10 Wordpress Plugin Business Success Stories [2023]

My name is Laura Elizabeth and I run Client Portal. Client portal is a lightweight project management tool for WordPress.

In July 2018 we started charging an annual support and update fee. This was to help cover the expenses of keeping the plugin supported, implementing new features, and the time spent on customer support. So now if our customers want to continue getting support and updates to the product, they pay a recurring amount every year. If they don’t want the support and updates, they still keep the product forever and can use it for as long as they like. So far this method has been great for both customers and the company and has added a projected $38k/year to Client Portal’s revenue.

Hi! I’m Josh and I created Wheely Sales, a lucky wheel popup that works on any e-commerce platform. It’s basically like the Wheel of Fortune from the classic TV game show - but fully customizable for your online store!

I’ve grown revenue from $0 to $600/month in just 4 months since getting started and over 1.1 million people have seen the wheel on my customers’ websites in that time.

Hi, everyone! My name is Maarten, and I am the founder of Studio Wombat, where I create and sell WooCommerce plugins. WooCommerce is a platform that turns any WordPress-powered site into an e-commerce shop.

I started this company in August 2017, mainly as a side project to challenge my own development skills. To my surprise, it grew into a profitable business and we’re now making well over $15,000 per month!

Hi, I’m Katie from Barn2 Plugins. We sell innovative software products which add extra features to websites that are built on the popular WordPress and WooCommerce platforms.

We now have 16 products that generate over $100,000 in monthly revenue.

Hi guys, my name is Stefan and I am one of the founders of Hogash and ZionBuilder. I started the company back in 2012 when I first entered the Joomla and WordPress template/plugins business.

This decision seemed like the right decision for us as after we launched it, we got great feedback from our customers and we are confident that with time, it will be the go-to tool for most website creators since it has a strong base and we are constantly improving the product and it gets better and better with each update.

My name is Jason Coleman, and I am co-founder of Stranger Studios. Our flagship product is Paid Memberships Pro, a membership platform for WordPress. Associations use our platform to collect recurring payments and manage their memberships. Businesses and solo entrepreneurs use PMPro to run paid blogs, podcasts, and community sites.

Paid Memberships Pro is a free and open-source plugin available for download at WordPress.org. Over 100,000 sites run Paid Memberships Pro. We have around 6000 customers who pay us for premium add ons, support, and other services. In 2020, we averaged $100k per month in revenue and are on track to grow an additional 25-50% this year.

Hi guys, I am Alex, the founder of DocPress.it. We help bloggers, and content editors publish content written in Google Docs to WordPress blogs automatically.

At the moment, we have a bit over 1100 users, from small bloggers to content agencies and affiliate marketers. At the moment we are on a freemium model, with a great free plan and we make around 500 MRR and growing.

• Jason Cohen established WP Engine in 2010, and it is a market leader and one of the rapidly-growing companies in the tech sector. They offer digital solutions for businesses of all kinds to design, manage and deliver engaging digital experiences.

• This platform offers businesses the tools people need to build outstanding WordPress sites and apps that advance their businesses more quickly.

• Jason is a serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in business and software development. He has grown four technology firms to generate more than $1 million in yearly revenue.

• Two of his founded company are bootstrapped and funded. He afterward sold his two businesses.

• They provide more than 500,000 web experiences globally and over 85,000 customers in more than 140 countries.

• WP Engine has offices in multiple cities, including Austin, Texas, Brisbane, Australia, San Antonio, and Texas. Their 1,000+ staff operate remotely in several different countries.

• Since 2007, the founder has been writing blogs about early-stage startups at A Smart Bear. The current yearly income for WP Engine is $227.2 million dollars.

Key Takeaways

• Write theories and test them
• Create a good feedback loop
• Measure what customers are doing and categorize
• Automate conversations
• Ensure proper customers support and give customers visibility