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Ever wondered about WooCommerce pricing? Is it truly free to set up an online store with the popular eCommerce plugin?

If you’re considering WooCommerce, you’re likely curious about the true costs involved.

We’ll break down everything you need to know about WooCommerce pricing and its impact on your bottom line.

Here’s the truth: While WooCommerce itself is free, there are additional expenses to consider when building an online store.

As a store owner, it’s crucial to understand how these costs can affect your profits.

You wouldn’t want to invest time and effort into setting up a free platform only to find out unexpected costs down the road!

This article will discuss:

• How WooCommerce works. It’s important to understand the real thing
• A clear picture of the costs involved – a detailed analysis
• SureCart as a powerful and cost effective option for your WordPress eCommerce needs

Let’s dive in and explore how WooCommerce works!

How WooCommerce Pricing Works

According to Builtwith, WooCommerce is currently active on over 3.2 million websites, in addition to 8 million sites that have used WooCommerce in the past.

The plugin is free and easy to install on your WordPress website. However, to make your store fully functional, you’ll need some additional components.

The plugin itself is free and easy to install on your WordPress website. However, to make your store fully functional, you’ll need some additional components.

This is where WooCommerce extensions, hosting, themes, and essential plugins come in.

These are the building blocks of a WooCommerce store and play a crucial role in its overall success.

Knowing about them early gives you more time to pick the best options for building an outstanding store.

Here’s how the overall WooCommerce pricing works:

With the free WooCommerce plugin in place, let’s delve into the real costs involved in setting up your online store.

Must-have Features For Online Stores

The eCommerce industry is a multi-trillion dollar powerhouse, and online stores with exceptional user experiences stand out the most.

What were once considered advanced features are now essential for most shoppers.

These include secure payments, multiple payment methods, customer dashboards, and buy now pay later.

Let’s look at some examples:

A small pastry shop catering to a local community might run perfectly well with basic shipping options.

A clothing store with nationwide delivery would likely struggle without an advanced shipping rate calculator.

An online store selling multiple digital products might require tools for payment installments or subscriptions.

Depending on your business and industry, your needs will vary.

Here are some of the features most eCommerce stores use to provide a great shopping experience.

We’ll use these features in the following sections to find out how much you need to invest for setting up a WooCommerce store.

Let’s start with the essential steps.

WooCommerce Extensions: Free vs Premium

When you set up your store, you’ll have access to a vast library of extensions that can enhance its functionality.

While the WooCommerce marketplace offers hundreds of extensions, only a small proportion (around 11%) are free.

Many free extensions on WordPress.org also have premium versions with more features.

This creates a pricing structure where you can start with a basic setup using free extensions. But as your store scales, you’ll likely need to invest in premium extensions for advanced functions.

For example, CartFlows, a popular WooCommerce plugin for abandoned cart recovery, has a free version with essential features.

To create more advanced marketing and sales funnels, you’ll need to purchase a premium plan ($99, $189 or $299).

It’s important to note that some extensions might have recurring fees or require additional purchases.

You’ll also find numerous WooCommerce extensions for similar tasks with varying prices. This can make it challenging to choose the best option.

For instance, if you search for “coupon” in the WooCommerce marketplace, you’ll encounter several coupon extensions with different features and price points.

Pro Tip: Before selecting a WooCommerce extension, check its popularity, customer reviews, and features.

Let’s take a look at some features from our previous list to illustrate the breakdown of free and premium extensions:

Features	Price
Payment Gateways (Stripe/PayPal)	Most gateway extensions are free
Recurring payments/subscriptions	$49 – $279/year
Shipping	Free – $149/year
Coupon/discounts	$39 – $89/year
Product reviews/ratings	$49 – $199/year
Inventory management	Free – $149/year
Donations	Free – $99 year
Email marketing	Free – $159/year

As you can see from the table, adding all these features to your WooCommerce store can increase your yearly costs by at least $137.

Remember, this is just an estimate, and the actual cost will depend on the specific extensions you choose and their pricing plans.

