Table of Contents
- What Is WooCommerce?
- WooCommerce as a Popular eCommerce Solution
- WooCommerce's Impressive User Base
- WooCommerce Features and Limitations
- Advantages Of Using WooCommerce
- Easy Online Store Creation for Everyone
- Unmatched Customization Freedom
- Expand Functionality with Powerful Extensions
- Publish to SEO-Friendly Blogs Directly from Notion
- Related Reading
- So, Why Consider A WooCommerce Alternative?
- Best Suited for Physical Products
- Additional Cost for Key Features
- Resource Intensive
- Limited Direct Support
- Related Reading
- 15 Best WooCommerce Alternatives That Help You Sell
- 1. Feather
- 2. Shopify
- Beyond Online Stores
- Recurring Fees vs WooCommerce's Free Platform
- Limited Control and Vendor Lock-In with Shopify
- Who Should Choose Shopify as a WooCommerce Alternative?
- 3. WP Simple Pay
- Easy Payment Form Creation for Small Businesses
- Beyond Payments - Accepting Donations and More
- 4. MemberPress
- 5. Squarespace
- 6. BigCommerce
- Feature-Rich Platform vs. WooCommerce's Extension
- 7. Ecwid
- 8. Adobe Commerce
- 9. Wix
- 10. Sellfy
- 11. PrestaShop
- 12. Magento
- Enterprises Seeking Omnichannel Experience
- High Cost & Technical Barriers Compared to WooCommerce
- 13. Easy Digital Downloads
- 14. OpenCart
- Ecommerce Features for Business Management
- 15. SureCart
- Faster Ecommerce with Headless Architecture
- Addressing WooCommerce Pain Points
- How To Choose The Best WooCommerce Alternative
- Essential Features
- Effortless Product Management
- Built-In SEO Tools
- Diverse Themes to Match Your Brand Identity
- Flexible Payment Processing Options
- Grow Your Business with Integrated Marketing Tools
- Data-Driven Decisions with Powerful Analytics
- Ease of Use
- Security
- Customer Support
- Related Reading
- Go From Notion to Blog With Ease Today with Feather
- Write in Notion, Publish to Feather
- Subfolder Blogs with Feather
- Notion Meets HubSpot with Feather
Are you looking for alternatives to WooCommerce as Blogging For Beginners for your online store? Many new bloggers struggle to find the right e-commerce solution to kick-start their online businesses. In this blog, we explore the various alternatives to WooCommerce to help you pick the best fit for your needs.
Feather's solution, Notion to blog. A user-friendly, intuitive tool that can help you achieve your blogging goals, like looking for alternatives to WooCommerce for your online store in a snap.
What Is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an eCommerce-specific plugin for WordPress. It works as a bridge that turns any WordPress site into an online store, helping to monetize a WordPress site. With 15% of the top 1 million ecommerce stores set up using it, the platform is one of the most popular on the market. WooCommerce’s large user base owes in no small part to the fact that it’s initially free, while it’s also affiliated with WordPress, the most popular content management system in the world.
WooCommerce as a Popular eCommerce Solution
WooCommerce is the go-to platform for all-size businesses, mainly because it’s free to download and install, has many attributes, and comes with the clout of the WordPress brand name. As of 2023, more than 6 million websites were powered by WooCommerce, making it the most popular eCommerce solution globally. But this impressive statistic doesn't necessarily mean WooCommerce is the absolutely perfect fit for every business.
WooCommerce's Impressive User Base
WooCommerce boasts an impressive user base of over 6 million websites, making it the most popular eCommerce solution globally. Due to varying needs and requirements, it may not be the perfect fit for every business.
WooCommerce Features and Limitations
Just like any other eCommerce solution, WooCommerce comes with a set of superb features as well as a set of limits. Its features and limitations should be carefully considered before choosing WooCommerce as an eCommerce platform for a business.
Advantages Of Using WooCommerce
WooCommerce is undoubtedly one of the best eCommerce plugins on the market.
Easy Online Store Creation for Everyone
It enables users to easily create and launch online stores without technical or coding knowledge.
Unmatched Customization Freedom
Another reason WooCommerce is so popular among users is the powerful customization options. These make it remarkably easy to create any kind of online business. Plus, because it’s an open-source solution, it’s free to download and use. And you’ll find tons of WooCommerce plugins to help you customize your store to suit your needs.
Expand Functionality with Powerful Extensions
The platform also boasts an extensive assortment of complimentary and premium extensions that enhance your store's functionality. Examples include inventory management, point of sale (POS) systems, marketing tools, and more.
