Hi guys,
I wanted to write this because I keep getting private messages about it from you guys and answering one by one doesn’t really scale. So here’s the full story, straight from my side of how I transitioned from Envato to WPBay.
I made myself unexclusive on CodeCanyon in December 2025, it took 1 month for Envato to process this request. By now, I am fully unexclusive.
Now let me tell you details about my story. I did the exclusivity change on Envato not because I’m angry at Envato, not because sales stopped overnight, but because I felt boxed in. Over the years I built multiple plugins, I started with simple and cheap ones, which worked well sold on CodeCanyon, as sales were moderate, but I created tons of plugins, each for a specific task. Currently I have 120 plugins on CodeCanyon. I worked with the “shotgun approach”, many small plugins, each summing up some sales.
However, the way I work changed since I created the Aiomatic plugin (now rebranded to Aimogen, because of trademark issues with another company). Aimogen is a different kind of plugin than the ones I built until then. It is an AI plugin for WordPress, which integrates with OpenAI, xAI, Antrophic Claude, Google Gemini, Groq, Perplexity, Nvidia AI, OpenRouter, Ollama and many more AI services.
As AI tech is advancing very fast, Aimogen needs weekly major updates, just to keep it fully functional with the changing AI services and APIs. Besides of this, I have a huge list of ideas of what AI can accomplish in WordPress, so I add these new features also to Aimogen.
This new paradigm made Aimogen require long-term license plans that just don’t fit well into a one-size-fits-all marketplace like CodeCanyon. If I would have kept Aimogen on CodeCanyon, it would have died, as at a point customers stop coming, as they already have the number of licenses for the plugin which they need. This means that the plugin dies, as I cannot afford to continue working on it (I also have a family to feed, if sales stop coming for my products, I need to look for a developer full time job). So, staying exclusive on CodeCanyon started to feel like technical debt, not a benefit.
This is why WPBay came into existence. To provide a new home for plugins like Aimogen (and not only). To make my migration easier (especially for the large number of plugins I have), I added to WPBay a feature to directly import plugin data from Envato, directly to the upload form of WPBay. That sounds like a small thing, but it’s not. It reduced my migration time for all the 120 plugins I have to 6 hours. If this would not have been there, migration for me would have taken more than a week for sure. Anyone who ever recreated a large plugin listing manually knows how soul-draining that process is.
I prefer to set the recurring payment option for my plugins, as this makes development sustainable and allows me to have a stable income stream, regardless of how Google changes algorithms or of other similar external factors. The subscription method provides the stability each business needs, especially in challenging times.
Also, another thing that pushed me to do the migration was the rebranding of Aiomatic → Aimogen. That part wasn’t optional or cosmetic. There were trademark and naming issues involved (Aiomatic is now trademarked by another company) and I prefer sleeping well at night. Rebranding a known product is painful, especially when users already recognize the old name, but it was the correct move long-term, I did not have many options on this. Doing it while changing platforms actually helped, because I could align everything: branding, licensing, updates, documentation, all at once. Everything seems to be working out, for the long run.
Also, another thing that might come helpful for you guys who want to also migrate is that I built on WPBay the coupon system to generate coupons automatically for users who already purchased my plugins on CodeCanyon, based on previous purchase codes. This gives full control: there is the option to offer free migrations, or heavy discounts, even limited-time offers, whatever makes sense in a specific case.
There is also a feature on WPBay that lets you directly convert CodeCanyon purchase codes into WPBay purchase codes. Personally, I don’t use it, I go with the option to convert Envato purchase codes to coupons. Still, the fact that this exists lowers the risk for many authors who are thinking about moving.
Another thing I should probably mention is user reaction, because this is what scares most authors the most. At the beginning, reactions were mixed. Some users were confused, some were skeptical, a few were unhappy. That’s totally normal. Any change creates friction. But once I clearly explained why the move happened and what users gain from it long-term, things settled down. Most people are reasonable when they see that the plugin is actively maintained and not slowly abandoned. They actually prefer to help to continue developing the plugin, than knowing that their initial investment was gone, as the plugin was abandoned.
Another concern I often hear about from devs is support. No, support didn’t magically disappear after going unexclusive or moving to subscriptions. But it became more predictable. Instead of random spikes and long silent periods, I now have a steadier flow. That actually makes it easier to plan development and personal time. You still need to support your users properly, but at least the effort aligns better with incoming revenue.
