How to sell plugins, scripts and code online

Code is the digital product that never stays finished. A plugin sold today needs a fix after the next platform update, a new feature next month and an answer when it conflicts with something else on the buyer’s server. Selling it well means planning the release, the license and the updates as one product, whether you write plugins, scripts, bots, browser extensions or source code.

Which plugins and scripts can you sell online?

The code people sell from their own stores usually falls into a few groups:

• Server and game plugins, such as Minecraft server plugins, mods where the game allows them, and server configurations.
• CMS and site plugins, such as WordPress plugins and themes, and add-ons for other site builders.
• Bots: Discord and Telegram bots, sold as code or as a hosted service.
• Scripts and automation: command-line tools, spreadsheet scripts, workflow automations.
• Source code: boilerplates, starter kits, UI components and full apps.
• Browser extensions with a paid version.

Some code is never allowed on ShopFast: game cheats, hacks, spoofers and anti-cheat bypasses, credential-stuffing tools, and leaked or nulled copies of someone else’s plugin (what you can sell). If you resell code you didn’t write, you need the author’s permission.

Package a release buyers can install

Buyers judge a plugin in the first minutes after download. A clean package heads off most “how do I install this” tickets:

1. A zip with the version number in the file name.
2. A readme with install steps and the minimum platform version it needs.
3. A changelog, newest release first.
4. The license text for the tier the buyer bought.

Sell it as a file product. Each order gets a signed download link with an expiry and a download limit you set, shown on the order page, in the receipt email and in the buyer’s library. Use the message every product can send to its buyers for anything that won’t fit in a readme, such as a link to your documentation or your support server.

If your plugin asks for a key on install, sell the key as a key product and the download as a file product, and put both in a bundle. Buyers pay once and get both. The license keys guide covers key pools.

Price plugins by what the buyer may do

Plugin pricing usually follows where the code will be used, not features alone. Make each tier an option with its own price.

Tier	Who it’s for	What it usually grants
Single	One site, one server or one bot	Use in one place, with updates
Multi	Networks and people running several servers	Use in a set number of places
Developer	Freelancers and agencies	Use in client projects
Source	Teams who want to modify it	The full source, under your license terms

The license is your text: write what each tier allows, how long updates last, and whether support is included. If your plugin builds on WordPress, read how the GPL applies to it, because it shapes what you can restrict. For general pricing methods, see how to price digital products.

Deliver updates to buyers without a mailing list

Every buyer of a file product is already on your update list. Catalog → Updates posts a changelog, with the new file attached if you want, to everyone who owns the product, by email, Discord DM and Telegram. The update stays under “What’s new” in each buyer’s library, so someone who ignored the email still finds it (updates to owners).

You can send an update only to certain options or purchase dates. If your tiers include a year of updates, send each release to buyers from the last twelve months. If the Developer tier gets early builds, send those to that option alone.

Mark each product’s status so buyers can see at a glance whether the plugin works with the current platform version: Working, Updated, Testing, Updating, Not working or Down, with a short note (product status).

Sell bots and hosted scripts

A bot can be sold two ways, and the setup differs:

• As code. The buyer hosts it. Sell it like any plugin: a file product, a license and updates.
• As a hosted service. You run it, the buyer pays for access. Sell a membership with auto-renew on a saved card. If each buyer needs their own token or account from your system, dynamic delivery fetches it at the moment of sale (dynamic delivery).

Either way, a Discord role added to the product gives buyers your private support channel and removes it on a refund or when the membership ends. See selling Discord roles.

Reach buyers where they already are

Plugin buyers gather in the communities around their platform. Bring the store to them:

• Discord. Members can buy with /buy in your server (how to sell on Discord).
• Your docs site. Put a buy button or the whole checkout on your documentation pages with embeds.
• Other stores. Browser extension stores and plugin marketplaces have their own rules on outside payments and exclusivity. Read them before you link your own checkout from a listing there.

Leaks, refunds and support

Code gets shared. Per-order download links with limits keep a single leaked link from spreading, and watermarked downloads with a leak tracer are in early access, on request.

A full refund stops the order’s download links, but a file the buyer already downloaded can’t be taken back. Write that into your refund policy, and remember that EU, EEA and UK buyers tick a box at checkout to have digital content delivered right away (buyer protection). Give buyers one place for help: support tickets in your dashboard beat a scattered inbox.