While there are free themes available, themes specifically designed for WooCommerce might cost extra. We’ll talk about that shortly.

Estimated Cost Of Setting Up A WooCommerce Store

Now you understand how WooCommerce store costs can vary depending on your needs, let’s delve into the estimated costs associated with setting up your store.

We’ll build a sample store from scratch and explore different scenarios to show you the costs for both a small and large eCommerce store.

Let’s begin with domain registration.

Domain Registration – Essential

The first step towards building your WooCommerce store is securing a domain name. This will be your online store’s address on the internet.

The exact price can vary depending on the specific domain name you choose and the chosen extension (like .com, .net, or .org).

For instance, as the image shows, a .com domain for “iwantomakewoostore” is available for $9 on Namecheap in the first year, but renews at $14 per year.

The price can also fluctuate depending on the registrar you choose.

Crazy Domains, for example, might offer the same domain name for $14.40 per year.

As you can see, there’s some variation in pricing based on both the extension and the registrar.

In short, a .com domain name will typically cost around $15 per year on average.

For Beginners:

If you’re a beginner and domain names seem a bit technical, don’t worry. This tutorial will guide you through everything you need to know.

Hosting – Essential

If you haven’t registered your domain yet, some web hosts offer a free domain name in the first year.

This can be a nice perk for beginners to save on initial costs. Web hosts such as Cloudways are a great option.

The success of your eCommerce website depends on a reliable web host.

A web host stores your website’s files and makes it accessible on the internet.

When choosing a web host, consider storage space, bandwidth, security features, and customer support.

For beginners who’d like to learn more about web hosting and how it functions, here’s a helpful tutorial that explains everything in detail.

If you’re a fan of watching the whole thing, we also have an in depth video tutorial for you.

While affordable hosting plans are attractive, consider your needs. A basic shared plan might not be sufficient for a high-traffic store.

Many popular web hosts offer dedicated hosting plans for WooCommerce, often starting at around $45 per year.

These plans are usually optimized for the specific needs of online stores.

As your business grows and your traffic increases, you can upgrade to a more powerful plan.

WordPress and WooCommerce – Essential

Installing WordPress is a breeze and completely free.

Most web hosts offer one-click WordPress install through the control panel.

You can also install it yourself if you prefer.

If you’d prefer to practice building your website on a computer before making it live, this tutorial can guide you.

Once your website is set up, you can install WooCommerce for free from Plugins > Add New in the WordPress dashboard.

You might wonder whether to install WooCommerce or your WordPress theme first.

The good news is that it doesn’t matter! You can install either one first.

Some themes, like Astra, offer starter templates specifically designed for WooCommerce stores.

These templates include pre-built layouts and features, and even install WooCommerce automatically.

This can be a convenient way to get a professional-looking store up and running quickly.

We’ll explore starter themes in more detail in the following section.

Theme – Essential

A good thing about WooCommerce is that it works with a wide variety of free and premium WordPress themes.

You can download one from WordPress.org, or from the WooCommerce marketplace.

While free themes can be tempting, keep in mind that they might offer limited features. They can lack customization options, or customer support compared to premium themes.

Some free themes don’t offer paid upgrades, which means you might need to completely switch to a new theme later on.

This can be a time-consuming process and can negatively impact your SEO (search engine optimization).

Your theme is a crucial element, as it determines the design of your online store – the first impression for your visitors.

A visually unappealing theme can lead to a higher bounce rate and lower conversion rates.

In the long run, a well-designed theme can be a worthwhile investment.

If this scares you, don’t worry. Astra has you covered!

Astra is a popular free theme that offers a good balance of features and ease of use.

It also includes Starter Templates, which are pre-built website designs specifically tailored for WooCommerce stores.

This allows you to get a professional-looking store up and running quickly. For free.

Astra also offers a pro version starting at $49/year with additional features.

Check out some of our store themes.

Brand Store

Jewellery Store

Fast Food Restaurant

There are templates for every type of store and the ability to customize everything you see on the page so yours is unique.

