Ecwid vs WooCommerce
We give Ecwid and WooCommerce the same GPA: 2.2 out of 4.0. Ecwid grades higher on features and ease of use. WooCommerce grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
WooCommerce
Free, open-source store plugin for WordPress that you host yourself
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAEcwidFair | 2.2GPAWooCommerceFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $5 a month, but that's 10 products on a company.site address. A shop on its own domain starts with Venture at $29 a month on yearly billing ($35 monthly), the category's middle. Ecwid charges no fee on sales on any plan. | CThe plugin is free, but a store needs hosting, which Woo puts at $25 to $350 a month, plus paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year each. So call it $25 a month and up, the ordinary middle here. Woo takes no fee on sales, whichever payment provider you use. |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing free: no free plan, and the pricing page mentions no trial. The cheapest way in is Starter at $5 a month, which is cheap but not free. | BThe whole plugin is free and open source, with unlimited products and orders and no revenue share, so one person could run a shop on it for years. It isn't an A because a live store can't run without paid hosting. |
| Features | BThe whole job is here: a store you can embed anywhere or build from 70+ templates, tax at checkout, carrier rates, labels, stock per variation, abandoned-cart emails and subscriptions. Marketplace selling goes through third-party apps, but the core is complete. | CProducts, carts, checkout and orders are all in the free core, any payment provider works, and the app takes payments in person. But a lot sits in extensions, many of them paid, and shipping labels come through outside services such as ShipStation or Shippo. |
| Ease of use | B4.62 from 1,255 App Store ratings. Adding the store to a site you already run is the easy route, with no new website to build. | DYou host it yourself: WordPress, a web host, and updates, backups and security on you or your host. The phone app's 4.75 from about 7,800 App Store ratings is for running orders once the store is up, not for getting it up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with WordPress, Stripe, Square, Clover, Mailchimp, Amazon, eBay and Instagram, plus an App Market from Venture. No desktop app, so it stops at B. | BWeb, plus a free iPhone and Android app, with Stripe, ShipStation, Shippo, Easyship, Klaviyo, Google, TikTok and Pinterest, and no cap on API use. No desktop app, so B is the ceiling. |
| Best for | adding a shop to the website you already have | adding a store to a WordPress site |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Ecwid and WooCommerce. How we grade
Where they differ
- WooCommerce has a free plan. Ecwid does not.
- WooCommerce is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Ecwid also covers inventory, digital downloads and shipping labels.
At a glance
| Ecwid | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | $5 per month (Starter) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | The WooCommerce plugin is free and open source, with unlimited products and orders and no revenue share. Hosting, paid extensions and payment processing cost extra. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Ecwid by Lightspeed | WooCommerce, Inc. |
| Price read from | ecwid.com | woocommerce.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Ecwid
- Owners of an existing website who want to add a store without rebuilding
- Small shops with a short catalog that want a low monthly price
- Sellers who show the same catalog on several sites and social channels
WooCommerce
- WordPress sites that want to add a store
- Sellers who want to own their code and data and pick their own host
- Developers and agencies building custom stores for clients
Worth knowing
Ecwid
- There is no free plan, and Starter allows only 10 products, with no mobile app, App Market or live chat support.
- Ecwid charges no transaction fees on any plan, but the payment provider you connect charges its own processing fees.
- Marketplace selling needs Business and third-party apps that may charge extra; in-person POS syncing needs Unlimited.
- The pricing page mentions no free trial, and staff accounts start on Business with 2 seats.
WooCommerce
- You need WordPress and web hosting from a provider you choose; Woo puts hosting for most stores at $25 to $350 a month.
- Many features come as paid extensions, which Woo says cost $29 to $299 a year each.
- Card fees depend on the processor; Woo gives about 2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for its own WooPayments.
- Because the store runs on your own hosting, updates, backups and security fall to you or your host.
Key features
Ecwid
- Add a store to any website
- Embed the store on an existing site built with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace or another platform, or on several sites at once, and manage it all from one account.
- Instant Site builder
- Build a store site without code from more than 70 templates on a free company.site address, or connect your own domain; Venture and higher can buy one inside Ecwid.
- Social, marketplace and in-person selling
- Sell on Instagram and Facebook from Venture, on Amazon, eBay and Walmart through third-party apps from Business, and in store through Square, Clover or Lightspeed on Unlimited.
- Tax, shipping and stock
- Calculate sales tax at checkout, show carrier rates, generate shipping labels and track stock with low-stock alerts, including stock per product variation.
- Marketing automation
- Automated emails, abandoned-cart reminders, coupons, scheduled promotions, a Mailchimp sync and catalog ads on Meta and TikTok.
- Subscriptions and digital goods
- Sell downloads of up to 25 GB per file from Venture, and bill recurring subscriptions from Business through Lightspeed Payments or Stripe.
WooCommerce
- Open-source WordPress plugin
- Adds a store to a WordPress site. The code is open source, so the store can be changed freely, and products, orders and API use are not capped.
- Any payment provider
- Use Woo's own WooPayments or any other gateway or buy-now-pay-later service, run several at once, and pay no extra fee to Woo for using a third-party processor.
- Extensions and themes
- Hundreds of extensions and themes in Woo's marketplace add features such as subscriptions, wholesale pricing and marketing tools, many of them paid.
- Shipping integrations
- Live carrier rates, label printing, tracking and returns come through integrations such as ShipStation, Shippo and Easyship, which are free to download.
- Mobile app and in-person sales
- The free WooCommerce app for iOS and Android manages products and orders and takes payments in person with Tap to Pay or a Woo card reader.
Plans
Ecwid
Starter$5
per month
Up to 10 products, 70+ site templates on a company.site address, a store you can add to any site, and email support.
Venture$29
per month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Up to 100 products and digital goods, Instagram and Facebook selling, the mobile app, App Market, automated tax, coupons and live chat support.
Business$49
per month, billed annually ($65 billed monthly)
Up to 2,500 products, marketplaces, subscriptions, abandoned-cart recovery, wholesale pricing groups, 2 staff accounts and phone support.
Unlimited$119
per month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)
Unlimited products and staff accounts, in-person selling through a POS integration, 500 scheduled promotions and priority support.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce$0
The free, open-source WordPress plugin, which you host yourself on a provider you choose. No monthly subscription, platform fee or revenue share.
Ways to pay less
Ecwid
- Annual discount
Pay annually to save 16%
Venture costs $29 a month billed annually against $35 monthly, Business $49 against $65, and Unlimited $119 against $149. Starter is $5 either way.
WooCommerce
No public discounts listed.
