Top 8 WooCommerce Alternatives and Plug-Ins (2025)

WooCommerce is a popular WordPress plug-in, but it doesn’t fit the needs of every online store. Here are eight alternative ecommerce platforms and plug-ins.

WooCommerce is a free plug-in for WordPress. It turns WordPress sites into online stores, allowing merchants to build a website with product pages and a checkout.

But WooCommerce doesn’t work for everyone—it’s not compatible with every WordPress theme and often requires extra or premium extensions for even moderately sophisticated ecommerce functionality. If you’re looking to expand your WordPress store’s ecommerce features or want to move to a dedicated commerce platform like Shopify, take a look at these WooCommerce alternatives.

Ready to start your business? Create your website today or learn more about Shopify’s tools for selling online and in person.

WooCommerce drawbacks: Why seek an alternative?

• Multiple integrations may be needed for effective online sales
• Web hosting is not included
• Limited file storage

WooCommerce is a quick solution that works for many WordPress users. But if commerce is central to your business, WooCommerce doesn’t provide the best back-end experience or all the features you need to host a truly exceptional online store.

Here are a few notable limitations of WooCommerce-enabled ecommerce stores:

Multiple integrations may be needed for effective online sales

While WooCommerce is free, many of its plug-ins aren’t. For example, the official WooCommerce plug-in for selling subscriptions costs $279 per year. Adding extensions and plug-ins to your WordPress site can also create a complicated back end that can stress your server resources.

Web hosting is not included

With WooCommerce, you’re left to figure out web hosting alone. That adds cost and complexity to your setup—and means your site isn’t automatically payment card industry (PCI) compliant.

Limited file storage

As your WooCommerce store grows, you may reach the file storage limit included with the basic plug-in. You’ll then need to add a paid subscription to WooCommerce’s Amazon S3 Storage plug-in to make room for your content and data.

How to sell on WordPress without WooCommerce

• Shopify Buy Button
• SureCart
• Ecwid
• Easy Digital Downloads
• MemberPress

You can’t host an online store on WordPress without adding ecommerce plug-ins or other external additions to your site. But if you want to stick with WordPress, there are still plenty of WooCommerce alternatives. Here are some of the best ones:

Shopify Buy Button

• Price: Included in Shopify subscription; plans start at $5 per month

• Free trial: 3 days free; 3 months for $1 per month

The Shopify Buy Button creates custom code that merchants can embed into any website or blog without needing advanced technical skills. With just a few clicks, you can generate a Buy Button and add it to your WordPress site. You can customize your button to match your brand identity and add individual product listings and product collections.

Using the Shopify Buy Button is a quick and easy way to integrate Shopify’s powerful tool suite without leaving the WordPress ecosystem. You can sell physical products, digital downloads, subscriptions, and NFTs. You’ll have access to Shopify’s selling and online business management tools, and you won’t need to rely on WooCommerce systems.

Unlike with WooCommerce (which only works with WordPress), you can embed a Shopify Buy Button code on any type of website, meaning you can set up online stores and start monetizing multiple sites at once.

You can also embed a shopping cart and checkout experience with Shopify’s Buy Button. Shopify’s checkout shows accurate shipping estimates from companies like FedEx and UPS. To complete the sale, connect the Buy Button to more than 100 compatible payment gateways or use the native Shopify Payments gateway.

SureCart

• Price: Free plan entails a 1.9% transaction fee; paid plan is $179 per year and has no transaction fees

• Free trial: No

SureCart is a WordPress ecommerce plug-in that lets you sell physical products, digital products, and subscriptions. Unlike WooCommerce, it is compatible with any WordPress theme.

Customization options include the ability to design your checkout and implement payment plans. However, SureCart supports fewer payment gateways than some other plug-ins, and it doesn’t offer bulk editing for inventory.

Ecwid

• Price: From $5 per month

• Free trial: No

The WordPress plug-in from ecommerce platform Ecwid is compatible with all WordPress themes and supports more than 40 payment gateways. You can set up your checkout to show shipping costs from carriers like UPS and FedEx.

Like the Shopify Buy Button, you can use Ecwid outside of WordPress to sell on social media platforms and on marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, and Google Shopping. Ecwid offers a $5 per month plan, but this option only supports up to five products. The next subscription tier, the $25 per month Venture plan, lets you sell up to 100 products.

