Thinking about using cracked plugins for side projects that don’t get much traffic. I know there are risks, but if it’s just for testing or small personal projects, does it really matter?
Besides malware, your site could get hacked, used for spam, or have sneaky backlinks injected into it. Your domain or IP could even get blacklisted, which can cause issues with your hosting provider.
Even if the site isn’t important, cracked plugins aren’t worth it.
If you use cracked plugins, you’re basically asking to get hacked.
If you remove the license check yourself, there’s no real risk, but that takes time. Some plugins have crazy prices, so I get why people do it.
If you go that route, at least get them from a source you trust. Downloading random files off Google is a bad idea.
@Niko
What do you mean by ‘nulled’? Is that the same as cracked?
Sage said:
@Niko
What do you mean by ‘nulled’? Is that the same as cracked?
Yeah, nulled and cracked are the same thing.
Sage said:
@Niko
What do you mean by ‘nulled’? Is that the same as cracked?
Yeah, that’s the term people use. If you’re thinking of doing this, DM me—I don’t want you downloading something shady.
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Case said:
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Is this actually true? I’d love to see real proof of this. If we downloaded 10 cracked plugins right now, how many would actually have malware?
Case said:
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Is this actually true? I’d love to see real proof of this. If we downloaded 10 cracked plugins right now, how many would actually have malware?
Honestly? Probably none. I use cracked plugins to test features, and I rarely see malware. Maybe I’m just getting them from better sources?
Case said:
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Is this actually true? I’d love to see real proof of this. If we downloaded 10 cracked plugins right now, how many would actually have malware?
Regardless of whether they have malware or not—do you think it’s fair to use something someone else worked hard on without paying?
@Micah
Where did I say it was fair?
Case said:
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Is this actually true? I’d love to see real proof of this. If we downloaded 10 cracked plugins right now, how many would actually have malware?
But isn’t that the problem? If you don’t have the skills to check the code, how do you know it’s safe?
@Pax
It’s not hard to check for malware in a plugin. If you’re going to use cracked stuff, at least learn how to spot problems.
Quinlan said:
@Pax
It’s not hard to check for malware in a plugin. If you’re going to use cracked stuff, at least learn how to spot problems.
How do you check?
Quinlan said:
@Pax
It’s not hard to check for malware in a plugin. If you’re going to use cracked stuff, at least learn how to spot problems.
If you know how to check for malware, why not just make your own plugin?
@Pax
Making a plugin and spotting malware are totally different things.
This article explains the risks: 9 Reasons Why You Must Avoid Nulled WordPress Themes & Plugins
Basically, cracked plugins can open your site to malware, security flaws, and even full takeovers by hackers.
Using them could also violate licensing agreements, which might cause legal trouble. Even for small projects, it’s not worth the risk.
Better to use free or official plugins. The WordPress plugin repository and sites like CodeCanyon have plenty of safe options.