WooCommerce review
WooCommerce for UK dropshipping: free software, and what it really costs.
WooCommerce is free software that adds a shop to a WordPress website. The software costs nothing and takes no cut of your sales, but you pay for your own hosting and any extras, and you look after the website yourself. This review covers what you get, what you have to add, and what a month really costs, all taken from WooCommerce's own website.
- £0
- for the WooCommerce software, with no monthly fee and no cut of your sales
- $25
- to $350 a month for hosting, by WooCommerce's own estimate for most shops
- 1.5%
- plus 25p on each UK card payment through WooPayments
Our review in short
Free to use, but you pay for everything around it.
WooCommerce costs nothing to download and takes nothing from your sales. You pay for the hosting, any extras you add and a supplier app such as DSers, and you build and look after the WordPress website yourself. Everything here comes from WooCommerce's own website, which we checked on 5 November 2026.
What you get
- The software is free, with no monthly fee and no cut of your sales
- UK card payments through WooPayments cost 1.5% + 25p, the lowest of the shop websites we review
- There's no extra fee if you take payments through another company
- There's no limit on how many products or orders you have
- DSers and Avasam both say they work with WooCommerce
What to watch out for
- You pay for your own hosting, which WooCommerce says costs $25 to $350 a month for most shops
- Extra features cost $29 to $299 a year each
- WooPayments adds 20% VAT to its card fees unless you're VAT registered
- You need a WordPress website, and you build and look after it yourself
What you really pay each month
Everything a WooCommerce dropshipping shop pays in a month.
Move the sliders to your size of shop. The receipt adds up the hosting, the app that connects your shop to AliExpress, a business email address, your web address and the card fees on your sales.
WOOCOMMERCE SHOP · ONE MONTH
- Hosting, at the lowest of WooCommerce's estimate ($25)
- £18.50
- DSers Advanced, the AliExpress app ($19.90)
- £14.73
- Google Workspace, one email address
- £5.90
- A .co.uk web address (£10 a year)
- £0.83
- Card fees, 1.5% + 25p
- £70.00
A month£110
The first year: £1,320, before anyone builds the shop.
Prices are before VAT. The WooCommerce software is free. Its own website says hosting costs $25 to $350 a month for most shops, so we've used $25. WooPayments adds 20% VAT to its card fees unless you're VAT registered. Dollar prices are turned into pounds at $1 to £0.74, the rate on 4 November 2026.
How dropshipping works on WooCommerce
Four steps, starting with a WordPress website.
- 01
Your WordPress website
You need a WordPress website with hosting you pay for, and you add the free WooCommerce software to it.
- 02
A supplier app
You add a dropshipping app such as DSers, which says it needs WooCommerce 4.0 or later and a secure website.
- 03
Products in, orders out
The app copies products into your shop, and when a customer pays, it sends the order to the supplier.
- 04
To your customer's door
The supplier posts the parcel straight to your customer, so you never handle the stock.
WooCommerce compared with ours
WooCommerce and Mediatopia, side by side.
Mediatopia owns this website and sells its own dropshipping website, so here it is next to WooCommerce, with every line taken from each company's own website. Compare all six
Questions
Your questions about WooCommerce.
We checked these websites on 5 November 2026:
Is WooCommerce really free?
The WooCommerce software is free to download and use, and it takes no cut of your sales. You pay for the hosting, which WooCommerce's own website says costs $25 to $350 a month for most shops, and for any extras you add, at $29 to $299 a year each.
What card fee does WooCommerce charge in the UK?
Through WooPayments, UK cards cost 1.5% plus 25p. International cards cost 2% more, and changing currency costs another 2%. There is also 20% VAT on these fees, unless you are VAT registered.
Which dropshipping apps work with WooCommerce?
DSers says it works with WooCommerce, and Avasam lists it among its connections. WooCommerce's own marketplace has dropshipping extensions too, including one from Syncee.
Do I need a WordPress website?
Yes. WooCommerce adds a shop to a WordPress website, so you need WordPress and hosting first. You build and look after it yourself, or pay someone to do it for you.
Price alerts
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