Easy Digital Downloads
WordPress plugin for selling digital downloads from your own site
Easy Digital Downloads report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 18, 2026
Best for selling files from your own WordPress site
Easy Digital Downloads turns your own WordPress site into a store for ebooks, software and other files, and the free Lite plugin covers products, cart and checkout. Paid passes add subscriptions, license keys and even a multi-vendor marketplace. You need a WordPress site to run it on, though, and passes renew at double the first-year price.
Who Easy Digital Downloads is for
- Great if you already run a WordPress site and want to sell files from it
- Handy when you make plugins or themes and need license keys and updates
- Good for sellers who want to keep their store data on their own site
Who Easy Digital Downloads is not for
- Skip it if you don't want to look after a WordPress site and its hosting
- Pricey if you budget on the first-year price, as passes renew at full price
- Tight if you stay on Lite, as Stripe sales carry an extra 3% fee
Why Easy Digital Downloads gets a 2.2
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyThe free Lite plugin adds a 3% fee to Stripe sales: $30 on $1,000, plus the cost of hosting WordPress, which isn't on record. Extended at $399 a year drops the fee. Software that's free only if you host it yourself counts as a C here.
- BFree plan and trialLite is free on WordPress.org with unlimited products and transactions, so you can run a real store on it. Not an A: it needs a WordPress site on a paid host, and subscriptions and discount codes need a pass.
- CFeaturesStore, cart and checkout, then subscriptions, content restriction, license keys, a multi-vendor marketplace and cart recovery on paid passes. A broad kit, but it needs a WordPress site to be useful, and much of it sits on Professional at $599 a year.
- DEase of useNo rating on record. You host it yourself: a WordPress site you run, or a WordPress.com business plan, plus yearly licence renewals to keep support and updates.
- BPlatforms and integrationsRuns in the browser inside WordPress, with Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Zapier, Mailchimp and Elementor, and an API on Professional. No phone or desktop app is listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Easy Digital Downloads's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/easy-digital-downloads#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/easy-digital-downloads.svg" alt="Easy Digital Downloads: 2.2 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Easy Digital Downloads stands among tools for selling digital products
Easy Digital Downloads's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 1 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 6 of 14) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $16.58 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 3 of the 9 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 7 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 15 tools for selling digital products we grade, cut by the letter each got. Easy Digital Downloads’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 3 of 14, level with 9
- BFree plan and trialAbove 6 of 14
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 14, level with 5
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 14
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 14, level with 14
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 14 tools for selling digital products. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Easy Digital Downloads, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Easy Digital Downloads you would be making checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 13 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products grade higher. It costs $199 a year.
What you could make
- Digital downloads: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you.
- It plugs into other products, WordPress, Stripe and PayPal among them, and has an API.
What this rests on. Easy Digital Downloads’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Easy Digital Downloads?
Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin that turns your own site into a store for ebooks, software, music, templates and other digital files. The free Lite version on WordPress.org handles products, cart and checkout with Stripe or PayPal; yearly paid passes add subscriptions, software licensing, content restriction, cart recovery and, on higher passes, multi-vendor marketplaces.
Easy Digital Downloads has a free plan. Paid plans start at $199 per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50. See every plan
Good for
- WordPress site owners who want to sell files from their own site
- Plugin and theme makers who need license keys and updates
- Sellers who want no platform fee once on a paid pass
Worth knowing
- It needs a WordPress site you run yourself, or a WordPress.com business plan, which allows third-party plugins.
- First-year prices are introductory: passes renew at full price, from $199 a year for Personal.
- The free version and the Personal pass do not include no-platform-fees; EDD's blog puts the free version's Stripe fee at 3%.
- Licenses renew yearly; cancelling ends support and updates, and you lose your locked-in price.
Key features
- Store on your own WordPress site
- Unlimited products, a cart and checkout inside WordPress, with full ownership of your store data and Elementor checkout templates.
- Payments
- Stripe, PayPal and Square in the free plugin, Apple Pay listed on every paid pass, and Authorize.net and 2Checkout from Extended up.
- Subscriptions and memberships
- Recurring payments with free trials and setup fees on paid passes, plus content restriction for members from Extended up.
- Software licensing
- Issue license keys and deliver updates for plugins, themes and other software, on Professional and All Access.
