{"id":3832,"date":"2016-06-06T13:15:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T13:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.plugmatter.com\/?p=3832"},"modified":"2022-02-27T06:28:09","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T06:28:09","slug":"wordpress-plugins-pricing-strategy-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plugmatter.com\/spark\/wordpress-plugins-pricing-strategy-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"We Analyzed the Pricing Strategy of 70 Premium WordPress Plugins. Here\u2019s What We Learned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Business is booming in the WordPress plugin market.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">And some top players seem to do <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">everything<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;right, especially with their pricing models. Their plugins sell better and better.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">How come?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It\u2019s their product, business model, and their pricing models.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">And, having been in the WordPress industry for a long time, selling WordPress plugins, we wanted to learn about the biggest trends in the business\/pricing models that WordPress plugins owners use.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">We wanted to analyze, learn and then write about it to help ourselves and the many plugin developers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Then you\u2019d know what you\u2019re <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">not<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;doing, and have a pricing model that actually sticks.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">But before we get into it, let me quickly go through what we actually did, for this post.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">What did we do?<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">We researched the pricing plans and business models of seventy premium plugins. From the renewal system to update policy, we tried understanding almost everything about their business.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">And we did it for a broad category of plugins. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">Why did we do it?<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It\u2019s simple &#8211; analysis of what others are doing can help you in more ways than one. But our three core goals to do it was:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">To learn current trends pertaining to pricing models in WordPress plugin industry<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">To identify the areas of improvements in the pricing of the plugins<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">To help the upcoming and aspiring plugin developers with a detailed analysis, so that they could choose the right pricing \/ business models <\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">And here\u2019s what we found &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">1. Revenue Model: Recurring vs. One-time Sale<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">Most plugin developers still have one-time sales as their revenue model<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">As many as 76% use one-time sales as their pricing strategy whereas 24% of the plugin developers use a subscription model.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">I think one reason for that is &#8211; in WordPress Ecosystem, most people consider one-time sales as the only model.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\"><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"com-md-12 pg_high_light\" >\n        <p> It\u2019s also influenced by the pricing models of WordPress <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">themes<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\"><\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Thank Goodness, people are realizing this and are making attempts to change this trend.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">In this post, Tom Ewer of <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/leavingworkbehind.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LeavingWorkBehind<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">, presents some very <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/resources\/is-wordpress-the-best-platform-to-power-your-saas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">interesting reasons to consider making your plugin a SaaS<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">H<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">e suggests the reasons below: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Monetary Benefits of a huge market <\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Easy setup<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Advantages of JSON REST API<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Recurring revenues, of course.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It is time for WordPress plugin developers, and other businesses in the ecosystem, to start considering SaaS as a viable business model for their products. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Apart from SaaS, as <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/philderksen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Peter Derksen<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">\u00a0suggests in his <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/philderksen.com\/business-models-for-wordpress-plugins\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">blog post<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">\u00a0here, there are several different business models that plugins developers could try: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">The freemium model<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Free base plugin with paid add-ons<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Pay only for Support<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Combined Models<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image2.png\" alt=\"20160420091024.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">2. Number of Packages Offered<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Nearly <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">44% of the plugin owners have <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">three<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;pricing packages in their pricing tables<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">. 30% have four packages, whereas 17% use only one package.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Why Three Package Plan Makes More Sense:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Lesser options make it easier and quicker for people to choose a desirable package <\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Three plans can, most of time, cover most broad categories of users. For example &#8211; Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert packages; plans for individuals, small businesses, enterprises, etc. <\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Having and comparing just three plans, is a clutter-and-hassle-free representation of the content <\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Four packages give visitors more options. However, it could also be true that the <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">lesser<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;the number of options you provide your users with, the <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">easier<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;it becomes for the users to decide on one. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">3<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">. License Validity Period<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/2.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/2.png\" alt=\"2\" class=\"wp-image-3868\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">While <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">50.4% of all plugin developers had no mention of support or license validity<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">, 48% provide one-year support and updates. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It\u2019s also interesting to note that very few of them actually ask their users to renew their license after one year.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">In fact, an astonishing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">95% of them do not have an auto-renewal system in place.<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">\u00a0Only 5% do.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Now you may be wondering, what use is a renewal system anyway? <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Plenty useful, actually.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">You may be queasy about charging for a valuable update for your plugin. But think about it this way &#8211; your users would benefit from it. How?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">The development, the support, the office, the hosting, everything costs you. If you are legitimately paid a little more for these costs that you incur, in return, your service to your customers can improve.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">However, in order to be able to ask for renewal, you need to add more concrete features than just incremental\/minor updates. Few of your users may buy with minor changes; however, in order to get have renewal rate, more conversion, it needs to offer new, more current with the industry trends.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">But that does <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">not <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">mean that you shouldn\u2019t charge for updates and support <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">beyond one year<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Most plugin users seem to be indifferent to whether their plugins are updated or not. And that\u2019s one reason why there\u2019s not much emphasis by plugin developers on users renewing their products after a year.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">4. Most plugins are undervalued (in our opinion)<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image5.png\" alt=\"Topper-E17yuIggb.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrislema?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Chris Lema<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">, said long ago that <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chrislema.com\/wordpress-plugin-prices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WordPress plugin prices are too low<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">. And he was right. Sadly, the situation hasn\u2019t improved drastically yet. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Most plugins that we analyzed are undervalued. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">And unfortunately, it is true even for our\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/plugmatter.com\/feature-box\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Optin Feature Box plugin<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image6.png\" alt=\"Optin.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">A couple of reasons behind why we think that plugin prices are low are:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">First, many of them are one-time sale plugins but those that offer massive value on a consistent basis, including updates.<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Second, the amount of time developer requires to first create, then maintain \/ manage the plugin is an expensive affair.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">To give you a perspective, we spent almost 700+ developer hours to <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">create our <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a style=\"color: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; line-height: auto;\" href=\"http:\/\/plugmatter.com\/pricing-table\">pricing table plugin.<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image7.png\" alt=\"pricing table.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Have been maintaining it ever since. And our best-selling package is $57.00. And we charge approximately $25 per hour for development to our consulting clients. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">With that price, the development cost is approximate: $17,500, which is a fairly large amount. Although the number of sales required to break even is not pretty high, what makes it really expensive is the baggage of consistent support\/updates it follows.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Hence the one-time $57.00 sounds quite cheap. But we have started to explore different pricing models for the same.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">5. ALL of the Plugins Have a Free Version<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image8.jpeg\" alt=\"free version.jpg\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">That\u2019s right, 100% of the plugins, all of them &#8211; have a free version available. Either on the WordPress repository or on their website. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">14% have the free version listed on their own website, while 86% of a free version on the WordPress repository.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">This large majority is because the WordPress repository is such a great option for developers to get additional exposure, for their plugins. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Developers have access to an existing, free, wide audience that they can <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2012\/01\/commercial-plugin-developers-wordpress-repository\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">directly market to that audience on their own too<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">All of our Plugmatter plugins Lite versions on the repository <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">have about a 3-4% conversion rate to the paid version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Considering that there are 74.6 million sites on the WordPress.org platform, there\u2019s a likely chance that if you find a niche and solve a problem within that niche with your plugin, you\u2019re likely to find demand for your plugin.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Hence having it on the free directory could be a win.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">6. Most Plugins Do Not Have a Renewal System<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1.png\" alt=\"1\" class=\"wp-image-3867\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">Asking for a one-time payment leaves a lot of money on the table. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Why?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">The one-time sale model works best if you develop a product, <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">and then want to forget about it<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">WordPress plugins\u00a0are a piece of software that needs to not only work seamlessly within the WordPress framework but also with thousands\u00a0of different WordPress themes. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Most plugin developers add new features or improve the user interface as part of their product strategy. So it is only justified if they charge for it. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">As a substitute to the recurring payment system, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">plugin developers also have the option of offering an auto-renewal system, <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">to charge users for the second year of updates and support. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">As a third option, they can simply charge higher, and provide lifetime support.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">I see that most plugin developers think users will <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">not<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;buy expensive products. We presumed this too. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">But the truth is &#8211;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;if your product provides enough value; you can charge a premium price on the plugin, and you <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">can <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">find an audience. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">7. Offering a Refund Policy Isn\u2019t So Common <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image10.png\" alt=\"return.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">You may have an awesome-looking landing page. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">But if you do not have a refund policy page on your website, you\u2019re responsible for decreasing your own conversion rate.