7+ Best Digital Download Plugins for WordPress (Compared)
Trying to find the best digital download plugins for WordPress?
There are a variety of tools you can use to create, manage, and sell digital downloads in WordPress. With so many options to choose from, finding the perfect one that meets all your needs may seem difficult.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be. This guide will help make your decision easier by comparing the top options on the market today.
🔎 In this article, we’ll cover:
Why Use WordPress Digital Download Plugins?
When it comes to running a WordPress site, the ability to offer digital downloads to your visitors can be a game-changer. Not all plugins include the same features or functionality.
However, the best digital download plugins typically come with a handful of advantages. From adding and organizing files to tracking and selling downloads, the right plugin can help you establish a smooth and efficient workflow (and sales process!).
You can use them for:
- Uploading, categorizing, & maintaining digital product inventory
- Monetizing your WordPress site content through digital downloads & selling
- Securing digital file delivery to customers & preventing unauthorized sharing
- Adapting pricing strategy for digital downloads to maximize sales & profits
- Integrating with popular payment gateways for secure & convenient transactions
- Customizing the appearance & branding of digital download landing/product pages
- Tracking sales & analytics via built-in reporting
If you plan to offer downloadable files on your WordPress site, a digital download plugin can be an excellent way to streamline the process. However, it’s important to compare the available options against your specific needs.
What to Look for in Digital Download Plugins
When researching and comparing the best WordPress plugins for digital downloads, it’s smart to consider some key factors. Knowing what to look for can save you time and help ensure you choose a solution that checks all of your boxes.
For instance, some important aspects to take into account include:
- Ease of use & user interface
- User reviews & ratings
- Payment gateway integrations
- File management capabilities
- Security features such as file encryption and download restriction/limitations
- Pricing & licensing options
- Comprehensive reporting & analytics for tracking performance & monitoring activity
- Compatibility & integration with third-party tools and services (email, CRM, etc.)
- Support & documentation from plugin developers
Of course, your budget likely plays a role in your decision-making process. The good news is that many of the best digital download plugins for WordPress offer multiple pricing tiers (as well as free core versions).
Summary: Best Digital Download Plugins
| Digital Download Plugins🔌 | Free 🛒 | Pricing 🏷 | Best For 💡 | Cons❌ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Digital Downloads | ✅ | $199 – $999/yr | Selling digital downloads & products | Not ideal for physical goods |
| WPForms | ✅ | $49.50 – $299.50/yr | Creating custom download/order forms | No eCommerce shopping cart system Many form features require Pro |
| WooCommerce | ✅ | ✖️ Paid addons available | Selling mostly physical products with some digital goods | Designed mostly for physical products |
| WordPress Download Manager | ✅ | $99 – $499/yr | Simple file management & user access control | Limited free features More for file uploading/sharing than selling |
| Download Monitor | ✅ | $39 – $159/yr | Uploading, tracking & managing digital files | PayPal is only payment gateway Support limited to highest plan |
| MemberPress | ✖️ | $179.50 – $399.50/yr | Selling restricted digital content on membership sites | No free version |
| Simple Download Monitor | ✅ | ✖️ Paid addons available | Tracking digital file download counts | Limited integrations No premium upgrade option |
7+ Best Digital Download Plugins for WordPress
Ready to learn more about the best digital download plugins for WordPress? Below, we’ll take a comprehensive look at each, including key features and pricing details.
1. Easy Digital Downloads
When it comes to the best digital download plugins for WordPress, Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is far and away the top option. As the #1 WordPress plugin for selling digital products and downloads, EDD offers a complete eCommerce solution ideal for users of all experience levels.
You can use it for any type of digital content, including software, eBooks, PDFs, images, videos, etc. In addition to easily creating an online store for digital downloads, the EDD plugin lets you track sales & earnings, create discount codes, accept recurring payments/subscriptions, and much more.
🔑 Key Features
- Unlimited products & transactions with no hidden fees
- Onboarding Wizard to create digital download store within minutes
- Seamless integration with payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, & Amazon Pay, etc.)
- Full shopping cart with customizable checkout page
- Buy Now button for instant purchases
- Built-in reporting & analytics to track sales, earnings, & performance
- Compatibility with any WordPress theme, including EDD-specific themes
- Support for variable pricing, Software Licensing, Recurring Payments & Bundles
- Huge library of extensions & 100+ integrations (Mailchimp, AWeber, ConvertKit, etc.)
