If you are working with WordPress you probably got to the moment where you heard about Nulled/Warez/Pirated themes and plugins and there’s a chance you used some of them on your website at some point.
I will explain everything about nulled themes and I will tell you why you should never download them.
What’s a nulled WordPress theme?
Nulled scripts – themes – plugins, are scripts without developer protection, it was either removed from their code or it was stolen directly from its developer.
Are nulled themes bad for your website?
If you are asking from a legal perspective, then yes, it’s illegal to host a pirated/nulled theme or plugin on your website, and you could easily get sued for using something like that.
Some people say: “I don’t’ care about getting ‘sued’, is it actually bad for my site performance”?
Nulled themes are not ‘bad’ if they have a clean code (which is rare to find), without any malicious codes inside, but if they have malicious codes, they could be really bad for your site and your website performance.
Why is it so important not to use Warez scripts on your website?
That’s because you could ruin your website forever, and you can even hurt your SEO.
Can Nulled theme Destroy my Website?
When you see someone uploading Nulled themes on warez/torrent sites, you can assume they are not doing it because they are trying to share goods with you and help you develop your site, these people are trying to take advantage of you.
What do Pirates get from you once you install their nulled script on your site?
The first thing they can do is to get backlinks from your blog. They can hide their spammy links somewhere inside your code, and if you are not an expert in PHP and HTML, it will be really hard for you to find these links.
If 1000 people install their nulled theme or plugin they will get 1000+ backlinks on their spammy sites.
They can also easily get easy access to your Wp-Admin and take over your website.
They can inject some ‘malware’ into your code, so they can get your username and password as soon as you log in for the first time.
They can redirect your website pages to their spammy links, and that could be really bad for your SEO, and Google will never ever put you in search results again knowing you are dealing with these spammy sites.
How can this person make money from you?
If you download their script and if they get your admin access, once your site starts making money from Adsense, Amazon, or any other CPC or affiliate program, they can change your Adsense codes and put their own Adsense codes instead.
PROS of buying an original theme or plugin?
UPDATES
The best thing you get with paid themes or plugins are full Updates, new versions with 0 bugs, and you keep getting updates each month so your theme or plugin will become better and safer over time.
If you buy some SEO plugins, for example, updates are very important for you because they could provide you with new SEO options and a much better SERP on Google at the end. In case you have a nulled plugin there is a huge chance that you will end up with the same and outdated SEO ‘optimization’ for the rest of your life.
SUPPORT
Once you buy a theme from Themeforest or MyThemeShop you will get full support for the rest of your life, so if you do not know how to install something or update your theme, they will do it for you.
If you want to change some part of your theme, for example, menu position, thumbnail position.. they will do it for you.
FULL PACKAGE
Most of the Nulled themes packages will include theme files only. If you buy an original theme, you will get Demo content and documentation, that will save you hours during your website setup.
You also get a full PSD files package, and if you want to change your design, logo, or anything else, this will save you tons of hours of work in Photoshop.
The most important thing is that you don’t have to worry about anything, you just install your theme and you can use it on all your websites for the rest of your life.
You will never think about legal consequences and that’s probably the most important part because you do not want to build your blog or website, and use it for 2-3 years, and once the theme owner finds out about your nulled theme, they will DMCA report your hosting, and hosting will delete your website.
Where to buy the best themes and plugins?
You can buy themes all over the internet but most of them are not so professional. I am using these few sites where you can buy 100% professional WordPress plugins and themes.
The best places to buy WordPress themes or plugins are:
2. MyThemeShop
I hope you can find a nice theme for your blog, and choose wisely.
Very detailed Post. I never go with nulled themes anymore, after reading your post.
Thanks for Sharing.
No problem, thank you for reading.
Thanks for this post.
I stumbled across effectio.org and they are offering some woocommerce plugins at up to 70% less than the actual cost on woo commerce website.
Although there is no indication that the plugin is a nulled one, what is the risk purchasing this plugin?
They claim it is exactly thesame as what i will get on woo commerce site.
I would avoid them and buy directly from Woo.
Thanks Adrian for all your great posts. I signed up your newsletter. I installed free yet popular (i.e. many people installed it) themes and plugins from WordPress plugin center. Are they nulled themes or plugins you talked about in this post?
Can you be more specific please, you downloaded your theme from which website?