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.
Here are a few popular, trusted options for turning your existing WordPress site into a checkout-ready storefront.
Table of contents
7 best WordPress ecommerce plug-ins
- Sell on WordPress (Shopify app)
- WooCommerce
- Easy Digital Downloads
- BigCommerce for WordPress
- MemberPress
- Ecwid Ecommerce Shopping Cart
- WP EasyCart
1. Sell on WordPress (Shopify app)
- 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
2. WooCommerce
- 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.
3. Easy Digital Downloads
- 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.
4. BigCommerce for WordPress
- 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.
5. MemberPress
- 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.
6. Ecwid Ecommerce Shopping Cart
- 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.
7. WP EasyCart
- 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.
How to pick the best WordPress ecommerce plug-in
You can’t add a WordPress ecommerce plug-in to any old website. It must be a website built on the WordPress platform. Beyond that, you’ll want to ensure your site is secure and updated to the latest version of WordPress.
Not sure how to pick the right plug-in for your ecommerce website? Follow these steps to help you find the right tool.
1. Figure out what you need
List the essential features your online store needs, such as payment gateways, shipping options, inventory management, and product variations.
Understand your business model and identify specific functionalities that are critical for your operations. Some plug-ins can handle all kinds of sales, regardless of whether it’s domestic or international, but others won’t.
2. Determine plug-in compatibility and integration
Ensure the ecommerce plug-in is compatible with your WordPress theme and other plug-ins you might already be using.
How fast your website loads has an impact on your search rankings and user experience. Adding plug-ins means adding more data to load, so ensure the plug-in of your choice won’t have a significant negative impact on your site speed.
3. Evaluate the plug-in, pricing, and support
Some plug-ins offer demos and free trials to help you see the platform in action. Look for a user-friendly plug-in with an intuitive interface and consider the following:
- Price: Budget is always a consideration. While it’s not necessarily about finding the cheapest option, you do want to ensure your investment will deliver what you need.
- Reviews: It’s always a good idea to read customer reviews to find out how real-world users enjoy the plug-ins. You can learn things here that you wouldn’t from the plug-in’s website.
- Customer support: If you’re not tech-savvy, you might need some help. Find out about customer support options and check the plug-in’s website to see if it has clear documentation for troubleshooting issues on your own.
4. Download and install the plug-in
Once you’ve chosen your ecommerce plug-in, you can download and install it on your WordPress website. The specific steps vary depending on the plug-in you choose.
The best online store builder doesn’t need an ecommerce plug-in
No one business starts the same way, and your ecommerce platform should reflect that. With Shopify, you have options.
You can launch your brand on Shopify’s all-in-one ecommerce platform, which gives you every tool imaginable to build and manage your online store from day one. Or, if you’ve already built an audience on WordPress, you can integrate Shopify’s globally recognized commerce engine into your site using the free Shopify plug-in.
No matter which path you choose, you’re building on a platform designed for growth. As your business scales, you can choose from more than 16,000 apps in the Shopify App Store to expand your capabilities and turn your store into a global ecommerce entity.
Illustration by Eugenia Mello
Read more
- Introducing Shopify for WordPress
- Website Builder & Website Maker by Shopify
- The Ultimate Guide To Dropshipping (2024)
- 8 Woocommerce Alternatives to Manage Your Online Store
- How To Create a Coming Soon Landing Page (+Examples, 2024)
- How To Source Products To Sell Online
- Hit the Shelves- 6 Steps to Getting Your Products Into Retail Stores
- Ecommerce International Shipping- Guide to Delivering Worldwide
- Psychological Pricing- What Your Prices Really Say to Customers
- The True Cost of Running an Ecommerce Website
WordPress ecommerce plug-ins FAQ
What plug-ins do I need for WordPress ecommerce?
The exact plug-ins you need for your WordPress ecommerce store will depend on the specific features and functionality you are looking to add.
Popular ecommerce plug-ins include Sell on WordPress by Shopify, WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, WP Ecommerce, and MarketPress.
Why are people moving away from WordPress?
Many businesses leave WordPress to escape the task of managing updates and security patches for their themes and plug-ins. Relying on this ecosystem of third-party tools creates two problems: it can open up security vulnerabilities and potentially lead to performance issues that slow down the site, which can hurt sales.
How do I integrate ecommerce into WordPress?
The easiest way to integrate ecommerce into WordPress is to use a plug-in such as Sell on WordPress.
Sell on WordPress is the official Shopify plug-in made to let you sell products easily on your WordPress site. It’s free to download, install, and use, and provides a comprehensive suite of tools for creating and managing an online store.
Is WordPress good for ecommerce?
Yes, WordPress is a good option for ecommerce with the right plug-in, like Sell on WordPress. But a dedicated ecommerce platform like Shopify will always be a better option if you want to create excellent shopping experiences and grow an ecommerce business.