Extensions/Plugins – Essential + Optional

This section focuses on how much more you might need to spend on WooCommerce extensions.

The cost of extensions depends on the specific needs of your business. A small store can often function successfully with just the basic features included with WooCommerce.

For example, if you sell a small number of ebooks, you might only need essential extensions.

These might include extensions for downloadable products, reviews or a contact form.

If you run a busy health store selling a wider variety of products, you will likely need premium extensions.

This may include extensions for:

• Recurring payments
• Discounts/coupons
• Order tracking
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Product reviews
• Email marketing
• Affiliate plugins
• Subscription management

Let’s compare the costs for those two types of WooCommerce stores side-by-side to get a clearer picture of the total investment.

We’ll factor in the domain and hosting costs again for a more comprehensive comparison.

Features	Small eBook Store	Large Health Store
Domain	$15	$15
Hosting	$48	$180
Theme	Free	$49/Year
Payment gateways	Free – Transactional charges	Free – Transactional charges
Product reviews	Basic free version	$79/year (WooCommerce Product Reviews Pro)
Subscriptions	Basic free version	$279/year (WooCommerce Subscriptions)
Product returns	N/A	$129/year (Returns for WooCommerce)
Shipping	N/A	$119/year (Table Rate Shipping)
Coupon/discount	N/A	$49/year (WooCommerce Coupon Campaigns)
Cart abandonment	N/A	$99/year (CartFlows)
Order tracking	N/A	$59/year (Shipment Tracking)
Customer dashboard	N/A	$49/year (Custom User Dashboard)
Email marketing	N/A	$49/year (WooCommerce Waitlist)
Total	$63/year	$1,155/year

These are approximate costs and use popular plugins for example only.

SEO, Performance and Security – Essential

To run a successful eCommerce business, your website needs to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs) to attract organic traffic.

You can achieve this by using plugins for:

• SEO
• Performance optimization
• Website security

These are essential plugins for your WooCommerce store.

For instance, free SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math can get you started.

However, for a more comprehensive approach and higher rankings, you might consider upgrading to a premium plan.

Yoast’s premium plan starts at $99/year, while Rank Math’s starts at $84/year.

Website speed and security are crucial for building customer trust and driving sales.

Free security and caching plugins are available and are good enough to get you started.

Premium options like WP Rocket cache plugin ($44/year) or Wordfence security plugin ($119/year) offer more advanced features.

The cost of essential premium extensions can up by $150 and $250 per year depending on your specific needs.

By investing in these plugins, you’ll be well on your way to running a professional WooCommerce store that attracts more traffic and boosts your revenue potential.

Total Cost

$1,155 + $250 = $1,405/year

A Few WooCommerce Challenges

WooCommerce has been the go-to eCommerce plugin for WordPress since its launch in 2011.

It was initially developed to sell physical products and digital products came later.

There are a few things you should know before committing to WooCommerce:

• Keeping it smooth: Running a WooCommerce store takes some work to keep it fast and user-friendly
• More features, more work: Extra features often come from addons which can slow things down as your store grows. You might need to pay extra for speed boosters and powerful hosting
• Help on your own: Since it’s free, getting help can involve searching forums instead of calling a support team
• Free, but not all free: While WooCommerce itself is free, many features require paid addons.
• Older tech: As it’s getting on a bit, WooCommerce might not be the best for all the latest online store challenges

Are you thinking that choosing WooCommerce might require more time and effort to maintain than you anticipated?

Is it more expensive than you initially realized?

If WooCommerce seems like more work than you bargained for, WordPress offers other options.

One such option is SureCart. Let’s quickly find out where it stands out in terms of cost and performance.

SureCart: A Powerful Cost Effective eCommerce Solution

SureCart offers a fresh approach to eCommerce, designed to tackle modern online store challenges.

It’s a headless eCommerce solution. It separates the customer-facing storefront from the behind-the-scenes operations that power your store.

This differs from WooCommerce, which relies on numerous plugins to add features.

With SureCart, you get all the desired features simply by installing it on your website.

