Looking to sell digital products on WordPress? You’ve probably come across SureCart and Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) in your search. Let’s break down what makes each platform unique and help you figure out which one might be right for your business.
SureCart, launched in 2022, is a versatile e-commerce platform that handles both physical and digital products. Its distinguishing feature is its headless architecture – using proprietary software and processing transactions through dedicated servers rather than your WordPress installation. The platform emphasizes modern design and streamlined setup, as well as speed and performance.
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD), established in 2012, specializes specifically in digital product sales. Its decade-plus of experience and extensive ecosystem of extensions have made it a go-to choice for businesses selling software, ebooks, and other digital goods.
Despite their different approaches, both platforms are equipped to handle digital product businesses. Let’s explore how they compare across features and capabilities to help you make an informed decision.
Pricing Models and Value Proposition
The pricing structures of these platforms reveal much about their target markets and value propositions. SureCart adopts a modern, subscription-based approach with three tiers: a free plan for beginners, a Growth plan at $39 monthly ($228 annually), and a Scale plan at $69 monthly ($588 annually). The free plan includes basic features but carries a 2% transaction fee, while higher tiers remove this fee and add increasingly sophisticated capabilities.
EDD takes a different approach with its annual pricing model. Starting at $199.50 per year for the Personal Pass, it offers comprehensive functionality right out of the gate. The Professional Pass at $299.50 annually adds software licensing and recurring payments, while the All Access Pass at $499.50 provides every extension in their catalog. This pricing structure often proves more economical for established businesses, particularly those needing multiple site licenses or advanced features.
eCommerce Features
When it comes to core eCommerce functionality, both SureCart and Easy Digital Downloads offer comprehensive solutions, though their approaches and capabilities differ significantly.
SureCart handles both digital and physical products through a clean, intuitive interface. Its file protection system ensures secure delivery of digital products, while basic variant management and inventory tracking meet the needs of most small to medium-sized businesses. The platform logs download attempts and provides essential file access controls, though these features aren’t as extensive as EDD’s offerings.
EDD excels in digital product management, offering unlimited file versions and sophisticated variant management. Its bundled product support enables the creation of complex product packages, while detailed download logging and flexible file access expiration controls provide comprehensive oversight of product delivery. These capabilities make EDD particularly well-suited for businesses with complex digital product catalogs or software distribution needs.
SureCart provides popular payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, and Mollie. The platform supports multiple currencies and includes automated tax calculations. Its subscription-handling capabilities and secure payment processing provide a solid foundation for both one-time and recurring payments.
In contrast, EDD offers an even more extensive payment gateway ecosystem, supporting over ten different providers including Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon. This flexibility extends to its manual payment gateway option, allowing businesses to process offline payments or use lesser-known payment providers. The platform’s tax management system provides greater control over tax rules and calculations, though it requires more initial setup than SureCart’s automated approach.
Both platforms provide customers with user dashboards, featuring purchase history tracking, and automated email notifications through a user-friendly interface. In both cases, buyers have easy access to their purchases and account information.
Similarly, both platforms have built-in eCommerce reporting capabilities. However, EDD’s reporting suite is more comprehensive, offering detailed sales analytics, advanced revenue reporting, specific tracking of digital products, and custom report generation with multiple export formats. This depth of analysis makes EDD more suitable for businesses requiring detailed performance insights.
Software Licensing Capabilities
If you’re selling software, here’s something to think about: EDD lets you create unlimited active licenses with their Professional plan ($299.50/year), while SureCart’s similar features come with their Scale plan ($588/year). That’s nearly double the price for comparable capabilities.
In terms of functionality, you’ll be well-equipped either way. Both platforms provide you with all the tools you need for license generation and management, including Licensing API for activation, deactivation, and validation. Plus, both platforms offer renewal systems, providing customers with an easy way to renew licenses when expiration arrives.
EDD takes things to the next level, offering features such as a comprehensive upgrade management system, essential for sites selling multiple software versions. Customers can seamlessly upgrade between license levels, with the platform handling all the complexity behind the scenes.
Upgrade paths can be configured for both intra-product upgrades (between license levels of the same product) and cross-product upgrades (to entirely different products), and store owners can further customize this by implementing additional discounts for upgrades.
Security and Performance Considerations
Both platforms take security seriously, but their approaches reflect their different architectures. SureCart’s cloud-based system handles many security concerns automatically, with built-in SSL encryption and secure file delivery. Your site’s performance usually stays smooth since the heavy lifting happens on Surecart’s own servers.
EDD’s self-hosted approach provides more control over security measures but requires more active management. The platform includes advanced access controls, IP restrictions, and comprehensive download logging. Performance impact varies based on configuration and hosting environment, with proper setup being crucial for optimal operation.
Integration and Extensibility
SureCart’s integration capabilities are still growing but currently offers integration with popular LMS and membership solutions as well as business solutions such as Thrive Desk and Pabbly. Additionally, you can use services such as Zapier or WP Fusion to connect other third-party services to your site.
Surecart also offers webhooks and APIs that developers can use for integrations. Keep in mind that the number of endpoints is limited according to each plan.
EDD shines in this area with its already extensive add-on ecosystem and comprehensive API. The platform integrates with numerous services across categories including CRM systems, accounting software, and marketing tools. This extensibility makes EDD particularly suitable for businesses with complex integration needs. Its open-source nature also makes EDD the most developer-friendly option, as we’ll explore more extensively in the next section.
