Today we’d like to announce that all AppThemes products are moving to the General Public License (GPL). We’re excited about the change and how it benefits our existing customers especially with all our new upcoming themes.
So why the switch?
Earlier this year, I attended WordCamp SF and had a chat with both Brian Gardner from StudioPress and Matt Mullenweg about the WordPress premium theme market. We covered a lot of topics and shared our perspectives on the direction the premium themes market was heading. I then brought up the topic of GPL and how AppThemes (ClassiPress at the time) planned to eventually move from a fixed license model to GPL.
Well, both Brian and Matt we’re obviously strong advocates of GPL and encouraged me to make the switch. I told them we’d definitely cross over at some point but first had to fit it into our strategy and company road map. Matt then raised his glass and toasted, “to GPL software!”. Fast forward five months and here we are today finally able to share the exciting news.
How does this affect existing customers?
Great question and I’m glad you asked. For those of you who purchased Professional or Ultimate Edition licenses, nothing changes. For those who purchased Personal or Small Business Edition licenses, you now can use our themes on as many websites as you like.
What this doesn’t mean
There always seems to be a gray area when it comes to GPL and the terms. Just to clear things up before it’s asked, our themes are not readily available to download for free. You still need to purchase them in order to get a copy and access to your account and support areas. 😉
This announcement should clear up lots of questions we’ve received about licensing limitations and essentially add more value to our customer base (which is what’s most important to us). Happy website building!