Publish to SEO-Friendly Blogs Directly from Notion
Feather is an SEO-friendly blog that allows you to publish blog content through Notion, and it requires no coding or design skills. Feather allows companies to write blog content on Notion and automatically publish it to their Feather blog. Feather allows you to set up a Subfolder blog (domain.com/blog instead of blog.domain.com, because subfolder is better for SEO).
Feather enables companies to get the HubSpot experience through Notion by allowing them to manage all of their CRM and website blog management through Notion. We also offer options to change design with custom CSS, collect Emails, and much more. Write on Notion, and automatically get that published to SEO-friendly blog – Collaborate with the entire team easily during the publishing process.
Try Feather’s notion to blog software for free today — create a new account and go from notion to blog in minutes!
Related Reading
So, Why Consider A WooCommerce Alternative?
WooCommerce is a fantastic plugin for constructing an eCommerce website. However, it may not be the best fit for every situation. Let's explore some scenarios where using a WooCommerce alternative might be more beneficial.
Best Suited for Physical Products
WooCommerce primarily targets individuals selling physical products or goods through their eCommerce website. If you're dealing with digital products or downloads, more focused solutions are available that could simplify the entire process.
Additional Cost for Key Features
One downside to WooCommerce is that you must install additional plugins to access some of the key eCommerce features you might've assumed were included. Unfortunately, the cost of these premium add-ons can quickly increase. For instance, if you require specific shipping options or payment gateways, you might spend more than you originally intended.
Resource Intensive
Since WooCommerce is such a robust tool, stores built using this platform tend to use significant resources. Consequently, they may require pricier hosting plans than would typically suffice for other eCommerce solutions.
Limited Direct Support
While WooCommerce boasts a large and engaged developer community that provides numerous tutorials and documentation to assist users, the platform doesn't offer much direct support or customer service. This can make obtaining assistance when users encounter issues or have questions difficult.
Related Reading
15 Best WooCommerce Alternatives That Help You Sell
.jpg&optimizer=image&quality=80&width=280)
1. Feather
Feather is an SEO-friendly blog platform that enables you to publish blog content directly from Notion, with no need for coding or design skills. Feather allows companies to write content on Notion and automatically publish it to their Feather blog. Feather lets you set up a subfolder blog (domain.com/blog instead of blog.domain.com) for better SEO. Collaborate with your team easily during the publishing process.
Try Feather’s notion to blog software for free today — create a new account and go from notion to blog in minutes!
2. Shopify
Shopify is a popular e-commerce website builder that powers thousands of websites and is known for its ease of use and built-in e-commerce tools. The platform allows you to build online stores with fast loading speeds and offers more than 150 themes and customizable templates, though only a handful are free. Shopify offers various payment methods, third-party integrations, maintenance, and 24/7 customer support.
Beyond Online Stores
In addition to building an online store, Shopify provides e-commerce tools like:
- Content creation tools
- Email marketing tools
- Analytics
- Sales
- Logistics
These tools can be useful for running your e-commerce business. However, you must subscribe to some of these tools and functionalities at an additional cost.
Recurring Fees vs WooCommerce's Free Platform
The biggest drawback of using Shopify as a WooCommerce alternative is the amount it charges its customers. Shopify works on a recurring fee model, charging a transaction fee of 2% for every sale you make, whereas WooCommerce is completely free.
Limited Control and Vendor Lock-In with Shopify
Another area you must account for before signing up for Shopify is its strict lock-in policy; in other words, you rent rather than own the code. This makes it challenging to migrate to another vendor if Shopify's services no longer meet your needs. The platform's basic plan starts from $39/month; if you want to automate mundane manual tasks or professional reporting, you might have to pay up to $500/month.
Who Should Choose Shopify as a WooCommerce Alternative?
Shopify can be a perfect WooCommerce alternative if you have deep pockets and sell high-margin physical products. The platform offers better performance, aesthetics, and support than WooCommerce. You can also benefit from numerous ecommerce tools if you're willing to pay extra. If you're an ecommerce entrepreneur or a small business owner looking to start your online journey and keep costs down, then exploring other options from this list is worth exploring.
3. WP Simple Pay
WP Simple Pay is another WooCommerce alternative if you don’t need all the bells and whistles of a full-fledged eCommerce platform. The plugin is especially great if you don’t need a full shopping cart or store but still need to sell services/single products and accept one-time payments quickly and easily.