Note that if you want to sell digital products, you’ll need to opt for this $25 per month plan at a minimum.

Easy Digital Downloads

• Price: From $99.50 per year

• Free trial: No

The Easy Digital Downloads plug-in is a WooCommerce alternative for WordPress sites that sell digital products like ebooks, music, document templates, or other virtual products. However, it does not include support for selling physical products or NFTs. You’d have to add another plug-in to sell those items.

Features include a basic shopping cart and Buy button, which supports only two payment gateways: Stripe and PayPal. There’s an analytics dashboard to monitor sales and downloads.

MemberPress

• Price: From $179.50 per year

• Free trial: No

MemberPress is a WordPress plug-in for billing recurring payments when selling digital products like online courses and subscriber-exclusive podcast episodes or articles. 

Features include an integrated learning management system for hosting online courses and the ability to place content behind a paywall. MemberPress supports a few payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe.

MemberPress doesn’t support the sale of physical goods, so you’ll need to integrate another plug-in to your WordPress site if you want to sell merch or other non-virtual products.

WooCommerce and WordPress alternatives: Upgrading to an ecommerce platform

• Shopify
• BigCommerce
• Wix
• Adobe Commerce

At its core, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) built for bloggers and freelancers, rather than an ecommerce platform designed for business owners.

If you’re interested in migrating from WordPress to a dedicated ecommerce platform, here are a few options to consider. These platforms are designed to include everything you need to sell online, with optional apps and add-ons to customize your ecommerce store.

Shopify

Shopify’s free trial lets you try the store builder and platform features. Source: Shopify

Shopify’s easy-to-use, all-in-one format is purpose-built for ecommerce. It lets you oversee every aspect of your commerce business, including website design, physical point-of-sale (POS) systems, online payments, shipping, and funding.

Shopify users gain access to industry-leading features like super-fast load times and the best-converting checkout on the web. Unlike WooCommerce, all Shopify plans include hosting with unlimited bandwidth. Shopify secures web hosting, PCI compliance, and software updates for you, helping you maintain cybersecurity while freeing you up from coding.

For new online business owners, there are many resources to help, including an active community forum and help documentation to guide sellers through each stage of their ecommerce journey. For those who are ready to scale their business beyond WooCommerce’s capabilities, Shopify’s tried-and-true infrastructure provides a solid foundation.

That was the case for gym apparel and supplements brand Muscle Nation, which switched to Shopify from WooCommerce.

“Our website crashed with only 80 visitors,” says cofounder Chris Anastasi. The company hired a developer to solve the problem, but the WooCommerce-enabled site crashed again after a product launch. “Our website was stopping our growth. We realized we needed to stop, rewind, and get the right infrastructure in place to stabilize us. Then we could focus on growing again.”

Shopify’s platform also includes two native AI tools, Shopify Magic and Sidekick. Magic helps businesses automate and optimize tasks such as writing product copy, adding or changing product image backgrounds, and corresponding with customers. Sidekick functions as an AI assistant that you can chat with for help and guidance throughout the platform.

• Price: From $29 per month

• Free trial: Yes

• Integrated sales channels: Yes (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Google, Walmart, and more)

• Mobile app features: Yes

• Native POS: Yes

• Website hosting: Yes, with unlimited bandwidth

• AI tools: Native to the platform

BigCommerce

Like Shopify, BigCommerce is an all-in-one ecommerce platform. Source: BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted ecommerce platform with an enterprise-grade product, along with an Essentials product for small businesses. The small businesses platform comes with basic website builder tools such as drag-and-drop page design and built-in mobile responsiveness.

It also includes features like search engine optimization (SEO) tools, POS integration, and multichannel selling. Users who want to incorporate AI into their workflow must install additional apps and plug-ins.

• Price: From $29 per month

• Free trial: Yes

• Integrated sales channels: Yes

• Mobile app features: Yes

• Native POS: Yes

• Website hosting: Yes

• AI tools: Available via apps & integrations

Wix

Wix is a website builder with added ecommerce functionality and a drag-and-drop builder. Source: Wix

Wix is a website builder with drag-and-drop editing, customizable templates, and an AI assistant. It offers some tools for hosting an online store but isn’t purpose-built for ecommerce. Users can make a website for free, then upgrade to one of several premium plans to remove Wix branding and access ecommerce features.

