WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads – Which One To Use?

Are you curious to know which is better between WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads? If you’re confused about which of these 2 eCommerce platforms to use, then this article will help you.

A few years back, visiting shops personally was the only option. But things have changed, now people like to buy products online. So, it’s better to start your online store for maximum earnings. To help you with that, there are two renowned eCommerce platforms in the market. 

They are WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. The main motive of both of them is to let you build eCommerce stores effortlessly. But, the main question is which one is a better option for you. 

To ease things for you, we’ve come up with a comparison between WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads. We’ll compare them on features, ease of use, support, pricing, security, etc. This way, you can decide which one suits better for you. 

Let’s begin the comparison!

A. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Introduction

Before comparing these 2 popular eCommerce platforms, let’s understand them better first. 

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is one of the most popular tools that power millions of eCommerce stores around the globe. To let you know, it’s available in the form of a WordPress plugin. With the installation, it integrates eCommerce functionalities to your WordPress site. This means you can rely on it to turn your site into a fully functional online store.

For newbie friends, WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) for building any imaginable website. Moreover, it uses plugins for the sake of adding more functionalities to the websites. 

And one of them is WooCommerce. Developed by Automattic, this eCommerce plugin has an active installation of over 5 million. 

Currently, it powers around 30% of all online stores worldwide. Actually, it’s an open-source platform. That means, as a user you can modify, use, or distribute this software to anyone.

WooCommerce is a self-hosted platform, so you’ve to buy a web hosting service to build an eCommerce store.

What is Easy Digital Downloads?

Easy Digital Downloads is a powerful eCommerce software platform for selling digital products on WordPress. Just like WooCommerce, it’s also an eCommerce plugin of WordPress that puts all the attention on digital products.

Its main aim is to make selling digital products straightforwardly. This platform is trusted by over 50000 shop owners. 

Furthermore, it comes with powerful features and a library of handy extensions for scaling your business even further.

Currently, Easy Digital Downloads is used by over 13000 websites globally. 

B. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — User-Friendly

If you haven’t built an online store before, then the platform you pick should be simple to use. As you all know, not everyone has the same level of technical knowledge. Thereby, you must go after a user-friendly eCommerce platform. 

With that, let’s compare and contrast EDD vs WooCommerce on ease of use.

Is WooCommerce User-Friendly?

As spoken before, WooCommerce is a plugin of WordPress. Thereby, you should have WordPress installed on your website. Only then, you can make use of the WooCommerce plugin to set up your eCommerce store. 

Before getting started, you’ve to buy a domain name, hosting service, and SSL certificate. Popular hosting companies such as Bluehost, HostGator, etc provide all of these services in each of their hosting plans.

After installing WordPress, you can search and install the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress site. Next up, log in to your WordPress dashboard with a login URL. 

With that, you’ll reach your WordPress dashboard which looks like this:

Now, on the left corner of the dashboard, you’ll discover various options. From there, go to Plugins > Add New. Once you reach there, on the top right side of the screen, you’ll see a search box. There you can type ‘WooCommerce’. Once it appears, you’ve to simply click on the Install Now button to start the installation of the plugin.

After waiting a while, Activate button will show up. You must click on it to get the WooCommerce plugin activated on your site.

With that, you’ll see 4 new options on your WordPress dashboard. These are WooCommerce, Products, Analytics, and Marketing. You’ve to go to WooCommerce > Home.

Afterward, you’ve to finish a few WooCommerce setup wizards. There you’ve to provide all the details about your eCommerce store.

And once your store is ready, you can start adding products. For that, go to Products > Add New on your WordPress dashboard. 

Similarly, the Analytics option lets you track your online store’s data. The Marketing offers you the needed marketing tools and plugins for extending your WooCommerce store even further. 

Is Easy Digital Downloads User-Friendly?

Being a plugin, the installation process of Easy Digital Downloads is also similar. Both these plugins offer a straightforward path for creating an online store. 

To install the Easy Digital Downloads plugin on your WordPress site, you’ve to navigate to your WordPress dashboard first. From there, head onto Plugins > Add New. With that, you’ll be redirected to another page. Afterward, search for Easy Digital Downloads in the search box. Once it appears, click on the ‘Install Now’ button.

After a while, an Activate button pops up, you need to click on that. The moment you do that, the plugin gets successfully activated on your WordPress website. 

Now, the Downloads option is added to the WordPress dashboard. To add digital downloadable files to your site, navigate to Downloads > Add New.

From there, you’ve to name your digital file, add the description, category, etc. Furthermore, you can upload your digital file, whether it is a .zip, .pdf, .mp3, etc.

Most importantly, to configure options for payments, checkout, emails, taxes, etc, you’ve to go to Downloads > Settings.