Easy Payment Form Creation for Small Businesses
Ease of use and simplicity are 2 of the top reasons to consider WP Simple Pay as one of the best WooCommerce alternatives for small businesses. It comes with prebuilt templates and a drag-and-drop builder to make creating payment forms easy. Plus, WP Simple Pay supports multiple payment gateways. Examples include:
- PayPal
- Stripe
- Authorize.net
Beyond Payments - Accepting Donations and More
Besides payment forms, WP Simple Pay also allows you to add Buy Now buttons. It also enables you to accept donations on your site! This is an incredibly powerful eCommerce solution if you don’t need shipping or inventory management.
4. MemberPress
If you’re looking for the best WooCommerce alternatives for a membership site or selling online courses, MemberPress should be at the top of your list. It’s a powerful WordPress plugin for:
- Creating
- Managing
- Selling course content
- Membership websites
- Subscription-based content models
The beauty of Memberpress is that it lets you easily configure subscription payments, add custom/Drip content, and create membership levels. This makes it easy to tailor your site to suit your business mode. Plus, Memberpress comes loaded with many powerful tools you can use to sell any digital content. This makes it the best WooCommerce alternative if memberships and subscriptions comprise a large part of your business.
5. Squarespace
Squarespace, renowned for its breathtaking templates and user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, stands out as a compelling WooCommerce alternative. Unlike WooCommerce, Squarespace is a fully-fledged online store builder boasting many e-commerce features. It offers product variants, integrated payment gateways, inventory management, out-of-stock alerts, and more.
The platform goes beyond basic ecommerce functionalities and provides built-in tools for crafting:
- Ad campaigns
- Generating advanced reports
- Managing content and SEO and much more
A downside to Squarespace is that although it uses a drag-and-drop editor, it isn’t intuitive and can be complex for beginners. Meanwhile, the platform’s customizations are limited to the kind of template you choose. You can only change colors, images, and texts to align with your brand, as trying to add or move elements can be challenging.
Squarespace offers three pricing plans for aspiring online store owners:
- $23/month for Business
- $27/month for Basic Commerce
- $49 for Advanced Commerce
Notably, the Business plan incurs a 3% transaction fee. The Advanced Commerce plan is necessary for those requiring merchandising and advanced shipping capabilities.
Squarespace provides sophisticated ecommerce features and bundles them into most of its plans. With its drag-and-drop functionality and beautiful designs, Squarespace is a platform that works well for e-commerce stores trying to build strong visual identities.
6. BigCommerce
Another prominent name among WooCommerce alternatives that you should consider is BigCommerce. Compared with WooCommerce, BigCommerce is a powerful platform with various built-in features that significantly exceeds WooCommerce regarding customer support. Even though this is a hosted platform, its open SaaS allows you the flexibility to easily add new features and tools.
Feature-Rich Platform vs. WooCommerce's Extension
While WooCommerce heavily relies on extensions, which can cost a lot of money, BigCommerce, on the other hand, significantly surpasses WooCommerce in terms of built-in features. For example, BigCommerce allows you to send unique messages and offers to targeted customers. It also has an abandoned cart saver feature by default and a powerful inventory management system.
This platform is also PCI compliant and ensures customer security on your behalf. Therefore, unlike WooCommerce, you don’t need to worry about security issues with BigCommerce.
7. Ecwid
Ecwid is a double whammy: while using their plugin to add ecommerce to your WordPress website, you can also build a basic store. There's even an option to create links and sell directly on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media channels.
This flexibility sums up Ecwid’s business model. It’s all about giving merchants the power to easily sell what they want, wherever they want it. Like WooCommerce, you can manage:
- Inventory
- Update stock
- Manage sales all in the same central software
There’s a reason Ecwid has nearly two million downloads on the WordPress Plugin directory—it really is one of the best ways to add a store to your site. And with Ecwid Shopping Cart, you also get access to a free mobile app that you can use as a POS.
8. Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce is another reliable eCommerce platform that powers 0.8% of all PHP-powered websites worldwide and about 20% of eCommerce systems worldwide. If you want to build your business-to-business (B2B) or direct-to-consumer (D2C) online store without having to re-platform later, you can also shift many components in the Magento backend.
Because of its built-in capabilities and the variety of extensions, it provides cutting-edge scalability and flexibility. Although there are more user-friendly eCommerce solutions and frameworks, Adobe Commerce is the best WooCommerce alternative with a strong track record, robust scalability, and versatile feature set. And if you are a developer or business owner, you can do administrative tasks within an Adobe Commerce store from more than just one digital storefront. With a multi-site configuration, you can administer several Magento sites simultaneously, all from the same place.
