What Sandhills Development, LLC does

Sandhills Development, LLC was a privately held, bootstrapped software company headquartered in Hutchinson, Kansas, that built and maintained a portfolio of WordPress plugins for SMB site owners. Founded in 2009 by Pippin Williamson under the original Pippin's Pages / Pippin's Plugins brand, the company operated a fully distributed team of 26-28 professionals across five countries. Its core products were built on a PHP/MySQL WordPress stack and included AffiliateWP (a full-featured affiliate program solution deployed on 25,000+ sites), Easy Digital Downloads (a digital-product commerce platform), WP Simple Pay (a Stripe-exclusive payment form plugin acquired in 2019), Sugar Calendar (an event calendar with professional add-ons), and the Payouts Service (a managed affiliate commission disbursement product launched in 2019). The original foundational product, Restrict Content Pro (a membership plugin generating $500,000+/year), was sold to iThemes/Liquid Web in September 2020.

The company monetized primarily through per-site annual subscriptions sold directly to end customers via owned product websites and the WordPress.org plugin repository, with no channel resellers or enterprise sales motion. A pure product-led, self-serve GTM model was supplemented by content marketing, an active presence in the WordPress community (19 WordCamps attended in 2019), and the founder's personal brand. Total 2020 revenue reached $4.33M (software line), up 24.39% YoY, with a separate microbrewery line, Sandhills Brewing, contributing approximately $531K across two Kansas locations. In September 2021, the entire WordPress product suite and team were acquired by Awesome Motive, ending independent operations of the software business while some non-software projects (Sandhills Brewing, conservation land stewardship) continued independently.

Name

Sandhills Development, LLC

Legal name

Sandhills Development, LLC

Website

https://sandhillsdev.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sandhills Development was a bootstrapped, distributed software firm that built and sold a portfolio of WordPress plugins — including AffiliateWP, Easy Digital Downloads, WP Simple Pay, and Sugar Calendar — to SMB website owners via self-serve, per-site annual subscriptions, and was acquired by Awesome Motive in September 2021.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

WordPress Plugins and eCommerce Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

akta.pro primary industry

Affiliate Marketing & Partner Networks (BPAMALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affiliate & Performance Creator Programs (BPAFAHAG)

Keywords

• WordPress plugins
• ECommerce software
• Affiliate marketing software
• Digital downloads platform
• Payment processing plugins

Headquarters

HQ city

Hutchinson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Plugin Sales: Primary revenue stream from selling WordPress plugins (AffiliateWP, Easy Digital Downloads, Sugar Calendar, WP Simple Pay) on a per-site license basis. Revenue split: AffiliateWP $1,272,293 (2019), Easy Digital Downloads $1,009,080 (2019), WP Simple Pay $307,743 (2019), Restrict Content Pro $467,806 (2019, sold 2020).
2. Affiliate Agreements: Revenue from affiliate agreements with partner businesses. Generated approximately $200,079 in 2020. One major affiliate agreement contributed over $100,000 in revenue for Easy Digital Downloads in 2020.
3. Payouts Service Processing Fees: Revenue from processing fees on the Payouts Service. Processing volume was $517,300.54 in 2020, generating approximately $15,000 in revenue from processing fees. Different revenue model than plugins - takes a small percentage of processing volume.
4. Real Estate: Rental income from commercial properties owned by the company, including lease to third-party tenants.
5. Sandhills Brewing: Revenue from microbrewery operations at two locations (Hutchinson and Mission, KS). ~$531,000 in 2020 revenue. Operated as separate entity (Sandhills Brewing, LLC).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sandhills Development develops and sells a portfolio of commercial WordPress plugins sold on annual per-site licenses, including Easy Digital Downloads (digital product eCommerce), AffiliateWP (affiliate program management), WP Simple Pay (Stripe payments), Sugar Calendar (event calendar), and the Payouts Service (affiliate commission disbursement). The company also operates Sandhills Brewing, a separate microbrewery venture with two Kansas locations, as an adjacent non-software business.

Product overview

Sandhills Development, LLC is a software company offering a portfolio of WordPress plugins for eCommerce, affiliate marketing, payments, and event management. The product portfolio includes Easy Digital Downloads (a complete digital product eCommerce solution), AffiliateWP (an affiliate marketing plugin and the company's largest revenue generator), WP Simple Pay (a Stripe-exclusive payments plugin acquired in 2019), Sugar Calendar (an event calendar with professional add-ons), and the Payouts Service (an affiliate commission disbursement tool). The company also operated Restrict Content Pro (a membership plugin) until its sale to iThemes/Liquid Web in September 2020. Sandhills Development maintains non-software ventures including Sandhills Brewing (a Kansas microbrewery) and conservation/land stewardship projects. The company was acquired by Awesome Motive in September 2021.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sandhills Brewing: Microbrewery focusing on barrel aged wild ales, with locations in Hutchinson and Mission, Kansas
• AffiliateWP
• Easy Digital Downloads
• Sugar Calendar
• WP Simple Pay
• Payouts Service
• Pippin's Plugins