- Marketplace and commissions
- Run a multi-vendor marketplace and pay commissions to sellers, on Professional and All Access.
- Marketing tools
- Discount codes, abandoned cart recovery, cross-sells and upsells, AI product recommendations and syncing with Mailchimp, ConvertKit and others.
Easy Digital Downloads pricing
- Starts at
- $199 per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50
- Free plan
- The Lite plugin is free on WordPress.org with unlimited products and transactions and Stripe and PayPal checkout; Stripe sales carry an extra 3% fee in the free version.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $0 | Free plugin from WordPress.org that you run on your own WordPress site. EDD adds a 3% fee to each Stripe transaction in the free version. |
| Personal | $199per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50 | 1 site, subscriptions and free trials, discount codes, EU VAT, AI recommendations and cart recovery. Platform fees are not waived on this pass. |
| Extended | $399per year at renewal, after a first year for $199.50 | 1 site, no platform fees, Authorize.net and 2Checkout, multi-currency, content restriction, bundles, reviews and Zapier. |
| Professional | $599per year at renewal, after a first year for $299.50 | 2 sites, adds software licensing and API, a multi-vendor marketplace with commissions, shipping, post-purchase funnels and premium support. |
| All Access | $999per year at renewal, after a first year for $499.50 | 3 sites, every extension, including loyalty rewards, fraud prevention, advanced reports and bulk discount codes. |
Read from easydigitaldownloads.com on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Easy Digital Downloads before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Other savingsHalf price in the first year
EDD's pricing page shows introductory first-year prices of half the regular rate, from $99.50 for Personal; renewals are at full price.
Stated on easydigitaldownloads.com
Works with
Easy Digital Downloads alternatives
- Easy Digital Downloads vs SendOwl
Free trial · from $32.50/mo
- Easy Digital Downloads vs Payhip
Free plan · from $29/mo
- Easy Digital Downloads vs Lemon Squeezy
Free plan · from $10/mo
- Easy Digital Downloads vs MemberPress
From $399/yr
Common questions
Is Easy Digital Downloads free?
Easy Digital Downloads has a free plan. The Lite plugin is free on WordPress.org with unlimited products and transactions and Stripe and PayPal checkout; Stripe sales carry an extra 3% fee in the free version. Paid plans start at $199 per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50.
How much does Easy Digital Downloads cost?
Easy Digital Downloads lists 5 plans. Lite: $0. Personal: $199 per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50. Extended: $399 per year at renewal, after a first year for $199.50. Professional: $599 per year at renewal, after a first year for $299.50. All Access: $999 per year at renewal, after a first year for $499.50. Prices were read from easydigitaldownloads.com on Oct 18, 2026.
What platforms does Easy Digital Downloads work on?
Easy Digital Downloads is available on Web.
Does Easy Digital Downloads offer any discounts?
Easy Digital Downloads publicly lists the following: Half price in the first year.
Does Easy Digital Downloads have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Easy Digital Downloads is listed for Web.
Does Easy Digital Downloads have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 18, 2026. Easy Digital Downloads is listed for Web.
Is Easy Digital Downloads open source?
Easy Digital Downloads is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 18, 2026.
Does Easy Digital Downloads have an API?
Yes. Easy Digital Downloads offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Easy Digital Downloads integrate with?
Easy Digital Downloads's listing names WordPress, Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Zapier, Mailchimp and Elementor. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Easy Digital Downloads?
Easy Digital Downloads is made by Sandhills Development, LLC.
What are the alternatives to Easy Digital Downloads?
The closest alternatives to Easy Digital Downloads in our directory are WooCommerce, SendOwl, Payhip, Lemon Squeezy and MemberPress. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Easy Digital Downloads.
How does Easy Digital Downloads compare with other tools for selling digital products?
Easy Digital Downloads's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 1 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade. It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 6 of 14) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Is Easy Digital Downloads good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Easy Digital Downloads C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $16.58 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 3 of the 9 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 7 tools score higher and cost less.
Could I make my own version of Easy Digital Downloads?
To replace Easy Digital Downloads you would be making checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 13 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products grade higher. It costs $199 a year. What you could not make: Checkout, card payments and sales tax handled for you. It plugs into other products, WordPress, Stripe and PayPal among them, and has an API. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026.