This plugin by default creates pages on your WordPress site such as checkout, product, confirmation, etc. 

C. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Features

To stand apart from your competitors, you must choose an eCommerce platform that’s rich in features. On that note, let’s compare features on WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads.

Features in WooCommerce

WooCommerce gives you the flexibility to add as many products as you want to sell without any restriction. Most importantly, you can enable product sorting and filtering based on different categories like popularity, newness, rating, etc.

WooCommerce lets you use a widget to highlight the most important products on any page of your store. You can even add tags, categories, and attributes to help customers find relevant products with ease. 

Furthermore, it automatically recognizes your customer’s address to make shipping and tax calculations easy. Plus, you can easily integrate Google Analytics to observe how your store is doing. 

The plugin supports popular payment gateways such as Stripe and PayPal. Also, you can accept payments via credit cards, direct bank transfers, checks, or cash on delivery. 

In addition to that, WooCommerce works flawlessly with all the popular WordPress themes on the market. 

Besides that, you can customize every part of your store; from the homepage layout to the purchase button. 

Features in Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads seamlessly integrates with content delivery tools like Amazon S3 and Dropbox for hosting product files. 

With this plugin, you can keep a record of every transaction in your system. And use the payment history to check out information related to payments, purchase receipts, etc.

EDD supports well-known payment processors such as Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, etc. Also, you can keep the track of your earnings, refunds, sales, etc, of your online store. 

Additionally, you can manage all your customer records (view, edit, or delete) straight from the dashboard. It blocks unauthorized visitors from accessing your product without completing the payment. 

Also, you can maximize sales by providing potential customers with coupons or discount codes that can be added at checkout. The best part is that it works with any WordPress theme. 

Apart from that, Easy Digital Downloads have been translated into more than two dozen languages. So, that means your eCommerce store can attract a global audience. 

D. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Pricing

After revealing the pricing of these two eCommerce platforms, you can decide which of them is best for you. So, let’s see which one is the cheaper option between WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads.

Cost of Creating an Online Store in WooCommerce

To your pleasant surprise, WooCommerce is a free plugin. You can download it from the WordPress.org plugins directory and set up your store. Firstly, you’ve to choose a domain name and host for your store. 

Moreover, to strengthen the security of your website, you require an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate. Hosting can be as cheap as $2.75/month, or $3.95/month, and so on. More specifically, managed hosting costs up to $100/month. 

Similarly, for each domain name you use, you’ve to pay around $15 per year. The last remaining cost is SSL certificates, which costs about $60 per year. Buying these services individually from different companies can be hard for your budget.

WooCommerce and WordPress both recommend hosts such as SiteGround and Bluehost. Thankfully, both of these web hosting companies offer you a free domain and SSL certificate after buying.

For instance, Bluehost provides you WooCommerce hosting, a free domain name, and an SSL certificate for just $12.95/month. This is just a starting plan that offers you all the basics to set up your online shop. 

Furthermore, WooCommerce offers you free themes and plugins. You even have an option to buy premium themes and plugins for enhancing your store. 

Cost of Creating an Online Store in Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads is a free WordPress eCommerce plugin for selling digital products. Similar to WooCommerce, you’ve to take care of the initial expenses when setting up a store with it. 

These are hosting, domain name, and an SSL certificate. SiteGround is the recommended hosting provider of Easy Digital Downloads. To remove the hassle of all the additional charges and save your money you can stick with this hosting company.

SiteGround gives you a free SSL certificate, and a free domain in each of their hosting plans. Also, you can rely on its managed WooCommerce hosting which comes up at the discounted price of $3.99/month. This is just a basic plan.

Similarly, you can upgrade to a premium plan as well. There are 4 different pricing plans for you, using it you can increase the functionalities of your store. You’re free to select a plan that’s best suited for you. Here’s what they look like:

• Personal Pass: $199/year, single site license, email marketing tools, email support.
• Extended Pass: $399/year, single site license, sell subscriptions, payment gateways, email support.
• Professional Pass: $599/year, single site license, premium extensions, marketplace functionality, wishlists.
• All Access Pass: $999/year, unlimited sites license, access to 79 extensions, fraud monitor, slack integration, product comparison. 

Didn’t love the premium version even after using it? Or, felt it didn’t live up to your expectations? Don’t fret, they will refund your money fully. Basically, it offers a no-risk money-back guarantee for 14 days.

E. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Templates and Themes

For non-coders, creating websites on their own is way too tough. To make this process simple for beginners, the eCommerce platform provides pre-made templates. So they don’t have to code to build their online store. 

Alright, let’s see which one is better among these two in this area.

Templates and Themes in WooCommerce

Your online store’s design should be captivating so that visitors stay on the website for a longer duration. Luckily, WooCommerce comes with a big collection of ready-made themes for a variety of store kinds.

