penalize your website and your ranking will be lowered, which will affect the revenue of your business. Therefore, not using nulled themes and plugins would be a great option.
To learn more about nulled plugins and themes, you can hire an experienced, professional or superpartes WordPress developer.
Legal Matters
Most WordPress themes and plugins are open source. However, some plugins and themes can be of mixed origin. What we mean by mixed source is that copyright laws protect some of the code. Now, if you are using a nulled plugin or theme, you do not have the privilege of using this code and hence, there is a possibility of legal action against you.
On top of all this, nulled themes or plugins can also result in data theft, data loss, or distribution of illegal material. All of this can lead to legal proceedings where you have to pay a large chunk of money to the lawyers. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not use “undone” extensions.
No documentation available
Even the most experienced WordPress users need documentation to understand any new plugin or theme before they can start using it on their WordPress website. That’s why developers spend a lot of time creating proper documentation. In fact, for this purpose, they hire support specialists who can answer all things related to user questions.
If you’re using any canceled themes or plugins, they won’t provide you with any documentation. The reason is that the documentation, as well as the video tutorials, are only provided to premium users. Also, you can’t contact any developers for help.
Discourage innovation
Using nulled themes and plugins discourages innovation. Now, many of you would argue that the plugin or theme is just a small piece of software and we are using the nulled ones because we don’t have a huge amount of money that can be spent on the premium version.
However, someone’s hard work and dedication has come up with this little piece of code. Now, if you’re using nulled themes or plugins, you’re taking the money away from the developers they rightfully deserve.
Developers not only spend their time writing code, but also provide support, create documentation, create a website, hire dedicated staff, etc. All of these things require a great deal of expense, and by using nulled themes or plugins, you are not providing them with this revenue.
If this is the case, it will discourage developers from creating something innovative as well as useful for the public. Therefore, you should avoid using nulled plugins and themes.
Many free alternatives
As you know, WordPress offers you many free themes and plugins that you can use as an alternative to the premium version. So why opt for a nulled plugin and theme? Just find out its free replacement on the web and proceed with that.
There are many premium plugins and themes that provide you with the limited free version to get started. For example, if you need a contact form plugin, you can try the free version of WPForms Lite. If you need a Google Analytics plugin, try the free version of MonsterInsights. The same goes for the plugin case as well.
The important thing here is that if you are using free plugins or themes from WordPress, you will also not have any legal burden. Also, you are not affecting the WordPress community.
Unable to update WordPress
If you are a WordPress developer, you need to know that the WordPress ecosystem regularly releases new versions to improve the security of the platform, fix any bugs and improve the performance of your WordPress website.
However, if you are using nulled WordPress plugins or themes, you will not be able to update your WordPress version. The reason is that they are not legal. Hence, no support will be provided by WordPress to your website. Also, you can’t improve performance without regularly updating your WordPress software.
Therefore, you should always avoid using nulled WordPress themes and plugins.
Conclusion
Nowadays people are always looking for things at no cost. In this race, most of the time they forget to give importance to aspects such as security, privacy and performance.
The same goes for the case of plugins and themes, where people tend to run after a canceled version. The reason is that they offer premium version features for free.
However, while using this thing, most of them forget about the drawbacks that come with it. There are many WordPress plugin development and WordPress theme development companies that are running an awareness program on nulled plugins and themes.
Taking this scenario into consideration, here we have provided you with a list of 8 reasons that will help you understand why you shouldn’t use nulled plugins and themes.
If you have any questions or suggestions about this blog, feel free to ask them in the comments. We will try to answer each of your questions. Thank you!
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