Is this plug-in affiliated with Codebard? Or is this a seperate entity? Is my ability to use the Patreon widgets on my site (to drive traffic to my Patreon page) predicated on subscribing to Codebard?
There are 2 free Patreon plugins - one of them provides the basic Patreon connection, login and unlock features. The other provides widgets without needing any of those. The widgets plugin is currently closed for downloads at WP org for a security review. (for something that was fixed). If you can download it from Codebard.com (the free one), you can just use it.
Both plugins are built into Patron Pro - if you have it, you already have those plugins.