WooCommerce turns a WordPress site into an online store. It lets you add products, set prices, manage inventory, and create a checkout page. You can accept payments using gateways like cards or PayPal, set shipping rules, and handle taxes. WooCommerce also manages orders, customer accounts, coupons, and emails for receipts and updates. With extensions, you can add subscriptions, bookings, memberships, and more. It’s a flexible eCommerce plugin that helps you sell physical or digital products directly from WordPress.

WordPress and WooCommerce are not direct alternatives. WordPress is the website platform used to build and manage a site. WooCommerce is a plugin that adds online store features to WordPress. If you only need a blog or business site, WordPress alone is enough. If you want to sell products or accept online payments, WooCommerce is the better choice because it provides cart, checkout, order, and shipping tools. In most cases, the best setup is WordPress combined with WooCommerce for e-commerce.

WooCommerce is a popular way to run an online store on WordPress. Pros: It’s free to start, flexible, and highly customizable. You own your site and data. It supports physical and digital products. It has many themes, plugins, and payment options. Cons: You must handle hosting, updates, backups, and security. Extra features often require paid plugins. Performance can slow on cheap hosting. Setup can feel technical for beginners. Ongoing maintenance takes time, or you may need expert help.  

WooCommerce is a tool used to build an eCommerce website on WordPress. An eCommerce website is the final online store where customers browse products and place orders. In simple terms, WooCommerce is the plugin/software, and an eCommerce website is the complete store experience. You can create an eCommerce website using WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, or custom code. WooCommerce is one option that gives you more control and customization because it runs on your own WordPress site.

You connect WooCommerce to WordPress by installing the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress site. Go to Dashboard → Plugins → Add New, search “WooCommerce”, click Install, then Activate. Next, run the setup wizard to add your store details, currency, shipping, taxes, and payment methods. WooCommerce then creates key pages like Shop, Cart, Checkout, and My Account automatically. After that, you can add products and start selling from your WordPress site.

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that turns your website into an online store. It lets you add products, set prices, manage stock, and create a secure checkout. Customers browse your shop, add items to the cart, and pay using enabled gateways like cards or PayPal. WooCommerce then records the order, sends emails, and updates order status in your dashboard. You can also set shipping rules, taxes, coupons, and refunds. With add-ons, you can add subscriptions, bookings, and other store features.

WooCommerce itself is free to install and use on WordPress. Your overall cost depends on what your store needs. You’ll usually pay for web hosting and a domain name, plus an SSL certificate (often included with hosting). Many themes and plugins are free, but premium themes, paid extensions, and some payment gateways can add monthly or yearly fees. You may also spend on email, backups, security, and developer help. Small stores can start low-cost, while growing stores often invest more.