What is WordPress :

WordPress is an online systems software company that provides a free content management system. It includes the features for plug-ins and template systems and is most affiliated by bloggers and online store owners but also supports other online content. 

What are plug-ins:

Plug-ins are downloadable add ons for your online site, which enhances its capabilities. This opens up many different options for your online business, such as pricing modules, tracking, and shipping modules, as well as customer interface and different operating methods and systems. Certain plug-ins work better for certain companies, and some are only suited for certain kinds of business. All plug-ins are unique and can be customized to the users’ preferences via the add on the store. 

The top 5 plug-ins available:

• WooCommerce
• WP eCommerce 
• Jigoshop
• Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)
• BigCommerce WordPress Plug-in 

WooCommerce 

WooCommerce is one of the best free plug-ins available on the internet today stands out for simple reasons such as it being the most popular WordPress eCommerce plug-in due to the fact that it is currently run by Automatic ( The organization which runs WordPress ). The basics for starting up any online business is already available in the WooCommerce plug-in. There is a wide variety of models and extension plug-ins available for added services and content at a range of prices.

Automaticc and a large team of developers are continually using and upgrading this plug-in, which means there will be future updates and troubleshooting if any is needed. 

WooCommerce is easy enough for beginners to use and, at the same time, offers advanced options such as REST API, documentation, and open development for experienced developers. 

WooCommerce also offers a range of free services such as article review and basic pricing modules.

The downside to WooCommerce: eCommerce extension plug-ins can be pricy as well as customer service sometimes take long with troubleshooting. 

WP eCommerce 

WP eCommerce is the closest related plug-in to WooCommerce. Pricing modules and dashboards are set up the same as WooCommerce as well as pricing cores. Also, like WooCommerce, more paid features can be added through the plug-in store to avail more features to users. The choice between plug-ins is dependent on the user or developer and his/her needs. 

For example, WooCommerce offers free pricing modules and item reviews, whereas WP eCommerce does not provide pricing modules and item reviews for free and needs to be bought as an extension of a plug-in. WP eCommerce does, on the other hand, supply free advanced shipping item modules. 

What makes the WP eCommerce plug-in so good is the excellent customer service, even though the service costs 49$ a month, the direct support from the customer service team makes it worthwhile when experiencing any problem. 

The best thing with WP eCommerce is that everything is already built-in, and very few additional plug-ins are needed to make this WP eCommerce plug-in of premium membership. 

The downside to WP eCommerce: customer service requires a subscription and plug-ins can also be pricy 

Jigoshop

The Jigoshop WordPress eCommerce plug-in is the original plug-in. The very first dating back to 2011. Jigoshop was created by JigoWatt, a UK based company looking to expand the idea of a WordPress user, using his/her site as an online store. The easiest way was a plug-in, and therefore they created Jigoshop. 

Over the past few years, the Jigoshop plug-in has received numerous updates and changes to its interface and dashboard, as well as its operating system, therefore, making Jigoshop easy to use. Jigoshop is free to the public and has an extensive team of developers always working on it to make it easier not only for online store owners to use but also making it easy to use for those who shop online. 

Jigoshop has a wide variety of easy to use and easy to find in there categorized add on plug-ins, themes, and dashboard extensions. This ranges anywhere from 0$ to a max of about 55$ with the exception of special packages. 

Jigoshop is easier to use and more comfortable to manage stock, sales prices, shipping, and online sales modules. The Jigoshop plug-in has options for detailed reports, styling tools and also supports sales of many contents, from online material to physical products and variable goods. 

Jigoshop is a free open source plug-in, which means it’s great for businesses of all sizes that want to start trading online. 

The add-on store offers many themes and templates for an extensive range of businesses. 

Jigoshop also has a large developer team and online social community, so troubleshooting is never a problem. 

The downside to Jigoshop: extensive prices on certain packages which will only be available to bigger businesses 

Easy digital downloads (EDD)

EDD is a simple to use free online plug-in which is best suited for online-only products such as PDF files, audio clips, E-books and typed documents (information content).

Online products being the priority for EDD (Easy Digital Downloads) means that their interface is easier to use, and the dashboard less cramped. Coding is also more straightforward with this, which means that it should work at full speed all the time. The success behind EDD is based on the fact that it’s free and offers features such as discount codes, activity, and sales tracking, etc. 

Also, being that EDD focuses on online products means they focus on many different options for suppliers and consumers making it easy to sort and search between goods as well as prices and quantities. 

Like Jigoshop, this plug-in has many different add ons available through the store, which is all easy to understand and use. 

The downside to Easy Digital Downloads (EDD): slow customer service team and troubleshooting takes time 

BigCommerce WordPress Plug-in (BWP) 

BigCommerce WordPress plug-in is not the oldest or the simplest to use but is one of the best as it’s currently working on merging with WordPress. A little while back, BWP was not available to anyone as they focused on big companies who have already set up their websites, but that’s changed. Now BWP (BigCommerce WordPress Plug-in ) has developed its platform and provided there own content management and hosting systems. 

What makes this plug-in great is that you’re now able to combine the best of content management systems with the best eCommerce platform (WordPress) out there.

It has better credit card processing rates for its users.

eCommerce data is run in the background while content management is run on the foreground, which also creates better costs and less traffic for its users. 

BigCommerce WordPress plug-in handles all the PCI Content creating better security for its users. 

And the best thing about the BigCommerce plug-in is that it can be used on multiple sites or online stores and is easy to synchronize, unlike bigger plug-in companies that require you to run it all through the first. 

The downside to BigCommerce WordPress Plug-in: basic plug-in is mainly for smaller, more straightforward business, and adds on plug-ins can be expensive depending on the kind of business. 

Summary

WordPress is awesome as it has hundreds of different plug-in options available. It’s found that users tend to pull towards WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads, but is that the right choice for your business? 

• If you’re a developer looking for lots of customization and tools, then WooCommerce is the one for you. 
• If you’re looking for a simple yet free plug-in, then WooCommerce or WP eCommerce is the way to go 
• If you’re looking for a basic and easy to use online business plug-in then Easy Digital Downloads is best for you 
• Looking for a plug-in with many add on options then Jigoshop, WP eCommerce and WooCommerce is for you 
• If you’re looking for the best content management whether it’s for sales of online or physical products, then BigCommerce WordPress plug-in is at the top of the game 

Remember that every plug-in is unique, and every business is different, so before just installing, do a thorough check go see which plug-in suits you best. 

And there you have it. These are some of the top WordPress plug-ins available online today.