Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

FastSpring VS WooCommerce

Compare FastSpring VS WooCommerce and see what are their differences

FastSpring logo FastSpring

With FastSpring, software companies sell more, stay lean, and compete big.

WooCommerce logo WooCommerce

A freely available eCommerce plugin that enables shop facilities on your WordPress website. Functionality enabling extensions & beautiful themes available.
  • FastSpring Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-27

FastSpring is the trusted ecommerce partner for companies that sell software around the world. Companies using FastSpringโ€™s full-service ecommerce solution sell more, stay lean, and compete big. Founded in 2005, FastSpring is a privately owned company headquartered in Santa Barbara with an office in Amsterdam. For more information, please visit https://www.fastspring.com.

  • WooCommerce Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-06

FastSpring features and specs

  • Comprehensive Platform
    FastSpring offers an all-in-one e-commerce platform that includes global payment processing, subscription management, tax handling, and more, which simplifies the selling process for digital goods and services.
  • Global Reach
    FastSpring supports multiple currencies and languages, allowing businesses to sell to customers worldwide and providing localized experiences.
  • Subscription Management
    The platform provides robust subscription management features, including automated billing, prorated charges, and multiple billing options, making it easy to manage recurring revenue streams.
  • Security and Compliance
    FastSpring is fully PCI compliant and ensures that transactions are secure. It also handles VAT, GST, and sales tax compliance, which can be a significant burden for international transactions.
  • Customer Support
    FastSpring offers dedicated customer support, including 24/7 assistance, which can be crucial for resolving issues promptly and ensuring a smooth customer experience.

Possible disadvantages of FastSpring

  • Pricing Structure
    FastSpringโ€™s pricing is based on a per-transaction fee, which can become expensive for high-volume sellers compared to flat-rate or lower-percentage fee structures.
  • Learning Curve
    Given its comprehensive feature set, FastSpring can have a steep learning curve, requiring time and effort for new users to fully understand and utilize the platform efficiently.
  • Customization Limitations
    Some users may find limitations in the customization options for the checkout experience and other aspects of the platform, which might not meet the specific needs of more complex businesses.
  • Integration Complexity
    Integrating FastSpring with existing systems and third-party applications can be complex and may require technical expertise, which could be a barrier for some businesses.
  • Restricted to Digital Goods
    FastSpring is primarily designed for selling digital goods and services, which may not be suitable for businesses that deal with physical products.

WooCommerce features and specs

  • Open Source
    WooCommerce is an open-source plugin for WordPress, which means it's highly customizable and you can modify the code to fit your specific needs without any licensing fees.
  • WordPress Integration
    Seamlessly integrates with WordPress, leveraging its CMS capabilities. If you're already familiar with WordPress, managing WooCommerce becomes very intuitive.
  • Large Community and Support
    With a vast community of users and developers, there's extensive documentation, a multitude of plugins, and forums to seek help from, making problem-solving easier.
  • Scalability
    WooCommerce can scale with your business, whether you're just starting out with a few products or have a large catalog and customer base.
  • Payment Gateway Options
    Supports numerous payment gateways including PayPal, Stripe, and many others, giving merchants flexibility in how they accept payments.
  • SEO Friendly
    Built on top of WordPress, WooCommerce inherits its strong SEO capabilities, helping your products rank higher in search engine results.

Possible disadvantages of WooCommerce

  • Performance Issues
    As your store grows with more products and traffic, you may encounter performance issues that require more advanced hosting solutions or optimization strategies.
  • Complexity
    While WooCommerce is highly customizable, extensive customization can require a good level of technical knowledge, sometimes necessitating the hiring of a developer.
  • Plugin Dependency
    To extend functionality, WooCommerce often relies on additional plugins, which can lead to compatibility issues, increased costs, and complex management.
  • Maintenance
    Regular updates are required for WooCommerce, WordPress, and all associated plugins, which can be time-consuming and sometimes lead to incompatibilities that need to be resolved.
  • Security
    Being open-source and widely used makes WooCommerce a frequent target for cyber-attacks. Proper security measures like regular updates, backups, and security plugins are critical.
  • Lack of Dedicated Support
    While there's a large community, WooCommerce itself does not provide dedicated support unless you purchase premium extensions or services, which adds to the cost.

Analysis of FastSpring

Overall verdict

  • FastSpring is a good choice for businesses seeking a robust and flexible ecommerce platform, especially those focusing on digital products and software. It combines ease of use with powerful features, which makes it highly suitable for companies looking to streamline their payment and subscription processes on a global scale.

Why this product is good

  • FastSpring is considered a reliable ecommerce platform for software companies due to its comprehensive range of features including global payment processing, subscription management, and extensive customer support. It supports multiple currencies, languages, and payment methods, making it appealing for international businesses. Additionally, its no-setup fee and scalable pricing model cater to companies of various sizes.