9. Wix
If you’re new to e-commerce and looking for a straightforward all-in-one solution, Wix is the perfect WooCommerce alternative. Wix gives you a variety of modules that you may add to your page as needed and leverages many third-party apps to assist you with creating an online store. This platform provides a range of templates for online stores, especially for dropshipping and e-commerce companies. With the help of these themes, you can showcase your products and give your consumers a great shopping experience by using pre-built layouts and design elements.
Even though Wix’s product pages have straightforward designs, you can alter the text and graphics as needed. Thanks to the simplified layout, you can produce content more quickly. In addition, Wix supports more than twenty languages. Some of the languages, including:
- Spanish
- French
- German
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Korean
10. Sellfy
Sellfy is meant for creators selling physical products or digital downloads. It also supports custom merch, print-on-demand, and subscription products. Sellfy provides flexible ways of selling your goods. You can integrate a Sellfy checkout into your website (WordPress, Wix, Squarespace…) or create a Sellfy-powered store with website-building tools.
The monthly plan pricing starts from $29/month, and you can sell digital or subscription products. And the more money you are willing to spend, the more features you get (remove the branding, cart abandonment, and priority support to name a few). While WooCommerce is free to download, Sellfy is a premium product with various pricing plans. On the other hand, WooCommerce is a free download, but you may end up paying for its extensions to get a particular functionality. Also, WooCommerce is limited to WordPress, while Sellfy supports many more platforms (including WordPress).
11. PrestaShop
Another WooCommerce alternative on our list is PrestaShop. It is an open-source, self-hosted e-commerce platform that is free to download and edit you want. It even has a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution called PrestaShop Ready, which is more user-friendly.
You’ll get two modules to customize your online store. One allows for simple and fast modification, while another module requires modifying the code using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. With PrestaShop’s customization features:
- You can organize your products.
- Build an internal search engine to make it easier for clients to navigate your site.
- Set up several payment options.
PrestaShop offers an easy solution for eCommerce retailers with a large add-on market and an array of integrated capabilities. It also helps merchants’ advertising campaigns by collaborating with Google and other major social media and marketing platforms like Facebook or Klaviyo.
12. Magento
Magento, now Adobe Commerce, is a flexible ecommerce platform that offers two options to create your ecommerce website using Magento Open-source and Magento Commerce. To use Magento Open Source, you need technical skills or experienced developers on your team to build your online store.
But if you have them, it’s free to download and install, and an excellent community will greet you with great support. Though it may take a lot of time to set up, the platform is highly customizable and has many themes.
Enterprises Seeking Omnichannel Experience
Magento Commerce is a more suitable platform for established businesses as it focuses on delivering a consistent omnichannel experience. So, if you’re an enterprise that wants to add complex functionalities to your website, like inventory management, product recommendations, account management, data analysis and more, Magneto Commerce could be for you.
High Cost & Technical Barriers Compared to WooCommerce
Though Magento values customization and personalization, it can cost much more than WooCommerce. Magento has a lot of barriers to entry, as you even have to have technical knowledge to use the open-source version or pay north of $15,000 to get a website through Magento Commerce.
13. Easy Digital Downloads
Maybe you don’t need support for physical products or complex order management processes. Easy Digital Downloads is a nice solution if you’re just after a way to sell digital products—from eBooks and PDFs to digital art (or even a WordPress plugin).
Getting started, it’s about as simple as it gets. Just download and install the plugin. From there, you can add a customizable shopping cart and buy button to your site, add customer account profiles and set up discount codes and coupons. You can also buy a range of official and third-party integrations to power up your site. These give you access to useful tools, which can be quite costly.
14. OpenCart
OpenCart is an open-source eCommerce platform that streamlines tasks related to affiliate marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), shipping, payment processing, and store management.
Ecommerce Features for Business Management
This platform allows businesses to:
- Add product variants or qualities
- Offer discounts
- Promotional codes
- Deals to customers
- Back up or restore data for future use
It also allows Admins to:
- Provide access permissions to specific individuals
- Establish settings for various stores
- Track orders
- Track customers
- Track sales
- Activity on a single dashboard
- Users can monitor viewed or purchased products through sales data and schedule recurring customer payments.
OpenCart software is available for free. You can download it from their official website. Even though the software is free, you’ll have to pay for the hosting, domain, and extensions.
15. SureCart
SureCart is a new WooCommerce alternative. Created by the guys behind the Astra WordPress theme, CartFlows, and other awesome products, SureCart is designed to take on WooCommerce's might head-on.