You can manage your store through a plugin interface while SureCart handles the heavy lifting on its secure servers.

This approach ensures features run smoothly. Your store is more secure, and can easily scale to accommodate your store’s growth – all at no additional cost.

We could delve deeper into SureCart’s benefits compared to the traditional approach, but let’s keep it concise.

To help you see how SureCart stacks up against WooCommerce, let’s discuss a few key factors.

SureCart excels in areas like:

• Ease of use: No need to manage multiple plugins for essential features.
• Performance: Headless design delivers faster load times for customers.
• Security: Backend functionality on secure servers reduces the risk of security breaches.

If you want to explore SureCart’s features in detail, check out our comprehensive review here.

WooCommerce vs SureCart: Features Comparison

Like WooCommerce, you can set up a full online store with the free version of SureCart.

Unlike WooCommerce, SureCart offers many powerful features without paid extensions.

Let’s do a little comparison!

Features	WooCommerce	SureCart
Products	Physical, digital and services	Physical, digital, services and donations
Payment processors	Cash on delivery, Bank transfer, Check	Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Manual
Coupons and discounts	✅ (basic)	✅
Analytics	✅	✅
Order bumps and upsells	✅	✅
Pay what you want	❌	✅
Cart abandonment	❌	✅
Customer service portal	❌	✅
Advance shipping rates	❌	✅
Customizable emails	❌	✅
Customizable invoices	❌	✅
Returns management	❌	✅
Inventory management	❌	✅
Tax calculation	✅	✅
Manual tax override	❌	✅
Affiliate marketing	❌	✅
Subscription management	❌	✅
Installment plans	❌	✅

SureCart vs WooCommerce: Cost Comparison

Now you understand the features available in SureCart’s free version, let’s take a closer look.

All the features in the chart are included in the free version of SureCart but require a paid extension in WooCommerce.

Features	Included in WooCommerce?	Extension Price
Donations	❌	$99/year
Pay what you want	❌	$59/year
Cart abandonment	❌	$79/year
Customer service portal	❌	$49/year
Advance shipping rates	❌	$119/year
Customizable emails	❌	$69/year
Customizable invoices	❌	$79/year
Returns management	❌	$129/year
Inventory management	❌	$149/year
Manual tax override	❌	$59/year
Affiliate marketing	❌	$179/year
Subscription management	❌	$279/year
Total		$1348/year

Cost of Setting Up a SureCart Store

To wrap up our discussion on SureCart, let’s explore the investment required to set up a store.

We’ll revisit the scenarios we used earlier for WooCommerce. Only this time, the table will focus solely on SureCart.

Features	Small eBook Store	Large Health Store
Domain	$15	$15
Hosting	$48	$180
Theme	Free	$49/Year
Essential addons	Free	$588/year
Total	$63/year	$832/year

With domain and hosting remaining similar, setting up a small online store with SureCart is comparable to WooCommerce.

However, SureCart offers significant value right from the start, with many essential features included in the free plan.

Even if you upgrade to SureCart’s highest plan (Scale), the cost is lower than building a WooCommerce store with the same level of functionality.

Ready for the power and affordability of SureCart? Get started here.

Still unsure?

We’ve created a detailed comparison of the top three eCommerce plugins: WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) vs SureCart.

See which platform best suits your needs!

Conclusion

WooCommerce is a popular free plugin for building online stores. But when it comes to pricing, there’s more to consider than the initial cost.

While the plugin itself is free, the essential features you need to run a successful eCommerce store often come from paid extensions.

The way it’s designed, you get bare minimum features that usually aren’t enough to sell your products and services.

You’ll need extensions and plugins to handle things like payments, shipping, marketing, and more.

Especially when competing with rivals, premium extensions become almost essential. Depending on your business model, your costs can inflate significantly.

However, WooCommerce isn’t the only eCommerce platform out there.

If you want to lower costs without compromising on features and performance, give SureCart a try.

How much does your WooCommerce store cost you? Share your thoughts in the comments!