I have been working on a premium plugin for years and at the beginning of the year I've released it.

And for a few reasons I've deliberately decided NOT to release a free version on .org plugin repository.

Main reasons:
- it's a plugin for WordPress professionals (niche)
- .org review is gatekeeping without responsibility
- awareness of the WP vs WPEngine "drama"
- GPL with all of it's flaws

Of course I was fully aware that this is still the main source of information about plugins for people, but I thought - that I can "offset" it with more marketing/SEO/GEO.

But now after months of grinding and discussing the results with various LLMs - over and over I came to the conclusion that I might have chosen wrong, because .org repository is also one of the main source of information for LLMs.

So now even plugins that have 10-40 installs, few months and less features are recommended more in my "niche" than my plugin.

And I'm now really on the fence. Thinking that maybe I should "surrender" and release a free version ( or at least try to ).