Faster Ecommerce with Headless Architecture
It’s a headless eCommerce solution that does everything WooCommerce does, but faster. The store is displayed on your website as usual and works exactly as expected. The difference is that SureCart's secure servers do all the heavy lifting, leaving your web server to handle visitors.
Addressing WooCommerce Pain Points
SureCart does many things better than WooCommerce. Its driving force was addressing the frustrations of using WooCommerce.
- SureCart is easy to use. The menus are easy to find, the functions are simple, and the documentation covers every aspect of using it. A dedicated support team is also available if needed.
- SureCart is fast. If you have a WooCommerce store, you’ll know how slow it can get and how much hosting can cost to cope with running a store.
SureCart is different. Your site will host the front end of the store, but the rest will be handled by SureCart servers connected via secured API. SureCart also handles most functions without requiring plugins or paid add-ons. It can handle different payment options, donations, invoicing, subscriptions, and more. You can customize your store's look and optimize the checkout page for maximum conversions.
How To Choose The Best WooCommerce Alternative
When considering WooCommerce alternatives, several key factors must be remembered to ensure you find the perfect fit for your business. From essential features to ease of use, security, and customer support, each consideration is crucial in selecting the best option for your unique needs.
Essential Features
The essential features of the WooCommerce alternative should align with your business objectives. The software must accommodate your product diversity, whether you plan to:
- Sell physical products
- Services
- Subscriptions
- Memberships
- Digital downloads
Effortless Product Management
Product management should be seamless, allowing you to easily add descriptions and upload images in a single location.
Built-In SEO Tools
Search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities are another critical consideration. Optimizing your website can enhance its visibility and attract organic traffic.
Diverse Themes to Match Your Brand Identity
Themes should also be prioritized, offering various free and paid options to align with your brand image and business model.
Flexible Payment Processing Options
Payment processing is an important aspect of any e-commerce platform. Customers appreciate payment flexibility, so ensure the alternative you choose accepts major credit cards and various payment processing solutions.
Grow Your Business with Integrated Marketing Tools
Marketing features like coupons, loyalty programs, email newsletters, and social media integrations can help attract new customers and foster growth.
Data-Driven Decisions with Powerful Analytics
Robust analytics and reporting capabilities provide valuable insights to improve website performance.
Ease of Use
While WooCommerce is relatively intuitive, it may pose a learning curve for users with limited WordPress experience. Third-party integrations and extensions add complexity to managing advanced features.
Look for an alternative that offers seamless navigation and usability, even for users with limited technical skills. Built-in advanced features eliminate the need for third-party extensions and simplify software updates.
Security
Security is a priority since customers share sensitive personal information when making online purchases. Protect your site from malware, hackers, and cybersecurity threats by prioritizing security features like:
- SSL certificates
- Firewalls
- Multistep authentication
- Strong password requirements
Customer Support
Delivering a quality online shopping experience hinges on various customer service features. The WooCommerce platform offers 25-plus customer support extensions to enhance customer interactions. When exploring alternatives, ensure you can implement live chat, automated help desks, phone support, email support, self-serve knowledge bases, and other tools to effectively address customer questions and concerns.
Related Reading
- Magento Alternatives
- No Code CMS
- Best Blogging Platform For Beginners
- Wordpress vs Squarespace
- Wordpress vs Wix
- Wix vs Squarespace vs Wordpress
Go From Notion to Blog With Ease Today with Feather
Feather is a revolutionary SEO-friendly blog platform that simplifies publishing blog content by enabling users to seamlessly create and publish blog content through Notion. With Feather, users can ditch the need for coding or design skills and effortlessly set up a blog optimized for search engines.
Write in Notion, Publish to Feather
By leveraging Feather's capabilities, companies can streamline their blogging processes by writing content on Notion and automatically publishing it on their Feather blog. One of the standout features of Feather is its ability to set up a Subfolder blog (domain.com/blog instead of blog.domain.com), which is known to be more beneficial from an SEO perspective. This feature allows companies to enhance their online visibility and attract more organic traffic to their website.
Subfolder Blogs with Feather
Feather also provides users the unique opportunity to manage all their CRM and website blog management tasks through Notion, offering them a seamless and efficient experience akin to using HubSpot.Feather offers customization options, such as the ability to change the design using custom CSS and collect emails directly through the blog platform.
Notion Meets HubSpot with Feather
Feather makes Collaboration easy, as the entire team can work together during the blog publishing. By using Feather's Notion to blog software, companies can significantly simplify their content creation and blog management workflows and enhance their online presence.
Ready to transform your blogging experience? Try Feather's notion to the blog software for free today, create a new account, and go from Notion to blog in minutes!
Written by
