WordPress eCommerce Plugins Comparison

A Short Intro To Choosing A eCommerce Plugin

There is a lot of money in eCommerce and as such there is a lot of money in WordPress eCommerce plugins and as such there is a lot of competition in this market! On the one hand that means you have a lot of choice and that it was never easier to build a store with WordPress. On the other hand choosing the right eCommerce solution has become harder and requires you to navigate through a jungle of feature lists and addon marketplaces. I hope my comparison helps you find the right way!

The pricing models for the different eCommerce solutions are surprisingly similar. All have a basic free version available and most then charge for individual addons.

• When you first arrive to this page you will notice that all the ecommerce plugins are listed as being free. Don’t get too excited by that! To build a serious e-commerce store you will need to pay for extensions. For most solutions you will at least need the payment processor addon of your choice and probably also a few of the additional shopping functionality addons. To get a more realistic expectation of what you would need to pay for each plugin remember to check the features you need in the search form above!
• For most plugins extensions / addons are priced per site. That means you have to pay more if you want to use your addons on more than 1 blog. Because of that be sure to also select your number of blogs above.
• Note that some of the offered extensions are built and maintained by 3rd parties. You can find them on the developer site but need to purchase them somewhere else. In this comparison they are listed together with developer’s own extensions.
• A few e-commerce solutions offer extension bundles that contain several popular addons at a discounted price. Those bundles are not reflected in my price comparison but if you need many features for your shop you might be able to save a lot by using them, so look around for them.

Some of the eCommerce solutions are more specialized on specific niches than others. WooCommerce is the most general one, thanks to its large number of extensions, but remember that each of the extensions comes with a price tag! Easy Digital Downloads, as the name already reveals, is primarily focused on digital products and selling software – as such it has fewer shipping and inventory related addons available.

Please note that eCommerce plugins simply have too many features to compare them all. That does not mean I admit defeat but for the sake of clarity I had to limit this comparison to the most popular and useful ones. For the popular shopping carts (especially WooCommerce, but also Easy Digital Downloads and Jigoshop) you will find many more addons, adding support for smaller or country-specific payment processors and other niche features.

Other Factors To Consider In Your Choice

There are of course many other factors you should consider in your choice of a eCommerce plugin which are not part of this comparison because they are either highly subjective or hard to track. For example:

• Is the plugin easy to use? To answer this question download a demo or free version (if available) to get a closer feel for how the plugin works.
• How good is the plugin interface? Try watching some Youtube videos of each WordPress e-commerce plugin in action to get an idea what the admin area looks like.
• Is the support fast and helpful? Consider just getting in touch and asking some questions before your purchase to see what kind of answer you get.
• Is the plugin updated regularly? Check if they post about new version releases on their website. For products with a free version in the WP plugin directory you can browse the changelog there.

Links

Still overwhelmed by all the features in eCommerce plugins? Here are some links to more good comparisons which might help make things clearer:

• Chris Lema talks about 6 different eCommerce plugins and recommends which is best to use for which purpose.
• This article takes a look at 4 different shopping cart plugins and includes a useful feature comparison table.

Finally I want to stress that this eCommerce plugin comparison only compares prices and features as reported by the developers. It can not tell you whether those features actually work or in which WordPress e-commerce plugin they work better. I recommend you use my comparison as a starting point in your search for the best WP eCommerce plugin and then try some of the top choices yourself!

How To Use This eCommerce Plugin Comparison

Using this comparison is very easy, certainly easier than actually choosing one of the WordPress e-commerce plugins! In the form at the top of the page enter which features you will definitely need from the eCommerce plugin of your choice by checking the boxes next to each feature. Because many eCommerce plugins increase in price depending on your number of sites you should also select on how many blogs you intend to use the plugin with the dropdown box.

After clicking the “Compare Now” button the top WordPress e-commerce plugins based on your requirements are shown on the right side. By default the results are ordered by how well they match the features you have searched for. You can change that with the “Order results by” dropdown, e.g. to display the cheapest WP e-commerce plugins in front.

What the results mean: Each compared product is shown in a blue box that contains the following information:

• Features: This comparison tracks a number of features that are commonly found in the best eCommerce plugins. The number next to each alternative shows you how many out of all those features you can find in this particular product. Features are listed as reported by the developers.
• Missing Features: This will only show up if a WordPress e-commerce plugin does not offer all the features you need (defined by your selection in the comparison search form). All products are displayed regardless of how many features they are missing with the best matches listed higher.
• Price: The price as calculated for your number of blogs and required features. The goal is to show you the exact cost you can expect when deciding to purchase one of the alternatives in order to help you find the cheapest eCommerce plugin possible.
  All prices are as listed on the developers websites. Bulk or automatic discounts are factored in if available. There can be minor variations due to rounding errors. If you find a product has changed their prices please report it so I can keep the list updated.
• Reviews: This section lists the average rating of the plugin given by WPscoop users. If available the average rating from the WordPress.org plugin directory or the CodeCanyon marketplace is also listed.
• Download / Order Link: Many of the products compared here offer you a way to test their service for free. Some offer a basic plugin for free, others a demo on their website or a refund period. You will find the details next to each plugin. If possible I recommend you try and test any WordPress e-commerce plugin yourself before buying.

My Heads Up Comparisons

Facing the hard choice between two specific WordPress e-commerce plugins? I have created 1 vs. 1 comparison pages for most of the eCommerce plugins listed here to help you find the better alternative! Check them out:

• Easy Digital Downloads vs Cart66 Cloud Comparison
• Easy Digital Downloads vs Shopp Comparison
• iThemes Exchange vs Cart66 Cloud Comparison
• iThemes Exchange vs Easy Digital Downloads Comparison
• iThemes Exchange vs Jigoshop Comparison
• iThemes Exchange vs MarketPress Comparison
• iThemes Exchange vs Shopp Comparison
• Jigoshop vs Cart66 Cloud Comparison
• Jigoshop vs Easy Digital Downloads Comparison
• Jigoshop vs MarketPress Comparison
• Jigoshop vs Shopp Comparison
• MarketPress vs Cart66 Cloud Comparison
• MarketPress vs Easy Digital Downloads Comparison
• Shopp vs Cart66 Cloud Comparison
• WooCommerce vs Cart66 Cloud Comparison
• WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads Comparison
• WooCommerce vs iThemes Exchange Comparison
• WooCommerce vs Jigoshop Comparison
• WooCommerce vs MarketPress Comparison
• WooCommerce vs Shopp Comparison
• WooCommerce vs WP eCommerce Comparison
• WP eCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads Comparison
• WP eCommerce vs iThemes Exchange Comparison
• WP eCommerce vs Jigoshop Comparison