How updates work: free vs. Plus
Short answer: both get updates. The free Pixelgrade stack updates through WordPress.org — free, for every site, with no time limit. A Pixelgrade Plus license adds three years of updates for the Plus package on top. After those three years your site keeps working and the free stack keeps updating; only the Plus extras pause until you choose to renew.
What the free version gets
The free Pixelgrade stack — the Anima LT theme, Style Manager, Nova Blocks, and Pixelgrade Assistant — is published on WordPress.org, and updates the way any public theme or plugin does:
- Updates arrive straight from WordPress.org, in your regular WordPress dashboard.
- They are free for every site, with or without a Plus license.
- There is no expiry date and no license check on these updates.
Design names such as Mies LT or Rosa LT describe Starter Site designs applied to the same theme — they all share this one update path.
What a Plus license adds
Pixelgrade Plus is a one-time payment, per site. It includes three years of updates for everything Plus adds on top of the free stack.
The three years applies only to that paid layer. It never limits the free stack underneath: the theme and blocks keep updating from WordPress.org regardless of your license status.
What happens after three years
- Your site keeps working. It’s WordPress — you own it and you host it.
- The free stack keeps updating from WordPress.org, including maintenance and compatibility releases.
- The Plus package stays installed and keeps working at its last version; it simply stops receiving new versions.
- Renewing is optional, whenever you want more — or stay exactly where you are.
Why three years instead of “lifetime”
Because “lifetime” is a word that ages badly — nobody can promise updates forever and mean it. Three years is a promise we can keep, and your site is yours regardless.
How this differs from our classic themes
If you owned one of our classic commercial themes, you may have watched its updates slow down or stop when the theme was retired — each classic theme was a separate product with its own codebase, delivered through our own license server. The current stack is built differently: one actively maintained theme serves every design, and it is distributed publicly on WordPress.org. Updates don’t pass through a license server, and they don’t depend on any single sales channel staying open. Every improvement we ship lands on every site, free tier included.
Updating your site
For the step-by-step mechanics, see Anima or Anima LT: choosing the right update — it identifies which distribution you run and the correct update path. LT sites can also follow Updating Pixelgrade LT.