4 Best WooCommerce Alternatives for Specific Needs

With over 4 million active installs, WooCommerce dominates the WordPress eCommerce market. It powers over 28% of all online stores, far ahead of competitors.

However, WooCommerce may not be the ideal fit for every business model and need. Depending on your specific requirements, there are purpose-built WooCommerce alternatives that can better serve your aspirations of selling online.

In this guide, we‘ll share the top 4 WooCommerce alternatives and dive deep into when they are a smarter choice over WooCommerce for your needs.

When You May Need WooCommerce Alternatives

WooCommerce is the most popular open-source eCommerce platform. It allows anyone to easily build an online store with WordPress. With unlimited customization options and hundreds of extensions, it‘s a flexible platform.

But here are some common scenarios I‘ve seen in my 15 years as a webmaster where WooCommerce might not be the best solution:

Building a membership site – Although you can add membership capabilities to WooCommerce, dedicated membership plugins like MemberPress offer better built-in features specifically for managing members and drip content.

Selling only digital goods – WooCommerce caters to both physical and digital products. But alternatives like Easy Digital Downloads streamline the experience for selling downloads.

No technical expertise – Managing backups, updates, security patches and other technical tasks with WooCommerce requires some expertise. Hosted solutions like Shopify remove this burden.

Accepting occasional payments – If you just need to add a payment button or donation form, a simpler plugin like WPForms can get the job done without the overhead of WooCommerce.

In these situations, purpose-built WooCommerce alternatives provide a smoother experience both for you and your customers. Let‘s look at the top options:

1. MemberPress – Best for Membership Sites

With over 87,000 active installs, MemberPress is the leading WordPress membership plugin. It powers over 5,300 membership sites.

When To Choose MemberPress Over WooCommerce

If you want to create a subscription site with premium content for members only, MemberPress is tailored for that need.

I‘ve used it for several clients to build niche communities focused on health, finance and productivity. It streamlined the entire process without the bloat of WooCommerce.

With MemberPress you get:

• Multi-tier subscriptions – Easily create different membership levels like Free, Silver, Gold etc with just a few clicks. Great for premium content.

• Dripping content – Automatically grant access to content based on membership level or time. Great way to retain members.

• Recurring payments – Charge members automatically on a schedule. Supports popular payment gateways.

• Works with WooCommerce – Use MemberPress for membership management and WooCommerce for physical orders in one unified interface.

Building the same functionality in WooCommerce would require multiple paid add-ons and complex setup.

Disadvantages Compared to WooCommerce

• No support for physical orders – you‘ll need WooCommerce for that.
• Limited shop management features like coupons or taxes compared to WooCommerce.
• Smaller extensions marketplace.

For membership sites, the pros far outweigh the cons. But WooCommerce offers better general eCommerce features.

2. Easy Digital Downloads – Best for Digital Products

With over 1 million active installs, Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) dominates the WordPress digital products market.

When To Choose EDD Over WooCommerce

If your business model focuses solely on selling digital products like ebooks, music, software or videos, then EDD provides a much simpler setup and management process.

Some examples from my experience:

• An independent musician selling songs and albums. EDD made it easy to upload audio files and manage permissions.

• A startup selling B2B SaaS software. EDD allowed configuring multiple license options and automation.

• An author selling ebooks online. EDD streamlined the ebook upload and fulfillment.

EDD eliminates the eCommerce clutter of WooCommerce that is meant more for physical fulfillment.

Disadvantages Compared to WooCommerce

• No built-in support for physical fulfillment. You‘ll need WooCommerce for shipment, tax and inventory management.

• The templating system is not as robust as WooCommerce. Design customization requires some work.

• Extensions ecosystem is smaller compared to WooCommerce marketplace.

Despite this, EDD provides a smoother experience tailored for selling digital downloads.

3. Shopify – Best for Low Maintenance Stores

With over 1.7 million merchants, Shopify is the leading hosted eCommerce platform.

When To Choose Shopify Over WooCommerce

In my experience managing over 50 eCommerce stores, Shopify stands out for users who want convenience without dealing with technical complexities.

Some examples where I feel Shopify is the better choice:

• Total beginners – Shopify‘s drag and drop builder and templating system is more beginner friendly. WooCommerce has a steeper learning curve.

