Premium plugins

Web Design
#1

Hi,

I’m in a bit of a bind and hoping for some good advice :slight_smile:

When I first started out a few years ago, I purchased gravity forms developer license and used it on many websites - not realizing the consequences…

I do not want to pay for this forever and I now understand the value of maintenance plans.

In my contract I wrote clearly “we are not responsible to maintain any premium plugins for more than one year”
(Issue - some clients won’t recall and I don’t know how clear I was about the fact that GF is a premium plugin)

I would like to go back to my previous clients that use GF and offer them:

  1. maintenance plan (will include premium plugins)
  2. setup their own account

If the website has a very basic form I can recreate the form using a free plugin…

Any advice for doing this the simplest way with the least amount of resistance?

TIA!

@peninah_adler @rivkah

#2

That is a tricky one.
Perhaps you can highlight that you gave them free plugins for x amount of years, even though you normally offer it for one year.
For a free good form plugin I would recommend forminator, they have a lot of options!

#3

hmmm i BH have one client who relies on it so much (for paid yeshiva applications) that they are actually paying me for the license fees each year… which then other websites benefit from (but i did write in contract that i don’t officially agree to maintain it). i guess you could give them a warning if you can now longer maintain it - wont the plugin still work even once you stop paying just they cant get updates?

i think i once had a similar-ish dilemma with Divi when wordpress did their major change to block builder and so i contacted any past clients who i did not do maintenance for and offered them a one time website update and they took me up on it (i must have given them a very cheap price!!)

so maybe you could offer them a choice of paying premium and you can send them a guide how to do it or you switching the form plugin

#4

I think your options are reasonable but I would add redoing their forms on a free plugin (if possible) as one of the options, for a fee.

I don’t think this is unreasonable and I think if you write it out as confidently and nicely as possible (confident you’re not doing the wrong thing, and caring that they have a good outcome), it’s fine and 99% of people will understand.

#5

Thank you @Chani_Freedman-Thumi! Forminator looks really good!

#6

@peninah_adler - your response made me feel much calmer :slight_smile:
I agree 100% that confidence is key!

My question is in regards to charging for the switch to a free plugin:
If I didn’t made it clear that GF is a premium plugin - is it fair to charge now, specifically if it’s a simple form?

#7

I don’t think it’s a problem…most of these people have gotten years of use out of it, haven’t they? Even those who are just 1 year, IMO this is just how it goes in the industry.

Think about when you call plumbers. They do not apologize and tell you they won’t charge you because they should have given you several options when your sink leaked last year. They just do their best, make their decisions, and bill you :slight_smile:

#8

Got it! Thank you so much @peninah_adler!