shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Freemius?

Merchant of Record for Software: sell globally without VAT, sales tax, or chargeback headaches. - freemius.com

Worth it. Buy if you're an indie WordPress plugin or SaaS maker who wants taxes, licensing, and checkout handled for you. Skip it if you want the lowest fees — self-hosted EDD or WooCommerce costs less.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 14 public sources: G2/Trustpilot/Reddit reviews, security advisories, official docs, and company profiles.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Not disclosed

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed

Best for

  • WordPress plugin & theme sellers
  • Indie devs selling globally
  • Solo SaaS without tax admin
  • Teams wanting licensing + checkout bundled

Not for

  • Sellers wanting lowest fees — self-hosted EDD or WooCommerce wins
  • Non-software goods (ebooks, physical products)
  • Anyone avoiding SDK lock-in in their codebase
  • Enterprises wanting to own payment compliance in-house

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Older SDK versions carried XSS CVEs; keep the SDK updated everywhere or inherit risk

medium

MoR revenue-share fees exceed EDD's direct platform fees; you pay for convenience

medium

Guess: migrating licenses, subscriptions, and checkout off Freemius later is painful

medium

Vendor terms reserve sole discretion in places; read payout terms before committing

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Handles VAT, sales tax, and chargebacks as merchant of record
  • Rated 4.7/5 across 68 G2 reviews
  • Users praise quick, helpful customer support
  • Bundles checkout, licensing, analytics, reviews, and customer portal
  • Strong community endorsement among WordPress plugin developers

Cons

  • MoR fees cost more than self-hosted EDD's direct platform fees
  • WordPress-centric; SDK integration required
  • SDK history includes reflected-XSS CVEs affecting millions of sites
  • Small vendor: ~$2.3M estimated ARR

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/19/2026 - 14 sources - No platform breach found; the WordPress SDK shipped patched reflected-XSS CVEs (2022–2024).

official x3review x4security x4news x3
  • CVE-2023-33999 — reflected XSS via fs_request_get, Freemius SDK <2.5.10 had site-wide reflected XSS affecting millions of WordPress sites; fixed in 2.5.10.
  • CVE-2024-13362 — reflected XSS in Freemius WordPress SDK, Later reflected XSS vulnerability in the SDK disclosed in the SentinelOne vulnerability database.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 3/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 14

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 3/5. More than EDD direct fees; you pay for convenience
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Described as easy way to sell plugins
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Checkout, licensing, analytics, reviews, portal bundled
  • Support quality: 4/5. Quick, helpful support praised on G2
  • Security posture: 3/5. SDK XSS CVEs, patched; transparent disclosure
  • 4.7/5 G2 rating 68 reviews
  • $2.3M Est. ARR 2025 GetLatka estimate
  • $273.7K Funding Crunchbase profile
  • 2 Public CVEs SDK XSS, 2022–2024, patched

Pricing

Not disclosed

Security

No platform breach found; the WordPress SDK shipped patched reflected-XSS CVEs (2022–2024).

  • CVE-2023-33999 — reflected XSS via fs_request_getFreemius SDK <2.5.10 had site-wide reflected XSS affecting millions of WordPress sites; fixed in 2.5.10.⁵
  • CVE-2024-13362 — reflected XSS in Freemius WordPress SDKLater reflected XSS vulnerability in the SDK disclosed in the SentinelOne vulnerability database.⁷

What users say

WordPress developers on Reddit and G2 broadly recommend Freemius, praising its support and ease over DIY setups.

“Freemius is what I use.”
Reddit, r/woocommerce
“Freemius is fine for paid versions”
Reddit, r/Wordpress
“You can look into Freemius.”
Reddit, r/Wordpress

Companies that use it

  • Ivory Search
Full analysis

Based on 14 public sources: G2/Trustpilot/Reddit reviews, security advisories, official docs, and company profiles.

Solid MoR for WordPress plugin and indie software sellers; taxes and licensing handled — but MoR fees beat DIY only on convenience.

Methodology

Based on 14 public sources: G2/Trustpilot/Reddit reviews, security advisories, official docs, and company profiles.

Sources

  1. Freemius on G2 — 68 reviews, 4.7 starsg2.com
    review
  2. freemius.com Trustpilot reviewstrustpilot.com
    review
  3. Reddit r/SaaS — Freemius payments MoR discussionreddit.com
    review
  4. Reddit r/woocommerce — ready to sell pluginsreddit.com
    review
  5. Patchstack — site-wide reflected XSS in Freemius SDKpatchstack.com
    security
  6. VulDB — CVE-2023-33999 Freemius SDKvuldb.com
    security
  7. SentinelOne — CVE-2024-13362sentinelone.com
    security
  8. WP Tavern — Freemius patches severe SDK vulnerabilitywptavern.com
    security
  9. Freemius pricing pagefreemius.com
    official
  10. Freemius EDD alternative comparisonfreemius.com
    official
  11. Freemius vendor terms of servicefreemius.com
    official
  12. GetLatka — Freemius revenue 2025getlatka.com
    news
  13. Crunchbase — Freemius company profilecrunchbase.com
    news
  14. DominoPress — complete Freemius guidedominopress.com
    news

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