WordPress Shop Without WooCommerce: SureCart, Easy Digital Downloads and a Built-in-Cart Theme

WooCommerce runs a large share of the shops on WordPress, and for good reason: it is free, it is everywhere, and every payment provider, shipping carrier and theme supports it. It is also a lot of moving parts. A typical WooCommerce store ends up with the core plugin, a payments extension, a theme built for it, and a handful of add-ons for things such as subscriptions, wishlists or abandoned carts, each of which needs updating and some of which cost money every year.

If that is the part you want to avoid, there are three real alternatives on WordPress: SureCart, Easy Digital Downloads, and a shop theme with the cart built in, such as the PremiumPress Shop Theme. This guide compares all four honestly, WooCommerce included, on what it takes to sell, what it costs in year one and year two, and where each one stops. Every figure was checked on 10 September 2026 against the vendor's own page, and the sources are listed at the end.

The four options at a glance

"Processor only" means you pay Stripe's or PayPal's normal card fee and nothing to the software. Figures for each option are in its section below.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the default, and it earns that position. The core plugin is free, it sells physical and digital goods, and the ecosystem is enormous: thousands of themes, every payment gateway, every shipping carrier, and an extension for almost any feature. If you want the widest choice and the most help available, this is it.

The cost is complexity rather than price. WooCommerce needs a theme built for it, a payments extension such as WooPayments or Stripe, and typically several more plugins, each updated on its own cycle. Premium extensions such as subscriptions are yearly. Nothing in this comparison is wrong with WooCommerce; the other three exist for people who want fewer parts.

Pros

• Free core with the largest ecosystem on WordPress
• Works with every major theme, gateway and carrier
• Sells physical, digital and subscription products with the right extensions
• Easy to find developers and tutorials

Cons

• Needs a compatible theme and a payments extension before it can sell
• Common features are paid yearly extensions
• Many plugins to keep updated and compatible
• Performance depends heavily on how much you bolt on

SureCart

SureCart is a standalone ecommerce plugin that does not need WooCommerce. It takes a cloud approach, with the checkout and order engine hosted by SureCart and embedded in your site, and it is strong on the things WooCommerce needs extensions for: subscriptions, instalment plans, upsells, abandoned-cart recovery and a fast checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay.

It has more than 80,000 active installs and a 4.8 rating from 282 reviews on WordPress.org, last updated 9 September 2026. The free Launch plan charges a 1.9% platform fee on top of your processor's fee; paid plans remove it and are priced on the SureCart site. It supports Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay and Mollie.

Pros

• No WooCommerce, and subscriptions and upsells come built in
• Fast hosted checkout with wallets
• Works with any theme, including Astra
• Free plan to start

Cons

• 1.9% platform fee on the free plan
• Cloud-hosted engine: your orders live partly off your server
• Thinner physical-goods and shipping features than WooCommerce
• Smaller theme and extension ecosystem

Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads is the specialist. It exists to sell files, software, licences and other digital products, and it does that with less overhead than a WooCommerce store configured for the same job. Licensing, software updates and download limits are its home turf.

Watch the fees. The Lite version is free on WordPress.org, but EDD's own Stripe documentation says a 3% application fee is added to Stripe payments unless you hold an active Extended pass or higher, about £160 a year for one site; a 2026 WordPress.org review reports the same 3% appearing on PayPal checkouts. Paid plans run from Personal at about £80 a year to All Access at about £350 a year for three sites. It does not sell physical goods.

Pros

• Built for digital products and software licensing
• No platform fee from the Extended pass up
• Free Lite version to try
• Works with any theme

Cons

• Digital only, no shipping or stock
• A 3% fee on Stripe payments unless you keep an Extended pass or higher active
• Paid plans renew yearly
• Design comes entirely from your theme
• Not the answer for a general shop

PremiumPress Shop Theme

PremiumPress Shop Theme is a $99 one-time WordPress theme with the shopping cart, checkout, tax, shipping, stock control and 30 or more payment gateways built in, so no WooCommerce or extra ecommerce plugins are needed. It is the fourth option because it is a different shape from the other three: the design and the shop engine arrive together, and everything runs on your own server.

Measured against the other three on this page's questions: it ships physical goods, with weight-based and regional shipping rates, which Easy Digital Downloads cannot; it delivers downloads and bills subscriptions without a cloud service in between, unlike SureCart; and it charges no platform fee on either. The price is a single $99 for every store you own, with six months of updates and support, then $49 per six months if you want to keep them, and a 10-day refund. Its public record is thin: 7 reviews on the product page, all five stars.

Pros

• Complete shop in one purchase, no plugins to combine
• $99 once, unlimited stores, 0% fees
• Physical, digital, subscription and multi-vendor selling included
• Runs entirely on your own site

Cons

• You use its design, not any WordPress theme
• WooCommerce extensions and carrier integrations do not apply
• Very few public reviews
• Updates after six months are optional at $49 per six months

Final Thoughts: which one should you pick?

Stay with WooCommerce if you need a specific carrier, gateway or extension, or you already have a theme you love. The ecosystem is the product.

Pick SureCart for digital products, memberships or subscriptions with a modern checkout, if you accept the 1.9% fee on the free plan or a paid plan to remove it.

Pick Easy Digital Downloads if you only sell files or software licences, budgeting for the Extended pass (about £160 a year) to avoid its 3% Stripe fee.

Pick PremiumPress Shop Theme if you want one purchase that gives you the design, cart, checkout and 30 or more gateways with nothing else to install, for $99 once and 0% fees, and you sell physical goods as well as digital.

Sources

• WooCommerce. Checked 10 September 2026.
• SureCart on WordPress.org: installs, rating, standalone status, free-plan fee, processors. Checked 10 September 2026.
• Easy Digital Downloads pricing: plans, gateways, digital-only scope. Checked 10 September 2026.
• PremiumPress Shop Theme: price, licence, built-in features, installs, reviews. Checked 10 September 2026.
• EDD Stripe documentation: the 3% application fee and the Extended pass. Checked 11 September 2026.
• WordPress.org reviews: SureCart “No local data – stored at SureCart” (2026) and “Very limited payment gateways outside US” (1 star, 2024); Easy Digital Downloads “Free plugin until it wasn't” (2026).
• YouTube: SureCart vs WooCommerce – The Ultimate WordPress E-commerce Comparison, TechGrill.