Top 10 Reasons To Avoid Using Nulled WordPress Plugins And Themes

Numerous definitions of nulled exist around the web. People with different opinions have given different definitions of this term. However, if you go through each elucidation, you will be puzzled. Through this article, we will make you understand the necessity of avoiding nulled plugins and themes specifically if you’re serious about your WordPress website.

So we’ve made it easy for you, let’s dive in!

What Are Nulled Plugins And Themes?

Firstly there are three types of plugins and themes which we can define on the web, Free, Paid, and Freemium. By nulled here, we refer to nulled plugins and themes that are pirated versions of premium WordPress products, and using them can harm your website in a lot of ways. 

People who indulge in redistributing nulled plugins and themes say that since WordPress and any derivative works for example plugins and themes are licensed under GPL, it’s fine to copy and redistribute them. 

This more often includes high costs and can cause WordPress companies to lose money. But most significantly the security and integrity of websites are put at stake while using these Nulled plugins and themes. Nulled plugins and themes are hacked and contain malicious code. They are designed by third-party websites and not the original author or creator to collect private information. They are often created to work without a license key.

You must be wondering why exactly we should ignore nulled plugins.

Here are the top 10 reasons as to why you should avoid using nulled plugins and themes:

1. Denied Access to Updates

To fix bugs, add new features, and close security loopholes, most WordPress plugins, and themes release updates regularly. Using these nulled plugins and themes can be a threat to your website’s security and can turn out to be even worse for your eCommerce site.

Instant support will be missing for your WordPress plugin or theme. Also, your website will have no access to updates as nulled plugins and themes don’t have a valid license key.

This will lead to an obsolete version of your WordPress blog which also might be insecure. 

2. Documentation Access is Restricted Too

Even the most experienced WordPress users need documentation to learn about any new plugin or theme before they start using it on their WordPress site. Developers spend lots of time and money on creating the documentation. To make optimum use of WordPress plugins and themes, even the most adroit WordPress users need support and documentation. 

In case you are using a nulled plugin or theme all the responsibility is on your shoulders. Here the developers don’t have a say. Also, you are denied access to documentation and tutorials because they are only made for paid customers. 

3. New Features Will Only Exist in Your Dreams

WordPress plugins and themes are kept up-to-date and mostly include new features. Making use of a nulled WordPress plugin or theme will keep you away from receiving automatic updates. You will be unable to update the version of WordPress. Since they’re nulled, WordPress won’t provide any support for them. In addition to this, you will also not be able to improve the performance of your WordPress software. 

These new features can improve your website and also might help you earn more revenue. However, you will be totally oblivious of such new features and their benefits and will miss out on an important part. 

Nulled Plugins And Themes May Not Necessarily Be Illegal 

Nulled plugins and themes may not necessarily be illegal because of the GPL (General public license). Part of the GPL license says that you are allowed to freely distribute GPL-licensed software, even premium GPL licensed software. 

So in case, a nulled plugins and themes site attaches a piece of GPL licensed software up for download, they’re not really breaking any laws or rules because the GPL clearly allows distributing that GPL code. 

GPL is a major part of WordPress and most WordPress plugins and themes make use of GPL. But all this still doesn’t mean you should stuff your website with nulled plugins and themes, which will be cleared as you read the blog further. 

4. Keep an Eye to Legal Problems 

Numerous WordPress plugins and themes are open-source but a few of them are also sold with mixed licenses. This signifies that part of the code is under copyright protection and using a nulled plugin or theme you don’t have the permission to do so.

Pirated themes and plugins can cause data theft, data loss, and the distribution of illegal material. This might get you into trouble and you might have to pay a huge sum of the amount at courts and to lawyers.

5. Threat to SEO is Inevitable

Nulled plugins and themes can add spam links to your website. They can completely destroy your WordPress SEO. It will be difficult for you to detect these spam links as they are well hidden inside the code. Probably you won’t be redirected when logged into your WordPress account. 

But on the contrary, search engines will be quick to notice this and your website rankings might drop. This will have a negative effect on your user experience. Also, it will ruin the loads of hard work you have put into your website. It might take months or even years to bring back the lost SEO rankings. Your business revenue will also be affected so it’s best to avoid making use of nulled plugins and themes.

6. Security gets Compromised

Nulled plugins and themes are extremely harmful to your website as they carry malware. They can have malicious code hidden inside them which can make your website vulnerable to be hacked. The code can grow and disguise itself amongst different files which will make it very hard to detect. 

