WooCommerce Pricing Plan – How Much Does WooCommerce Cost?
Last Updated | February 18, 2025
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Understanding the costs of setting up a WooCommerce store is essential for any entrepreneur looking to enter the eCommerce space.
While the WooCommerce plugin is free, creating a fully functional online store involves additional expenses.
From domain registration and hosting to premium themes and plugins, these costs can quickly add up, making it crucial to plan your budget effectively.
In this blog, we will break down the different pricing plans available for WooCommerce and explore the hidden costs that may arise during setup and maintenance.
By providing a comprehensive overview of what you can expect to spend, we aim to equip you with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions as you embark on your eCommerce journey.
Understanding What WooCommerce Is and How It Works
Before you begin setting up your WooCommerce online store, it’s essential to understand the platform and how it operates.
WooCommerce Explained
WooCommerce is not an e-commerce platform; it is a plugin installed onto a WordPress website that converts it into an e-commerce store.
WordPress acts as the foundation for the website, and WooCommerce is a tool that transforms a regular website into an e-commerce platform.
WooCommerce can use WordPress’s content management system (CMS) to manage content and add the features required to sell products and services.
Primary Functions and Features
A WooCommerce store comes loaded with several features that help improve e-commerce stores, including:
- Created and managed product listings, including adding product descriptions, images, variations (like size and color), pricing, and inventory.
- Handling transactions is simpler because WooCommerce supports payment gateways (such as PayPal, Stripe, and others) that securely process online payments.
- It’s easier to track orders, update their status (e.g., processing, shipped, completed), and communicate with customers about their orders.
- Calculate shipping and configure shipping options, rates, and carriers. WooCommerce can handle complex shipping scenarios based on location, weight, and other factors.
- Manage customer accounts, allowing them to create accounts, save their addresses, view their order history, and manage their profiles.
- Customize the storefront with WordPress themes and extensions to design a unique and visually appealing online store.
- To understand your business performance, generate reports to track sales, revenue, and other key metrics.
- Extend functionality with numerous add-ons and extensions to add more features, like memberships, subscriptions, bookings, and more.
The Initial Costs of Setting up WooCommerce
Setting up a WooCommerce store is a significant investment for every business. Investing in WooCommerce development solutions ensures that your store is optimized for performance, security, and user experience.
The initial costs involved include:
Domain Name
A domain name is the store’s online address, which customers and search engines use to locate you. It costs between $10 and $30 yearly, or even more if the name is rare or in demand.
Businesses can purchase domains from popular registrars such as Google Domains, GoDaddy, or Namecheap, finding one that is most relevant to their business.
Web Hosting
It is where a website’s files and data are stored to be accessed when required.
Web hosting costs vary depending on the plan and provider, with shared hosting starting at as low as a few dollars per month.
More robust options, such as VPS or dedicated hosting, cost hundreds of dollars, but a basic WooCommerce store costs between $5 and $50 monthly.
Popular hosting providers include Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, and WP Engine.
SSL Certificates
An SSL certificate is essential for secure online transactions because it encrypts data between the customer’s browser and the website (the ‘https’ in the website address).
SSL certificates often come with your hosting plan for free or cost around $100 per year if you’re looking for more premium SSL certificates.
Most hosting companies provide SSL certificates, but you could also purchase one from Comodo or Encrypt if they don’t.
WordPress Themes
A WordPress theme determines the design language and layout of your WooCommerce store, picking the right arrangement, pages, colors, and fonts for your website.
Free themes are available, but premium themes with more features and customization options typically cost between $30 and $200.
Stores can pick up a WooCommerce theme from The WordPress theme directory, ThemeForest, or independent theme developers. However, for a fully customized and optimized store, many businesses prefer to on board WooCommerce expert to change the theme to fit their needs.
