6 Easy Digital Downloads Alternatives to Sell Products Online

Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress ecommerce plugin known for its limited product selection, upfront fees, and platform and theme limitations. Overall, if you’re currently unhappy with being on WordPress or just find that this isn’t the right plugin for you, you might be turning to Easy Digital Downloads alternatives to help you find a new solution to sell digital downloads and maybe even a little more.

Why Are People Leaving Easy Digital Downloads and Looking for an Easy Digital Downloads Alternative

1. High costs

Easy Digital Downloads has four pricing tiers ranging from $99.50 to $499.50 per year. This may not seem like a high cost, but when you add up the costs of running a WordPress website, such as hosting, domain registration, security, and more, it can be a financial burden. While WordPress itself is free, there are so many third-party tools that make running a digital products website on this platform very expensive. Some Easy Digital Downloads alternatives offer all these elements, like hosting even in their free plans.

2. Requires you to be technical and maintain your site independently

Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin. Unfortunately, most plugins require regular maintenance. You’ll need to install new versions independently so that your website’s elements don’t break. WordPress tends to be a very technical ecommerce platform. So, those who want to use this plugin will likely need to be ready to handle technical issues and website maintenance themselves, since the tool won’t do it automatically. Easy Digital Downloads alternatives are more user-friendly, no-code-friendly, and include site maintenance automatically.

3. Doesn’t allow you to sell physical goods

Easy Digital Downloads only allows you to sell digital products. If you want to sell physical products alongside your digital ones, you’ll need to add another plugin called WooCommerce. Unfortunately, adding too many plugins to your WordPress site can make it bloated, harder to maintain, and slower. Some Easy Digital Downloads alternatives allow you to sell both physical and digital products on the same platform.

6 Digital Downloads Alternatives to Sell Products Online

1. Payhip

 

Payhip is the best Easy Digital Downloads alternative because everything you need to sell digital products is bundled into a single tool, and it offers a free plan. From hosting to security, it is an all-in-one solution that adds all those parts automatically for you. No WordPress required.

You can sell any product type you’d like, such as online courses, ebooks, software, coaching services, memberships, and even physical products. Overall, there is a selection of personalized features for each product type, making it easy to sell them.

This Easy Digital Downloads alternative offers over 100 payment gateways, enabling you to reach a global audience. You can sell your products to nearly every country in the world, giving you the reach you need to build a successful business.

PRICING

This is an ecommerce platform that offers a free plan. All three pricing tiers, including the free plan, offer all features, unlimited products, and allow you to earn unlimited revenue. You don’t need to upgrade your account to access features.

Free Forever

• Free
• 5% transaction fee

Plus

• $29/month
• 2% transaction fee

Pro

• $99/month
• No transaction fee

PROS

• No third-party hosting needed; automatically included
• Free plan with only a 5% transaction fee compared to the paid plan of Easy Digital Downloads
• Automatically manages EU/UK VAT compliance for products sold
• Instant and easy set-up with no coding experience needed
• Built-in marketing tools like affiliate marketing, discount codes, PDF stamping, and more
• Allows you to sell both digital and physical products
• Enhanced functionality for specific products, such as completion certificates for selling online courses, PDF
  stamping for ebooks, and license keys for software
• Access over 100 payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more
• Fully customize your online store in any way using any free theme

CONS

• Doesn’t have the same level of detail in its built-in editor compared to WordPress websites. However, you can embed this Easy Digital Downloads alternative on your WordPress website if needed.

2. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an Easy Digital Downloads alternative that allows you to sell both physical and digital products. The upside is the variety of features; the downside is that the tool runs more slowly because it’s a WordPress plugin.

WooCommerce is more affordable than Easy Digital Downloads as it’s a free plugin. However, if you’re looking to get off WordPress due to the high fees associated with the platform, you’re out of luck. Setting up a WordPress site to install this plugin can require quite a bit of technical experience.

PRICING

WooCommerce is a free plugin that you can download and use on your WordPress store. However, you’ll be on the hook for hosting, themes, design, development, management, shipping, payment gateways, inventory management, and more. These fees can all add up quite quickly.

WooCommerce Fees

• Free plugin
• 2. 9% + $0.30 for US-issued cards for WooPayments
• +1% for international cards using WooPayments

PROS

• Excels at both digital and physical products
• Has thousands of extensions related to its product
• Easy to find documentation and support for WooCommerce

CONS

• Doesn’t have built-in hosting as it’s still dependent on WordPress
• The plugin causes some bloat issues, as it has some unnecessary settings if you’re not selling physical products
• Sites may have issues with slow speed
• Setup can be complicated or require technical experience
• Doesn’t offer email support for free users

3. Shopify

Shopify is an Easy Digital Downloads alternative that doesn’t require being on WordPress. It provides all the components on a single platform, eliminating the need to add hosting separately.

While it’s beginner-friendly, Shopify isn’t a fully no-code platform, as you may need to edit Liquid code to fully customize certain aspects of your online store.

Shopify also doesn’t have built-in features for digital products, so you’ll need to pay for an app in order to get that capability. If you’re looking to sell digital products alongside physical ones, you’re better off choosing an Easy Digital Downloads alternative with more robust digital product features.

PRICING

Shopify offers four pricing plans, depending on whether you’re running your business solo up to complex business structure.

