Hi,

These are fair questions, so I will answer them directly.

But first, I want to address one implication. The7 was always priced according to the ThemeForest market and its economics at the time. Those economics have now changed dramatically. Saying that it was deliberately underpriced to build a large customer base and later force those customers onto subscriptions is a speculation and simply not true.

Different authors are taking different approaches. Avada, for example, has announced that its new version is being renamed as Avada One and will be distributed directly under a subscription model.

As for us, we are responsible for keeping The7 maintained and making sure there is still a team behind it.

Now, to your questions:

1. For how long will The7 14 continue to receive security and essential maintenance updates?

We are not announcing a fixed end date.

We plan to continue releasing security fixes and critical maintenance updates for The7 14. However, v14 is becoming a legacy version, and we cannot promise full compatibility with every future major release indefinitely.

2. Will these updates also cover The7 components, modules and bundled functionality required by existing websites?

Yes. Security and critical maintenance updates will cover The7-owned components and functionality required to keep existing v14 websites operational.

However, this does not mean that we will continue adding new features to v14 or rebuilding it around every future change in the WordPress ecosystem.

3. Will compatibility updates continue for future versions of WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, WPBakery and PHP?

Essential compatibility fixes will be released where necessary and practical.

However, The7 14 will not be fully tested against every future release of WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, WPBakery, PHP and other plugins indefinitely.

That is one of the main reasons for the new architecture in The7 15. It gives us a cleaner and more sustainable foundation for future compatibility and development.

4. Will bundled premium plugins continue to receive compatible updates through The7?

Bundled premium plugins are third-party products. We will continue providing compatible versions through The7 where available and practical, but their development, release schedules and future compatibility are ultimately controlled by their respective authors.

5. What exactly will happen to ThemeForest licenses older than 12 months when The7 15 is released?

Nothing will happen automatically.

Existing websites will remain on The7 14 and continue working. The7 15 will be an opt-in update, not an automatic one.

ThemeForest purchases made less than 12 months ago will receive the upgrade to v15 and updates for the remainder of that 12-month period.

For purchases older than 12 months, a direct license will be required to upgrade to v15 and join the current release track.

A $29/year The7 Update plan will be available specifically for ThemeForest buyers who need updates and support for one existing website. It will not include access to the pre-made websites library.

6. Will existing customers be required to purchase an annual subscription simply to keep their current websites secure and compatible?

No subscription will be required to keep an existing v14 website running or to receive security and critical maintenance updates released for v14.

However, customers who want to move to The7 15, remain on the current release track and receive ongoing compatibility updates for future versions of WordPress and related software will need an active direct license.

Continued access to the pre-made websites library is a separate matter. It is an actively maintained online library that receives new websites and updates, and access is now limited to 12 months from the purchase date.

I understand that this may affect you and the clients to whom you recommended The7.

But under the new fee structure, we receive $13.50 from every $39 ThemeForest sale. Pretending that this can continue funding major development, support and indefinite compatibility would not be honest.

The practical choice for existing websites is simple: they can remain on v14, or they can be moved to v15 under one of the new plans when continued active development and future compatibility become necessary.

Hello,

Thank you for the detailed response

However, your answer confirms the main practical concern I have for existing client websites.

You state that no subscription is required to keep an existing The7 14 website running. At the same time, you also state that:

-The7 14 is becoming a legacy version;

-there is no fixed maintenance period;

-full compatibility with future major releases is not guaranteed;

-compatibility fixes will only be provided where necessary and practical;

-continued compatibility with future WordPress and related software will require an active direct license and migration to The7 15.

Therefore, while a subscription may not be technically required today, it appears that it may eventually become necessary in practice to keep a website compatible, secure and maintainable as WordPress, PHP, WooCommerce and other dependencies evolve.

I would also like to address the financial argument regarding ThemeForest sales.

You stated that, under the new fee structure, you receive only $13.50 from a $39 sale and that this amount cannot sustainably fund major development, support and long-term compatibility.

