Plugin marketplace or plain skill folder: how to distribute a skill
A skill can ship as a folder people copy or as a plugin installed from a marketplace. What each gives you, and which suits a free tool or a paid product.
There are two common ways to put a skill in someone's hands. They suit different situations, and the choice is mostly about updates and access.
| Skill folder | Plugin | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Unzip into a skills folder | /plugin marketplace add, then /plugin install |
| Contents | One skill | Skills, commands, agents, hooks, MCP servers |
| Updates | Download again | Update through the marketplace |
| Paid access | Easy: deliver the ZIP after payment | Harder: marketplaces are usually public repos |
What we chose
Our skills are paid, so they ship as ZIP folders delivered after payment and downloadable again with a licence key, as in licence-key gated downloads. The open-source companion we recommend, ui-ux-pro-max, installs as a plugin from its own public repository, as described in using ui-ux-pro-max with a design skill. Each tool fits its case.
Whichever you pick, the skill inside is the same folder: see packaging a skill as a ZIP.
Questions
What is a Claude Code plugin?
A package that can bundle skills, slash commands, subagents, hooks and MCP servers, installed from a marketplace with /plugin commands.
When is a plain folder better than a plugin?
When you ship one skill, when buyers download it after paying, or when you want no dependency on a marketplace. A folder is the simplest thing that works.
When is a plugin better?
When you ship several pieces that belong together, want users to update with one command, and the thing is freely distributable from a public repository.