Wix offers some ecommerce store functions in its $29 per month plan, like tools for inventory management, payment processing, and shipping.

• Price: $17 per month to build a basic website; $29 per month and up for ecommerce functionality

• Free trial: Yes, for the website builder but not for ecommerce

• Integrated sales channels: Yes

• Mobile app features: Yes

• Native POS: Yes

• Website hosting: Yes

Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce is a WooCommerce alternative platform for large businesses and B2B retailers. Source: Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) is a WooCommerce alternative designed for large, enterprise-level companies looking for a highly customizable platform. Using Adobe Commerce requires more technical expertise than other platforms on this list, and pricing can run from the low $20,000s to more than $200,000 a year. It also requires you to secure your own website hosting.

• Price: Quote on request

• Free trial: No

• Integrated sales channels: Yes

• Mobile app features: No

• Native POS: No

• Website hosting: No

How to choose the best WooCommerce alternative

• Platform type
• Ease of use
• Scalability
• Cost

To choose a WooCommerce alternative, think about the size of your store and its current needs, as well as your projected growth. Here are some considerations to guide you:

Platform type

Decide whether you need a dedicated ecommerce platform like Shopify or if a WordPress plug-in can meet your needs. This will depend on the number of products you plan to sell and whether you want a standalone solution or prefer to remain within the WordPress ecosystem, in which case you’ll need plug-ins to unlock ecommerce store functions.

Ease of use

If simplicity is a priority, look for an all-in-one platform like Shopify, which is easy to use, even for non-coders. Open-source software like WooCommerce can require manual coding, plus a solid understanding of web development, in order to maintain cybersecurity.

Compared to WordPress and WooCommerce, a dedicated ecommerce website builder might be easier for you if you’re unfamiliar with configuring the backend of a website.

Scalability

Does your chosen platform offer the selling features your online business needs? For instance, if you handle large volumes of sales, a platform like Shopify may be the right solution, since it can handle tasks like inventory management. On the other hand, if you need a simple tool to handle a few digital sales, a WordPress plug-in might suffice.

Cost

Evaluate the overall costs of each option. While standalone ecommerce platforms might look more expensive at first glance, they may end up being less expensive than paying for your web hosting, WordPress subscription, and a WordPress ecommerce plug-in and any additional extensions you may need as you grow.

WooCommerce alternatives FAQ

Is there anything better than WooCommerce?

Other WordPress plug-ins, like the Shopify Buy Button, can be better than WooCommerce. While the Buy Button is a good option for small businesses who already use WordPress, if you’re looking to grow your store, you might consider migrating from WordPress to a dedicated ecommerce platform like Shopify.

Is WooCommerce the same as WordPress?

No, WooCommerce is a native WordPress plug-in that adds some functionality for hosting online stores on WordPress websites. In 2015, WordPress’s parent company, Automattic, bought WooCommerce.

Why consider WooCommerce alternatives?

If your store’s performance is lagging due to a high volume of WooCommerce plug-ins, or if you find the costs of necessary extensions unsustainable, a WooCommerce alternative may offer a streamlined, cost-effective solution. Simple solutions like embedding the Shopify Buy Button might solve your problem. If you’re looking for a long-term fix, you might consider moving from WordPress to a dedicated ecommerce platform like Shopify.

Is Shopify better than WooCommerce?

For online store owners looking for a single ecommerce solution, Shopify is better than WooCommerce. Shopify is a complete commerce platform with a wider variety of built-in features.

WooCommerce, on the other hand, must be integrated into an existing WordPress website. The WooCommerce plug-in may need to be combined with other extensions and WordPress plug-ins, leading to a complicated and resource-intensive backend.

What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?

Shopify is a full ecommerce platform that gives sellers everything they need to build and run an online store from nearly anywhere. Shopify users range from solo entrepreneurs to large retail enterprises.

WooCommerce is a WordPress plug-in that adds ecommerce store functionality to WordPress websites. You cannot use WooCommerce without WordPress.