Alternative E-commerce Platforms [PRO]
WP Sell Services Pro supports several e-commerce platforms beyond WooCommerce, so you can pick the one that best fits your site.
Supported Platforms at a Glance
Section titled “Supported Platforms at a Glance”| Platform | Best For | Included In |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce | Full-featured stores with 100+ payment gateways | Pro |
| Easy Digital Downloads | Lightweight digital-focused marketplaces | Pro (beta, enable with the wpss_pro_beta_rails filter) |
| FluentCart | Fast, modern single-page checkouts | Pro (beta, enable with the wpss_pro_beta_rails filter) |
| Standalone | Pure service marketplaces, no extra plugins needed | Free + Pro |
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) [PRO]
Section titled “Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) [PRO]”EDD is a popular choice if your site focuses on digital products and services. It is lighter than WooCommerce and great for marketplaces that do not need physical product features.
How to set it up:
- Install and activate Easy Digital Downloads
- Configure your payment gateways in Downloads > Settings
- Go to Sell Services > Settings > General
- Select Easy Digital Downloads as your e-commerce platform
- Click Save Changes
What this rail cannot do yet (beta):
Services are not created as Easy Digital Downloads downloads, so a buyer who reaches Checkout on a catalog service dead-ends. A refund issued in Easy Digital Downloads is not reflected in the marketplace: the order stays paid and the vendor stays credited, so you have to reverse both by hand. Pay links for milestone phases, tips and paid extensions are unavailable on this rail. Full support is planned for 1.8.0.
Payment gateways available: PayPal (built into EDD), Stripe (via EDD Stripe extension), plus other EDD gateway extensions.
FluentCart [PRO]
Section titled “FluentCart [PRO]”FluentCart is a newer, lightweight checkout plugin that focuses on speed and simplicity. It is a good fit if you want a fast, modern checkout without the overhead of a full e-commerce platform.
How to set it up:
- Install and activate FluentCart
- Configure Stripe or PayPal in FluentCart > Settings
- Go to Sell Services > Settings > General
- Select FluentCart as your e-commerce platform
- Click Save Changes
FluentCart provides a single-page checkout experience with Stripe and PayPal built in.
What this rail cannot do yet (beta):
Buyers cannot purchase a catalog service on this rail: no service can be linked to a FluentCart product, so the Checkout button dead-ends. Tips, milestone phases and paid extensions do work. Full catalog checkout is planned for 1.8.0.
What happened to SureCart?
Section titled “What happened to SureCart?”SureCart support was removed in 1.6.0.
Every platform on this page has to behave the same way: it owns the checkout, takes the money, and tells the marketplace an order was paid so the vendor can be credited. SureCart hosts its catalogue on its own service rather than in your WordPress site, which means it cannot act as that kind of rail without the marketplace guessing at what was bought.
It had been shipping as though it could. Rather than leave an integration in place that could take a payment without reliably starting an order, it was removed.
If you were using it, move to one of the platforms above, or to standalone mode. Orders already placed are unaffected - switching platforms never rewrites past orders.
Which Platform Should You Choose?
Section titled “Which Platform Should You Choose?”Here is a practical guide:
- Already using WooCommerce? Stick with WooCommerce. You get 100+ gateways and full extension support.
- Want the simplest setup? Use standalone mode. No extra plugins, no dependencies.
- Selling only digital services? Standalone mode or WooCommerce. EDD is purpose-built for digital products, but its rail is beta and cannot take a catalog purchase yet.
- Need the fastest checkout? Standalone mode. FluentCart is beta and cannot take a catalog purchase yet.
- Need subscription billing? Use WooCommerce with a subscriptions extension. Pro’s own recurring services are not available – every surface is switched off and there is no setting to turn them on.
Switching Between Platforms
Section titled “Switching Between Platforms”You can change platforms at any time:
- Finish all active orders on your current platform first
- Go to Sell Services > Settings > General
- Select your new platform and save
- Reconfigure payment gateways in the new platform
- Test checkout thoroughly
Existing orders remain accessible – they stay in the system they were created in. Only new orders use the new platform.
Platform Comparison
Section titled “Platform Comparison”| Feature | WooCommerce | EDD | FluentCart | Standalone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payment gateways | 100+ | 20+ | Stripe, PayPal | 4 built-in |
| Performance impact | Medium | Low | Low | Minimal |
| Tax automation | Via extensions | Basic | No | Basic |
| Physical products | Yes | No | No | No |
| Setup effort | Medium | Medium | Easy | Easiest |
| Catalog checkout | Yes | No (beta) | No (beta) | Yes |
| Milestone, tip and extension payments | Yes | No (beta) | Yes | Yes |
| Refunds reflected in the marketplace | Yes | No (beta) | Yes | Yes |
| Known limitations | None | Buyers cannot complete a catalog purchase, and a refund issued in EDD leaves the order paid and the vendor credited | Buyers cannot complete a catalog purchase because a service cannot be linked to a FluentCart product | None |
Related Docs
Section titled “Related Docs”- WooCommerce Checkout [PRO] – Full WooCommerce integration guide
- Standalone Mode – Built-in checkout, no plugins needed
- Stripe Payments – Direct Stripe integration for standalone
- Currency and Tax – Financial settings