Sidcraft Commerce vs WooCommerce vs OpenCart
Three free ways to run a store. Sidcraft Commerce builds subscriptions, rewards, affiliates, gift cards and event tickets into one plugin. WooCommerce leaves most of those to extensions. OpenCart runs outside WordPress and has languages built in.
Download OpenCart to Sidcraft Commerce ImporterDownload WooCommerce to Sidcraft Commerce Importer
Feature by feature
Built in Needs an extension Partly Not available
| Store pluginsFeature comparisonCore features, no extensions | Sidcraft CommerceFree with Sidcraft Page BuilderStore, events and loyalty in one plugin | WooCommerceFree core, paid extensionsThe largest WordPress store ecosystem | OpenCartFree, self-hostedA standalone PHP store |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feature | Sidcraft Commerce | WooCommerce | OpenCart |
| Platform | |||
| Runs onWhere the store lives. | WordPress plugin, with Sidcraft Page Builder | WordPress plugin | Standalone PHP application |
| Price of the coreWhat it costs before extensions. | Free. Stripe, Razorpay, PayU and Mercado Pago need Sidcraft Pro | Free | Free |
| Add-on ecosystemHow many extensions and themes you can choose from. | Small and new | Very large | Medium |
| Page designHow you design product, cart and checkout pages. | ✓Sidcraft Page Builder Units for every shop part | ✓Block editor and most page builders | PartlyThemes and layout modules |
| Catalog and pricing | |||
| VariantsSize, colour and similar choices. | ✓Each combination with its own SKU, price, sale price, stock and image (up to 200 per product); choices can also have their own | ✓Each combination with its own SKU, price, stock and image | ✓Options with stock and price; OpenCart 4 adds variant products |
| Scheduled sale priceA special that starts and ends on a date. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quantity discountsA lower price when buying more. | ✓ | Add-on | ✓ |
| Customer-group pricesWholesale or member prices. | ✓ | Add-on | ✓ |
| BrandsManufacturer pages and filters. | ✓ | ✓Built in since 9.6 | ✓Manufacturers |
| Product tagsFree-form labels with their own pages. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Category imagesA picture for each category, on its page and in category grids. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Upsells and cross-sells“You may also like” on the product page and suggestions in the cart. | ✓ | ✓ | PartlyRelated products on the product page |
| External / affiliate productsA “Buy at…” button that sends the shopper to another site. | ✓ | ✓ | Add-on |
| Attributes, weight and dimensionsA specifications table on the product page. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Digital downloadsFiles delivered after payment. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ReviewsCustomer ratings on products. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coupons | |||
| Free shipping, products and categoriesLimit a coupon to some items, or make shipping free. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Exclusions and maximum spendProducts or categories that never get the discount; a cap on the order size. | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Start dateA coupon that works from a future day. | ✓ | ✗Expiry date only | ✓ |
| Logged-in customers onlyMembers-only coupons. | ✓Or restrict to listed email addresses, *@domain included | PartlyRestrict to listed email addresses | ✓ |
| Total and per-customer limitsHow many times a coupon can be used. | ✓Hold even when two checkouts happen at once | ✓ | ✓ |
| Checkout and delivery | |||
| Shipping zones, and rates by weight or per itemDifferent prices for different places, parcels and quantities. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tax by country and stateRates picked from the customer's address. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tax classesA reduced or zero rate for some products, such as food or books. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Shipment tracking emailsA tracking link sent when the order ships. | ✓ | Add-on | PartlyOrder status history and notes |
| RefundsMoney back from the order screen. | ✓Full and partial; stock, points and commission follow | ✓Full and partial | PartlyReturn requests; refunds through the gateway |
| Payment gatewaysWays to take payment. | PayPal built in; Stripe, Razorpay, PayU and Mercado Pago with Sidcraft Pro | Hundreds | Dozens bundled |
| Marketing and loyalty | |||
| Gift cardsCards customers buy and spend. | ✓ | Add-onPaid extension | ✓Gift vouchers |
| Reward pointsPoints earned on orders and spent at checkout. | ✓ | Add-onPaid extension | ✓ |
| AffiliatesReferral links and commissions. | ✓ | Add-on | ✓ |
| Event ticketsTicket types, QR check-in, PDF tickets and reminders. | ✓ | Add-on | ✗ |
| Selling at scale | |||
| SubscriptionsRepeat billing. | ✓Daily to yearly, trials and sign-up fees; Stripe renews automatically, others by pay link | Add-onPaid extension | ✓OpenCart 4; recurring profiles in 3 |
| Several currenciesPrices shown and charged in more than one currency. | ✓Charged in the shopper's currency; optional price per currency | Add-onOr WooPayments | ✓ |
| Several languagesA storefront in more than one language. | Add-onWPML or Polylang; every language shares one stock | Add-onFor example WPML | ✓ |
| Several stores, one adminRun more than one shop from one dashboard. | ✓On WordPress Multisite: network dashboard, copy products between stores | ✗WordPress Multisite as a workaround | ✓ |
| Moving your store | |||
| Import from WooCommerceProducts, variations, orders, coupons, reviews, tax and shipping. | ✓Free WooCommerce Import add-on | Not needed | Add-onThird-party migration tools |
| Import from OpenCartProducts, customers, orders, coupons and more. | ✓OpenCart Import add-on | Add-onThird-party migration tools | Not needed |
| Best for | Sidcraft Page Builder sites that want subscriptions, rewards, affiliates, gift cards and tickets without extensions | The widest choice of extensions, and variants per combination | A standalone store outside WordPress, with languages, currencies and stores built in |
Compared on what each one does without extensions, as of October 2026: Sidcraft Commerce 1.9.0, and WooCommerce and OpenCart (3 and 4) core. Extensions can add features to any of the three, so check the current releases before you decide.
Which one fits
Sidcraft Commerce fits a site already built with Sidcraft Page Builder that wants OpenCart-style pricing (quantity discounts, scheduled and customer-group specials), rewards, affiliates, gift cards, event ticketing, subscriptions, several currencies and several stores without buying extensions. Each combination of options (say, red in size L) can have its own SKU, price, stock and image, like WooCommerce; translations need WPML or Polylang.
WooCommerce has the most extensions and themes, and variants where each combination has its own SKU, price, stock and image. Many marketing features are paid extensions.
OpenCart has several stores, currencies and languages built in, from one admin. It sits outside WordPress, so your pages come from its own themes rather than a page builder.
Moving from OpenCart? The OpenCart Import add-on brings categories, brands, products, customers with their passwords, groups and points, affiliates, coupons, orders and reviews into Sidcraft Commerce, and redirects your old OpenCart links. See the Sidcraft Commerce guide.
Moving from WooCommerce? The free WooCommerce Import add-on copies your settings, tax rates and classes, shipping zones, categories, brands and tags, products (each variation becomes a combination with its own SKU, price, sale price, stock and image), upsells and cross-sells, coupons, reviews and orders into Sidcraft Commerce on the same site. WooCommerce's data is only read, and product links keep their /product/ addresses.