To help with this part, let me tell you how I get traffic for my products, especially to Aimogen. First, I created a free version of Aimogen on wordpress.org. This is important, as it will provide the much needed traffic for the Aimogen Pro plugin. Also, if you already have a customer base for your existing plugin’s pro version, be sure to make an update and require the installation of both the free and pro versions of the plugin. This is recommended, as it will boost the “Active Installations” count from the wordpress.org listing, which will boost also the free plugin’s visibility. Also, be sure to make a high quality page on your free plugin’s listing, adding videos helps a lot (as wordpress.org does not allow images).
Another traffic source that works surprisingly well for Aimogen is feature-driven visibility. What I mean by this is publicly shipping features that solve very specific, real problems and then documenting them properly. When I add a major feature, I don’t just push code and move on. I write about it in detail in the changelog, on the plugin page and sometimes in dedicated documentation pages or short demo videos. The videos work very well for me. These pages and videos get indexed, shared and linked to over time. People don’t search for “buy Aimogen”, they search for “WordPress AI content automation”, “AI chatbot for WordPress”, “bulk AI content generation WordPress” and similar very concrete problems. If your plugin genuinely solves those problems and you explain it clearly, traffic comes naturally without aggressive marketing. This also compounds over time. Each major feature becomes a new entry point. Six months later, people are still finding the plugin through something you built earlier. This kind of traffic is slower, but it’s high quality, because users already understand why they need the plugin before they land on the Pro page.
A third method I use (and plan to scale more) is paid exposure on large WordPress-focused sites. I’m not talking about random ads, but proper sponsored posts, reviews, or feature articles on sites that already have the right audience. Some of the bigger ones that make sense for plugins like Aimogen are:
WPBeginner - huge reach, very broad WordPress audience, good for awareness, especially if the article focuses on what problems the plugin solves, not just features.
WPMU DEV Blog - more technical readers, developers and agencies, works well if you highlight advanced use cases and automation.
Torque Magazine - smaller than WPBeginner, but still solid, and their audience is more product-focused and developer-friendly.
Kinsta Blog - not easy to get into and usually more expensive, but very high-quality traffic. Their readers are serious WordPress users, agencies, and SaaS-minded developers.
WP Tavern - tricky, because they are editorial-first, but sponsored or partner content (when possible) brings credibility more than raw traffic.
ThemeIsle Blog - good balance between beginners and power users, especially if the content is framed as a solution guide rather than a promo.
What matters here is not blasting links everywhere, but choosing platforms where people already understand WordPress problems and are willing to pay for professional tools. Paid posts won’t give instant miracles either, but they create authority, backlinks, and long-term discoverability. Combined with the free plugin and ongoing feature development, this becomes another steady traffic layer instead of a one-time spike. You can also add to images from your Pro plugin’s sales page, something like: “featured on WPBeginner, WPMU Dev, etc, etc”.
Regarding traffic and growth, it’s important to set expectations. None of this is instant. The free plugin on wordpress.org doesn’t explode overnight, and the Pro version doesn’t suddenly replace marketplace sales in a week. There are slow weeks and moments when you question the decision. That’s part of the process. You need to give it time and keep improving the product.
There are also other creative methods to get traffic to your “pro” versions of your plugins, but I am still experimenting with them, I might get back with another similar post, talking exclusively about them.
So, looking back on all of this, I’m not saying this is the right path for everyone. But for me, going unexclusive, moving to WPBay and rebranding to Aimogen was the right thing and it allowed me to be able to actually build the plugins the way I want to build them.
So, if you’re considering something similar and want honest answers, feel free to ask. I don’t sugarcoat this stuff and I won’t pretend it’s effortless either. Especially mentally, as making the move to unexclusivity can be a mentally heavy thing to do, especially if you have many years behind you as an Envato author. I want to be very clear about one thing: staying exclusive is not a failure, and going unexclusive is not a betrayal of anyone. Different stages of life and different products require different approaches. What worked for me will not work for everyone, and that’s fine and normal. The important thing is choosing a path that lets you build and still have a life outside of code.
So, try to keep the mood positive and things will work out well!
Cheers!