Products and services

• Easy Digital Downloads A complete eCommerce solution for selling digital products on WordPress. The company's flagship eCommerce plugin supporting payment processing, file delivery, and digital product sales.
• AffiliateWP A full-featured affiliate program solution for WordPress sites. The company's largest single revenue stream, used on over 25,000 websites, offering referral tracking, payout processing, and affiliate management.
• WP Simple Pay A lightweight Stripe payments plugin for WordPress. An acquired product that exclusively integrates with Stripe for credit card processing, supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and SCA compliance.
• Sugar Calendar A simple event calendar plugin for WordPress. An event management tool with pro add-ons including advanced recurring events, WP All Import integration, event ticketing, and frontend event submissions.
• Payouts Service Managed payout disbursement service for affiliate and vendor commissions. Simplifies paying affiliates for AffiliateWP users, supporting international payouts with a per-transaction fee revenue model.
• Sandhills Brewing Central Kansas microbrewery focusing on barrel aged wild ales. A separate business entity from Sandhills Development's software operations, with two locations (Hutchinson and Mission, KS), operating collaboratively with Polygon Brewing and Three Rings Brewery.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25,000+ websites use AffiliateWP
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• iThemes / Liquid WebmajorOthers · 1 September 2020Product acquisition partnership where iThemes/Liquid Web acquired Restrict Content Pro from Sandhills Development. This was a product-only acquisition meaning no team members transferred. Sandhills retained all other products. The acquisition allowed Sandhills to narrow focus and increase resources on remaining products.
• StripecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2020Stripe is the exclusive payment processor for WP Simple Pay and is integrated with other products. Sandhills had a significant fraud case involving Stripe's Connect platform in 2020 that was resolved with Stripe crediting $47,381.85 back to Sandhills.
• Phil Derksen (WP Simple Pay)majorOthers · 1 April 2019Acquisition of WP Simple Pay plugin from founder Phil Derksen. Phil Derksen was the original developer and founder of WP Simple Pay.
• Polygon Brewing, LLCminorOthersCollaboration partnership with twin brother Jonathan Williamson's Polygon Brewing, LLC for Sandhills Brewing venture.
• Three Rings Brewery, LLCminorOthersPartnership with neighboring Three Rings Brewery, LLC as part of Sandhills Brewing collaboration.
• TeamTreesminorOthersDonated to TeamTrees for planting 10,000 trees globally as part of carbon negative commitment.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WooCommerce (Automattic): WooCommerce is the dominant WordPress eCommerce plugin owned by Automattic. It directly competes with Easy Digital Downloads in the digital-goods commerce category while offering a much broader physical-goods feature set, making it the most direct large-scale incumbent peer.
• WPForms (Awesome Motive): WPForms is a leading WordPress form builder plugin owned by Awesome Motive. As a fellow portfolio company within the Awesome Motive ecosystem, it is the most relevant broad incumbent for product strategy, monetization patterns, and post-acquisition synergy planning.

Direct peers

• MemberPress: MemberPress is a leading WordPress membership and content-restriction plugin. It directly overlaps with the membership/subscription functionality of the (now divested) Restrict Content Pro and addresses the same WordPress SMB segment with a similar product-led model.
• Paid Memberships Pro: Paid Memberships Pro is a WordPress membership plugin offering similar subscription and content-restriction capabilities to Restrict Content Pro. It serves the same WordPress SMB customer base with a self-serve, plugin-based business model.
• Easy Affiliate: Easy Affiliate is a standalone WordPress affiliate tracking and management plugin. It is the closest head-to-head competitor to AffiliateWP, targeting the same SMB WordPress site-owner use case with similar referral tracking, payout, and reporting features.
• SendOwl: SendOwl provides digital product delivery, checkout, and subscription management for creators and SMBs. It competes most directly with Easy Digital Downloads in the digital-goods selling category, particularly for sellers not exclusively on WordPress.
• ThriveCart: ThriveCart is a shopping cart platform for digital products, courses, and subscriptions. It overlaps with Easy Digital Downloads and WP Simple Pay on checkout/payment for digital sellers, often competing for the same SMB creator customer base.
• LearnDash: LearnDash is a leading WordPress LMS plugin enabling course creators to build and monetize online learning sites. It is also part of the Awesome Motive portfolio post-2021, making it both a peer and a stablemate for cross-promotion.
• LifterLMS: LifterLMS is a WordPress LMS plugin for course creation, memberships, and subscriptions. It competes with LearnDash and overlaps with the membership/subscription capabilities previously offered by Restrict Content Pro in the WordPress SMB market.

Emerging players

• Wholesale Suite: Wholesale Suite provides WooCommerce wholesale extensions (wholesale pricing, user roles, order forms). While more focused on B2B/wholesale on WooCommerce, it is a niche peer in the WordPress commerce tooling ecosystem adjacent to Easy Digital Downloads and AffiliateWP.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SandhillsDev

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sandhills Development, LLC