WordPress is a platform that enables creators and entrepreneurs worldwide to build their own websites and publish their own blogs.
If you love WordPress for creating content and building community but want to make the leap to commerce, you won’t have to leave your preferred platform behind. There are many turn-key ecommerce plug-ins for WordPress available today.
Price: Free to download; requires a Shopify plan starting at $5 per month
Free trial length: 3 days
Mobile app features: Track sales, add and edit products, view reports, manage staff, process orders, upload product photos, get order notifications
Point of sale (POS): Shop Pay, PayPal, and more than 100 other providers
Shopify’s official plug-in, Sell on WordPress, is the best way to get serious about selling on your WordPress site. It’s made for creators and businesses who want to monetize their content on WordPress without compromising on the commerce experience.
For example, say you run a popular food blog on WordPress. You just wrote an article about your favorite kitchen gadgets and plan to promote a few of your own. You can use the Shopify plug-in to insert products directly into the post.
Using your WordPress editor, simply add a block featuring the no-knead bread tool you recommend, or your cookbook. Your readers can see it, click it, and buy it through Shopify without ever leaving your site.
Sell on WordPress is an effective tool because it:
Lets you add individual products or entire collections that match your site’s design
Converts 17% higher than the standard WooCommerce checkout, based on a study completed in April 2023 in partnership with a Big Three global management consulting company
Manages the whole commerce experience, from inventory to sales tracking and analytics, from your Shopify admin
Price: Free
Freetriallength: n/a
Mobileappfeatures: Add products, receive real-time notifications, manage orders, track statistics, manage multiple stores
Integrations: WooCommerce Payments, Stripe, PayPal, Square, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Google Shopping, Walmart, Etsy, eBay, Wish, Reverb, Lazada, Bonanza, HubSpot, Facebook, Mailchimp, Google Ads
WooCommerce is another free WordPress ecommerce plug-in, owned by Automattic, a global distribution company. It was developed specifically to fill WordPress’s ecommerce gap.
With WooCommerce, you can sell both physical and digital products and tap into more than 100 compatible payment gateways. You can also create product variants, sell affiliate items, and configure sales tax and shipping settings. Note that WooCommerce requires regular maintenance and updates.
Read this Shopify vs. WooCommerce comparison to see a detailed breakdown, and check out these WooCommerce alternatives as part of your research.
Price: Free to $99.50 per year and $499.50 per year
Free trial length: None, but you may request a refund within 14 days of purchasing
Mobile app features: Sales statistics, earnings tracker, individual sale information, customer database, recurring payments
Integrations: Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Braintree, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, SOFORT Banking, Mailchimp
Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plug-in for selling digital products. You can customize a shopping cart and accompanying Buy button to embed on your WordPress site.
This plug-in has the ability to use discount codes and create customer profiles. You can also track your sales with its analytics reporting.
Easy Digital Downloads doesn’t have an unlimited number of SKUs, advanced search engine optimization (SEO) tools, or features for physical products. You can, however, browse its library of add-ons to fulfill these functions.
Price: $39 per month to $399 per month
Free trial length: 15 days
Mobile app features: Check store analytics, manage product catalog, manage orders, issue refunds, and print invoices
Integrations: Square, PayPal, ConnectPOS, Epos Now, Hike POS, Vend, Heartland retail, Google Shopping, Mercado Libre, Wish, Facebook, Sellbrite, Walmart
BigCommerce is a standalone ecommerce platform that also has a WordPress plug-in. It has many of the same standard features as some of the other plug-ins on this list, including POS integrations, multichannel capabilities, analytics reporting, and SEO tools.
BigCommerce offers up to 600 SKUs, multichannel selling, sales in more than 100 countries, and the ability to sell in over 250 payment methods. It’s also PCI compliant.
Price: $179.50 per year to $399.50 per year
Free trial length: 14-day money-back guarantee
Mobile app features: n/a
Integrations: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, open API, Active Campaign, ChatGPT, EasyAffiliate
MemberPress is designed specifically to accommodate recurring payments on the WordPress platform. The plug-in allows for subscriptions, memberships, and other recurring-payment business models.
With MemberPress, you can view and manage paying members, share individual landing pages and assets, and create coupon codes. You can also build a forum to engage with your community of subscribers.
It doesn’t have dedicated features for selling physical products or processing one-time transactions.
Price: Free to $82.50 per month
Free trial length: Free plan available
Mobile app features: Scan products, track inventory, manage sales, accept payments
Integrations: Square, Clover, Vend, Alice, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, Google Shopping, FreshBooks, CapsuleCRM
The Ecwid WordPress plug-in is another option that works via embed HTML. You can also use it in social media and other online platforms—Ecwid has features for multichannel selling.
The ecommerce tool includes unlimited storage, regular backups, and upgrades and security updates. It also syncs inventory data across platforms and channels, as well as automates sales tax reporting and filing via Avalara for US-based merchants. You can choose from one of 100 compatible payment processing tools.
Price: Free (with a 2% processing fee) to $69 per year and $89 per year
Free trial length: 14 days
Mobile app features: Order notifications
Integrations: Square, Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay
WP EasyCart is a shopping cart plug-in made specifically for the WordPress platform. There are features suited for selling both physical and digital products.
Features include the ability to sell gift cards, set up recurring payments for subscriptions, send invoices, and collect donations. It’s also PCI compliant.