Is the free Listora really enough to replace Directorist or GeoDirectory?
For the public directory surface, yes. Free covers faceted search at 100,000 listings, frontend submission with draft auto-save, business claims, reviews with owner reply, 6-layer anti-spam, 11 Gutenberg blocks, 55 REST endpoints, and migration importers for Directorist, GeoDirectory, WPBDP, and ListingPro. Pro adds the monetization layer - credit plans, payments, lead capture, badges, comparison, moderators, Needs Marketplace. The split is intentional: a Pro license expiration never breaks your public directory.
Can I migrate existing listings from Directorist or GeoDirectory?
Yes. Built-in importers handle Directorist, GeoDirectory, WPBDP (Business Directory Plugin), and ListingPro out of the box. Run wp listora migrate --from=directorist --dry-run to preview before importing. Pro adds a Visual Importer with field auto-detection and a preview step for source schemas the free importers do not cover.
How is the credit system different from a regular subscription?
Pro uses Hold-and-Commit credit activation. When a vendor selects a plan, credits are HELD (reserved but not deducted). When the listing goes live, credits are COMMITTED. If activation fails (validation error, race condition, expired coupon), the hold cancels and credits return. No partial charges, no manual refunds. Vendors top up through any of 7 payment adapters (Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, WooSubs, MemberPress, PMPro, WooMemberships) into one credit ledger.
Why $69 / year when competitors charge $300-600?
Directorist, GeoDirectory, and ListingPro built monetization as a per-feature add-on stack. A site needs pricing-plans + payments + featured + multi-vendor + reviews as separate licenses. Listora ships every monetization feature in one Pro license. There is no add-on to buy. The cost difference is structural, not a discount we will quietly raise later.
What does Listora NOT do?
It is not a hotel-booking engine with real-time availability + calendar - use a dedicated booking plugin alongside. It is not a payment gateway itself - it consumes WooCommerce / Stripe / PayPal / Memberships through the Wbcom Credits SDK adapters. It is not a CRM - lead capture writes to your database and emails the owner, but full lead management lives in HubSpot / Pipedrive / your CRM of choice. Where Listora is opinionated is the directory layer; everything else is documented hooks waiting for your integration.