However, based on the figures you provided elsewhere, a ThemeForest price of $59 would generate approximately $23.50 for you, which is similar to what you received under the previous fee structure. A price of $69, which is already common among competing premium WordPress themes, would generate even more revenue per sale than under the previous model.

Therefore, increasing the ThemeForest price appears to have been a viable alternative. Customers would likely have understood a price increase caused by Envato’s new commission structure, especially since The7 had historically been priced below many of its main competitors.

Instead, existing customers are being moved toward recurring annual payments in order to access the current version, ongoing compatibility updates and the complete product ecosystem.

For this reason, the statement that the new Envato fees leave no sustainable way to continue development under the existing model does not appear entirely convincing. The issue is not simply that the ThemeForest price was too low under the new commission structure, since that price could have been adjusted.

The decision appears to be not only about recovering the previous revenue per sale, but also about changing the product from a one-time purchase model to a recurring subscription model. That is a significantly different change for customers who purchased The7 under the previous conditions.

The pricing strategy and the decision to keep The7 at $39 were decisions made by your company. The theme could have been priced at $59 or $69 earlier, in line with competing products, which would have generated higher revenue per sale and potentially reduced the financial pressure you are describing now.

Existing customers had no control over that pricing strategy, and they should not be placed at a disadvantage because the previous model is no longer considered sufficiently profitable.

Considering the scale of this change and the fact that customers purchased The7 with future updates included, I believe it would be reasonable and fair to guarantee that The7 14, together with its required The7-owned components and modules, remains fully maintained and compatible with WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, WPBakery and supported PHP versions for at least one year after the release of The7 15.

This would provide agencies, developers and website owners with a reasonable transition period, instead of forcing them to choose immediately between remaining on a legacy version with uncertain future compatibility or moving to a recurring subscription model.

Thank you for your time.

I would also like to correct the comparison you made with Avada.

You stated:

“Avada, for example, has announced that its new version is being renamed as Avada One and will be distributed directly under a subscription model.”

After reviewing Avada’s official explanation, this comparison is incomplete and misleading.

Avada explicitly states that Avada One is a new and separate product. It is not simply the existing Avada product placed behind a subscription paywall.

At the same time, Avada Classic will remain available on ThemeForest as a one-time purchase. According to Avada’s official announcement, Classic will continue to receive:

- security fixes;

- bug fixes;

- smaller new features;

- continued support;

- selected features from Avada One, where technically feasible.

Avada also states clearly:

“Avada One is a new, separate product, not your existing Avada placed behind a paywall.”

They further confirm that Avada Classic remains a one-time purchase, fully supported and developed, and that existing customers may continue using the lifetime, one-time purchase model.

Official source:

https://avada.com/blog/your-questions-about-avada-one-answered/

This is fundamentally different from the approach being taken with The7. The7 14 is being designated as a legacy version, with no guarantee of full compatibility with future versions of WordPress, PHP, WooCommerce and related software. Customers who want to remain on the actively developed and fully compatible release track will need to move to The7 15 under a recurring annual plan.

Therefore, presenting Avada’s decision as an example of another author doing essentially the same thing is not accurate. Avada is introducing a separate subscription product while continuing to actively maintain its existing one-time-purchase product. The7 is moving its main future development track to a subscription and reducing the previously purchased version to legacy maintenance.

These are two materially different approaches, and this distinction should have been included in your response.

Hi,

Both your calculations and conclusions are factually incorrect.

For example, you are calculating commissions without seeing the sales numbers, which have halved across the marketplace over the last few months.

Also, v.14 will receive essential updates that will keep websites built on it fully functional for the foreseeable future.

The only thing that has effectively changed is access to the pre-made websites library.

Regarding Avada. I quote from their post https://avada.com/blog/a-new-chapter-for-avada/#toc_Introducing_Avada_One

> Avada 8, as it was originally conceived and communicated, will not be released.

