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Freelance devs, how do you handle plugins you purchase for a project but have a yearly subscription fee? Do you just buy the plugin and then it’s on the client to purchase a renewal of the plugin? If you take this approach, do you state that in the contract so clients know it’s their responsibility?
I’m thinking about switching to Bricks for building sites and a few other plugins that all have a yearly fee. I’m guessing most devs put it back on the client to pay for the plugin after the first year, but was wondering how that works when there’s a plugin security issue. Most clients I’ve worked with don’t think to maintain plugins after launch.
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If it’s a plugin for a single project and they’re on a maintenance plan, I’ll renew it and factor it into the maintenance cost.
If it’s a plugin for a single project and they’re not on a maintenance plan, it’s their responsiblity and likely the subscription will lapse. The plugin should keep on working, albeit without updates.
If it’s a plugin that I use for multiple projects, I consider that part of my stack and I’ll renew it.
I tell my client about it and the cost vs benefit. I usually buy the subsciription and before handover I remove my card details and tell them to set up their own payment.
But I also charge the client for the plugin. All costs go on the client.
Project Expenses are exactly that. You don’t want to foot any of those costs (unless you want to lose $ in the end). We custom code everything that is feasible but when the need arises for leveraging a third party plugin, we’re up front about it requiring a license fee (it’s even in our Client Terms and Conditions). We even put the disclaimer for FREE plugins that may decide later to charge for their use. As far as how we bill for them…IF it’s something like RankMath (where you can buy an Agency/Unlimited license), it’s your prerogative on what you want to charge for use of that platform/license (you can base it off WHAT they would charge for one site). When it comes to other plugins that don’t have the unlimited license (or you only need 1-2 licenses), we either put their card on file and create the account under their info OR we have it billed to us and bill for reimbursement (plus a little markup for merchant fees, etc.). I’d say it’s 80% the latter rather than the former though.
IF the plugin is required in order for the site to function, we are even more blunt about lapse in license causing issues.
Always have clients buy their own licenses.
I avoid such plugins like the plague. There is often an alternative with a one time fee or lifetime license option. If not, I can often put something together that works. On the super rare occasions I knowingly use a subscription based plugin, usually at a client’s insistence, I warn them and absolve myself of responsibility relating to renewals. In those instances, the client often abandons the project within a year or two after hand over as they forget or don’t want to pay for renewals.
All plugins and themes for clients are registered under the clients’s names.
Most clients I bill them yearly. This includes the theme, plugins, domains and hosting.
If the theme and plugins have a yearly fee, it is included in the yearly price.
I have a reseller account, thus I have access to their hosting and domain(s). I renew things for them.
In that yearly price there is also x hours a month for maintenance, if they want more or their 14 year old nephew screw things up because he is cheaper than me…..I will charge them more.