An interesting read. I am glad I posted here. :)

True, I’ve come across some free plugins that offer better functionality than paid versions. The issue is how often will the dev update it and how long will development continue. It might be risky to depend longterm on something that is free but has 5k downloads vs something that is paid with 50k downloads and is getting constant updates. Of course, if you pirate paid plugins it’s arguably even worse with the updates… so I guess pirating plugins is not really the best of ideas.

Yeah, I am starting to come to the same conclusion. Keeping the plugin up to date seems like the biggest issue even IF I do manage to find an initial reliable source.

That seems quite legit :). Thank you! Will check it out

Some of the plugins I’ve seen use “tokens” for example to enable pro features. They also have free versions but their functionality is often severely limited.

I am not a dev myself, I am collaborating with someone who is though but I doubt he would be willing to do that and guarantee me the code is malware free.