WooCommerce Pricing
This table breaks down all the pricing information that business must account for before signing up:
| Category | Type | Description | Estimated Cost |
| Necessary Costs | |||
| Hosting | Shared |
|
$2 – $10 per month |
| VPS |
|
$20 – $100 per month | |
| Dedicated |
|
$100+ per month | |
| WooCommerce Specialized |
|
Varies | |
| Domain Name | Purchase |
|
$10 – $20 per year (can be higher for short, easy-to-remember domains) |
| SSL Certificate | Free | Often offered free through hosting providers (e.g., Let’s Encrypt). | Free (if provided by host) |
| Paid | Provides a higher level of security. | $10 – $200 per year | |
| Native Payment Extensions | Transaction Fees | Fees vary depending on the provider.
|
Varies significantly based on volume and provider |
| Native Shipping Extensions | Extensions |
|
Around $100 per year |
| Optional Costs (Extensions & Themes) | |||
| Themes | Paid | It can help your store stand out and often provide customer service options. | $20 – $100 per year |
| Marketing Extensions | Affiliate for WooCommerce |
|
$179 annually |
| Developer Fees | Hiring a Developer | For building a professional and complex site with many functionalities. | $1000 – $20,000+ (depending on the complexity and developer’s experience) |
| Overall Costs | Small Business | Setting up a domain and choosing a hosting plan. | Around $150 to start |
| Larger Businesses | More complex needs, including developer costs. | Thousands of dollars |
Detailed Breakdown of the Ongoing Costs of WooCommerce
Are you considering building a WooCommerce online store? Here’s a pricing breakdown of the ongoing costs:
Hosting:
The hosting cost is a recurring monthly or annual expense, and as the store grows, you might need to upgrade to a more powerful hosting plan, which will increase your costs.
Depending on your traffic and needs, you can expect to pay between $5 and $100+ monthly.
Other factors that affect cost include traffic volume, storage space, server resources, and the type of hosting (shared, VPS, or dedicated).
Domain Name Renewal:
The cost is typically around $10-$20 per year. Remember to renew it, or you risk losing your domain!
SSL Certificate Renewal:
If you don’t use a free SSL certificate (often provided by hosts), you must renew it annually. The cost can vary depending on where you purchase the certificate from.
Theme and Plugin Renewals/Subscriptions:
Most premium themes and plugins operate on a yearly subscription model, ensuring you get updates and support.
Costs vary significantly depending on the theme or plugin.
Some offer lifetime licenses (a one-time purchase), but these are less common.
Payment Gateway Fees:
These are ongoing transaction fees from the payment gateway, calculated as a percentage of each sale plus a fixed cost.
For example, 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. The more you sell, the more you’ll pay in transaction fees.
Considering these fees when pricing your products is essential.
They will cut your bottom line, and you don’t want to break even on each sale.
Marketing and Advertising:
Marketing and advertising are highly variable costs, and if you’re running ongoing marketing campaigns (SEO, social media ads, email marketing), you’ll have regular expenses associated with them.
Depending on your strategy, this could range from a few dollars a month to thousands because of how many variables are involved in building and deploying a marketing campaign.
Content Creation (if applicable):
If you’re regularly adding new products, blog posts, or other content to your store, you’ll have ongoing costs associated with content creation.
This could involve hiring writers, photographers, or videographers for the business to implement your strategies.
Maintenance and Updates:
While WordPress and WooCommerce are relatively easy to maintain, you must keep your website software, themes, and plugins current.
You can do this yourself or hire a WordPress maintenance service, which will charge a monthly or annual fee.
Security:
While most security measures are included in hosting plans, you should invest in additional security plugins or services to protect your store from malware and hacking attempts.
It can take years to build a brand, and one data breach can destroy your entire reputation.
No e-commerce store should ever compromise on security because they store customer’s data, e.g., names, addresses, and card information.
Customer Support (if applicable):
As your business grows, you might need to hire customer support staff to handle inquiries and issues.
These include human chat representatives or AI chatbots, depending on which is feasible for the business.
Accounting and Bookkeeping:
You’ll need to keep track of your income and expenses for tax purposes. You might hire an accountant or use accounting software, which will have ongoing costs.
