Is it legal to use premium Wordpress plugins without license?

Question

Hi to all

Well, in my current situation im unemployed and trying to generate some income from another source. I've started a blog that i plan to monetize with Adsense in a near future. The platform used will be Wordpress. To start, i've considered to go for one of these sites that offer to download wordpress plugins and themes for free, at least until i make some bucks so i can purchase a license from the developer. I've asked a friend and he told me that it's not a problem to make use of them as the GPL license allows to distribute the developer files without limitations, but of course you don't get the access to customer support as automatic updates. Could anyone confirm me that this is totally true? I mean, mostly to make sure i won't run into legal trouble for using these "nulled" plugins or files that are not distributed by the original developer.

I appreciate your help on this subject

Answer 1

Well, using the plugin without a licence is not right.

If the plugin requires a paid licence then you should purchase it to use and avoid complications.
However, you should be able to find free alternatives that don't require a licence. Some plugin providers provide free versions of their plugin with restricted features as well as paid versions that provide additional features.

It is not recommended to use a plugin without updates, the majority of regular updates are security patches. You do not want to have your site compromised at all.

Answer 2

I think that it should be legal