Are you a WordPress plugin developer or seller looking for the perfect marketplace to showcase your plugins? The decision of where to list your plugins can significantly impact your success and reach within the WordPress community. Two popular options that often come to mind are Pluggable and CodeCanyon.
Both of these marketplaces can help you reach a specific target audience. Although there are a lot of differences in ease of use, support, and marketing opportunities between these marketplaces. We'll break down the pros and cons of each to guide you toward the right choice. Let's dive into getting to know about these marketplaces.
Pluggable is the first marketplace on the internet specifically for purchasing and selling WordPress plugins. This online marketplace host and advertises WordPress plugins that are created by talented programmers. In addition, this marketplace is an ideal platform for developers who desire to get independent opportunities to promote their amazing plugins.
CodeCanyon is one of the parts of Envato Market. You can buy and sell scripts, software, and elements at CodeCanyon for many different languages and structures including at now JavaScript, PHP, ASP.NET, and Java. Items are priced according to their complexity, quality, and planned application. A buyer fee is also included in the final price.
Evaluating Features of Pluggable and CodeCanyon
| Features | Pluggable | CodeCanyon |
| Setting up price | On Pluggable, you get the opportunity to decide the price of your plugins and set them yourself. | You can submit the price of your plugin on CodeCanyon, but it is often restructured by them. |
| Commission | As a seller, you can get up to 85% commission from Pluggable. | CodeCanyon only offers a maximum of 45% commission to non-exclusive sellers. |
| Payout | The minimum payout at Pluggable is just $50. | The minimum payout amount for CodeCanyon is also $50. |
| Premium Support | They offer premium support to both developers and customers. | CodeCanyon has premium support for customers, but there’s often a gap when you seek help as a seller. |
| Community Support Group (Facebook) | Pluggable has an official Facebook group for providing support to users. Also, there's a dedicated group for making connections between WordPress developers. | CodeCanyon doesn’t have any official community support group on Facebook. |
| Users Can Test a Plugin Before Purchasing | As a seller, you can create a test site to display the functionalities of your plugin, and users can also test them to their full extent before buying. | CodeCanyon only offers the option to link your external demo site and doesn’t have any option to host and let users test the products in-house. |
By considering all the features of these two marketplaces, undoubtedly, Pluggable is an ideal marketplace for both sellers and users. You get a strong Facebook community support group, a maximum commission rate, a full opportunity to test plugins before buying, and the independence to set prices for plugins by yourself. But CodeCanyon doesn’t offer you these types of amazing features.
Pricing Structure of Pluggable and CodeCanyon
In both of these marketplaces, the pricing structures have been made according to different types of pricing strategies. You will notice multiple pricing models in these marketplaces that are given below:
| Pricing Structure | Pluggable | CodeCanyon |
| Tiered Product Pricing Structure for Buyers | You can set variable prices for your plugins and showcase them to the buyers for purchasing flexibility. | CodeCanyon doesn’t offer the option to set tiered pricing for your plugins/products. They only let you set a single price for your plugins. |
| Upfront Plugin/Product Hosting Fee | There is no upfront fee for hosting a plugin on Pluggable. | In this marketplace, the product hosting fee is $4. |
| Documentation Hosting | On pluggable, to showcase your plugins through documentation, there is 0% of the documentation hosting fee. | This feature doesn’t exist on this platform. |
| Segmented Pricing for Sellers | You will get segmented pricing for sellers available in pluggable. | In CodeCanyon, segmented pricing is not available for sellers. |
On Pluggable, as a seller, you will get various services with segmented pricing. For plugin hosting. Initially, after joining Pluggable, the platform charges 15% of total sales for hosting the plugin. This charge covers the hosting fee and will give your plugin exposure to a vast audience. In this marketplace, you will get top-notch support for your WordPress plugins.
If you want the Pluggable support team to handle your customers, you can easily avail of the service by choosing to share a 12% commission on top of the hosting fee. You can also create your own demo site and let the user experience your plugin in real-time with only a 3% additional fee. Also, you can avail yourself of dedicated marketing for your WordPress plugin by choosing to share a 20% additional commission. You can find more details of these services on the Pluggable's website.
This flexible commission-sharing policy will help you choose the services you need according to market demand and grow your revenue. On the other hand, CodeCanyon doesn’t offer you such flexibility. So in terms of services and pricing structure, Pluggable is definitely the best option for selling your WordPress Plugin.
Developer Support and Community
| Developer Support and Community | Pluggable | CodeCanyon |
| Facebook Group | Pluggable has dedicated Facebook groups for users and developers. As a developer, if you face any difficulties regarding your plugin onboarding or other issues on the Pluggable marketplace, you can post on the Facebook group directly. The highly supportive community and support team members are always ready to solve your problems. | In the case of CodeCanyon, there is no official Facebook group for developers. So, if you face any problem regarding your product marketing in this marketplace, you have to search for other options to solve your problem. |
| Support Tickets | As a user or developer, if you come across an issue, you can raise a ticket on Pluggable’s help site.The friendly support team members are always ready to provide your desired support. | CodeCanyon also has the option to provide support through tickets, but their support is often unresponsive and takes too much time. |
In regards to official community support and fast support response by the Pluggable support team, they are the winner over the support offered by CodeCanyon.
