After spending years building and selling WordPress plugins, I’ve tried pretty much every platform out there. From launching on Envato and dealing with the chaos of their review queue, to integrating Freemius and EDD on self-hosted setups, I’ve seen the strengths and weaknesses of all these platforms firsthand. That experience is exactly what led me to build WPBay – not as just another marketplace, but as a platform that actually puts developers first.

Here’s my honest breakdown of the options:

Envato (CodeCanyon)
It’s the biggest name in the game. Tons of traffic, huge audience, but the tradeoffs are brutal. You give up 30-50% of your revenue, the review process is slow and unpredictable, and you have zero access to your customers. That worked for me when I was just starting out, but it’s a dead end if you want to grow your own brand.

Freemius
Freemius is solid if you want a quick way to add licensing, subscriptions, and analytics into your plugin without building the backend yourself. But it’s tightly coupled – once you’re in, getting out is a pain. And just like Envato, they take a cut of your revenue (up to 27%), and you still don’t have full ownership of your customer relationships. You’re renting a platform.

EDD (Easy Digital Downloads)
EDD gives you control. It’s self-hosted, which means you own everything – the customer data, the pricing model, the experience. That’s great if you’re technical and don’t mind setting everything up yourself. But the cost of building, maintaining, securing, and scaling a full plugin store adds up fast. If you’re not careful, the time and server bills can eat into your profits.

WPBay
This is the platform I wish existed when I first started. WPBay is built by WordPress developers, for WordPress developers. You set your prices, keep your branding, and most importantly – you keep your customers. We don’t lock you in, and we’re not here to compete with your products or charge hidden fees. Our goal is to give developers a fair shot at making a living without handing over half their revenue just to exist on someone else’s platform.

If you’re just starting out and want a ready-made audience, Envato might help you get some exposure. If you want a plug-and-play licensing system, Freemius might work for you. If you’re ready to take full control and build your own store, EDD is a strong choice.

But if you want the best of both worlds – your own brand, your own customers, with support and community behind you – I built WPBay for you.

Let me know what you think. Always happy to chat with other devs navigating this wild plugin ecosystem.