Software Subscriptions (if applicable):
The store might use other software for your business, such as email marketing platforms, CRM systems, or project management tools. If you’re running a WooCommerce store, you can also use the WooCommerce Subscription Plugin to manage recurring payments for your products or services.
Most software subscriptions come with a monthly or annual subscription fee.
Inventory (if selling physical products):
This is a significant ongoing cost for businesses selling physical products.
Inventory management is a significant business expense that requires the company to pay for storing and maintaining inventory.
You’ll need to replenish your inventory regularly to ensure there’s enough to meet customer demand.
Shipping and Fulfillment (if selling physical products):
Shipping, packaging materials, and fulfillment services are all ongoing expenses that vary depending on what you sell and where it’s shipped.
Returns and Refunds:
The business must factor in the cost of returns and refunds, which can vary depending on its return policy and the nature of its products.
Regardless of how good your product or service is, returns and refunds are always possible because some customers will have issues with your offering.
It helps to factor in the cost of returns and refunds and leave room in your forecasted bottom line.
WooCommerce Payment Processing Costs
Every e-commerce store must account for payment processing costs in their expenses because they can add up quickly.
Here’s what WooCommerce payment processing costs look like:
Transaction Fees:
- Transaction fees are the most common, usually a percentage of each transaction plus a small fixed fee. For example, you might see something like 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
- The exact percentage and fixed fee will vary depending on the payment gateway you choose (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, Square) and the type of card used (e.g., credit card, debit card, international card).
- Expect to pay more for processing international cards, as extra fees are often involved.
Transaction fees are a significant point of contention for businesses because higher sales volumes mean more transaction fees.
It’s best to pick a payment processor that offers reliable service for the fee it charges.
Other Potential Fees:
- Payment gateways might charge a monthly fee for using their services, even if you don’t process any transactions.
- While less common, some gateways charge a one-time fee to set up your account.
- If a customer disputes a charge and you lose the dispute, you’ll likely be charged a fee (usually around $15).
- Gateways might charge a fee to process refunds.
- You might be charged a fee if you cancel your contract with a payment gateway before a specific period.
WooCommerce Payments:
- WooCommerce’s Solution offers a payment gateway called WooCommerce Payments.
- It follows a pay-as-you-go model with no setup charges or monthly fees. The transaction fees are competitive, starting at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for U.S.-issued cards.
- WooCommerce integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, simplifies payment management, and allows customers to pay directly on your site without being redirected to a third-party platform.
Popular Payment Gateways and Their Costs:
- Stripe: Generally known for its transparent pricing, with a standard rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for most cards.
- PayPal: It’s plans with different fee structures. Their standard rate is usually around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, which can vary.
- Square: Popular for in-person and online payments, with a rate of 2.9% + $0.30 for online transactions.
- Authorize.net: A more traditional payment gateway with monthly and transaction fees.
Factors Affecting Your Costs:
- Transaction Volume, i.e., the more you sell, the more you’ll pay in transaction fees.
- Average Order Value, i.e., Higher order values mean higher transaction fees per sale.
- Processing credit cards cost more than processing debit cards.
- International transactions come with higher fees.
- Different gateways have different fee structures.
Minimizing Payment Processing Costs:
- Carefully compare the fees of different payment gateways before choosing one.
- You can negotiate lower rates with your payment gateway if you have a high sales volume.
- Some businesses add a surcharge to cover payment processing fees, but this can deter customers.
- Offer a small discount for customers who use a payment method with lower fees for you.
- Reducing refunds and chargebacks can help minimize costs.
Final Thoughts
WooCommerce offers a flexible pricing structure that caters to various business needs.
The core plugin is free, but additional costs arise from premium themes, extensions, and hosting services.
Businesses should carefully assess their requirements and budget to determine the total cost of ownership.
Ultimately, WooCommerce provides a powerful platform for e-commerce, allowing you to scale your operations effectively.
By understanding the various pricing components, you can make informed decisions that align with your business goals and maximize your investment.