Recommended for

  • Software companies
  • Digital product retailers
  • Businesses with international customers
  • Companies needing customizable checkout experiences
  • Subscription-based businesses

FastSpring videos

Fastspring Affiliate Reviews - How To Make Money

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Use the FastSpring WordPress Plugin
  • Review - FastSpring - Powering the Digital Economy

WooCommerce videos

Shopify Vs. Woocommerce Unbiased Pros And Cons Review 2020

More videos:

  • Review - WooCommerce Review: Best eCommerce plugin for WordPress?
  • Review - WooCommerce Lesson #32. Customer Reviews in WooCommerce

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to FastSpring and WooCommerce)
eCommerce Platform
10 10%
90% 90
eCommerce
8 8%
92% 92
Payment Platform
100 100%
0% 0
Online Marketplace
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare FastSpring and WooCommerce

FastSpring Reviews

We have no reviews of FastSpring yet.
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WooCommerce Reviews

  1. Haley Hardy
    Facebook for WooCommerce

    This extension makes it simple to connect your WooCommerce store with Facebook and Instagram for better social selling. However, users report frequent syncing issues, which makes it unreliable at times.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Free intregration|Helps boost traffic and visibility
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Buggy connection|Inconsistent support
  2. Not very comfortable.

    My experience with Woocommerce has unfortunately left me feeling that it's an outdated platform. The user interface seems stuck in the past and lacks the intuitive and sleek design that modern platforms offer. Navigating through its features can be cumbersome and time-consuming. Compared to other ecommerce solutions I've used, Woocommerce lacks the ease of use and efficiency that I believe is crucial in today's fast-paced digital world. I find it disappointing and would recommend seeking more updated and user-friendly platforms for your ecommerce needs.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: WiX, WordPress
  3. Team Wisdom
    ยท Small business Owner at SmokeHub ยท
    Need to hire a developer to make all the functions work

    WooCommerce provides WordPress-based open-source platform for retailers. It is a WordPress plug-in that you may use to add ecommerce functionality to a website; it is not a standalone website builder though.

    If you utilize this ecommerce website builder, youโ€™ll probably want to collaborate with a developer in order to make all the complicated functions running well.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: QPe, WiX

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FastSpring seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

FastSpring mentions (5)

  • Show HN: List of Stripe Alternatives
    Seems like every time there's a negative Stripe story on here, the inevitable question, "any alternatives?" gets asked. Hell, I was tempted to ask myself. Instead, I decided to search hn.algolia.com to see for myself what others have recommended in the past. Might as well share the list with y'all, make it meta. -- 2Checkout | https://www.2checkout.com Adyen | https://www.adyen.com Amazon Pay |... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Update: Stripe is holding over $400k of mine with no explanation
    We had a great experience w/ Fastspring: https://fastspring.com/ It has been a few years though since we sold the company. Super easy to set up, super reliable. Never had any issues w/ them. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What's your freelancing company/business setup?
    All of the below is no professional advice, Iโ€™m just a programmer who looked into this a bit. The easiest thing in my opinion would be to incorporate in Croatia and then use Paddle https://www.paddle.com/, Gumroad https://gumroad.com/ or FastSpring https://fastspring.com/ for payments. They take care of all your VAT/Sales taxes. If you want to go with a simple company outside of Croatia, maybe go with a UK Ltd,... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Got an email from fastspring today saying my auto subscription to Premiumize was declined?
    Hi, I have been paying for Premiumize via paypal but today I get an email from fastspring.com saying an autopayment was declined. I have tried to "update my info" as it asks me to do but there is still an error? Source: over 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: SaaS Billing?
    FastSpring https://fastspring.com/ and Gumroad https://gumroad.com/ are two more alternatives to Paddle you can look into. Both handle VAT for you which makes global sales so much easier (worth it in my opinion for the higher rate you pay, but that depends on your project). - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago

WooCommerce mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of WooCommerce yet. Tracking of WooCommerce recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing FastSpring and WooCommerce, you can also consider the following products

Shopify - Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform that includes everything you need to create an online store and sell online. Try it free for 14 days.

BigCommerce - BigCommerce provides ecommerce software solutions and shopping cart software for online businesses. Try it free and start selling your products online today!

Magento - Magento is the eCommerce software and platform trusted by the world's leading brands. Grow your online business with Magento.

Chargebee - Chargebee lets you manage subscriptions and payments at scale, handle custom recurring billing scenarios, reduce subscription churn and simplify accounting.

Verifone - Verifone (formerly 2Checkout) is a third-party payment platform that allows businesses to accept both mobile and online payments from customers around the globe.

PrestaShop - Create your online store with PrestaShop's free shopping cart software. Build an ecommerce website for free and start selling online with hundreds of powerful features.