Compare
Six solutions for WordPress plugin distribution, each with a different philosophy. See how Troy compares.
Six Tools, One Goal
There are several ways to distribute WordPress plugins outside WordPress.org. Each tool takes a different approach. Some embed a library into every plugin; others replace the entire ecosystem.
Troy takes a middle path: one client plugin, one server plugin, full control. Your plugins update from your infrastructure, and the same plugin file can stay listed on WordPress.org.
Use the comparison table below to see exactly where each solution stands.
Troy
Private distribution
Freemius
Hosted monetization platform
EDD + SL
Easy Digital Downloads + Software Licensing
eCommerce + licensing + updates
PUC
Plugin Update Checker
Per-plugin update library
FAIR
Federated And Independent Repositories
WP.org replacement client
Git Updater
Git-hosted updates
How Troy Compares
Five head-to-head breakdowns. Each one covers what the other tool is genuinely good at, what its architecture costs you, and what Troy does instead.
Troy vs. Freemius
Freemius is a monetization platform first and an update service second. It handles licensing, payments, and delivery as one hosted bundle, which is genuinely the fastest way to start selling a plugin.
That convenience is rented. It costs roughly 7% of every sale, and every plugin you ship has to carry a ~147-file SDK. Your users' site URLs, WordPress versions, and full plugin and theme lists travel to Freemius servers, not yours, on every update check.
Troy is self-hosted and MIT-licensed, and collects nothing that can fingerprint a site.
The split is clean. If you need payments handled for you, Freemius is the only turnkey option on this page. If you already sell your own work, Troy gives you the update half without the revenue cut or the data collection.
What Troy collectsThe payload never gets smaller. It has been this consistent for years.
Troy vs. EDD + Software Licensing
Easy Digital Downloads is a full eCommerce platform that happens to deliver updates. If you want a storefront, a cart, and licensing in one place, that bundling is the point.
Updates are not sold separately, though. Software Licensing only arrives with the Professional+ pass at $599–999/yr on renewal, so the update service carries the cost of the whole store.
EDD also ships telemetry of its own. A weekly check-in sends sales and refund totals, customer count, and every active plugin to Awesome Motive. The settings toggle is labelled Yes, I want to help!
Troy delivers updates and stops there. No storefront, no telemetry, and no site URLs leaving your infrastructure.
Adding plugins to Troy ServerTroy vs. Plugin Update Checker
Plugin Update Checker is free, MIT, and has roughly 16 years of production use behind it. For a single plugin it is hard to beat.
The cost arrives with the second plugin. PUC is a library, so its ~40 PHP files ship inside every plugin that uses it. Ten plugins means ten copies in memory, ten HTTP requests per update cycle, and ten separate patches the day a vulnerability lands.
It also ties the updater to its host. Deactivate the plugin and updates stop, because the update service lives inside it. That is lock-in wearing different clothes. Troy Client hides Deactivate while dependents exist, so the updater cannot be dropped by accident.
Listing is the other divide. A PUC-powered build cannot stay on WordPress.org, because it replaces .org's updater for that plugin. Troy's header is inert metadata, so the same file can stay listed.
Since v5.7 a plugin author can also switch on forced background updates for every site running their plugin (allowAutoupdateField()). That is the developer opting in on the site owner's behalf. Troy blocks the autoupdate flag on both Server and Client, so site owners update when they choose.
Troy vs. FAIR
FAIR is the most ambitious project on this page. It aims to replace the WordPress.org supply chain outright rather than sit beside it.
FAIR Connect is the site client, and it swaps out .org update checks, translations, and Add Plugins for a FAIR provider, AspireCloud by default. The update check still sends WordPress's full installed-plugin list to whichever provider you point it at.
Self-hosting the whole mirror means running AspireCloud, which is Laravel, PostgreSQL, and Redis. Fair Beacon will host a few package files on WordPress instead, but the DID and PLC directory stay inside FAIR's control plane. Fair Explorer, their public plugin and theme browser, is a genuine lead: Troy's equivalent is planned for 2027.
Troy makes the smaller bet. It doesn't replace WordPress.org, it runs alongside it. You key a plugin to your server, and the directory keeps working exactly as it did.
WordPress.org integrationUpdate checks move. The full plugin list goes with them.
Both paths stay open. The same plugin file works either way.
Troy vs. Git Updater
Git Updater pulls updates straight from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or Gitea. There is no server to run, which for a handful of public repositories is a real advantage.
Your Git host becomes the update infrastructure, and it inherits the problems of that job. It sees every update request from every site you ship to. Unauthenticated GitHub requests cap at 60 per hour. Private or authenticated repositories need a $19.95/yr license plus API tokens deployed on each site.
Troy imports from GitHub too, but serves from your own server. No rate limits, no tokens on user sites, and no third party watching the traffic.
GitHub integrationQuick Decision Matrix
Not sure which tool fits your use case? This matrix maps common goals to the best-fit solution.
Why Is Troy Winning in Almost Every Category?
Because we learned from the others. We spent many days tearing apart every tool on this page, Troy included, cataloguing every feature gap, every silent data leak, every architectural shortcut. We know where Troy falls short too, and we're fixing it.
