Royal Ledger – WordPress Cost Tracker & License Key Manager

Yes. Royal Ledger has no premium tier, no license check, no usage limits, no time limit, and no paid features. Every feature is unlocked the moment you activate the plugin. There is no Pro version to upsell.

All data is stored in your own WordPress database. Nothing is sent to external servers, no account is required, and the plugin makes zero outbound HTTP requests.

Yes. License keys are encrypted using AES-256-CBC with HMAC integrity verification before they touch the database. The encryption key is derived from your WordPress security salts (AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT), so each site has unique encryption that survives database backups and migrations between hosts.

Yes. Royal Ledger supports any cost source — managed WordPress hosting (WP Engine, Kinsta, Pressable, Flywheel, Pantheon), shared hosting (HostGator, Hostinger, SiteGround, Bluehost, GoDaddy, A2 Hosting), VPS, dedicated servers, or anything else billed monthly or annually. Add it as a "Hosting" cost item with the renewal date and Royal Ledger handles the rest.

Yes. The License Key Vault is designed exactly for this use case. Store the keys you received from any third-party plugin or service vendor — WPForms Pro, Yoast Premium, Elementor Pro, Rank Math Pro, Astra Pro, ACF Pro, Gravity Forms, WP Rocket, MonsterInsights, OptinMonster, Sucuri, Wordfence Premium, and so on. Keys are encrypted at rest, masked in the UI, and revealed with one click for copy/paste when you need them.

No. The plugin makes no outbound HTTP requests, does not call any API, does not check any license server, and does not phone home. All processing — cost calculations, encryption, plugin scanning, renewal reminders — happens entirely on your own WordPress site. There is nothing to opt out of because there is nothing being sent.

No. Royal Ledger only loads its admin assets on its own admin pages. There is zero frontend impact — no scripts, styles, or database queries run on visitor-facing pages. The optional WordPress dashboard widget runs a single small SQL query.

The plugin schedules a daily WordPress cron event. Each day it checks for cost items renewing within your alert window (7, 14, or 30 days) and sends a single summary email to your chosen recipient. Royal Ledger uses WordPress's standard wp_mail() function and detects an active SMTP plugin (Royal SMTP, WP Mail SMTP, Post SMTP, FluentSMTP, Easy WP SMTP, Mailgun, SendGrid, Gmail SMTP, MailerSend, etc.) so you can confirm reliable delivery before relying on the alerts.

Yes. Royal Ledger imports CSV (with the same columns as the export) and JSON backup files. Paste CSV data directly into the import field — useful for migrating from a spreadsheet you've been keeping in Google Sheets, Excel, Notion, or Airtable.

Yes. CSV export gives you a clean spreadsheet of cost items (license keys excluded for safety). JSON full backup includes every cost item plus encrypted license keys for migration to a new WordPress install or off-site backup.

Yes. The Plugin Auto-Detection scanner reads your installed plugins via WordPress's standard get_plugins() function and adds paid or custom plugins as cost items. Free plugins from wordpress.org are skipped automatically so the scanner only surfaces things you're likely paying for.

Deactivation preserves all cost items and encrypted license keys. Full uninstall (Plugins → Delete) removes the plugin's database tables and options — make a JSON backup first if you want to keep the data.

Yes, on a per-site basis. Each site in a multisite network tracks its own costs independently with its own database tables and settings.

Yes. Install Royal Ledger on each client site and use the JSON export to consolidate cost data into a master spreadsheet, or treat each client site's costs separately for transparent monthly invoicing. Royal Ledger is GPL — no per-site fees.

No. Royal Ledger is intentionally a single, fully-featured free plugin. There is no upsell, no nag, no feature gate.