WordPress is blessed with tons of developers creating plugins and themes for the platform. As a user, you benefit from the quick installation of the styles you need on your website.
Most WordPress plugins run on a freemium model, where you can access some features for free, but others are only available through a premium subscription or purchase.
In this article, I will quickly review the GPLDL platform, which serves as a marketplace to get WordPress items at a fraction of the price.
Table of Contents
Understanding WordPress GPL Themes and Plugins
Before we can understand what GPLDL is, we first need to understand WordPress GPL.
What exactly is GPL on WordPress?
GPL is an open-source software license used mainly by open-source applications, including WordPress, to freely showcase their work and its derivatives.
The GPL (General Public License) gives users four main freedoms:
- 1. Use the software for any purpose.
- 2. Access and modify the software’s source code.
- 3. Distribute the original software to help others.
- 4. Share modified versions under the same GPL terms.
Let me carefully dissect these four freedoms that come with the GPL license.
The first freedom is the ability to use the software for any purpose. That’s self-explanatory.
The second freedom is to access and modify the software’s source code. This lets users of WordPress plugins and themes interact with the source code of the software and alter it however they want.
The third freedom is to distribute the original software to help others. This goes a bit further. Besides interacting with and modifying the source code, users are also allowed to share any software from WordPress just like the actual developers do on their websites.
Normally, when a GPL product is shared, it retains the same privileges.
The fourth freedom says that even when modified by users, the altered version will still fall under the same terms (i.e., the four freedoms being explained).
What do these freedoms mean for actual developers?
Unfortunately, if you want to build for WordPress, you must comply with the four freedoms that have made the platform what it is today.
As a developer, you accept the fact that anything you’re releasing on WordPress isn’t only your own. Others can distribute your product in their name freely and legally.
What do these freedoms mean for WordPress users?
When you combine these four privileges, it means that users have more flexibility on WordPress than they might initially think.
Most people aren’t aware of these freedoms, and as a result, don’t use them ethically.
Just as we have explored the GPL license, users of WordPress have an unquestionable right to use, modify, and even distribute software tools (that aren’t even theirs) to benefit the community.
What is GPLDL?
GPLDL is a GPL (General Public License) site that offers a wide selection of WordPress themes and plugins for free. With more than 2.5k themes and plugins, the site is one of the few places to look at for a legal GPL product.
GPLDL has been in existence for a very long time and as a result, most people that know of GPL freedoms download their stuff there.
Unlike other GPL themes and plugin sites in our collection, the platform offers its products for free. When I say free, I mean you can download your dream product without having to pay sth like $4.99, unlike others.
However, we found out in our GPLDL review that the platform strategically drives free members to pay them via donations. The cream of the crop is literally restricted to premium membership, i.e., those of them who have cast donations.
Having initiated the set-up, let’s go straight and review GPLDL for…
- Legality
- Rate of updates
- Pros and cons.
How Legal is GPLDL?
GPLDL is one of the platforms that is making use of the GPL freedoms explored above to share WordPress plugins and themes, perhaps to benefit the entire community.
GPLDL obtains software tools from actual developers directly and then distributes the product itself for free (without customer support, though).
The distributed products are backed up by the freedom of redistribution, allowing the platform to share free premium WordPress plugins and themes.
This means GPLDL is a lawful platform in terms of legality, as it operates within the GPL license freedoms.
Typically, platforms like GPLDL share only GPL products that have already passed safety guidelines for building for WordPress.
Note: All WordPress plugins and themes are GPL products. GPL (General Public License) means the freedom to use, modify, and distribute WordPress products.
In essence, what GPL platforms like GPLDL are sharing are the original versions of WordPress themes and plugins that can be downloaded from actual developers, but in this case, they are shared for free.
It’s worth mentioning that most GPL sites charge a small fee to keep renewing their subscriptions with the main developers. The same can be seen on GPLDL, though they use donations.
Are the Products on GPLDL Up to Date?
Now that we understand the underlying conditions for the legality of GPLDL, an important aspect to explore is the rate at which the platform updates its available products.
For popular themes and plugins, updates do come but not regularly, unlike the likes of Srmehranclub.
Due to the fact that most products are free to download, the platform doesn’t have enough facility to keep WordPress themes and plugins mostly updated.
Note: There is no way “update time” from direct developers will equate to GPL sites like GPLDL
If you want a GPL themes and plugins site with a better update frequency, you may want to check out any of these – Srmehranclub, Pluginsforwp, WorldPressIT.
I have written reviews for them – Best GPL sites compared.
Features that Set GPLDL Apart
Here are the features that GPLDL offers that are rarely found on other GPL sites.