• Small inventory – For merchants with just a few products, Shopify‘s built-in tools are enough. WooCommerce requires handling hosting, CDN and caching yourself.

• Business travelers – Shopify‘s mobile app allows managing your store from anywhere. WooCommerce lacks an official mobile app.

• Anyone who dislikes technical tasks – Shopify handles hosting, security, speed optimization and backups for you. Larger WooCommerce stores require more hands-on management.

Disadvantages Compared to WooCommerce

• Much less customization flexibility on design, code and 3rd party integrations. WooCommerce offers virtually endless customization.

• Transaction fees can get expensive as your store grows. WooCommerce has lower payment processing costs.

• Difficult to migrate out of Shopify. WooCommerce gives you full control and ability to switch platforms.

For non-technical users and small stores, Shopify provides more convenience. WooCommerce offers greater flexibility and control.

4. WPForms – Best for Payment Forms

WPForms is the most popular WordPress form builder with over 1 million active installs.

When To Choose WPForms Over WooCommerce

WPForms simplifies adding custom payment forms and buttons to your pages using Stripe, PayPal and other gateways.

From my experience, WPForms excels for:

• Consultants and freelancers collecting one-time payments from clients for services.

• Local businesses gathering payments for house cleaning, lawn mowing or other appointments.

• Nonprofits quickly adding a donation form without managing an entire store.

• Churches collecting event registrations or tithes.

It provides an easy alternative to setting up payments without the full overhead of managing a WooCommerce store.

Disadvantages Compared to WooCommerce

WPForms lacks advanced eCommerce functionality like discounts, taxes, inventory and shipping offered by WooCommerce. It‘s built for simple payment collection.

• Limited payment options. WooCommerce supports 100+ payment gateways.

• No shopping cart management. WooCommerce handles complex order flows.

• Minimal shop customization. WooCommerce has thousands of design options.

For quick payment forms, WPForms simplifies the process. For full stores, WooCommerce is more powerful.

How To Choose the Right WooCommerce Alternative

Here are some tips on selecting the best platform based on your needs:

Membership site – MemberPress is purpose-built with the required functionality. Avoid reinventing the wheel with WooCommerce.

Digital downloads store – Easy Digital Downloads streamlines this better than WooCommerce‘s generic options.

Physical products store – WooCommerce‘s shipping, tax and inventory management make it the best choice.

Occasional payments – Use WPForms simple form builder rather than overkill WooCommerce.

No technical expertise – Shopify handles the technical tasks for you unlike self-hosted WooCommerce.

Evaluate your business model, target audience, technical capabilities and growth plans. This will help choose the right WooCommerce alternative for your specific needs and context.

Migrating Between Platforms

One benefit of the WordPress and WooCommerce ecosystem is openness and interoperability. This makes switching platforms possible, if needed in future.

Some key aspects to keep in mind:

• Export users and transaction data – Platforms like MemberPress let you export all user records in a standard format for reimporting later.

• Maintain payment history – Payment records can usually be exported from payment gateways like Stripe independently of the platform.

• Recreate functionality – If migrating from all-in-one platforms like MemberPress, you may need to recreate the functionality in WooCommerce using multiple plugins.

• Design overhaul – New platforms often use different templating systems. This will require theme changes and design updates.

• Downtime during transition – Allow for some downtime when switching platforms to transfer data and rebuild on the new system.

With proper planning, transition between platforms is very much possible. The open WordPress ecosystem means you are never permanently locked in.

Final Thoughts

WooCommerce might not be the ideal choice for every business model and need when selling online.

Purpose-built alternatives like MemberPress for memberships, EDD for digital downloads, Shopify for simplicity offer better experiences. For occasional payments, WPForms simplifies the process.

Think about your specific needs, capabilities and target customers. Evaluating options like features, ease of use, scalability and costs will help determine the right platform.

If you need help deciding or want to discuss migrating between platforms, contact me. I‘ve helped over 100 businesses successfully choose and transition between eCommerce platforms over 15 years as a webmaster.

I hope this guide provides clarity to pick the best WooCommerce alternative for your online business needs. Let me know if you have any other questions!