The only deference is that I prefer honest communication over marketing bullshit.

Thank you for the clarification.

I agree that I do not have access to your complete sales figures, and therefore I cannot calculate the total impact of the marketplace-wide decline in sales.

However, the per-sale calculation is based on the figures you published yourselves. According to your own example, a $59 ThemeForest price would provide approximately $23.50 per sale, which is close to what you received under the previous fee structure.

A reduction in the number of sales affects your total revenue, but it does not make the per-sale calculation factually incorrect.

I accept that increasing the price may not have completely compensated for a significant decline in sales. My point is simply that increasing the ThemeForest price was one available alternative to moving existing customers toward recurring payments.

There is also an important contradiction that I would like clarified.

You now state:

“The only thing that has effectively changed is access to the pre-made websites library.”

However, in your previous response, you stated that ThemeForest purchases older than 12 months will require a direct license in order to upgrade to The7 15 and remain on the current release track.

You also stated that customers who want ongoing compatibility updates for future versions of WordPress and related software will need an active direct license.

Therefore, the change is clearly not limited only to the pre-made websites library.

It also affects:

- access to The7 15;

- access to the actively developed release track;

- ongoing compatibility updates for future versions of WordPress and related software.

Regarding Avada, I am not disputing the sentence you quoted:

“Avada 8, as it was originally conceived and communicated, will not be released.”

However, quoting only that sentence does not address the actual difference between the two policies.

In the same official announcement, Avada states that Avada One is a completely separate product and not a replacement for the original Avada.

Avada also states that Avada Classic will remain on ThemeForest under the same licensing model, with ongoing updates, support, fixes and continued development.

In their follow-up clarification, Avada confirms that Classic will continue to receive:

- security fixes;

- bug fixes;

- smaller new features;

- continued support;

- selected features from Avada One, where technically feasible.

Official sources:

https://avada.com/blog/a-new-chapter-for-avada/ https://avada.com/blog/your-questions-about-avada-one-answered/

Therefore, the difference is not simply a matter of “honest communication” versus “marketing.”

The difference is in the commitments being made to existing customers.

Avada is introducing a separate subscription product while continuing to actively develop and support its existing one-time-purchase product.

The7 is designating version 14 as a legacy product and requiring customers with licenses older than 12 months to purchase a recurring direct license in order to access version 15 and remain on the current development track.

These are materially different approaches.

Finally, you now state that The7 14 will receive essential updates that will keep existing websites fully functional for the foreseeable future.

That statement is more reassuring than the previous wording, but I would appreciate confirmation that “fully functional” includes essential compatibility updates when future releases of WordPress, PHP, WooCommerce, Elementor or WPBakery would otherwise cause serious problems on existing The7 14 websites.

This is the main issue that matters to me and to the clients whose websites I maintain.

It is clear from your responses that the decision has already been made and that the new model will be implemented regardless of the concerns raised by existing customers.

I also feel that some of the answers remain selective and do not fully address the long-term consequences for customers who purchased The7 under the previous licensing conditions.

For this reason, I will unfortunately have to leave a one-star rating. I do not consider it fair that I paid for a license whose future is now uncertain and whose actively developed version will require a new recurring payment.

Over time, I will also have to consider migrating my clients to other themes that provide clearer and more predictable long-term licensing and update policies.

I believe this strategy will cause The7 to lose many long-term customers and developers who previously recommended the theme. In the end, this may contribute to the same decline in sales that you are currently concerned about.

There is no need to continue this discussion, as I believe both positions are now clear.

I genuinely wish you and your team the best of luck with the new direction, although I hope you will reconsider how these changes affect the customers who supported The7 for many years.

Hello,

Miroslav here, co-founder of Dream-Theme.

Yes, that’s correct.

Why.

We have never advertised lifetime access to the pre-made websites library. However, because Envato/ThemeForest brought us a steady stream of new sales and revenue, we were able to keep the library open to everyone at no additional cost.


