We all tend to seek a cost-cutting solution in every product or service. After all, no one wants to spend more than necessary, right?
Because of such a tendency to minimize cost, some WordPress users are drawn towards nulled WordPress themes instead of using a standard premium package. What they don’t know is the high risks that come along with such nulled WordPress themes.
That is what we have covered in this article. Here, we will explain what nulled WordPress themes are and nine reasons to avoid them if you are serious about your website.
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What Are Nulled WordPress Themes?
The internet has various definitions of nulled WordPress themes. To keep it simple, we refer to nulled WordPress themes as hacked or modified versions of premium WordPress themes. These themes are obtained from third-party websites (not the author or designer) and are designed to work even without a license key.
In other words, nulled WordPress themes or plugins are pirated copies of premium WordPress themes and plugins that are distributed unethically over the internet.
Nine Reasons To Avoid Using Nulled WordPress Themes
Nulled themes distributors argue that it is okay to copy, edit, and distribute WordPress themes and plugins as they are licensed under GPL. So, it is not technically illegal to use nulled WordPress themes. There are several concerns and risks involved when you use such themes.
Below, we will discuss nine main reasons to avoid nulled WordPress themes.
1. Security
The nulled WordPress themes and plugins pose an extreme risk to your WordPress security. Such products carry malware which undoubtedly lowers your website security, thus causing greater and sometimes irreparable damage.
Malicious codes added to such themes spread across various files. They disguise as normal WordPress files, which makes it harder to detect and fix the issue. You could lose your site’s data and even get de-indexed by search engines and lose your valuable ranking.
2. Privacy
As mentioned above, nulled WordPress themes and plugins have various malicious codes that are hard to track and fix.
You mostly don’t notice any difference as these codes are programmed to steal the information without fluctuating any settings on the front-end. This way, you think your site is running well, but the codes are stealing information from your site and feeding it to the hackers on the dark web.
Information could be your username, password, and email address. If you run a membership site or online store, details about your customer, including their bank details, could be at risk.
If your site gets hacked, it might become quite costly for your business.
3. Bad for SEO
Pirated themes, plugins, and codes are a complete disappointment for search engines. Nulled WordPress themes affect your site’s SEO rankings.
Such themes and plugins add spam links to your site or redirect your visitors to bad websites. It is hard to detect such links as they are well hidden among other WordPress codes. However, search engines are very quick in detecting such anomalies and instantly punish your site by bringing down the rank or de-indexing it completely.
It could take months to repair the SEO damage. In some cases, it would be easier to start a new website and start all over rather than fixing the damaged site.
4. Legal Issues
There are no second thoughts that WordPress themes and plugins are open-source programs. However, some have mixed licenses. It means that those themes and plugins have copyright laws guarding them. So, if you use the pirated version of such themes or plugins, it is against the law.
Such themes can cause data loss, data theft, and illegal materials distribution. All such activities make you liable, and you may end up paying a huge sum to your lawsuit with further legal proceedings.
Thus, using a free nulled theme can become an expensive loss for your business.
5. No Access To Theme Updates
Developers of the WordPress themes and plugins keep on updating the product on a regular basis. This helps fix bugs, solve performance issues, add new features, and strengthen security measures.
However, nulled WordPress themes and plugins don’t receive those updates as they are pirated versions. They don’t have a valid license key. Thus, they become outdated, which leads to buggy and vulnerable sites.
On top of that, WordPress itself releases upgraded versions. To keep up with the new releases, themes and plugins are updated to remain compatible. Since the nulled themes and plugins don’t receive such updates, your site starts misbehaving and is even inaccessible sometimes.
6. Access to New Features
As mentioned above, developers frequently update their themes and plugins to fix bugs, improve security, and add new features. Such new features and updates help to increase traffic.
But, if you use a nulled WordPress theme or plugin, you don’t receive such updates. No updates mean no new features.
So, it is better to avoid nulled WordPress themes.
7. Unethical Use Discourages Developers
By using nulled WordPress themes, most users are doing a favor for themselves. They think premium themes are just a piece of software that the users are unnecessarily made to pay for. They convince themselves not to pay for those softwares whose pirated versions are available for far less cost or even free.
However, those softwares are a result of someone’s hard work, skill, and dedication. By using nulled WordPress themes, not only are you risking your website but also discouraging those developers.
Developers don’t only create the software but also dedicate themselves to providing support, documentation, hiring staff, and running a business. Nulled WordPress themes are a straight insult for those hard-working developers. This discourages them from creating new innovations that benefit millions of users.
8. Unlimited Free Alternatives
We don’t see why you should opt to use a nulled WordPress theme or plugin. No matter which theme or plugin you like, there are probably thousands of alternatives for it.
WordPress is a huge community and has multiple options for all the features you could think of for your site. In fact, most of the premium themes and plugins even have a free version directly from the developers.
If you want to use a nulled WordPress theme or plugin just for saving some bucks, we recommend visiting WordPress.org. There is plenty of free stuff there with more or less the same feature you were looking for previously. Most importantly, they are completely backed up by the developers and have no legal issues whatsoever.
9. No Support and Documentation from Developers
Even WordPress experts need support and documentation help every now and then. Developers spend a lot of time developing themes/products and even dedicated experts to attain any queries of the customers.
However, if you use the nulled WordPress themes, you are locking yourself away from this privilege because you are not their customer. Developers are not obliged to take care of your queries or any website issues. You also don’t get any documentation or tutorials for those themes or plugins.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are nulled WordPress themes safe?
Nulled WordPress themes are very risky as they contain malware and harmful codes. These malicious codes are extremely dangerous for your site’s security. It makes your site vulnerable to hacking. On top of that, those codes feed your site’s data to hackers.
Finding those codes is very difficult as they hide very well among other files of your WordPress. You might not even know something is wrong with your site until it’s too late.
Are nulled WordPress themes legal?
Technically speaking, WordPress is an open-source program. However, many themes and plugins have copyright. Using pirated versions of such themes and plugins has a legal burden.
How to keep my WordPress safe?
There are various ways to keep your WordPress safe, such as using two-factor authentication, using DDoS attack protection, good web host, and more. For detailed information on WordPress safety, check out these15 WordPress Security Tricks to Secure Your WordPress Website
Conclusion
Nulled WordPress themes are basically the pirated version of premium themes. Although you might see the cost-benefit initially, using such themes can cost you a lot in the long run. For starters, your site may be vulnerable to hacking, you may lose data, your site may suffer performance issues, and a lot more. Sometimes, your site can also suffer irreparable damage.
If you are concerned about your site’s budget, try out the free WordPress themes. They are as good as the premium versions with a few limitations. Moreover, they are the official developers’ products, so you won’t face any of the issues we talked about regarding the nulled versions.
However, if you see your site growing and want the best for your business, premium WordPress themes are totally worth it. You get multiple features, personalization options, future updates, and also developers’ support. It would be like an investment for your business.
So, if you are thinking of using nulled WordPress themes, think again. After all, they are risky goodies that may seem attractive at first but end up hurting your site and your wallet.
