# Licensing

Licenses for WP Cloud Plugins are sold and managed through **Freemius**, our main payment and licensing partner. This page explains the available license plans, what each one covers, and how to manage your license.

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**Bought your plugin on CodeCanyon (Envato Market)?** \
\
Your existing CodeCanyon license remains valid  See the [CodeCanyon Licenses page](/docs/licensing/codecanyon-envato-licenses.md) for details on Regular and Extended licenses. You can also [convert your CodeCanyon purchase code](https://wpcloudplugins.com/migrate) into a Freemius license. The conversion is **free for 12 months**. After that, renewal is optional.
{% endhint %}

### **License Plans**

We offer **two license types**, each available in multiple **site tiers** and as either an **annual subscription** or a **lifetime** purchase.

#### License types

{% hint style="success" %}
**Standard License** For use on your own sites or your clients' sites. Covers most use cases.

**Commercial License** Required if the plugin is used as part of a paid product or service — for example behind a paywall, in a membership area, in a SaaS offering, or in a product you resell. Same features as Standard, different usage rights.
{% endhint %}

The key distinction: if your business directly monetizes a site or service that uses one of our plugins, you need a **Commercial License**. For free, publicly accessible sites — or sites you build for clients — the **Standard License** is sufficient.

{% hint style="danger" %}
If a Standard License is found being used on a commercial site (where users pay to access content or services that include a WP Cloud Plugin module), the license can be revoked.
{% endhint %}

#### Site tiers

Each license is sold for a specific number of sites:

| Tier          | Use case                                                |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **1 site**    | Single site or single client project                    |
| **5 sites**   | Multiple personal/client sites                          |
| **25 sites**  | Agencies or small networks                              |
| **Unlimited** | Large agencies, hosts, or organizations with many sites |

A "site" means one production install on one domain. Development, staging, and local environments don't count against your quota (see What counts as a "site" below).

#### Annual vs Lifetime

{% hint style="success" %}

**Annual subscription**

* All plugin updates during your subscription period
* Email support during your subscription period
* Renews automatically — cancel anytime from your Freemius account
* If you don't renew, the plugin keeps working on your activated sites but you no longer receive updates or support<br>

**Lifetime**

* One-time payment, no renewal
* All plugin updates — forever
* Email support during the first 12 months
* Plugin keeps working on your activated sites permanently
  {% endhint %}

Both options include the same plugin features. The choice is about how you prefer to pay: yearly with continued support, or once with permanent update access.

### Choosing the right license

#### Standard or Commercial?

* **Standard** — public, free-access sites, or sites you build for clients without revenue being tied to the plugin's functionality
* **Commercial** — any site where access to plugin functionality is part of what users are paying for (paywalls, memberships, subscriptions, SaaS, digital downloads in a webshop)

#### Which site tier?

Pick the tier that matches the number of sites you plan to use the plugin on. If you're not sure, start with a smaller tier — you can upgrade to a higher tier at any time and pay only the difference (prorated).

#### Examples

1. **Personal blog with the plugin embedded** → Standard, 1 site
2. **Three client websites, each on their own domain** → Standard, 5 sites (covers all three)
3. **A WooCommerce shop where the plugin powers digital downloads customers paid for** → **Commercial**, 1 site
4. **A membership site where premium content uses the plugin behind a paywall** → **Commercial**, 1 site
5. **Agency managing 18 client sites, none commercial** → Standard, 25 sites
6. **SaaS product offering file-management as a service, built on the plugin** → **Commercial**, tier depending on how many tenants/sites

#### What counts as a "site"

A license covers one production install per site quota. The following examples clarify when separate sites count separately or as one:

1. **Main site (`organization.com`) + departmental subdomains (`newyork.organization.com`, `london.organization.com`)** — these are separate end-products → **separate sites**, count separately against quota
2. **Main site + a subdomain that's part of the same site (`shop.organization.com` as a section of `organization.com`)** → **single site**
3. **Production site + its development, staging, or localhost environments** → **single site** (dev environments are free, see below)
4. **Multiple domains (`a-organization.com` and `b-organization.com`), or different TLDs (`organization.eu` and `organization.com`)** → **separate sites**, even if same owner

#### What about development, staging, and local environments?

{% hint style="info" %}
Development, staging, and localhost installs **do not count** against your site quota, as long as the domain clearly indicates it's a dev or staging environment. See List of TLDs and subdomains recognized as dev/staging.
{% endhint %}

### Managing your license

#### Where to find your license key

After purchase, your license key is sent to the email address you used at checkout. You can also find it any time in your **Freemius account** at [customers.freemius.com](https://customers.freemius.com/).

#### Renewing or canceling (Annual only)

Manage your subscription from your [Freemius account](https://users.freemius.com):

* **Renew**: subscriptions auto-renew. You'll receive a reminder email \~30 days before the renewal date.
* **Cancel**: cancel any time. The plugin remains active until the end of your current paid period; after that, updates and support stop, but the plugin keeps working.

#### Upgrading to a higher tier

You can upgrade to a higher site tier at any time from your Freemius account. You pay the prorated difference based on time remaining in your subscription. Lifetime licenses can also be upgraded — you pay the price difference between the two lifetime tiers.

### Refunds

Direct purchases through Freemius come with a **14-day refund window**, no questions asked. Contact support or use the refund option in your Freemius account.

### Still have questions?

* For licensing questions specific to your situation: contact our support via [wpcloudplugins.com/support](https://wpcloudplugins.com/support)
* For CodeCanyon-specific license questions: see [CodeCanyon Licenses](/docs/licensing/codecanyon-envato-licenses.md)


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