What Are Nulled WordPress Themes And Why You Shouldn’t Use Them
So, you’ve decided to create a WordPress powered website but you are not sure how much money you can invest in it. After all, you are just getting your business/blog started and you don’t want to spend much money on something that can turn out to be a complete failure. When taking into consideration all of the costs a WordPress website requires, the amount of money you’ll end up spending may frighten you and, naturally, you will try to explore some more economic variants.
It is precisely in this moment that many WordPress users turn to the dark web and start looking for illegal premium software they can use for free. This way they can use all of the goodies without having to spend a single cent on it. One type of such software are, of course, nulled WordPress themes that can, unfortunately, be found on many illegal sites.
So what are precisely these nulled WordPress themes we are talking about? As you probably know, in order to create a WordPress site, you need a theme or template that will be the core of your website’s design and performance. Premium WordPress themes usually offer a wide range of features thanks to which your site can function perfectly and it is only normal you will have to pay a certain price to get all of these tools. Therefore, once you pay for a particular premium theme, you get a license that enables you to install it on a single website. You cannot use one license more than one time, and this is how the creators of a certain theme make sure their product is not being forwarded to third parties and therefore not used for free.
Unfortunately, since the dark web is mostly about breaking the rules and finding ways to get materials that are subject to payment for free, WordPress themes are no exception. Therefore, nulled WordPress themes are premium WordPress themes that have had their license illegally removed i.e. they are items that have been cracked which is why anyone can download and use them for free. You must be wondering right now: “why would anyone ever buy a regular premium theme when they can get them completely free of charge!?” Well, let’s just say there’s a reason we have that saying “nothing in life comes cheap” and at the end of every risky move there’s a price to be paid. So in order to prevent you from falling into the trap of nulled WordPress themes, we will list main reasons why you should never ever use them.
When downloading a cracked version of a premium theme there is one thing you should know –there is no guarantee what you download is safe. As a matter of fact, most of the nulled WordPress themes contain malicious codes that are inserted in such ways that most of the regular security checks can’t detect them.
So what is it that these malicious codes do? The only right answer is that you can never be sure of the damage the code can cause. However, there have been some recurring problems people who use nulled themes have encountered. One of the things a malicious code snippet incorporated into a nulled theme can do is create a “backdoor” on your site that will give hackers an easy access to your site and all the data that comes with it. This means that the hackers will have access not only to your data (like username, email address, passwords etc.) but your visitors’/clients’ information will be exposed as well. And since GDPR and privacy regulations are quite strict, you wouldn’t want anything like this happening to you.
Another very common threat for your website could be a malicious code that injects SEO spam. As you know, SEO optimization is crucial when it comes to your website’s visibility, and a website’s visibility is beyond important, which is why hackers insert this malicious codes into nulled themes that will overflow your site with spam keywords that have nothing to do with what you do, but will rather promote the hacker’s illegal business. To fully understand how important this is, it is a good idea to learn a bit about essential SEO optimization. Lastly, another issue you may encounter while using nulled themes with malware is that in some cases, this malicious code will redirect your site’s visitors to unknown and unsafe sites that could additionally harm not just you, but your clients as well.
As you probably know, every software from time to time needs an update in order to keep pace with new trends and findings in the digital world. That is why creators of premium WordPress themes release updates that are immediately available for users that have purchased their software. It is very important to regularly update your WordPress theme as these updates are usually made in order to fix bugs that the previous versions had, add some more features that will improve your site’s performance or even change your site’s design altogether.* Unfortunately, if you opt to download a nulled WordPress theme from an illegal site, updates are no longer an option. Given the fact that you haven’t bought the theme from the official marketplace where the creators upload all of the updates, you will basically have no link to it and consequently updating your theme will be impossible. Furthermore, it is not only the theme update you should worry about.
Being a content management system that powers over one third of all the websites in the world, WordPress is always looking for ways to improve its performance and provide its users with modern solutions and options. As soon as WordPress gets updated all of the software that is meant to be used with it must comply to its new requirements i.e. have a version that will be compatible with the new version of WordPress itself. If something of a sort happens, your nulled WordPress theme won’t be compatible with the CMS you’re using and given the fact that you won’t have a way to update your theme, you will be left with a dysfunctional website that will most certainly be full of bugs and all of your efforts will, at this point, go to waste.
