Today marks a milestone we’ve been working toward for over six months: the launch of DMSI Digital Downloads, Licensing & Subscriptions (DMSI DDLS) – a free WordPress plugin that solves one of the most expensive problems facing WordPress developers and digital product creators.
The Problem We’re Solving
If you sell digital products through WordPress, you face a difficult choice. You need professional tools to manage downloads, licenses, and subscriptions, but the existing solutions are expensive. Commercial plugins can cost over €200 per year just for recurring billing (WooCommerce Subscriptions is €249 a year). Hosted selling platforms take a percentage of every sale.
For indie developers, small software companies, and bootstrapped startups, these costs eat into already-thin margins. Many compromise by using free alternatives that lack essential features, manually managing licenses through spreadsheets, or simply not offering subscriptions at all.
There had to be a better way.
Introducing DMSI DDLS
DMSI DDLS is our answer to this problem. It’s a comprehensive WordPress plugin that handles three critical business functions:
Digital Downloads Management
Protect your digital products with secure file delivery. Upload product files, manage versions, and control access based on license status. Uploaded files are served through WordPress only to customers with a valid license. Every download is logged with the date, IP address and browser.
Complete License Management
Generate licenses automatically when customers purchase your products. Track activations by site URL. Licenses expire automatically, and a paid renewal order extends the license. Support multiple products with different licensing rules. Integrate with your software through a comprehensive REST API that validates licenses in real-time.
Built-in Subscription System
Sell subscriptions without a separate subscription plugin. DMSI DDLS records each subscription, takes the first payment through WooCommerce, tells you when a renewal is due so you can send the customer a payment link, and handles cancellation and expiry. For automatic renewal charges, failed-payment retries, free trials and grace periods, add DMSI Subscriptions Pro (€49 a year per site).
Why Free?
The question we hear most is: “What’s the catch?”
There isn’t a hidden one. The DMSI DDLS core plugin is free, with no time limits and no revenue share, and every core feature described above is included at no cost. You can use it for unlimited products, unlimited licenses, unlimited customers, and unlimited revenue. Paid extensions add automation when you need it, and we say so wherever they do.
We built this plugin because we needed it ourselves but couldn’t afford the expensive commercial solutions. Rather than paying hundreds of dollars per year for recurring costs, we developed our own system. Once we had it working in production, we realized other developers faced the same challenges.
Rather than trying to build another expensive product in an already crowded market, we decided to give the core functionality away and focus on building optional premium extensions for users who need advanced features.
Built for Developers and Digital Product Creators
DMSI DDLS works for anyone selling digital products through WordPress:
WordPress Plugin and Theme Developers: License your premium plugins with activation tracking and expiration handling. For automatic updates in the WordPress dashboard, add the paid DMSI Update Server extension (€49 a year per site). Integrate the REST API into your software for real-time license validation.
Software Vendors: Whether you build desktop applications, mobile apps, or cross-platform software, DMSI DDLS can license it. The REST API works from any programming language and platform.
SaaS Companies: Manage subscription-based access to web applications. Handle renewals and cancellations, and add DMSI Subscriptions Pro for free trials, automatic charging, and plan upgrades and downgrades.
Digital Product Creators: Sell eBooks, design templates, stock assets, or any other digital content. Control access, track downloads, and manage customer licenses from one dashboard.
Enterprise Features, Zero Cost
Despite being free, DMSI DDLS includes features you’d expect from expensive commercial solutions:
- Automatic license generation when customers purchase WooCommerce products
- Customer self-service portal with six sections (dashboard, licenses, downloads, account, subscriptions, support contracts)
- Complete REST API for license validation and management from any software platform
- Automated email notifications for customers and admins, with editable templates and an email log
- Background job processing via Action Scheduler for scheduled tasks such as license expiration checks
- Comprehensive admin interface for license, customer, product, and subscription management
- Reports for sales, licenses, downloads, and revenue
- Admin screens protected by their own WordPress capabilities
- Privacy tools: EULA acceptance records work with the WordPress personal data export and erase tools, and email logs can anonymise recipients after a retention period
- A Recent Activity feed on the dashboard
- Email queue system with retry logic and rate limiting
Getting Started
DMSI DDLS is available now on WordPress.org:
- Install from the WordPress plugin directory or upload the plugin manually (see our Getting Started guide)
- Activate the plugin
- Configure your first WooCommerce product with license generation enabled
- Start selling – licenses generate automatically when orders complete
Our documentation covers installation, configuration, and integration.
What’s Next?
The core DMSI DDLS plugin will remain free. We’re committed to regular updates, security patches, and community support through the WordPress.org forum.
For advanced use cases, these paid extensions are available (see pricing):
- DMSI Update Server for automatic plugin and theme updates from your own site (€49 a year per site)
- DMSI Subscriptions Pro for automatic renewal charges, payment retries and free trials (€49 a year per site)
- Analytics Pro for deep business intelligence (€99 a year)
- Support Desk for license-verified support tickets in the customer portal (€79 a year)
- Team Management for multi-user admin access (€149 a year)
- Webhooks for real-time event notifications (€99 a year)
- Advanced API capabilities (€149 a year)
- Service Management for service-based products (€79 a year)
These extensions are optional add-ons. The free core plugin covers licensing, secure downloads and subscriptions with manual renewals on its own.
Join the Community
DMSI DDLS is more than software – it’s a community of developers helping developers. We invite you to:
- Download DMSI DDLS from WordPress.org
- Share feedback and feature requests
- Help other users in the support forum
- Spread the word to other developers facing these challenges
We built DMSI DDLS to solve real problems we experienced ourselves. We’re excited to share it with the WordPress community and see what you build with it.
Download DMSI DDLS today and stop overpaying for digital product management.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the catch — why is DMSI DDLS free?
There is no hidden catch. The core plugin is free, with no revenue share. We built it because we needed it ourselves. Revenue comes from optional paid extensions for advanced use cases, such as DMSI Update Server (€49 a year per site) for automatic updates and DMSI Subscriptions Pro (€49 a year per site) for automatic renewal charges. The core licensing, downloads, and subscription features stay free.
How does DMSI DDLS compare to Easy Digital Downloads?
EDD is a mature, established platform with a large ecosystem. However, EDD’s subscriptions start with its Personal plan (€99.50 the first year, €199 on renewal), and its Software Licensing needs the Professional plan (€299.50 the first year, €599 on renewal). DMSI DDLS includes licensing, and subscriptions with manual renewals, in the free core plugin; automatic renewal charges need DMSI Subscriptions Pro (€49 a year per site). Both are solid choices — it depends on whether you value a proven ecosystem (EDD) or cost savings (DMSI DDLS).
Can I migrate from another licensing platform to DMSI DDLS?
Yes, by hand. There is no automatic import from other platforms, but an import screen lets you add existing customers one at a time with their existing license keys and dates. Since DMSI DDLS is self-hosted on your own WordPress site, you have full control over your data. You can set up DMSI DDLS alongside your existing solution, migrate products gradually, and switch over when ready. There is no vendor lock-in.
About DMSI: Dream Makers Software Innovations builds tools that help developers make their dreams real. DMSI DDLS is our first product, with more developer-focused solutions coming soon.
