Name: WooCommerce
Brand: WooCommerce
Availability: OnlineOnly

Overview

WooCommerce is free open-source e-commerce plugin for wordpress. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, USA (Automattic — fully distributed company), it serves Australian businesses.

Free open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress

AU Compliance Scores

BAS Lodgement

0/5

STP Phase 2

0/5

Payday Super

0/5

Modern Awards

0/5

GST Handling

3/5

Bank Feeds

0/5

Modern Awards NoteNot applicable — e-commerce platform without workforce management features.

Pricing (AUD inc. GST)

All prices below are in Australian dollars (GST not included). Pricing verified as of 2026-03-18.

Core Plugin (Self-Hosted)

Free

AUD exc GST

WooCommerce core is free and open-source under GPL. Requires self-managed WordPress hosting. Typical Australian total cost of ownership: $10–$50/mo AUD for hosting (Hostinger AU from A$4.59/mo, VentraIP from ~A$11/mo, managed WP hosting $25–40/mo), ~$15/yr for domain, $0–$200 for theme, plus optional paid extensions. No transaction fees from WooCommerce itself — only payment gateway fees apply (e.g., WooPayments: 1.75% + $0.30 AUD per domestic card transaction).

Products: unlimited
Users: unlimited
Online Store: Yes
Storage: hosting-dependent
Sales Channels: unlimited

Pros & Cons

Pros

Core plugin is 100% free with no transaction fees, revenue caps, or feature paywalls — only pay for hosting and optional extensions
Full data sovereignty achievable by hosting on Australian servers (VentraIP, AWS Sydney) — unlike Shopify's US/Canada-only data storage
No platform surcharge for third-party payment gateways — saves 0.6%–2% per transaction compared to Shopify when using eWAY, Stripe, or PayPal
WooPayments offers competitive AU card rates at 1.75% + $0.30 with no monthly fee, plus native Afterpay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
Unmatched customisation through 60,000+ WordPress plugins and full access to HTML, CSS, PHP — no template or proprietary language limitations
Superior SEO capabilities via WordPress foundation with Yoast/RankMath and full control over URL structure, schema markup, and site architecture
No vendor lock-in — migrate hosting providers, export all data, or modify any code without platform restrictions or exit fees
Largest global e-commerce install base (5M+ active stores) ensures extensive community support, tutorials, and developer availability

Cons

Requires technical knowledge to set up, secure, and maintain — not a plug-and-play solution like Shopify or BigCommerce
You're responsible for hosting, SSL, security patches, backups, and performance optimisation — downtime and breaches are your problem
No official phone support — limited to community forums and chat for paid extension subscribers only
Total cost of ownership can rival or exceed Shopify for complex stores when factoring hosting, premium themes, paid extensions, and developer time
Plugin compatibility issues and update conflicts are common — stores with 20+ plugins can create maintenance overhead
No built-in omnichannel selling — social media, marketplace, and POS integrations require separate plugins of varying quality and maintenance
PCI compliance is the merchant's responsibility unless using a fully tokenised gateway like WooPayments or Stripe

Who Is WooCommerce Best For?

Sole Trader
Small Business
Online Retailer
Developer
Data Sovereignty Required

WooCommerce may not be the best fit for:

Non Technical
Time Poor
Enterprise

WooCommerce Alternatives

If WooCommerce doesn’t quite fit your needs, consider these alternatives for Australian businesses:

Shopify — The world's leading e-commerce platform for AU online sellers. From $7/mo inc. GST.
BigCommerce — Australian-founded SaaS e-commerce platform built for growth. From $39/mo inc. GST.
Squarespace — Design-first website builder with integrated e-commerce. From $24/mo inc. GST.
Neto (Maropost Commerce Cloud) — Australia's all-in-one B2B and multi-channel ecommerce platform. From $199/mo inc. GST.