User Experience and Customization
Pluggable is a user-friendly WordPress plugin marketplace. It is hassle-free for both its users and developers because of its simple and easy buying and selling processes. You can find your desired plugin in a second because there is an individual search option in this marketplace, and you can purchase it without much hassle as it has all the popular payment options available on the checkout.
Pluggable listens to its users and developers; you can drop your feedback regarding the services anytime, and the authority will take the necessary steps to solve the issues. This marketplace also lets you customize pricing, documentation, licenses, and all other segments to tailor them according to consumer demands.
On the other hand, CodeCanyon is not as user-friendly as Pluggable. Because it hosts multiple types of products, which makes it a bit complicated and difficult to use for new visitors.
If you are solely looking for a WordPress plugin or want to sell one, then you should also consider the user experience and customization options of a marketplace. In these terms, you can go for the Pluggable WordPress plugin marketplace without hesitation.
Licensing and Ownership
| Licensing and Ownership | Pluggable | CodeCanyon |
| Native License Management | Pluggable has an easy-to-use license management system. You can create various types of licenses. Most of the plugins follow this structure - personal (1 site), professional (5 sites), agency (unlimited sites), etc. You can also customize the plans on your own. | CodeCanyon has its own multiple license management systems. Like, course license, tool license, logo license, etc. |
| Time Duration | All the licenses on the Pluggable marketplace are yearly subscription-based. | The products on CodeCanyon can be purchased for a lifetime although the users can get extended 1-year support for an additional charge. |
| Keyless License Activation | Pluggable marketplace lets the sellers integrate a keyless license activation method on their plugins. This means by integrating the keyless license activation system on your plugin, your users can install the plugin on their website without the hassle of copying and pasting any license key. | There is no such feature available on CodeCanyon. The users/buyers need to copy and paste the license on their website in order to use it. |
In terms of licensing and ownership, Plugabble offers two unique facilities like various license types and keyless license activation.
The yearly licensing system of Pluggable is a profitable business policy for sellers and developers. If your plugin is awesome, then after a year of plugin usage, your users will definitely renew their licenses. Which will help you generate ongoing revenue.
Submission Process and Marketplace Reach
On Pluggable, the plugin submission process is very easy and simple. It is not a time-consuming process at all. As a seller, you must go through a few simple steps to submit your plugin.
To submit your plugins, you need to create a profile on Pluggable first. The process of creating a profile can be done in less than a minute by filling out a few necessary fields.
After that, you need to log into the developer account on the dashboard.
After going to the dashboard, you can follow this guide to submit your plugins on the Pluggable marketplace and reach potential customers. After submitting your plugins, they will be reviewed by experts and you will get feedback within 2-3 working days.
On the contrary, CodeCanyon has a really long and complicated signup process. Also, the product submission process is often difficult and time-consuming in this marketplace. To submit your product, first, you have to create your profile, which consists of 9 steps that are highly time-consuming and frustrating for sellers.
The product submission process is also complicated on CodeCanyon. They also take a long time to review the products. Also, if your product is declined, they often won’t let you know the reason.
In comparison to the submission process and marketplace reach, Pluggable is the winner, as it is a much more seller-friendly and hassle-free platform to publish WordPress plugins and get proper exposure.
Making the Decision
Here’s the final chart summarizing all the factors we have discussed above:
| Factors | Pluggable | CodeCanyon |
| Pricing | Pluggable lets the sellers set the pricing based on various tires. Which creates flexibility for the buyer while making a purchase decision. | CodeCanyon does not offer the option to set tiered or segmented pricing opportunities for your products. The buyers a stuck with a single pricing structure and often hesitates to confirm a purchase. |
| License Duration | All the licenses in this WordPress plugin marketplace are renewed annually. Which opens the door for generating stable revenue. | Pluggable has a super-friendly support team that will take the hassle of managing your plugin's customers and solves their issues. |
| Commission | Pluggable offers up to 85% commission to its sellers. Which is the highest commission amount offered of all other marketplaces. | CodeCanyon only offers lifetime licenses. There’s very little chance of growing a returning customer base with the lifetime license system. |
| Community Support | Pluggable has a highly engaging community on social media platforms such as Facebook. | CodeCanyon does not have an official community where sellers and buyers can come up with their issues and queries. |
| Dedicated customers support for your plugin | All the licenses in this WordPress plugin marketplace are renewed annually. Which opens the door to generating stable revenue. | CodeCanyon does not offer such an option. You will need to take responsibility for communicating with the customers and solving their issues. Which can be a barrier to scaling your business to greater heights. |
With Pluggable’s better community, easy sign-up process, friendly atmosphere, dedicated support, easy plugin submission process, highest commission amount, dedicated support for customers, and easy-to-configure license system, it is the best platform out there for showcasing and buying top-quality WordPress plugins.
Conclusion
After comparing both Pluggable and CodeCanyon marketplaces, it is evident that Pluggable emerges as the clear winner for meeting the needs of WordPress plugin developers and buyers. Pluggable wears the crown in several key areas that contribute to a superior user experience.
Whether you are a developer looking to reach a wider audience or a buyer seeking reliable and innovative WordPress plugins, Pluggable is the best marketplace for your needs. Visit Pluggable’s official website today and experience the benefits of a vibrant community, seamless processes, and exceptional support that can elevate your WordPress plugin journey to new heights.