You can check them out on its official site. On WooCommerce’s official website, there are altogether of 49 themes. These are divided based on category (free, storefront themes, responsive) and industry (sports, pets, health, electronics, etc).

More specifically, there are 3 free themes (Deli, Boutique, Storefront), 14 storefront themes, 37 responsive themes, and 20 premium themes. 

If you’re looking for premium themes for WooCommerce, then it costs around $50. Some of the popular premium themes are Avada, Flatsome, WoodMart, etc. 

You can get these WooCommerce-compatible themes on popular marketplaces such as WordPress.org, ThemeForest, etc.

Templates and Themes in Easy Digital Downloads

There are a few ready-to-use themes that you’ll see on the official website of Easy Digital Downloads. And these are Themedd, Vendd.

Other than that, several recommended themes integrate seamlessly with Easy Digital Downloads. These themes are Karma Digital, Coaching Pro, Mayosis, DGWork, Market, Cailo, Stocky, etc. And they come up in either free or premium options. 

Not to mention, these themes were built by skilled third-party designers and developers from the Easy Digital Downloads community.

Surprisingly, Easy Digital Downloads is compatible with almost all the WordPress themes. 

F. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Apps and Plugins

Apps and plugins are responsible for adding extra functionalities to your online store. With that, let’s compare apps and plugins on WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads. 

Apps and Plugins in WooCommerce

To enhance every aspect of your store, there are tons of add-ons and extensions available in WooCommerce. There is an Extension store that offers you 250+ free and premium extensions for your online shop.

All these available extensions are categorized based on popularity, shipping, marketing, payments, etc. You can even look for a specific extension with the help of a search bar.

To mention them you’ll get extensions like WooCommerce Shipping, WooCommerce Bookings, Mailchimp, Zapier, etc. 

These premium extensions cost around $30 – $250 per year. Most importantly, they are developed by WooCommerce developers and third-party developers. Not only that, but there you’ll discover plenty of guides that teach you how to use these extensions.

Lastly, you’ll get free WooCommerce plugins from the WordPress.org plugin’s directory. For premium add-on plugins, you’ve to visit marketplaces like CodeCanyon. 

Apps and Plugins in Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads, too, come up with bulks of extensions. And using it, you can extend the functionality of your online business. 

In the Easy Digital Downloads Extension store, there are around 95 third-party apps and integrations. You can gain access to all these extensions by upgrading your plan to either Professional Pass or All Access Pass. And that will cost you $599 and $999 per year. 

You also have an option to purchase individual extensions if you want to add specific functionality to your store. Purchasing individually costs you around $50 – $100.

Here, you’ll get extensions such as recurring payments, software licensing, frontend submissions, custom deliverables, etc. 

Also, these extensions are divided into categories like accounting, analysis, marketing, email, etc. To save time, you can look for extensions with the use of a search bar.  

Easy Digital Downloads offers you a broad range of services by which you can grow your online business and achieve your needs. Based on your current business requirements, you can use these apps and integrations selectively.

Furthermore, developers can develop an extension plugin on their own if needed.

G. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Security

The eCommerce industry is one of the main targets for cybercriminals. This is why as a store owner, you must be aware of the risks and safeguard your online store. Only then customers will shop on your site without any worries.

So let’s see which platform among WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads has strong security. 

Is WooCommerce Secure?

As you all know, WooCommerce is a self-hosted platform. That’s why the security of WooCommerce mainly depends on the hosting service you choose. 

To be honest, WooCommerce is pretty safe. It allows you to create two-step authentication. It’s a system that asks for an additional credential for login (apart from just the username and password) to gain account access.

Because of that, you don’t have to fret even if your password goes into the wrong hands. 

Note that most of the WooCommerce hosting providers are PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant and offer free SSL certificates. 

Although to protect your site against brute force attacks and hackers, you can install WordPress security plugins.

Not to mention, don’t forget to update your WordPress to the latest version. And keep regular backups of your site’s data.

Is Easy Digital Downloads Secure?

Make sure the web hosting you pick has all the security bases covered. Most of the hosts provide built-in firewall management and free SSL certificates by which your site will be fully protected. 

To protect your digital products, EDD uses a set of security measures called Access Control. With it, you can make your digital products only accessible to users who are logged in to your site. 

After that, you can limit access to downloads. More specifically, you can limit the number of times users can download the product with the help of a link. It will expire automatically after that. 

Lastly, you can provide a new secure link if the customer asks for it. 

You can also add WordPress security plugins or purchase security-related extensions from the extension store. 

H. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — SEO

You must choose an eCommerce platform that will make your store SEO-optimized. Only then, your store will be more visible in the search engine results. 

That means there is a high chance of getting more traffic and eventually more sales. Alright, then let’s find which one among these two is better in this aspect.

