@locko69 This plugin is still free, but auto-installs free SSL certificates for the premium version. This is clearly mentioned in the plugin description. We have written FREE PLUGIN FEATURES vs PREMIUM PLUGIN FEATURES transparently there.
We announced the pro version on November 3, 2020, and explained the difficulties of spending hundreds of hours developing the plugin and then spending time providing support without any monetary return. Since then for 1 year and 8 months, we notified our users with admin notice with a link to this blog post: https://freessl.tech/blog/auto-install-free-ssl-needs-your-help-to-survive/ . Please feel free to read the post.
As per the announcement, we offer our previous users (users before releasing the premium version, June 29, 2022) 6 months (since June 29, 2022) of the premium license, for unlimited websites, free of cost. So, if you are a previous user, you can still use the plugin at no cost till December 31, 2022.
The benefits of the Free version are that users still get
Let’s Encrypt? SSL Certificate is FREE. But they provide it through their API. If you are not a programmer, you need to study and practice programming for years to be able to use the API of Let’s Encrypt? to generate a single Free SSL Certificate for your WordPress website.
Here is where ‘Auto-Install Free SSL’ comes into play. With this WordPress plugin, you can generate the Let’s Encrypt? Free SSL Certificate with ease! You don’t need to have programming or coding experience to set it up.
However, you need to spend some time using this tool to generate & install the SSL certificate and repeat this for every renewal (every 2-3 months). The premium version does this for you automatically and saves users’ time. And time is money for many people. Now it’s the users’ choice which version they use.
Regarding the pricing of SSL certificates, many popular web hosting companies charge $100 or more for 1 year SSL certificate. We know, users used to purchase products they found cheaper.
