Hello,
Thank you for reaching out and seeking clarification on our subscription terms. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns and provide clarity on how our subscription model works.
Yes, PRO features of Rank Math are tied to having an active subscription. While the core functionality of Rank Math remains available to users even after the subscription ends, certain advanced features and premium support services are exclusively available to users with an active subscription. This ensures ongoing access to updates, premium support, and advanced features that are continuously developed and improved by our team.
Please note any new features, updates, or premium support services introduced after the subscription period will require an active subscription for access. Besides, when you update the FREE plugin with the PRO plugin still outdated it causes our plugin to work incorrectly due to the misalignment.
So we usually advise former PRO users who for one reason or the other can not continue their subscription to deactivate the PRO plugin and continue with the FREE. The settings and data are saved in the database so even deleting the plugin will not make you lose them and one can continue with the PRO features when they resubscribe in the future.
We understand the importance of transparency and strive to provide clear and accurate information about our subscription terms and licensing policies.
Please refer to this article for more clarifications: https://rankmath.com/kb/rank-math-pro-nulled/
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any further questions or need additional clarification. We’re here to assist you every step of the way.
Hi Ike,
Thanks for your reply but:
“While the core functionality of Rank Math remains available to users even after the subscription ends, certain advanced features and premium support services are exclusively available to users with an active subscription.”
Problem is: this is not allowed by the GPL license under which your plugin is distributed.
Again: I’m (really) familiar with the GPL license and how it works. The only way you can require an active subscribtion so that some features works is if these features require access to your servers.
Of course new versions published after expiration, and support, is not accessible without a subscription.
But that’s not what I’m asking about here.
I’m specifically asking about whether some PRO features will be disabled if my subscription expire and why.
Best regards,
Yannick
Hello,
We want to clarify that no PRO features, which do not require access to our servers, will be disabled if your subscription expires. We intend to ensure that users can continue to utilize all features of Rank Math, regardless of their subscription status.
We sincerely apologize for any confusion or inconvenience our previous response may have caused. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we strive to uphold the highest standards of transparency and compliance with licensing guidelines.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to assist you every step of the way.
Hi
Thanks for your reply.
Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we strive to uphold the highest standards of transparency and compliance with licensing guidelines.
What would go a long way towards that goal is if you wrote copy on your website that don’t appear to say the exact opposite of what you just wrote.
Even your first reply maintains this fuzzyness about that specific point: “Yes, PRO features of Rank Math are tied to having an active subscription.”.
Anyway, this is a business practice, I don’t expect you’ll stop doing it, just wanted to be sure you’re not blocking features unduly.
Best regards,
Yannick
Hello,
Thank you for your feedback as it serves as a reminder for us to review and improve the clarity of our website copy to align more closely with our commitment to transparency.
We do not block any features of our plugin on the expiration of the subscription, but the user will not be able to access upgraded versions of the PRO plugin and features that require connection to our servers will not work correctly.
We assure you that we take your input seriously and will work diligently to address any discrepancies in our communication.
Thank you once again for bringing this to our attention, and please rest assured that we are continuously striving to enhance our practices to better serve our users.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thanks.
Hi
Great!
We do not block any features of our plugin on the expiration of the subscription, but the user will not be able to access upgraded versions of the PRO plugin and features that require connection to our servers will not work correctly.
Having these exact words clearly stated as is on the site would achieve the transparencey goals you have, I think.
Cheers
Hello,
Please note that the PRO plugin is built on top of the Free plugin, and you need the latest version of both plugins to use the PRO features without any issues. Once the subscription expires, you won’t be able to receive updates for the PRO plugin, and once you update the Free plugin, the PRO features will not work correctly because of the version mismatch.
That’s why we haven’t mentioned that you can keep using the PRO features even after your subscription ends.
Please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.
Thanks for that. I also whished this was not the case, as it makes having a subscription compulsory to keep using RankMath.
I’m not arguing against the need to have an active subscription at all times, which is needed by developers. Simply, that choice should be up to the user, not RankMath.
Hello,
Thank you for the feedback.
The Rank Math PRO plugin is GPL-compliant. The choice to keep an active subscription is still up to the user. Technically you can use the majority of the plugin features after your subscription has ended.
The issue here is that the PRO plugin is built on the back of the FREE plugin and if the versions of the FREE and PRO plugins drift too far apart, i.e. if you stop receiving updates to the PRO plugin but keep updating the FREE plugin, the PRO plugin will not work correctly due to this incompatibility with the FREE plugin (that it was built on top of).
This ticket will be closed now, but you can always open a new one if you have any other questions or concerns.
We are here to help you with anything related to Rank Math.
Hello,
While a user can choose not to update both plugins and still use the PRO features we can not guarantee that there will be no future plugin and theme conflict or more importantly exploits that hackers can take advantage of. Our Developers work round the clock to address such issues.
The free version of Rank Math alone already does more than most WordPress SEO plugins out there so users will be far more than just fine with it until they can upgrade to Rank Math PRO again.
We hope this helps.
Thanks.