Basic

• $39/month

Grow

• $105/month

Advanced

• $399/month

Plus

• $2,300/month

PROS

• Provides hosting, security, site maintenance, and more compared to managing your own
• Beginner-friendly platform
• Allows you to sell both digital and physical products

CONS

• You’ll be dependent on third-party apps to sell digital products
• Has thousands of apps for fixing or adding small features instead of having it built in
• Requires a recurring subscription, with no free plan
• You won’t own all your customer data and files entirely
• Customizing the checkout may require coding skills

4. MemberPress

MemberPress is a WordPress plugin for seven-figure creators, which may make it not ideal for beginners. It’s primarily a membership and subscription platform, with limited functionality for digital and physical products.

MemberPress can be expensive for the average creator. For instance, you need to pay for an annual plan, rather than by the month. Even on the lowest-paid plan, you’ll still need to pay transaction fees. There’s no free plan, either.

PRICING

MemberPress offers three pricing plans, all on an annual basis.

Launch

• $199.50/year
• +4.9% transaction fee per successful payment

Growth

• $349.50/year

Scale

• $499.50/year

PROS

• Offers content dripping for courses
• Easy setup for memberships
• Easy to control who sees posts, pages, categories, and tags

CONS

• Premium-only plugin with high renewal fees, no free tier
• Primarily a subscription and membership tool, with limited digital product features
• Complicated setup for selling PDFs, software, or media
• High transaction fees on the paid plan
• Upgrades are required for certain features that should be automatically included

5. PrestaShop

PrestaShop is an ecommerce platform that has multiple paid modules you can add to create an online store. While primarily a physical products platform, you can sell digital products using modules.

PrestaShop isn’t as user-friendly as other Easy Digital Download alternatives on this list. You will need some technical knowledge in order to run a business on this platform. Beginners may find the learning curve too steep.

PRICING

PrestaShop offers three plans with varying features. One downside is that their pricing is only available in euros, not USD.

Classic

• Free download
• Hosting, domain name, etc are not included. You’ll need to find another host.

Hosted

• €24 excl. VAT/month

Enterprise

• €2,115 excl. VAT/month
• Must stay on for a 24-month term

PROS

• Standalone ecommerce platform, not requiring WordPress
• Supports multiple languages and currencies
• You can sell both digital and physical products

CONS

• It requires paid modules, which can get expensive
• A steeper learning curve to learn the complex backend
• Primarily a physical products platform with modules required for digital products
• Has 150 partners to create ecommerce solutions instead of providing them themselves
• Limited customer support, only 6 days a week
• Requires some technical knowledge, such as installing your store on a server

6. WP EasyCart

WP EasyCart is a WordPress shopping cart plugin that lets you start selling online. This Easy Digital Downloads alternative will require you to stay on WordPress, which can be expensive to maintain.

You won’t be able to sell digital products or offer subscriptions on the free plan with this tool, though it’s
generous in other ways. You’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan to access these features. Unfortunately, you’ll have limited payment gateway options.

PRICING

WP Easy Cart has three pricing plans that unlock features as the price increases.

Free Plugin

• 2% transaction fee

Pro Cart Plugin

• $69/year

Premium Cart Plugin

• $89/year

PROS

• Allows you to sell both digital and physical products
• Free version offers a lot of features
• Easy to set up

CONS

• Requires a paid plan to start selling digital products or subscriptions
• Primarily built for physical products instead of digital ones
• Limited integrations
• Complicated interface
• Many features are gated and require upgrades to get
• Only integrates with Stripe, Square, and PayPal

Conclusion

This list provides a comprehensive overview of Easy Digital Downloads alternatives. Whether you want to stay on WordPress or migrate to an all-in-one platform instead, you’ll find that this list covers it all. If you’re thinking about choosing a platform with included hosting, security features, and more, you can sign up for Payhip for free today.

FAQ

What are the best alternatives to Easy Digital Downloads?

The best alternative to Easy Digital Downloads is Payhip. It’s an all-in-one platform that allows you to sell both digital and physical products. Plus, you won’t have to get your own hosting as it’s automatically included.

Is Easy Digital Downloads still worth using?

No, Easy Digital Downloads isn’t still worth using. The lack of physical products can be a setback. Plus, its dependence on WordPress makes it a more expensive option for selling products online.

Are there cheaper alternatives to Easy Digital Downloads?

Yes, Payhip is a cheaper alternative to Easy Digital Downloads. It has a Free Forever plan with a 5% transaction fee. You only pay if you make a sale. No upfront costs or subscription fees required.

What’s the best alternative to Easy Digital Downloads for selling courses?

Payhip is the best alternative to Easy Digital Downloads for selling courses. You’ll be able to access features such as a beautiful course player, multiple lesson types, drip content, student accounts, commenting systems, completion certificates, and more.

Will I own my customer data on an Easy Digital Downloads alternative?

Yes, you can own your customer data on an Easy Digital Downloads alternative like Payhip. You’ll be able to build an email list, remarket to customers on your own website via retargeting ads, and more. Overall, the customer list you have is yours, and you’re free to keep marketing to those you’ve made sales from.

Is there an Easy Digital Downloads alternative that doesn’t need a plugin?

Yes, Payhip is an Easy Digital Downloads alternative that doesn’t require a plugin. You can build your entire website on Payhip with no third-party tools, aside from payment gateways. You won’t have a bloated website, since you won’t need to add multiple plugins to make it functional. You’ll have all the features and tools you need on this all-in-one Easy Digital Downloads alternative.