WooCommerce has long been the go-to plugin by WordPress users wanting to create an online store. But as it is getting more complex, you might want to look for another solution instead. I have tried several plugins that have the same functionality as WooCommerce. If you are looking for a WooCommerce alternative to sell your products, you can check list below.
To be honest, WooCommerce is still the best e-commerce plugin when it comes to flexibility. It already has an established ecosystem.
Tons of developers have built plugins for WooCommerce. Not to mention designers who created WooCommerce custom templates on ThemeForest and other marketplaces.
But again, some people prefer simplicity over complexity. Something that WooCommerce can’t offer.
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What’s Wrong with WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is still a great e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It is fully customizable from both functionality and design perspectives. You can even use your own design for your entire online store even if you have no design or programming backgound thanks to plugins like Elementor, Breakdance to Divi Builder.
The biggest issue with WooCommerce is that you need to install extra plugins to make it fully usable to run an online store.
Even to accept PayPal payment, which is a standard payment method on most e-commerce platforms, you need to install extra plugins as WooCommerce only accept manual payment methods, which is not relevant in the modern era like today.
Features to Look in a WooCommerce Alternative
As I mentioned above, payment is one of the biggest issues with WooCommerce whereby it only accept manual payment methods. There is no option to accept digital payment by default.
Thus, payment is the main feature you need to look when picking an e-commerce plugin to replace WooCommerce.
Also, you need to make sure that the plugin you plan to use supports the product type you want to sell. If you want to sell t-shirts, for instance, you should not use EDD as it is designed specifically to sell digital products.
Shipping and tax are two other crucial features you need to notice if you want to create an online store to sell physical products.
Here are some features you need to look in a WooCommerce alternative:
- Payment
- Product type
- Tax
- Shipping (for phisical products)
- Order management
Best WooCommerce Alternatives
1. SureCart
SureCart is the best solution if you want to switch away from WooCommerce, yet still want to use WordPress. It is a feature-rich e-commerce plugin that you can use to sell both physical and digital products. Also, you can use the plugin to sell membership and accept subscription-based payment.
Unlike WooCommerce which only supports manual payments by default, SureCart allows you to accept digital payments. There are four payment processors that SureCart supports:
- PayPal
- Stripe
- Mollie
- Paystack
Do you know the best part? You don’t need to install extra plugins to use digital payments on the above list. Manual payment is also supported in case you want to accept it on your store.
SureCart also has a built-in feature to create affiliate program.
Other useful features available in SureCart include tax and shipping management. You can setup tax and shipping rate on your store before you accept orders.
SureCart has a deep integration with Gutenberg a.k.a. Block Editor. You can edit your store parts like cart page, checkout page, and shop page using Gutenberg. SureCart provides 14 extra blocks for Gutenberg which you can add to these parts.
Another worth mentioning feature that SureCart offers is coupun manager.
Is SureCart free?
Yes. SureCart is released as a freemium plugin with the free version is available on WordPress.org. The pro version is available if you want to unlock more advanced features.
Key Features of SureCart:
- Payment processors
- Tax manager
- Shipping manager
- Order manager
- Product manager
- Coupon manager
- Affiliate program
- Subscription
- Customizable parts
2. Cost Calculator
Cost Calculator is not designed specifically to create an online store like WooCommerce and SureCart. But given it also has e-commerce functionality, I think it also deserves a mention.
As the name suggests, the Cost Calculator plugin is designed to help you create a cost calculator for your services. If you are a web designer, for instance, you can use the plugin to create a calculator to allow your aspiring clients can learn the service you offer and make an order directly via the calculator.
From your end, you can process the order only when the clients have completed the payment.
Yes, Cost Calculator comes with built-in payment processors. From PayPal to Stripe. Also, it has a feature that allows you to manage the orders made via your calculators.
While Cost Calculator is great to sell services, you can also use to sell products. The plugin is great for freelancers and indie creators.
Key Features of Cost Calculator:
- Payment processors
- Order manager
- Form builder
- PDF invoicing
- Display conditions
3. Elementor Pro
You read it right. Elementor can also be used to replace WooCommerce. However, you need to use the pro version. After upgrading to the pro version, you will be able to access two widgets to accept payments: PayPal Button and Stripe Button. I have written a post comparing Elementor Free and Pro in case you want to learn more about Elementor Pro features.
The PayPal Button is the widget you can use to accept payment via PayPal, while the Stripe Button is the widget you can use to accept payment via Stripe.
What products you can sell?
You can use the widgets to sell any product or service. Especially for the PayPal Button widget, it supports the following transaction types:
- Checkout
- Subscrition
- Donation
The PayPal Button and Stripe Button are great to sell a digital product via a dedicated landing page.
And since the content fields on these widgets also supports custom fields, you can also use them to sell multiple products by incorporating them with Elementor Theme Builder feature.
Key Features of Elementor Pro:
- Supports PayPal and Stripe
- Full control over design
- Landing page builder
4. Easy Digital Downloads
Easy Digital Downloads is a great WooCommerce alternative to sell digital products. You can use it to sell digital products such as e-books, templates, to plugins. Yes, you can also use Easy Digital Downloads to sell WordPress plugins.
Same as other above WooCommerce alternatives, Easy Digital Downloads also comes with built-in payment features to allow you accept payments without installing extra plugins. You just need to connect your PayPal or Stripe account via the settings page. Once done, you can start selling your digital products.
Overall, the features offered by Easy Digital Downloads are not much different to WooCommerce. You can also manage your products using categories and tags. Features like reports and tax manager are available. Furthermore, it also has a built-in feature to offer discounts.
Key Features of Easy Digital Downloads:
- Payment processors
- Order manager
- Tax manager
- Discount manager
- Reports
Summary
WooCommerce is a great plugin to create an online store in WordPress. However, it is too complex and doesn’t come with some crucial features, digital payment in particular. You need to install extra plugins to make WooCommerce fully usable.
There are several alternatives you can use to replace WooCommerce, as I have elaborated above.
SureCart is a perfect replacement if you want to sell both physical and digital products. Elementor is great if you want to sell a single digital product via an eye-catching landing page. Easy Digital Downloads is nice to sell multiple digital products. While Cost Calculator is a great fit to market your services.
