WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress that turns a WordPress site into an online store. Its core is free, and shop owners add paid extensions for features such as subscriptions, bookings and shipping tools. The owner hosts the store and keeps it updated.
In short
The plugin page on WordPress.org describes WooCommerce as 'the open-source ecommerce platform for WordPress', says its core platform is free, and lists more than 7 million active installations (read 8 November 2026). 'Free' refers to the plugin. Hosting, a domain, a theme, payment processing, extensions and upkeep still cost money.
A hosted store service runs the servers, checkout and updates for a plan fee. With WooCommerce you gain control of design, content and custom features, and take on hosting, security and updates. Our guide to WordPress vs Shopify compares the two in detail.
Our online store design page covers how stores are built.
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