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">What surprised us the most is that almost<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;32% of the plugin developers had no refund policy for their plugins<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">. And the remaining 68% of the plugin owners offered a no-questions-asked refund.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Remember, having a refund policy allows customers to:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Know that they will not incur a permanent loss, in case they dislike your product <\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Establish better trust with you, the plugin developer <\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">These two inferences help incentivize a potential customer to take the leap of faith with your plugin. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">8. The Freemium Model Undoubtedly Works<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image12.png\" alt=\"freemium.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">We have tens of thousands of <\/span><span style=\"color: #333333; line-height: auto;\">free users for all 4 of our plugins, and the users for our <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/publish-to-wordpress\/lllekagcmcimoimdjlchepfokgengccb?utm_source=permalink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Google Docs add-on<\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #333333; line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">\u00a0I\u2019d say the freemium model works, for a couple of fundamental reasons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It could be because the core feature is <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">compelling<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;enough for people to purchase upgrades on. Or because the barrier of entry is lowered, as it is quite literally, free. And since it\u2019s free, it\u2019s easier to give the benefit of the doubt to the plugin. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Once you do have some sort of a customer base for your free plugin, you can leverage them by &#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Up-selling to them so they buy other products of yours<\/span><\/li><li style=\"line-height: auto;\"><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Inviting advertisers to target them<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">There\u2019s been a new wave of WordPress plugins on the market, all working under a slightly different kind of freemium model. Earlier, the premium version of a plugin had the upgraded version of the free version, often simply restricting some (crucial) features. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Plugins like WooCommerce and EasyDigitalDownloads, however, have pioneered a new kind of freemium model. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It\u2019s about offering a free base plugin with all crucial features intact, upon which developers can layer paid add-ons. Many WordPress developers have adopted this model, including <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thadallender\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Thad Allender<\/a> of <\/span><span style=\"color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; line-height: auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/graphpaperpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Graph Paper Press<\/a><\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">But there are very few people who currently do not use this model,<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;perhaps due to development issues or due to their solution itself.<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">So although almost every plugin that we looked at was under a freemium model, very few use the model of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.woothemes.com\/woocommerce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">WooCommerce<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/easydigitaldownloads.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">EasyDigitalDownloads<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">9<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">. Only Support-Based Pricing Model is a Rare Model<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image13.gif\" alt=\"free support.gif\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Another uncommon model is where the entire plugin is free, but the pricing is only for support.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Perhaps the idea is to make users get used to the plugin. If they want to customize using it even further, the developers can charge for it &#8211; as users are already hooked. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Here\u2019re my thoughts on this model. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">The term \u201cfree\u201d may indicate that a particular product might not be as valuable as it may be. It can even, at times, hinder people from trying out your product.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">It can incur significant overhead for the plugin author. He\u2019d have to maintain a plugin that drives revenues from only a certain percentage of people who need support. Remember, not <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">everybody<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;requires support.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">This model can work really well if you have a large-scale enterprise plugin, that\u2019ll require significant assistance to set up and use.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">10. Clunky Pricing Tables, However, Are Common<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Interestingly, some of the pricing tables for these plugins lack a few basic conversion elements. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Here\u2019s what I mean:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image14.png\" alt=\"Pricing table.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">40% of the pricing tables did not highlight their most popular\/valuable package<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;in their pricing charts, <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">even though they have multiple packages<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Also, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">50% of the pricing tables did not mention how long customers would receive support\/updates. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">While 45% of businesses offered a year\u2019s worth of support and updates, most of them had nothing on their pricing pages indicating how long people would receive support and updates. It\u2019s a crucial factor that buyers consider before buying WordPress plugins. Or any software as such. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">11. Offering a Developer Package is an Untapped Strategy<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image15.jpeg\" alt=\"developers.jpg\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">What is a <\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">developer<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;package<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">A developer\/enterprise\/agency package is the version of your plugin that lets users use it on any number of websites they want. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">Only 40% of the plugins had a developer or enterprise version<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">, that is, 60% of plugin developers have ignored an effective monetization strategy. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">Developer packages can increase brand awareness. Opening it up to other plugin developers is quite literally opening it up to a broader, larger market. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">At Plugmatter,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold; line-height: auto;\">&nbsp;a whole 10% of our sales can be attributed to our developer packages<\/span><span style=\"line-height: auto;\">, meaning developers we sell our plugin to can use our plugin any number of clients that they have. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/plugmatter.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/1465198325_image16.png\" alt=\"Percent sale.png\" title=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Business is booming in the WordPress plugin market. And some top players seem to do everything&nbsp;right, especially with their pricing models. 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