Nobuna.com - What's the Deal and is it Worth it?

Nobuna.com is a membership site that offers huge discounts on WordPress themes and plugins.

But what’s the catch in this? Is there any risk in using those products? Why buy from Nobuna and not from the official marketplace/owner?

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Is it Legal to Sell GPL WordPress Plugins and Themes at an Affordable Cost?

WordPress is distributed under GPL – General Public License (so as the plugins and themes). GPL license enables you to copy, modify, distribute, or resell the code as you like. This allows sites like Nobuna to redistribute the software to others without violating WordPress policies.

Many of the WordPress plugins and themes are licensed under the GPL (General Public License), which means they are free and open-source software. However, there has been some confusion and debate surrounding the legality of selling GPL WordPress plugins and themes, something sites like Nobuna are doing.

It is legal to sell GPL WordPress plugins and themes. However, it is important to note that the GPL license does not specify a minimum or maximum price for the software.

This means that anyone can sell GPL software at any price they choose, as long as they provide the source code to the buyer.

The GPL license only covers the code part of the plugin, however, the software also comes with trademark rights for the creators/owners.

So, for example, if a third party redistributes a WordPress plugin using all of the project’s original branding (e.g., promoting it with the original name, logo, etc., of the company/project), this would likely infringe the original developer’s trademark rights. As noted, the open source license does not allow someone to use someone else’s branding in a commercial context. This is important because one of the main principles of trademark law is to protect the consumer from confusion as to where a product is coming from.”

All in all, what Nobuna is doing is reselling all those plugins and themes at a lower price, which can be considered as piracy (unauthorized and illegal use of someone else’s trademark).

Is Nobuna offering Nulled Themes and Plugins?

No! The offered software on Nobuna is original, so at least, in this case, is better than any nulled product.

Nulled WordPress themes (and plugins) are the absolute worst when it comes to saving money and being “clever” in your webmaster work.

Nobuna won’t provide you with any support or license codes for your products, but at least won’t inject malicious code into your website and scare your visitors with spam links, or unexpected redirects.

Why the prices of Nobuna are much cheaper?

I don’t think it’s a huge bargain to buy from such sites.

Buying a premium plugin license might look more expensive at first, but in the long run, it will probably save you a lot (not just money).

The reason why the software costs 5-6x times less than on the original sales page is that it comes without support and timely updates.

So if you get in trouble with errors, plugin conflicts, etc. you will be on your own.

The second big downside is the updates. There might be a critical update needed, because of a new version of WordPress or general changes in any other plugin’s code. Still, you’ll have to wait sometimes even months before Nobuna update their plugin.

Can I find Everything I need on Nobuna?

It depends on your case, but as I’m browsing the Nobuna website and writing this post, I can see an absence of Envato products. If you don’t know what Envato is – it is the biggest marketplace for WordPress themes and plugins, with its websites ThemeForest.com and CodeCanyon.com.

Conclusion

First I have to say – Yes, I used Nobuna and I made some purchases in the past.

That being said, if I had the money to buy the original product, would I still go for Nobuna? Probably not.

All in all, it’s just monkey business, and you should have in mind that when you buy from such sites as Nobuna, what you are getting is pirated software.

They use some doors in the licensing terms of WordPress, but they violate other terms.

I suggest you find the official distributor site, spend some more dollars, and in the long run, you won’t regret it.

References

https://freemius.com/blog/selling-wordpress-plugins-gpl/

Disclosure: Some of the links on the page may contain a ref code (affiliate links), that tells the other side that we have sent you. If you liked what we suggest and you make a purchase, we may receive a commission.

Job says:

September 6, 2019 at 11:15 am

HI there, your article is incorrect. While the code of those plugins is GPL, the trademarks and names of those companies are not. For example, we as Automattic own the WooCommerce Trademark and they are in violation with our trademark guidelines.

- WPCtrl says:
  
  September 6, 2019 at 11:44 am
  
  Hi,
  
  I’ll investigate this further and edit the article with the correct information.
  
  Thank you for mentioning this.
  
  Cheers!
  
- Jake St. Peter says:
  
  October 23, 2019 at 7:03 am
  
  So why doesn’t Automatic sue them?
  
  - Imre says:
    
    November 13, 2019 at 3:20 pm
    
    That’s a good question – surely Automattic would have the legal resources to get this site (and similar other) taken down.
    Many of these sites distribute malware and unchecked versions of the plugins and themes and take zero responsibility of course for any wrongdoing while pocketing people’s money. Completely unethical and – as you mentioned – in violation of proprietary trademarks.
    Wouldn’t it make sense just to report the site to the hosting company and file a trademark abuse report?
    
Jake says:

October 23, 2019 at 7:05 am

Also heads up – Your feedback form is all caps – The comment posted normal though.

Geoff says:

March 23, 2020 at 10:07 am

I fully understand the lack of support for the developers, however if they did not charge so much I would be able to buy direct from the developer. For example Woocommerce Subscriptions for $199 per year!. WP and Gravity forms are others that are just too expensive.

I can get a Photoshop subscription cheaper than many of Woocommerce, Ultimate Member and the various form plugins.

One issue I have always had is the ability to try and test plugins before purchase. i can’t afford, as I have done so before, to spend $200 or more on each plugin and find it is not suitable for what we need. To then try and get a refund which is very hard to near impossible to do even with so called money back guarantees.

I want to support developers directly, but prices dictate what I can afford to do. I have on two cases used nobuna, then once a few sales were received to cover my costs I then purchased the plugin direct from the developer and replaced the nobuna installed version.

So if you want more genuine sales, price accordingly. So it is up the developers now to be more cost friendly.

- Bozh says:
  
  March 23, 2020 at 1:03 pm
  
  Thank you for your comment!
  
  This totally makes sense, and I think it’s a good practice to buy the licensed plugin later after we tested it from such sites like Nobuna. About the high prices of WordPress plugins, I think there is a cheaper alternative in most of the cases.
  
  Cheers,
  Bozh.
  
addey says:

April 10, 2020 at 12:07 pm

I think good quality code is worth the price. But then again, what is “good quality”?
Another problem is exchange rate prices. in south africa right now we are being devastated by the exchange rate so the product becomes unaffordable.

jahan says:

December 16, 2020 at 8:46 pm

this website sell old version of files! only change version!
all theme and plugins is for 2019 !