One of the main reason why people who are new in the WordPress world choose premium themes is the fact that most of them come with free professional support as well as with documentation that makes their use a lot easier. Every time a customer encounters a problem or just something they have not understood quite well, a team of support agents will provide them with a solution in almost no time. Of course, this kind of service is meant only for the clients who purchase the theme from a certified WP themes site or marketplace. As we have mentioned earlier, if you choose to download a nulled WordPress theme you will be completely disconnected from its developers and creators, meaning that if you get stuck at some point, you are on your own. You won’t have the possibility to get help, ask questions or get assistance in any case, so if you are not extremely tech-savvy, you might want to go with premium versions and not take your chances.
Even though many WordPress themes are basically open-source software, there are some of them that contain lines of code that are protected by copyright laws, meaning that it is illegal to use them without a proper license. It goes without saying that if you download a nulled WordPress theme from an unknown site and use it without a legal permission, you are automatically breaking the law and therefore risking a lawsuit. Of course, not everybody gets caught, however, if somebody notices your actions and reports them, you will most definitely have to pay for a lawyer and most probably even a fine that could cost you a lot of money. All in all, instead of paying the price for a legal premium WordPress theme, you might end up paying a much bigger price and getting a lawsuit, which is why we strongly advise you not to ever use nulled themes.
Premium WordPress themes are created by professional individuals or teams that invest their skills, time and money in order to create something that can be useful for people all over the world. Even though most of the users of nulled themes start using them because they can’t afford the premium ones or they just want to experiment a bit and so consider spending money a complete waste of resources, we have to say that in either case it is completely unethical to do so since you are doing it at the expense of others. Developers and web-designers have put years of studying, hard work and money in order to get to the place where they are now and where whoever wants to start their own website aspires to be. As a matter of fact, most of their income is being “recycled” because they invest large portions of their money into new ideas, staff etc. so they can provide their clients with even better products. By downloading a premium theme without paying for it, you are essentially stealing from these people and therefore slowing down the innovation process since they will have less resources for new investments. If the financial aspect is your main reason why you would rather use a nulled theme, there is a different solution that will harm nobody. There are developers that create free WordPress themes that can be downloaded from the WordPress repository. If you choose to download one of these themes, you will avoid a breach of law or harming anyone in any sort of a way. Therefore, instead of “stealing” from people who have put hard work into creating something that will maybe help you earn some money, wouldn’t it be better to just either pay a one-time price of a premium theme or simply download a free one?
As we said earlier, saving up money for a premium theme won’t take a long time to achieve, so we just wanted to make sure you have some insight into your best options once you decide to go and purchase it. On the other hand, if you don’t have time to wait and you’d rather go with a free theme right away, we will also try to propose some of the themes we consider the best match for your needs. Having said all of this, here is a short list of free and premium WordPress themes we would like you to check out.
Premium WordPress Themes
Bridge – Creative Multi-Purpose WordPress Theme
Bridge is a real gem among premium WordPress themes. It is a multipurpose template suitable for a number of businesses and industries and it comes with some of the most powerful features that will help you create a professional website that will leave everyone in awe.
Innovio – Multipurpose Landing Page Theme
Another mesmerizing theme that can be used for a whole series of different causes is Innovio. This colorful theme will help you get a modern-looking, fully customizable website you can tailor the way you want it to be.
Free WordPress Themes
Hestia
Hestia is a modern theme that is a perfect fit for small businesses and startups. It comes with a flexible appearance, elegant portfolio sections and a beautiful online shop so you will basically have everything you need to start a successful website.
Zakra
This free WordPress theme is a versatile one that can be both used for creative purposes as well as for business site establishment. Zakra follows SEO practices so you will get help when it comes to your site’s visibility, and, on top of that, you will have a responsive site that will always look amazing.
To Wrap Up
So, if you are thinking of downloading a nulled WordPress theme (which we strongly advise you not to do) you should first take into consideration all the risks you’ll encounter on your way to do so. Furthermore, as you have seen throughout the article, not only will you not save money, but you will also risk much more valuable things that can be easily avoided if you just go with a free WordPress theme or set aside some money to buy a premium one.
We hope this article was helpful. If you liked it, feel free to check out some of these articles as well!
