# Alternatives to WooCommerce

WordPress commerce that powers the long tail.

WooCommerce ranks #2 of 9 in E-commerce platforms, with an Alt Score of 91. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, open source with paid hosting and available on the web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/woocommerce/
Category: E-commerce platforms

## Where WooCommerce stands out

- **Hosted vs self-hosted** — 4 of 9 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: WooCommerce is for merchants and store owners who want to run an online store on WordPress, from individual sellers to larger brands, and for the developers and agencies who build and customize those stores.
- **What you get**: An open-source ecommerce plugin that turns a WordPress site into a store, with product catalogs, cart and checkout, order and inventory management, and shipping/tax configuration. It's extensible through a marketplace of themes, extensions, and payment gateways (including its own WooPayments), so functionality can be added or customized as needed. Because it's self-hosted, store owners retain full control over their data, hosting, and code.
- **How it works**: You install the WooCommerce plugin on a WordPress site, add products and configure payment/shipping settings through setup wizards, and customize the storefront with themes and extensions. The store then runs on your own WordPress hosting, with orders and customers managed from the WordPress admin dashboard or a companion mobile app.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-10)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-10)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Medusa](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/medusa.md) | 91 | MIT | Web |
| 2 | [BigCommerce](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/bigcommerce.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web |
| 3 | [Saleor](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/saleor.md) | 82 | BSD-3-Clause | Web |
| 4 | [Big Cartel](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/big-cartel.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [OpenCart](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/opencart.md) | 78 | GPL-3.0 | Web |
| 6 | [PrestaShop](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/prestashop.md) | 78 | OSL-3.0 | Web |
| 7 | [Shopify](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/shopify.md) | 78 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 8 | [Adobe Commerce](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/adobe-commerce.md) | 73 | OSL-3.0 | Web |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| E-commerce platforms checklist | WooCommerce | Medusa | BigCommerce | Saleor | Big Cartel | OpenCart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | OSS + paid hosting | Subscription | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Free |
| Starts at | ? | $29/mo (Medusa Cloud Develop plan) | $29/month | $1,599/mo | $15/month | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT | Proprietary | BSD-3-Clause | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 |
| Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Hosted vs self-hosted | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Transaction fees | No | No | No | Partial | No | No |
| Themes & storefront customization | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Payment gateways | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-currency & tax | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory management | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Headless API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| App / plugin ecosystem | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Digital products | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| POS integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |

## Sources

Sources for WooCommerce. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Platforms**: Web — <https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “A customizable, open-source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. Build any commerce solution you can imagine.”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/blob/trunk/plugins/woocommerce/license.txt> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License,”
- **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — <https://woocommerce.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “WooCommerce is the free, open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress. Build a custom online store and only pay for the added features you use — no platform fees, no revenue share.”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/releases> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “10.9.4”
- **Hosted vs self-hosted**: Yes — <https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “A customizable, open-source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. Build any commerce solution you can imagine.”
- **Transaction fees**: No — <https://woocommerce.com/pricing/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “WooCommerce is the free, open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress. Build a custom online store and only pay for the added features you use — no platform fees, no revenue share.”
- **Themes & storefront customization**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/documentation/woocommerce/store-design/block-themes-store-editing/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “With block templates, template parts, and patterns, you can visually customize every part of your store, from product pages to cart and checkout, while keeping your design consistent and reusable.”
- **Payment gateways**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/document/premium-payment-gateway-extensions/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “There is a large range of payment gateway options for WooCommerce to provide payment options for your customers.”
- **Multi-currency & tax**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/document/woopayments/currencies/multi-currency-setup/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “WooPayments' multi-currency feature lets you to show product prices to customers in various currencies. It also allows your customers to select their preferred currency from a list you define and then”
- **Inventory management**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/document/configuring-woocommerce-settings/products/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Enable stock management – Tick this box to enable managed inventory counts for physical products. You enter quantities, and WooCommerce subtracts items as sales are made or orders are returned.”
- **Headless API**: Yes — <https://developer.woocommerce.com/docs/apis/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “The Store API provides public REST API endpoints for the development of customer-facing cart, checkout, and product functionality.”
- **App / plugin ecosystem**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/products/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “Explore our curated selection of standout extensions to boost sales and streamline your store operations.”
- **Digital products**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/document/digital-downloadable-product-handling/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “When a customer orders a downloadable product, they receive an email containing a download link for the purchased file.”
- **POS integration**: Yes — <https://woocommerce.com/woocommerce-pos/> (verified 2026-07-10)
  - Quote: “WooCommerce POS makes selling in person simple. It works on any tablet — keeping your products,”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/