1. Free Membership
You can download a lot of items without paying a dime on GPLDL.
Popular WordPress solutions can be seen labeled for free.
This is highly different from other platforms offering GPL products for WordPress.
You only pay here for items labeled as premium.
GPLDL Pricing Breakdown
The platform has two pricing tiers — free membership and donation-based membership.
The donation-based membership allows users to donate any of the following to get premium access for some time.
- $15 for one month premium membership
- $60 for six months premium membership
- $100 for twelve months premium membership
When you review their donation-based pricing against platforms dealing with one-time purchases, subscriptions, and lifetime memberships (those of them like Srmehranclub, etc.), GPDL comes out as a loser.
Even its littlest $15 donation is ruinous as compared to alternatives. And it only lasts for a month.
$60 for six months as the second option also doesn’t live up to the value you’ll be getting.
$100 for 12 months is the last thing we’ll ever do considering that some GPL lifetime license can be gotten as such value.
Important: If you have not seen the best GPL clubs, refer to the link for the best platform selection.
Overall, when it goes beyond GPDL free membership, the platform becomes unworthy and unreasonably priced. We haven’t even talked about the lack of great Plugins and Themes in their set.
GPLDL Alternatives and Competitors
If you’re looking for any popular premium plugin or theme under GPL sites and you’re not interested in paying, GPLDL can be a place to explore.
But when it comes to accessing premium GPDL products (i.e., if the product you’re looking for on the website is behind a donation wall), we highly recommend folks to look at these places instead. They will pay them well for their money.
GPDL alternative websites to download premium WordPress and Woocommerce items include;
- Srmehranclub: A GPL site that offers solutions beyond WordPress (33,500+ products)
- Pluginsforwp: Best overall GPL site for WordPress themes and plugins (10,000+ products)
- WorldPressIT: Best WordPress GPL site in terms of features and pay-as-you-go pricing (25,000+ products)
Check their unbiased reviews – Pluginsforwp.com review, WorldPressIT.com review, Srmehranclub.com review.
GPLDL Pros and Cons
Here are the pros and cons of downloading from GPLDL instead of actual developers and other GPL sites.
GPLDL Pros
- 1. Free membership
- 2. Great for short-term usage and testing of products without paying the original price
GPLDL Cons
- 1. Pricing in the form of Donations is costlier than the competition
- 2. Updates come slower than top GPL sites
- 3. No direct updates from the WordPress area unlike some others
- 4. No option for single item purchase and Lifetime license
Conclusion
GPLDL is a legal and legit platform to get WordPress GPL themes and plugins for cheap.
Developers charge only for customer support, as can easily be interpreted from the GPL license freedoms.
For short-term usage and testing, GPLDL acts as a lifesaver, and one no longer has to spend a fortune for a product they will actually not spend time with.
In our review of the best GPL themes and plugin sites, GPLDL had a seat as a trusted source.
You can use the platform with peace of mind.
But let not your use case go beyond testing and short-term usage, unless you could be harming actual developers who made WordPress what it is today.
Overall, GPLDL hosts WordPress files that are safe to install. Although they are not the best, especially in terms of library size and pricing, its free membership can help you download your dream product for free.
FAQs
Is GPLDL Legal?
Yes, the platform operates within the GPL license freedoms for redistributing themes and plugins, which would otherwise cost more from the developers’ end.
Is GPLDL Legit?
Yes, GPLDL is a legitimate place to get themes and plugins for WordPress at a ridiculously cheap price.
However, potential users are advised to exercise caution by rescanning the products for 100% security.
Is GPLDL an ethical place for a WordPress Plugin/Theme store?
The platform is mostly unethical. The same can be said of other GPL platforms.
Because even when the law permits it, it’s not fair to exist as a platform where such are distributed.
These developers in question are actually humans and they spend a considerable amount of time building for WordPress.
Can I buy from a GPL site for testing or review purposes?
Yes, a person with the right mindset can only use these GPL sites for a short-term period.
But the mind can still go shady anytime. And there’s a high chance of getting stuck at GPL sites after the first encounter.
What I can say is that – only use GPL sites like GPLDL for short-term use cases. Then do well to pay actual developers for the products you like.
Customer support service and 99.9% security come by doing so. And before I forget, early UPDATES.
What are some GPDL alternatives?
GPDL is one of the oldest websites that use the freedoms attached to GNU GPL license to redistribute derivative works of WordPress for free.
As a result, most people who are aware of GPL licensing and the benefits it gives to them as a WP user use GPLDL from time to time.
Right now, alternative sites have come up. And most of them exist as a place where you can get even items that get as low as 10 downloads per month.
Here are better GPLDL alternatives to try
