What it is
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that adds a full store to a WordPress site: catalog, cart, payments, shipping and taxes. Because you install it on your own hosting, you control the design, the data and the code. There's no monthly fee, but you pay for hosting and any extensions you need, and keeping it updated and secure is on you.
How to use it
- Install the plugin on WordPress and set up products, shipping and taxes.
- Connect payment gateways like Mercado Pago, Stripe or PayPal.
- Customize the store with themes and blocks, or with code if you work with a developer.
- Add extensions for subscriptions, bookings or memberships.
- Manage orders on the go with the WooCommerce mobile app.
What it's good for
- A recipe blog that already gets WordPress traffic and wants to sell its cookbooks and courses.
- A web agency that builds stores for clients and needs full control of the code.
- A business with an unusual catalog that needs custom fields, pricing rules or integrations.
Pros
- The plugin is free and open source, with no platform fee per sale
- Full control over design, data and hosting
- Payment plugins for Mercado Pago, Stripe and PayPal
- Translated into Spanish, like the rest of WordPress
Cons
- Hosting, updates, backups and security are your responsibility
- Paid extensions plus good hosting can cost more than a hosted platform
- A plugin or theme conflict can break the store after an update
