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WooCommerce

The world's most-used ecommerce platform, open source by default.

Also known as Woo

  • Starting priceFree software
  • ModelOpen source
  • Sold toStarter to mid-market
  • Last checkedOctober 2026
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At a glance

Commercial model
Open sourceLicence: GPL-3.0
Architecture
IntegratedBack end and storefront ship as one product. APIs may exist, but the bundled storefront is the main way to sell.
Deployment
Self-hostedSelf-hosted
Headless
Headless limitedAPIs exist, but there is no official headless storefront support. Yes (via REST / WPGraphQL APIs)
Founded
2011; acquired by Automattic 2015
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, USA

Who it suits

Content-first brands on WordPress, cost-conscious SMBs, and stores wanting maximum ownership and plugin flexibility.

Approximate fit by business scaleGuidance from vendor positioning and documented merchants, not a guarantee. Complexity matters as much as revenue.

  • Under $50K GMVPossible fit
  • $50K to $500KStrong fit
  • $500K to $10MPossible fit
  • $10M to $100MLess typical
  • $100M+Less typical

Strong fit at $50K to $500K GMV.

Strengths

Free core, 74,000+ WordPress plugins, unmatched content marketing integration, full data ownership.

Limitations

Self-managed security and updates, performance depends on hosting, plugin conflicts common.

Pricing

Free software

Published starting price for the software or plan only. It does not include hosting, apps, implementation, development or running costs.

Plans
Free plugin. Costs come from hosting ($25 to $350/month for most stores, per Woo), themes, and extensions ($29 to $299/year each).
Transaction fees
None (hosting and processing only)
Billing
Core plugin free. Hosting $25 to $350/month for most stores (third-party hosts); extensions $29 to $299/year each.
Hosting included
No, you arrange hosting
Quote only
No

Capabilities

Recorded as built in, in a paid tier or first-party module, through third-party apps only, or not documented.

  • B2B / wholesale

    Via apps

    Third-party apps only. Documented: Customer-specific pricing, Quotes.

    Examples: B2B for WooCommerce (Addify)

  • Multi-currency

    Higher tier

    Paid tier or first-party module. WooPayments is Woo's own free payments extension, not WooCommerce core. Multi-currency changes presentment; payouts in multiple currencies are separate.

  • Multi-language

    Via apps

    Third-party apps only.

    Examples: WPML WooCommerce Multilingual (OnTheGoSystems)

  • Multi-store

    Via apps

    Third-party apps only. WordPress Multisite can run several Woo stores from one WordPress network (woocommerce.com guest post https://woocommerce.com/posts/woocommerce-multiple-stores/), but each subsite has its own catalogue; shared catalogue and stock need plugins.

    Examples: Multi-Store Sync for WooCommerce (WPPOOL)

  • Point of sale

    Built in

    Built in. Limited to supported countries and the store's native currency; only simple and variable physical products in POS mode.

  • Subscriptions

    Higher tier

    Paid tier or first-party module.

  • Multi-vendor marketplace

    Higher tier

    Paid tier or first-party module.

Market position and merchants

47.7% of ecommerce sites tracked by W3Techs (Sept 2026), ahead of Shopify at 32.1%; largest open source platform by a wide margin.

Documented merchants

  • Porter & York
  • Landyachtz
  • No Pong
  • Eclipse Organics

From vendor case studies or platform signals on the merchant's live site. Examples, not endorsements.

Platforms to compare

Sold to the same segment, ordered by how many of the same capabilities the vendor provides.