The chances of you losing all your website data are high. Also, your site might get re-indexed from search engines since they’re distributing malware. When you make use of a nulled WordPress plugin or theme you’re exposing your website to exploitation. People usually don’t have the time and knowledge to go through all the code. So you might have no idea what all the nulled plugin and theme has brought with it.

7. There’s No Guarantee to Privacy Anymore

These codes have the ability to steal information from your website which can include your email address, passwords. And for an online eCommerce store or membership website, things are even worse. 

These codes can steal all the recorded data of your customers, which in turn can create reliability issues. Also, it’s difficult to detect these codes and your WordPress website might continue functioning normally. 

So it’s more advisable to ignore nulled plugins and themes and only obtain plugins from original authors. Because purchasing a plugin from third-party websites means the chances are more of the plugin being modified, the code could be unsafe, and it could also carry a virus. 

8. Advertisements and Backlinks

The exploiters will display advertisements to your website visitors. They might also add backlinks to third-party websites to reduce your website traffic. 

Your website visitors will notice all these things but you might not. This whole process will damage your credibility and it will keep deteriorating. As a result, the SEO rankings will suffer too!.

9. Discouraged Innovation

A few might say that they make use of nulled plugins and themes probably because they’re not in a position to purchase them. However, by making use of a nulled plugin or theme you’re taking away revenue from those developers who’ve put in their skill, talent, and hard work.

Besides writing code, developers also provide support, create documentation, hire staff support, make a website, and incur a lot of money to operate their business. These repercussions might hold them back from being innovative and developing more products that could benefit a lot of users.

Be Aware Of These Malicious / Nulled Plugin Resources

Here’s the list of the websites that offer free nulled themes and plugins for WordPress. Check out the list given below:

• Srmehranclub (GPL – Recommended- not nulled )
• NullWebScripts
• NulledFactory
• Nulled-scripts
• Nulled Themes – Download Nulled WordPress Themes 2020-2021
• Codenull
• Nullrip
• Nulled.temphow.xyz
• Scriptnillz
• Mh Themes download
• JOJOThemes – Download Free WordPress Themes & Scripts

 10. Free Alternatives

WordPress.org provides plenty of plugins and themes which people can use as a substitute for the premium version. So instead of going for nulled plugins and themes, it’s better to find alternatives. This will prevent your website from unwanted situations. To get going there are a lot of premium plugins and themes that provide free versions which you can put to use. For instance, for a contact form plugin, you can choose the WPForms Lite. If you need a plugin for Google Analytics you can try the free version of MonsterInsights. Apparently what’s important here is that using free plugins and themes from WordPress will lessen the legal burden, and you won’t negatively affect the WordPress community too!

How To Resolve These Issues?

In accordance with a security survey, 25% of people responded that they have encountered a hacked website. This shows us the extent of the problem. You won’t get back the time and credibility you will lose if your website is hacked.

Websites are producing malicious nulled WordPress plugins and themes. Also, they sell them at economic rates which allures the people more. Therefore, the security of your website is very important and for that, you need to completely avoid the usage of nulled plugins and themes. 

Benefits Of Using Original Plugins

• Using original plugins by original authors on WordPress will let you update your plugin and use the newest features.
• New features in the update will enhance the plugin which in turn will help your business in earning more revenue.
• Your website will be secured from all sorts of malicious codes that comes along with nulled plugins and themes.
• You will be saved from getting into Illegal copyright matters.
• The SEO, customer data, and all other private information of your website will be saved from being exploited.

Conclusion

Everyone loves things free of cost. And because of that people among us forget to consider important things like privacy and security. This same thing happens when you’re buying plugins and themes. And the premium version of nulled plugins and themes makes it even more irresistible for customers. Pirated software is used for multiple purposes, such as:

• To trick people into downloading malware so their personal information can be exposed to hackers.
• Revenue from advertisements can be earned. These advertisements usually promote illegal products and adult content.
• One reason could also be to collect personal data which is further sold for a profit.

Perhaps by making use of nulled plugins and themes, people mostly forget the disadvantages and dangers they bring along with them. A bunch of WordPress Plugin development and theme development companies are coming forth with awareness programs about nulled plugins and themes. 

Taking this into consideration, the above points have been put together. So that you are fully aware of the repercussions and can save your website from destruction.

Please feel free to give any suggestions, or ask any questions in the comment box below.