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License Utilization

Using One License for Live / Production, Staging, Dev and Localhost Sites

When creating a new plan, by default, we set the plan to generate licenses that can be activated on localhost/staging/dev environments without the need to purchase any additional licenses.

If you keep that option set as recommended, one license should keep your customers covered. Localhost, staging and development environments won’t get counted toward the license’s maximum allowed sites if its domain name is clearly a dev or staging site.

TLDs that are considered as dev or staging:

  • *.dev
  • *.dev.cc (DesktopServer)
  • *.test
  • *.local
  • *.staging
  • *.example
  • *.invalid
  • *.myftpupload.com (GoDaddy)
  • *.cloudwaysapps.com (Cloudways)
  • *.wpsandbox.pro (WPSandbox)
  • *.ngrok.io (tunneling)
  • *.mystagingwebsite.com (Pressable)
  • *.tempurl.host (WPMU DEV)
  • *.wpmudev.host (WPMU DEV)
  • *.websitepro-staging.com (Vendasta)
  • *.websitepro.hosting (Vendasta)
  • *.instawp.xyz (InstaWP)

Subdomains that are considered as dev or staging:

  • local.*
  • dev.*
  • test.*
  • stage.*
  • staging.*
  • stagingN.* (SiteGround; N is an unsigned int)
  • *.wpengine.com (WP Engine)
  • dev-*.pantheonsite.io (Pantheon)
  • test-*.pantheonsite.io (Pantheon)
  • staging-*.kinsta.com (Kinsta)
  • staging-*.kinsta.cloud (Kinsta)

Additionally, if your domain is localhost (with any port), it will also be treated as a localhost domain.

If your customer want to utilize a license on a dev site that doesn’t fit the criteria listed above they can deactivate the license from within the Account page in their WP Admin dashboard, and then reuse the license.

Custom Staging / Development / Testing / Localhost Patterns

If a customer uses custom URL/pattern for their staging/development/testing/localhost environment, you can now easily add the URL/pattern in their profile on the Developer Dashboard in the Custom localhost URLs section:
Customized localhost URLs

The Custom localhost URLs section is only available for customers who have at least one purchased & non-expired license from your store.

Multisite Networks / WaaS

Freemius WordPress SDK comes with an advanced multisite network integration that can simplify the license activation experience for customers with multisite networks.

How to activate the multisite network integration?

To activate the network-level integration you’ll need to update to the new SDK, but also make a small adjustment to the integration code. Go to your SDK INTEGRATION page in the Freemius Dashboard, where you’ll notice a new checkbox which will activate the network integration:

Network-Level License Activation

Once the multisite network integration is enabled, super-admins can activate a license across their entire network, delegate the license activation to site admins, or handpick which subsites to activate the license for:

Multisite Network License Utilization

When using Freemius WordPress SDK, by default, each subsite in a multisite setup requires an activation. Therefore, if for example, a user with 20-subsite network would like to activate a license for their entire network, they’ll need to purchase a license that can be activated on at least 20 sites, or multiple licenses that their combined activations limit is 20 or more.

Why a license activation on a multisite network isn’t considered as a single activation?

Multisite networks are way more complex than standard WordPress installations, have significantly more edge cases, and a higher chance for conflicts as subsites in the network can run different combinations of plugins and themes.

Also, multisite-networks are largely used by bigger entities like agencies, boutique hosting providers, and WaaS, who generate revenue from their networks and, therefore, have higher financial bandwidth.

Consequently, it’s only fair to charge them more for protecting your business from the potentially increased support load and allowing you to offer even better support for those customers.

Network-Level Management

Super-admins that didn’t delegate the activation to the site admins will now have an Account page on the network WP Admin, allowing them to manage the Account on the network level without the need to open it for every subsite: