People are rightfully worried about the expiration of the pro license. The tool renews itself every year and comes in at a steep 49 dollars annual cost. For some, this can be covered, but for others $49.00 every single year makes no sense.

You may be wondering what would happen if you simply stopped paying the subscription to Elementor Pro. We see this question all the time in the official Facebook group -- and there are tons of different thoughts out there.

Will the site break? Will I still be able to edit pages? Can I start and stop the subscription as needed?

However, the most common of all is - can I buy the subscription to Elementor Pro for one year, build out my site, and stop paying for it for the remainder of the site lifetime? Let’s answer that here.

What Happens When Elementor Pro Expires

Direct from the official FAQ, here’s what happens:

"Your existing project will remain intact. The only difference is support, updates and access to premium templates which require renewal. In addition, Elementor Pro widgets are not draggable if the license is not activated in versions 2.9 and above."

Essentially, your WordPress website, built with Elementor, will remain functional and visible to the public. Nothing will change on the front end if your license expires. However, you'll be locked out from future updates, support , and security fixes.

Elementor Pro recently had an exploit that was quickly patched, however , if you didn't have access to the updates because your license was expired, you would have no recourse for this issue. Continuous updates on every plugin keeps them secure, and also brings new features, which is why you pay the subscription. Additionally, if you have any support questions, you would need to hold a license.

You also won't get access to any of the pro templates that ship with Elementor. When we build sites with this tool, we use templates, so missing out on these would be a big drawback (at least in our opinion).

The final big thing that happens if you don't renew your license for Elementor Pro is “pro feature lockout”.

Basically, you won’t be able to build any new pages with pro features if the pro license expires (this is new since v2.9. Here’s what they say on their site:

“Q: Can I edit Pro widgets that are already in place on a page if the site does not an activated license?

A: Yes, if the Pro widget is already in place, and doesn’t need to be dragged, you will still be able to edit the widget. However, you will not be able to use any dynamic feature of that widget unless the license is active.”

Elementor made this change to incentivize the renewal of the license and protect against piracy. Users definitely don't like it, but it's a smart business decision. We hope that you read this article before purchasing a license and building an element or site – there’s no lifetime license for Elementor.

Why You Probably Want To Renew

In our eyes, the main benefit with renewing your Elementor license is the security benefits that come with it. Elementor is used on over 5 million individual websites, meaning that it's a big target for hackers. If they find an exploit, there are tons of sites that they can get into. The more outdated version of Elementor becomes, the more of a chance that a hacker will find and exploit an get into your site.

As soon as an exploit is found, automated programs run through the Internet blasting every single site with it. If you fall into the unlucky category of somebody in the path of the hack, your site will most likely go down, be redirected to spam, or have user information stolen. For $49.00, it's definitely worth the peace of mind.

However, if you don't renew, at least your site won't be locked down by the Elementor tool itself.

If you choose to renew, consider clicking this button to get to the Elementor website. This is an affiliate link that gives us commission at no cost to you: