7 Best WordPress Shopping Cart Plugins for 2026: Pricing, Fees, and Features Compared

WooCommerce is free to install. Its Subscriptions extension costs $279 for a one-year plan, before you make a single sale.

That one line is why choosing a WordPress shopping cart plugin takes more than a feature list. The price on thes box and the price you pay are often two different numbers.

This guide compares the best WordPress shopping cart plugins for 2026 on live pricing, fees, and features. “Best” here means best fit for a stated job, not best overall.

We built SureCart, and our company also makes Modern Cart. Both are among the seven plugins below. We say so up front, and we link every number to its source so you can check it.

Quick answer: SureCart fits if you want subscriptions, upsells, and cart recovery built in, and FluentCart also offers subscription selling in its core plugin. Stay with WooCommerce if your store depends on its extensions. Easy Digital Downloads is built for digital products, and Ecwid fits a fully hosted cart. Check the cost table first, then the situation table.

Key Takeaways

• WooCommerce core is free, but its Subscriptions extension is $279 for a one-year plan. Some headline prices are year-one or promotional prices too: Easy Digital Downloads shows $99.50 for Personal, and it renews at $199.
• Free to install doesn’t mean free of fees. SureCart Launch takes a 2.9% fee, Easy Digital Downloads Lite and Personal take 3% on Stripe payments, and the WP EasyCart free plugin takes 2%. Payment processor fees come on top of every one of them.
• Adoption varies a lot. WooCommerce shows 7+ million active installs on WordPress.org, SureCart shows 80,000+, and Easy Digital Downloads shows 40,000+.
• These seven aren’t all direct peers. Ecwid is a hosted store, and Modern Cart is an add-on that runs on top of WooCommerce, not a full store on its own.
• Run your own numbers. Above about $572 a month in sales, SureCart Pro’s $199 annual price becomes cheaper than Launch’s 2.9% fee. At $10,000 a month, the subscription-ready rows in the cost table run from $199 a year to $3,699.50.

How We Compared These WordPress Shopping Cart Plugins

1. Six of the seven are picked from the plugins that show up most in current search results for this topic. The seventh, Modern Cart, is our own WooCommerce cart add-on, included for stores that want to keep WooCommerce. Any plugin that WordPress.org warns is no longer tested was left out.
2. Each price comes from the vendor’s own page, under one rule for every vendor: the price the page shows, with the regular price in a footnote. Promotional prices are labeled as promotions, and renewal terms are noted where the vendor’s pages state them.
3. Install counts, ratings, and review counts come from each plugin’s WordPress.org page, and the star split comes from its reviews page.
4. Fees count in two layers. A platform fee is the maker’s cut of each sale. A processor fee is what Stripe or PayPal charge to move the money. The two stack, and the SureCart fees guide explains the same split.
5. SureCart ranks first for the subscription-store scenario this guide prices, because it lists subscriptions, order bumps, one-click upsells, and abandoned checkout recovery as built-in features across every plan, including the free plan. WooCommerce ranks second: it has the largest ecosystem but needs a paid extension for subscriptions.
6. The remaining plugins are organized by their strongest use case rather than ranked overall. We built SureCart and our company makes Modern Cart, so weigh their placement with that in mind. Their limits sit next to their strengths.

With the method set, the table below puts all seven side by side.

WordPress Shopping Cart Plugins Compared at a Glance

These seven aren’t all direct peers. SureCart, WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, FluentCart, and WP EasyCart are full carts with checkout. Ecwid is a hosted store that connects to WordPress. Modern Cart is a cart add-on that needs WooCommerce.

Read each row against the job you need done, not as like-for-like rivals. Cells show what each vendor’s page says.

Plugin	Starting price	Platform fee	Subscriptions	WP.org installs	WP.org rating
SureCart	Launch free. Pro from $199/year	2.9% on Launch. None on Pro	Built in on every plan	80,000+	4.8 (285 reviews)
WooCommerce	Core free. Pro extension $279	None from WooCommerce	Paid extension	7+ million	4.5 (4,825 reviews)
Easy Digital Downloads	Lite free. Personal $99.50/year	3% on Stripe for Lite and Personal.	Paid passes	40,000+	4.7 (591 reviews)
FluentCart	Free version. Paid $199/year	0% per WP listing; (footnote 2)	Subscription selling – core offering	9,000+	4.5 (41 reviews)
Ecwid by Lightspeed	No free plan. From $5/month	None	Business plan and up	20,000+	4.5 (228 reviews)
WP EasyCart	Free plugin. PRO $89/year	2% on the free plugin	PRO and Premium	3,000+	4.5 (206 reviews)

Footnote 1: SureCart’s 5-store and Unlimited Pro plans show current promotional prices of $249 and $399 a year. Their standard prices are $299 and $499. Easy Digital Downloads shows $99.50 for Personal, normally $199, and all EDD renewals are at full price.

Footnote 2: FluentCart’s pricing page shows a 0% transaction fee beside the 50-site lifetime option, while its WordPress.org listing says it charges 0 transaction fees on Free and Pro. We use the listing and flag the difference until the plan-level terms are confirmed.

Footnote 3: “Not stated” means the vendor’s pricing page gives no renewal price. Payment processor fees apply on every plugin above.

The 7 Best WordPress Shopping Cart Plugins for 2026, by Use Case

Each heading below names the job that plugin fits best. “Best” means best fit for that job, not better than the others overall.

The first two entries are ranked on the criteria in our methodology. The rest are ordered by their strongest use case, not overall quality.

1. SureCart: Best for Built-In Subscriptions and Upsells

We built SureCart, so read this entry with that in mind. We list its limits as plainly as its strengths.

Why it’s ranked first: among the seven options compared here, it is the only one that lists subscriptions, order bumps, one-click upsells, and abandoned checkout recovery as built in on every plan, including the free plan. For the subscription-store scenario, SureCart Pro also ties for the lowest year-one cost in the table at $199.

Fits you if you want subscriptions, order bumps, upsells, and abandoned checkout recovery in one native plugin, with no extension to buy.

• Starting price: Launch is free. Pro for one store is $199 a year or $699 lifetime. Pro for 5 stores is on promotion at $249 a year (standard $299), and Unlimited at $399 (standard $499). The pricing page lists a 14-day money-back guarantee.
• Renewal: Pro for one store renews at $199 a year. The 5-store and Unlimited prices are currently promotional, and the renewal price for those plans isn’t stated on the pricing page.
• Platform fee: 2.9% on Launch. The pricing page says no transaction fee on Pro.
• Where store data lives: SureCart’s hosted platform, not your WordPress database. You manage the store from your WordPress dashboard.
• Built in: Subscriptions, order bumps, one-click upsells, and abandoned checkout recovery are all in the product. The features page lists them, and the pricing page says every plan gets the same features.
• WordPress.org: 80,000+ installs, 4.8 stars, 285 reviews (the highest rating among the full ecommerce carts included here; Modern Cart, an add-on rather than a full cart, shows 4.9). Of those reviews, 264 are five stars and 10 are one star.
• Not ideal if: you need a native point-of-sale system for in-person sales, or you want every order stored in your WordPress database.

WooCommerce has a much larger library of extensions and third-party plugins. SureCart takes a different architecture: core selling features are built in, while commerce operations run on its cloud platform rather than in your WordPress database.

Launch costs more than Pro for one store once yearly sales pass about $6,862, which is about $572 a month. At that point, a growing store moves to Pro.

Example cost: Launch is $696 a year at $2,000 a month in sales. Pro for one store is $199 at any sales level. Processor fees apply on both.

Pros

• Subscriptions, order bumps, upsells, and abandoned checkout recovery are built in
• The same features on every plan, including the free Launch plan
• No transaction fee on Pro

Cons

• No native POS support yet
• Store data is stored on SureCart’s hosted platform, not in your WordPress database
• Migration from another cart has a documented path, but a large catalog may need developer help

2. WooCommerce: Best for Stores That Rely on Extensions

Why it’s ranked second: WooCommerce has 7+ million active installs, far more than any other plugin in this guide, and the largest library of extensions. On adoption alone it would lead this list. It is second because this guide prices a subscription store, and on WooCommerce that job needs the paid Subscriptions extension.

Fits you if you already run WooCommerce and depend on its extensions.

• Starting price: Core is free. The Subscriptions extension is $279 for a one-year plan, or $446.40 for two years after a 20% saving.
• Renewal: WooCommerce.com subscriptions renew automatically. After a long lapse, the renewal price may follow the extension’s current price.
• Platform fee: None from WooCommerce itself. WooPayments card fees of 2.90% plus $0.30 are a processor fee.
• Where store data lives: Your WordPress site. WooCommerce says your data belongs to you.
• Subscriptions: A paid extension.
• WordPress.org: 7+ million installs, 4.5 stars, 4,825 reviews. Of those reviews, 3,997 are five stars and 410 are one star.
• Not ideal if: you want subscriptions, upsells, and cart recovery without buying and maintaining a separate extension for each.

Our own SureCart vs WooCommerce comparison estimates the extensions a store eventually needs at $500 to $1,200 a year. That is our estimate, not a measured average, and your store may need fewer.

If you already run WooCommerce, adding Subscriptions is the smallest change. You keep your theme, your extensions, and your checkout.

Example cost: core plus the Subscriptions extension is $279 for year one, at any sales level. That covers subscriptions only, not any other extension you use.

Pros

• Free core plugin
• The largest extension library and developer community in this guide
• Store data stays on your WordPress site, and its listing says you can export your content to any platform

Cons

• Costs climb as you add features: Subscriptions alone is $279 a year
• More extensions mean more updates and compatibility checks to manage
• You handle hosting and updates yourself

3. Easy Digital Downloads: Best for Digital Products

Easy Digital Downloads, or EDD, is built for selling digital products. Its WordPress.org listing says you can sell ebooks, software, templates, music, and courses.

Fits you if you sell digital products and want a free start on a cart made for them.

• Starting price: Lite is free. Pass prices shown are year-one prices: Personal $99.50 (normally $199) and Extended $199.50 (normally $399).
• Renewal: EDD’s pricing page says all renewals are at full price. Personal renews at $199, and Extended renews at $399.
• Platform fee: EDD’s pricing page says no platform fees, but its Stripe gateway page lists a 3% per-transaction fee on Lite and Personal. Extended and higher show 0% while the license key is active.
• Where store data lives: Your WordPress site. EDD says you own your store and customer data.
• Subscriptions: Every paid pass lists “Subscriptions & Free Trials” on its pricing page. Lite has core features only.
• WordPress.org: 40,000+ installs, 4.7 stars, 591 reviews. Of those reviews, 537 are five stars and 35 are one star.
• Not ideal if: you plan to stay on Lite or Personal as sales grow, since the 3% Stripe fee rises with every sale.

Example cost: Lite is $720 a year at $2,000 a month in sales. Extended is $199.50 in year one, with no platform fee.

Extended’s $199.50 beats Lite’s 3% once yearly sales pass about $6,650, or about $554 a month. At the $399 renewal price, it beats 3% only above about $13,300 a year, or about $1,108 a month.

Pros

• Built for digital products such as ebooks, software, and courses
• Subscriptions are included in every paid pass
• 0% platform fee on Extended and higher while the license is active

Cons

• Lite and Personal add 3% to every Stripe sale
• Year-one prices renew at full price, so Personal’s second year costs about double
• Lite can’t sell subscriptions

Read our full SureCart vs Easy Digital Downloads comparison for a deeper look.

4. FluentCart: Best for a Self-Hosted Cart With Subscriptions

FluentCart comes from WPManageNinja. Its WordPress.org listing says your data stays on your server.

Fits you if you want a self-hosted cart with subscription selling in its core offering.

• Starting price: A free version exists. Annual plans are $199 a year for 1 site, $499 for 5 sites, and $699 for 15 sites. Lifetime for 1 site shows $249, regularly $499.
• Renewal: The pricing page gives no renewal price. It says your store and data keep working if you don’t renew, but you lose future updates and premium support until you do.
• Platform fee: Its WordPress.org listing says it charges 0 transaction fees on Free and Pro. The pricing page shows a 0% transaction fee only beside the 50-site lifetime option, so treat the 0% as unconfirmed at plan level.
• Where store data lives: Your own server, per its listing.
• Subscriptions: Subscription selling is available in the core offering, per its listing. Licensing and Order Bumps are Pro features.
• WordPress.org: 9,000+ installs, 4.5 stars, 41 reviews. Of those reviews, 33 are five stars and 3 are one star.
• Not ideal if: you need licensing or order bumps without paying for Pro, or you want a long public track record of reviews before you commit.

The listing also names downloadable files for digital products, plus Stripe and PayPal support.

Example cost: the 1-site annual plan is $199 a year at every sales level. Its WordPress.org listing says it charges no transaction fees, though its pricing page shows 0% on one plan only (see footnote 2).

Pros

• Subscription selling in the core offering
• WordPress.org lists 0 transaction fees on Free and Pro, though plan-level pricing terms need confirmation
• A 60-day money-back guarantee on paid plans

Cons

• A smaller base of 9,000+ installs and 41 reviews, so fewer guides and less public feedback
• Licensing and Order Bumps need Pro
• Renewal pricing isn’t stated on the pricing page, so long-term cost is harder to predict

5. Ecwid by Lightspeed: Best for a Fully Hosted Store

Ecwid works differently from the other six. It is a hosted store that connects to your WordPress site through a plugin.

Fits you if you want someone else to host the store and you prefer a flat monthly price.

• Starting price: There is no free plan. Starter is $5 a month for up to 10 products. Venture is $29 a month billed annually, or $35 monthly, for up to 100 products. Business is $49 a month billed annually, or $65 monthly, for up to 2,500 products. Unlimited is $119 a month billed annually, or $149 monthly.
• Renewal: Plans have no long-term commitment, per the pricing page. You can pay monthly or annually, and annual billing costs less per month.
• Platform fee: None. Its pricing page says no setup or transaction fees on any plan, and that Ecwid works with over 70 payment providers, including PayPal and Stripe.
• Where store data lives: Ecwid’s servers. Its listing says your store data is fully hosted on its secure servers.
• Subscriptions: Listed from the Business plan up.
• WordPress.org: 20,000+ installs, 4.5 stars, 228 reviews. Of those reviews, 172 are five stars and 13 are one star.
• Not ideal if: you want your orders and customers in your WordPress database, or you need subscriptions on a low-tier plan.

Ecwid’s pricing page says its prices don’t include taxes, so budget for that line too. Each plan also caps your product count: 10 on Starter, 100 on Venture, and 2,500 on Business.

Example cost: Business, the first plan its pricing page lists with subscriptions, is $49 a month billed annually, or $588 a year at any sales level. Paid monthly, it is $780 a year.

Pros

• Hosted, so Ecwid runs the servers and store updates
• No setup or transaction fees on any plan
• No long-term commitment, with monthly or annual billing

Cons

• No free plan, so you pay from the first month
• Subscriptions start on Business, at $49 a month billed annually
• Product caps on the lower plans

6. WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart

This plugin keeps things small. Its WordPress.org listing says customers can pay with PayPal checkout or Stripe.

Fits you if you sell a few items with one-time payments and want the lightest setup.

• Starting price: Free on WordPress.org.
• Renewal: No paid plan is listed, so there is nothing to renew.
• Platform fee: None stated on the listing.
• Where store data lives: Not stated by the vendor. The listing says only that its orders menu shows the orders received from your site.
• Subscriptions: Not listed in the plugin’s features.
• WordPress.org: 10,000+ installs, 4.6 stars, 215 reviews. Of those reviews, 177 are five stars and 11 are one star.
• One limit: It lists no subscription feature, so it can’t cover a recurring-billing job.

Per its listing, it supports PayPal Smart Payment Buttons, Stripe, and manual or offline checkout.

It also names digital product sales with email delivery, discount coupons, region-based shipping, and store pickup.

A simple test helps. Write down what you will need in a year.

If subscriptions are on that list, this plugin can’t grow with you, based on its listing, so start on a cart that can.

Illustrative math: the plugin costs $0 and takes no platform fee, at any sales level.

Pros

• Free, with no platform fee stated
• A light setup for a small catalog
• PayPal, Stripe, and offline checkout options

Cons

• No subscription feature listed, so it can’t take on recurring billing
• No paid tier or upgrade path listed, so outgrowing it means switching plugins
• The vendor doesn’t state where order data is stored, so check before you rely on it

7. WP EasyCart: Best for a Free Start With an Upgrade Path

WP EasyCart shows up twice in the top results for this topic. It is a free plugin on WordPress.org with paid PRO and Premium plans.

Fits you if you want a free cart to start and you may pay to upgrade later.

• Starting price: The free plugin costs nothing. A one-year PRO license is $89, and a one-year Premium license is $129. Longer licenses cost less per year, down to $69 a year for PRO and $89 a year for Premium on a 5-year license.
• Renewal: Licenses are one-time purchases, not subscriptions. The pricing page says you must renew them yourself before they expire, at the current renewal rate.
• Platform fee: The free plugin carries a 2% fee on Stripe, Square, and PayPal payments. Paid plans remove it.
• Where store data lives: Your WordPress site. Its listing says you “run your whole shop from your WordPress site: products, checkout, orders, shipping and tax.”
• Subscriptions: The free version has no downloads or subscriptions. PRO and Premium include them.
• WordPress.org: 3,000+ installs, 4.5 stars, 206 reviews. Of those reviews, 168 are five stars and 20 are one star.
• Not ideal if: you need subscriptions or downloads on a free budget, or you want a large community of developers and guides.

Is EasyCart a free plugin? The plugin is free, but it takes 2% of each Stripe, Square, or PayPal sale until you upgrade.

Example cost: the free plugin costs $480 a year at $2,000 a month in sales, $2,400 at $10,000, and $12,000 at $50,000.

Pros

• A free plugin with Stripe, Square, and PayPal built in
• PRO and Premium add subscriptions and downloads and remove the 2% fee
• A 14-day PRO trial with no card needed, per its listing

Cons

• The free plugin takes 2% of every Stripe, Square, or PayPal sale
• Selling downloads or subscriptions means paying for PRO, $89 for one year
• The smallest install base of the seven, so fewer guides and developers

Also considered: BigCommerce is a hosted platform. Its WordPress plugin shows 300+ installs and a WordPress.org warning that it hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major WordPress releases, so we left it out. WordPress Simple PayPal Shopping Cart is a much lighter tool for one-time PayPal or Stripe sales, and its listing names no subscription feature, so it can’t run this guide’s subscription scenario.

If you want a fully hosted cart, see the hosted row in the situation table below.

What a WordPress Shopping Cart Plugin Costs at $2,000, $10,000, and $50,000 a Month

The table shows example year-one costs for each option at three monthly sales levels, combining the listed annual software price with any applicable platform fee. The Yes or No column shows which options can run subscriptions, and the Renewal column shows what happens after year one.

Important: these aren’t equivalent store configurations. The table compares the named software and platform cost, not the total cost of building and running an equivalent store. The WooCommerce rows price only the extensions named, while SureCart Pro and FluentCart’s annual plan list subscriptions and order bumps as built-in features.

	Subscriptions	$2,000	$10,000	$50,000	Renewal
SureCart Launch	Yes	$696	$3,480	$17,400	The 2.9% fee continues
SureCart Pro, 1 store	Yes	$199	$199	$199	$199 a year
WooCommerce, core plus Subscriptions only	Yes	$279	$279	$279	Auto-renews. Price may follow current pricing after a long lapse
EDD Lite	No	$720	$3,600	$18,000	No pass to renew
EDD Personal	Yes	$819.50	$3,699.50	$18,099.50	$199 a year
EDD Extended	Yes	$199.50	$199.50	$199.50	$399 a year
FluentCart, 1 site annual	Yes	$199	$199	$199	Not stated on the pricing page
Ecwid Business, billed annually	Yes	$588	$588	$588	No long-term commitment. Monthly billing is $65 a month
WP EasyCart free plugin	No	$480	$2,400	$12,000	No paid plan to renew

Yearly sales are monthly sales times 12: $24,000, $120,000, and $600,000. Every row is year one only, and the Renewal column notes what each vendor’s pages say about year two.

The processor fee isn’t in the table, because it applies on every row. Never read the SureCart Launch row as the total cost of a Launch store, since processor fees such as Stripe’s 2.9% plus 30 cents apply too.

Our ecommerce fees guide breaks down both layers. Re-check Stripe’s and PayPal’s rates before you plan.

The lesson: a percentage fee grows with every sale, while a flat price does not.

With the costs clear, the last step is matching a plugin to your situation.

How to Choose a WordPress Shopping Cart Plugin

[IMAGE SUGGESTED] Process Diagram, 1000px x 600px. A simple decision flow with four branches: sells subscriptions, sells digital products, wants a hosted store, already uses WooCommerce extensions. Each branch ends at the plugin names from the table below. Flat shapes, readable at phone width. Avoid arrows crossing each other and brand logos.

Start with the job, then check the cost. The table matches common situations to the plugins that fit them.

It isn’t a ranking, and the Why column names the listed fact behind each match.

Your situation	Look at	Why
Beginner on a free budget	SureCart Launch, FluentCart free, WooCommerce core	Free to start, and the core cart sells without a paid extension
Digital products	Easy Digital Downloads, SureCart, FluentCart	Each lists digital downloads
Subscriptions and memberships	SureCart, FluentCart, EDD paid pass, WooCommerce Subscriptions	Each lists subscriptions
Existing WooCommerce store with a few extensions	WooCommerce	Keeps your theme, extensions, and checkout. Subscriptions is a paid extension
A better cart on an existing WooCommerce store	Modern Cart	Adds a slide-out or popup cart on top of WooCommerce
Already on WooCommerce with extension sprawl	SureCart, FluentCart	Can consolidate some functionality that would otherwise require separate extensions
Agency building client stores	SureCart 5 stores or Unlimited, FluentCart 5 sites	Multi-store pricing
Wants a fully hosted cart	Ecwid	Hosted on Ecwid’s servers with no long-term commitment. BigCommerce users, start here

Three entry points show up often. If you are on WooCommerce and tired of the stack, the pull is consolidation: a built-in feature in place of an extension you would otherwise buy.

If you are leaving Shopify or BigCommerce, the pull is cost and lock-in, and our Shopify alternatives guide goes deeper.

If you build stores for clients, the pull is multi-store pricing.

SureCart’s pricing page shows current promotional prices of $249 a year for 5 stores and $399 for Unlimited (standard prices $299 and $499). FluentCart shows 5 sites at $499 a year.

Then run your own numbers. Take your monthly sales, multiply by 12, and apply each fee from the cost table.

If two options tie, pick the one you can set up with the least change to your store today.

Why SureCart Is Worth Considering (and Where It Is Not the Fit)

We built SureCart, so we will make our case with the tables and then name the limits.

The master table shows SureCart lists subscriptions as built in. Its features page adds order bumps, one-click upsells, and abandoned checkout recovery.

Its pricing page says every plan gets the same features. The cost table adds that Pro is a flat $199 a year for one store.

Two misunderstandings come up often. The first is that SureCart is only for digital products.

It sells physical goods, digital goods, and subscriptions, and it takes donations too.

The second is that the free Launch plan is a trial. Its pricing page says there are no feature restrictions. You pay a 2.9% fee instead of a monthly price, and a growing store moves to Pro.

SureCart states 80K+ merchants and 100+ payment methods on its pricing page. Treat those as the company’s own figures.

Now the limits, plainly:

• A smaller extension library. WooCommerce has far more extensions and third-party plugins to choose from.
• No native POS support yet. If you sell in person, plan for that gap.
• Store data lives on SureCart’s hosted platform, not in your WordPress database. You still manage the store from your WordPress dashboard, and SureCart’s docs describe data export and store transfer.
• Migration isn’t one-click. There is a documented migration path and a WooCommerce importer, but a large catalog may need developer help.

If you depend on a niche WooCommerce extension, stay with WooCommerce.

If you want a hosted store and no WordPress database in the picture, Ecwid fits better.

The practical next step is a test. Copy your store to a staging site, install SureCart Launch, import products with the WooCommerce importer, and run a test subscription checkout.

Then compare projected yearly cost and required features on both setups, and weigh that against the time a switch would take.

Try the free Launch plan on your own site and see the checkout for yourself.

Conclusion

The best WordPress shopping cart plugin is the one that fits your store and gives you a cost you can predict.

If you need subscriptions, the cost table narrows the choices quickly.

Three takeaways stand out. First, count both fee layers, the platform fee and the processor fee.

Second, match the plugin to your job before you compare prices.

Third, price that job at your own monthly sales, using the renewal price and not only the first-year or promotional price.

Then test your shortlist on a staging site, and compare projected costs and required features before you switch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does WordPress Have a Built-In Shopping Cart?

No. WordPress core has no cart, checkout, or payment tools.

You add them with a plugin such as SureCart, WooCommerce, or Easy Digital Downloads. Each plugin in this guide adds a cart to the WordPress site you already have, except Ecwid, which connects your site to a hosted store, and Modern Cart, which works on top of WooCommerce.

Is There a Free Shopping Cart for WordPress?

Yes. SureCart Launch, WooCommerce core, Easy Digital Downloads Lite, FluentCart’s free version, and the WP EasyCart free plugin are free to install.

Free to install isn’t free of fees. SureCart Launch takes 2.9%, EDD Lite takes 3% on Stripe, and WP EasyCart takes 2%.

Which WordPress Shopping Cart Plugin Fits a Beginner on a Free Budget?

We judge by two criteria: free to start, and a core cart that sells without a paid extension.

SureCart Launch, FluentCart’s free version, and WooCommerce core meet both criteria for a basic store. The WP EasyCart free plugin doesn’t sell downloads, and Easy Digital Downloads Lite focuses on digital products.

Which WordPress Shopping Cart Plugin Is Best for Digital Products?

We use two criteria: digital delivery is built in, and no extension is needed.

Easy Digital Downloads is built for digital products, and its listing says so. SureCart and FluentCart also list digital downloads. The WP EasyCart free plugin has no downloads, so it doesn’t meet the criteria.

What Are the Disadvantages of WooCommerce?

Three plain facts. The core is free, but add-ons such as Subscriptions are paid.

Each extension adds its own settings and updates, and you handle updates and hosting. Our SureCart vs WooCommerce comparison covers it in more depth.

Do I Need a Separate Payment Processor?

Yes. Every cart here takes payments through a processor such as Stripe or PayPal. Ecwid works with providers that include Lightspeed Payments, Stripe, and PayPal.

Stripe’s standard US card rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents, and PayPal’s checkout rate is 3.49% plus $0.49. Those fees apply on every cart.

In SureCart, you connect Stripe from the plugin’s settings.

Can I Switch Carts Later Without Losing Customers?

Often, yes, with planning. SureCart’s migration guide covers bulk imports of customers, products, purchases, and subscriptions, and it lists a WooCommerce importer.

Migration isn’t one-click, so test on a staging site first, and plan for developer help on a large store.

What Hidden Costs Should I Plan For?

Plan for five costs: extensions such as WooCommerce Subscriptions at $279 a year, platform fees on each sale, renewals, the end of promotional pricing, and processor fees.

EDD’s year-one prices renew at full price, and processor fees apply on every cart. A hosted plan like Ecwid adds a monthly price instead.