Customization and Source Code Access
One of the most significant differences between these platforms lies in their approach to customization and code accessibility. SureCart’s proprietary codebase means that developers cannot directly modify the core functionality or inspect how features are implemented. This closed-source approach presents several challenges:
- Limited Template Customization: While SureCart offers some styling options through its interface, developers cannot deeply customize the checkout process or product display templates. The platform’s rigid structure means you’re largely confined to the pre-built layouts and designs provided.
- Restricted API Access: The API is available but offers limited endpoints and functionality compared to open-source alternatives. This restriction can make it difficult to build custom integrations or extend the platform’s capabilities.
- Dependency on SureCart’s Development Team: Any significant features or modifications must come from SureCart’s development team. This means your business is dependent on their roadmap and priorities, which may not align with your specific needs.
- No Community Contributions: Unlike open-source platforms, there’s no possibility for community-driven improvements or custom modifications. You cannot benefit from the collective expertise of the WordPress developer community.
In contrast, EDD embraces the open-source philosophy that has made WordPress successful:
- Complete Code Access: Developers can examine, modify, and extend every aspect of EDD’s functionality. The entire codebase is available on GitHub, enabling transparent development and community participation.
- Unlimited Customization: Every template, function, and feature can be customized to meet specific business requirements. This includes checkout processes, email templates, product displays, and more.
- Community-Driven Development: A large community of developers contributes to EDD’s ecosystem, creating extensions, sharing code improvements, and providing solutions to common challenges.
- Better Integration Possibilities: Open-source code access means developers can create seamless integrations with other systems and services, without being restricted by API limitations.
This fundamental difference in approach has practical implications.
For Developers:
SureCart developers must work within the constraints of the platform’s pre-built solutions, often requiring workarounds for custom functionality. EDD developers can create exactly what their clients need, modifying core functionality when necessary.
For Business Owners:
SureCart users may find themselves unable to implement specific features or customizations that their business requires. EDD users have the flexibility to adapt the platform to their business processes, rather than adapting their processes to the platform.
User Experience and Setup Process
The experience of setting up a digital product store can vary greatly between the platforms. SureCart’s modern interface guides users through a streamlined setup process that typically takes around 30 minutes to one hour from installation to the first product. The platform’s focus is on simplicity and user-friendliness, resulting in a faster path to launching your store.
EDD’s setup process is more involved, typically requiring at least some hours for basic configuration. While this longer setup time reflects the platform’s greater complexity, it also represents the additional capabilities being configured. Users gain access to more detailed controls over product delivery, customer management, and store operations.
Support and Documentation
Support resources reflect each platform’s maturity level. SureCart offers email support with response times typically around 24 hours, alongside a growing knowledge base and community forum. The documentation, while comprehensive for existing features, is still expanding as new capabilities are added.
EDD’s decade of experience shows in its support infrastructure. The platform offers extensive documentation, an active community, and dedicated developer resources. Support ticket response times average 12-24 hours, with priority support available for higher-tier customers. The depth of available resources makes it easier to solve complex problems or implement advanced customizations.
Creating Digital Products
Let’s look at the process of creating and managing digital products. SureCart’s approach emphasizes simplicity and speed.
Upon installing SureCart, users are welcomed by a clean, modern interface that walks them through the essential setup tasks. The payment configuration process is straightforward, primarily focused on Stripe integration, with clear instructions for setting up basic tax rules and purchase receipts. Product creation follows an equally intuitive path, with a simple form-based interface for entering product details, uploading files, and setting access controls.
EDD takes a markedly different approach to digital product creation and management. The platform’s setup process is more involved, typically requiring several hours for a complete configuration, but this additional time investment translates into significantly more control and flexibility. The initial setup includes not just the core plugin installation but also the configuration of various extensions that provide specialized functionality.
Store owners can create intricate pricing structures, implement version control for software products, and set up sophisticated access control systems. The platform excels in handling complex scenarios, such as software licensing, recurring subscriptions, and sophisticated delivery rules. While this complexity means a steeper learning curve, it provides the foundation for a scalable and feature-rich digital product business.
Surecart vs. Easy Digital Downloads
Choosing between SureCart and EDD ultimately depends on your specific needs and circumstances. SureCart is an excellent choice for businesses prioritizing ease of use and modern design. Its simplified approach and clean interface make it perfect for those looking to build a capable and easy-to-manage online store. It is also ideal for those including some digital products, along with a wider offering of courses, memberships, or physical products.
EDD remains the more powerful and flexible option, particularly suitable for businesses focusing solely on digital products or selling software licenses and those needing advanced features. Its open-source ecosystem and extensive capabilities make it the go-to choice for serious digital product vendors, software developers, and businesses with complex requirements or custom requirements.
Consider starting with SureCart if you value simplicity and modern design, or choose EDD if you need advanced features and extensive customization options. Both platforms offer money-back guarantees, allowing you to test their capabilities and ensure they meet your specific requirements before making a long-term commitment.
Remember that your choice of platform should align with your business goals, technical capabilities, and growth plans. Whether you choose the streamlined approach of SureCart or the comprehensive capabilities of EDD, both platforms provide solid foundations for building a successful digital product business in 2024 and beyond.