Is WooCommerce SEO-Optimized?

WooCommerce is an outstanding platform in terms of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The good thing is it runs on WordPress, which is best known for SEO.

You can install an SEO plugin and insert the right keyword to get a high-ranking eCommerce website. WooCommerce is equipped with SEO plugins to boost your store’s visibility in search engine results. 

You’ll get tons of plugins like Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress, etc. And that plays a massive role in optimizing your store’s SEO.

Lastly, there are other SEO features WooCommerce provides such as adding meta descriptions, structured data, image alt text, etc. 

Is Easy Digital Downloads SEO-Optimized?

To improve SEO, Easy Digital Downloads supports well-known SEO plugins in the market. Some of them are Yoast SEO, All in One SEO, Rank Math, and more.

This makes it easy for you to customize SEO titles, meta descriptions, and other search-related details regarding your products.

I. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Support

The support team is responsible to pull you out of problems or issues you’re facing. That’s why quality customer support is one of the important aspects to look for in an eCommerce platform.

Let’s find out which platform among these two is better in this department.

Customer Support Options in WooCommerce

To set up an online store, you need dedicated WooCommerce hosting. And what type of support options you’ll get depends on your web host’s support. That’s why you need to pick a top-notch host.

On the official website of WooCommerce, you’ll see the Resources section. There are different support options provided to the users. To know about WooCommerce in detail, there lies blogs, guides, and documentation.

If you’re having trouble setting up your online business, then you can get help from WooExperts. The WooExpert program consists of trusted agencies who will guide you in building your WooCommerce store.

In case you’ve any queries or issues, then you’ll get quick support from the team and developers. Similarly, for plugin-related issues, you can visit its support forum on WordPress.org. 

Customer Support Options in Easy Digital Downloads

The ideal way to know more about this plugin or find solutions is by walking through the Easy Digital Downloads documentation. There you’ll see tons of articles to guide you in setting up your online store.

If you’ve got any queries or issues, then you can submit a support ticket. For that, you’ve to fill name, email, summary, message, etc on the Support page. 

They’ve also mentioned the support hours which look like this: Support Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM, EST – 5 PM EST

Moreover, you can find its support forum on WordPress.org. There you can yell out your problems, and you’ll get answers in a moment.

Lastly, there’s also a Blogs section where you can discover the tutorials and news related to Easy Digital Downloads.

J. WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads — Pros and Cons

Till now, we’ve only explored the benefits of WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. In this section, we’ll be looking at some positives and negatives of both these eCommerce platforms. 

Pros and Cons of WooCommerce

Pros:

• This eCommerce platform is fully free and open source.
• Includes tons of customization options.
• Consists of a variety of free and paid themes and plugins.
• You have full ownership of your WooCommerce store.
• Integrated with security providers like Sucuri.net for better security.
• A myriad of documentation, articles, and informative guides.

Cons:

• It can’t be used on other websites which are not built on the WordPress platform.
• The core plugin is free to use but to use extensions on your store, you’ve to spend money.
• To get started with WooCommerce, you should know how to use WordPress.
• Difficult to add multi-currency and wishlist features to your store.

Pros and Cons of Easy Digital Downloads

Pros:

• Simple and easy to set up.
• Compatible with the major payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, etc. 
• Easy to track product downloads and handle customers straight from the dashboard.
• Detailed data reporting to know how your store is performing at the moment.
• Bulks of extensions to extend the functionality of your WooCommerce store.
• Integrates well with all the WordPress themes.

Cons:

• The free version is limited in terms of features.
• There is no lifetime payment option.
• This eCommerce platform is slightly expensive and may not fall under everyone’s budget.

Our Recommendation

Coming to this stage, you may be well aware that both are robust platforms to build an eCommerce store. The above comparison shows which eCommerce platform is bigger and better among WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.

However, we request you to don’t only depend on this article. Not everyone has the same set of priorities and requirements for establishing an online store.

That’s why it’s better to pick one platform that goes well with your business requirements. Both these platforms allow you to sell multiple types of products (physical and digital). 

But we urge you to follow the simple rule, i.e. better to choose WooCommerce if you’re selling more physical products. 

On the flip side, Easy Digital Downloads is more suited if selling digital products is a top priority for you. 

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap! So, in this article, we’ve covered the WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads – Which One to Use? We hope you liked it!

Through this article, we believe you can distinguish between WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. And also crystal clear regarding which one to pick among these two renowned eCommerce platforms.

If you’ve any further queries about WooCommerce vs Easy Digital Downloads, then feel free to comment below. We’ll try our best to get back to you as quickly as possible.

Also, check out our article on WooCommerce vs Shopify. Also, you might be interested in WooCommerce vs Squarespace. 

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