Envato has increasingly diverted buyer traffic from themes and plugins toward its own Envato Elements subscription. ThemeForest predictably declined, and instead of addressing the problem, Envato changed the economics of the marketplace.


As of July 1, Envato replaced its tiered author fee with a flat 50%. For us, that means an increase from 12.5% to 50%. On top of that, Envato keeps the fixed $12 buyer fee included in every WordPress theme sale.


Under these terms, we receive $13.50 from every $39 ThemeForest sale.


Needless to say, this is not sustainable. Therefore, as of July 10, access to the pre-made websites library is limited to 12 months from the purchase date.


I hope this explains the situation.

Kind regards,

Miroslav

P.S. Most other ThemeForest and CodeCanyon authors will tell you the same. So if you want to support authors, purchase directly from their websites when possible.

P.P.S. Direct The7 license is available starting for $39 at https://the7.io/pricing/

Hello Miroslav,

Envato’s new fees are a dispute between you and the marketplace, not your paying customers. Shifting that financial burden onto users who already purchased your product under different terms is highly unprofessional.

You claim you never advertised “lifetime access,” but you actively advertised the pre-made websites library as a core feature of the theme. Since there was never a mention of a 12-month expiration date when I purchased my 9 licenses, the baseline expectation for any digital item on ThemeForest is that features remain available for the lifetime of the product.

Changing the terms of a sale retrospectively and stripping away core features from existing buyers is unacceptable. If you do this now, what stops you from removing features from direct licenses bought on your website in the future when another cost goes up?

This is a clear breach of trust for your long-term customers.

Hi,

I understand why you are annoyed, but I disagree with several parts of your interpretation.

We are not removing anything from your existing websites. The theme will continue to work, imported pre-made websites will continue to work, and your licenses will remain valid for the websites where they are used.

What is changing is continued access to an online library that we actively maintain, update, and expand. That costs money.

Advertising the pre-made websites library as a feature is not the same as promising lifetime access to every future library item and to an indefinitely maintained online service. We have never made that promise.

For years, we were able to keep the library open to everyone because ThemeForest continued bringing us enough new sales to fund it. That is no longer the case.

This is not simply a dispute between us and Envato. Their changes directly affect whether we can continue funding development, updates, infrastructure, and support. And this is true for all authors on ThemeForest and CodeCanyon.

You are also not being charged retroactively. Your existing sites are not being disabled, and nothing already imported is being taken away. Continued access to the library after 12 months now requires an active license.

I also understand the concern about what this means for direct licenses. The difference is that the terms of those licenses are explicit from the start. They are annual subscriptions, and library access is included while the subscription is active. There is no implied lifetime access.

Since you own 9 licenses, I understand that this change affects you more than an average one-site buyer. The Unlimited license was introduced specifically for customers building multiple websites, and at $199/year it costs considerably less than continuing to purchase individual ThemeForest licenses.

You are free to disagree with the decision. But describing it as stripping core functionality from existing websites is not accurate.

The alternative is The7 slowly dies and bricks 200,000 sites in the process. This is not something we want for our product and its users.

Miroslav,

I understand that creating and maintaining new demos costs money. However, instead of restricting access to newly released content, you chose to block access to the existing demos that were already part of the product when I purchased my licenses. Now, I cannot even import a single page or template from a demo I originally paid for to update my clients’ sites. That is definitely stripping core functionality.

Furthermore, your ultimatum —that the alternative is “The7 slowly dies and bricks 200,000 sites”— only proves my point about direct licenses.

If you are willing to retrospectively strip features from existing buyers under the threat of abandoning the theme, there is absolutely no guarantee you won’t double your subscription prices or change direct terms after a year or two using the exact same justification.

This is a matter of business ethics, and unfortunately, you just confirmed that the goalposts can be moved at any time.

Hi,

Please note that we provide support only via our online help-desk: https://support.dream-theme.com. Submit a ticket there and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

Thanks!