- Advanced file protection & security features
- Customer & order management with automated emails
- Coupon & discount codes
- Reliable & dedicated support with tons of online documentation, tutorials, etc.
🛒 Pricing: Easy Digital Downloads’ free core plugin is packed with powerful features. EDD Pro grants access to the full range of premium features & extensions. There are four pass levels, starting at $199/year.
2. WPForms
WPForms is the best form builder for WordPress. While not specifically a digital download plugin, it can enhance your digital sales process. You can create custom order, payment, and download forms to streamline the user experience for your customers.
WPForms seamlessly integrates with popular payment gateways, like PayPal and Stripe. You can use it to easily collect visitors’ information and deliver downloadable files in return. If you only offer one or two digital assets, WPForms can be an excellent alternative to complete digital eCommerce plugins like EDD.
🔑 Key Features
- Drag-and-drop form builder interface for easy customization
- Any type of form (contact, registration, donation, order, etc.)
- Option to embed forms across WordPress site to promote downloads
- Smart conditional logic to show or hide form fields based on user responses
- Spam protection to prevent unwanted submissions
- 700+ form templates, including a premade download form
- Instant notifications & entry management
- File uploads with form submissions
- Library of addons for advanced functionality & features
- 5+ million active WordPress installations
🛒 Pricing: WPForms offers a free Lite version. To access premium features, paid plans are available, starting at $49.50/year.
3. WooCommerce
With over 5 million active installations, WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin. Its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and large user community make it a reliable choice.
One of WooCommerce’s biggest draws is that it’s free. It’s an affordable solution for creating a storefront and managing inventory and order fulfillment. WooCommerce is primarily meant for selling physical goods rather than digital assets.
However, similar to Easy Digital Downloads, it can support both. You’ll just need the right extensions and integrations to optimize it for both physical and downloadable products.
🔑 Key Features
- Most popular open-source eCommerce solution
- Full shopping cart & checkout
- Built-in inventory management & order tracking for efficient store management
- Customizable product pages & catalog layouts to showcase offerings
- Compatible with tons of other WordPress themes
- Integration with 100+ payment gateways
- 800+ extensions (including free & paid WooCommerce plugins/tools)
🛒 Pricing: WooCommerce itself is free. However, if you want to expand the plugin’s core functionality, you’ll likely incur varying costs from premium extensions and/or themes.
💡WooCommerce vs. Easy Digital Downloads: Which Is Best?
4. WordPress Download Manager
Another popular choice in the list of best digital download plugins is WordPress Download Manager. This file management plugin can help you easily organize, categorize, sell, and track files on your website.
In addition to offering free and paid downloads, you can restrict user access, add password protections, control the download speed, and more. Most features center around the file storage and digital asset management aspect of WordPress documents.
But Download Manager can be ideal if you’re looking for a quick and straightforward way to create download links and buttons.
🔑 Key Features
- Simple digital asset management
- Access control, including password protection & user role restrictions
- Detailed download logs & statistics
- Integration with file storage platforms (OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.)
- Custom templates
- Different license levels/multi-file packages
- Order & invoice management
- Spam prevention, reCAPTCHA support & IP address blocking
- Front-end file manager
- Shopping cart with integrated PayPal system
🛒 Pricing: There is a limited free plugin. However, most of the above features require a Download Manager Pro plan, which start at $99/year.
5. Download Monitor
Download Monitor is another popular plugin that simplifies the process of managing and selling digital downloads in WordPress. It’s not as feature-rich as some of the other digital download plugins on this list. However, it can be a cost-effective option for specific use cases.
Similar to Download Manager, it provides an intuitive interface for uploading files, organizing them into categories, and tracking download activity.
Download Monitor allows you to customize download buttons, track download counts, and even create membership plans for exclusive content access. You can also use it to collect email addresses for lead generation and targeted marketing campaigns.
🔑 Key Features
- User-friendly interface for uploading & managing single or multiple files
- Ability to tag, categorize, & add other meta data to downloads
- Customizable download buttons & templates
- Download tracking & statistics
- Access restriction based on user roles/passwords
- Membership add-on for gated downloads
- Option for lifetime licensing
- Download WordPress Block & embed shortcode
- Ability to add terms & conditions
- CSV import & export
🛒 Pricing: Download Monitor is available as a free plugin. Premium plans start at $39/year.
6. MemberPress
If you’re looking to offer digital downloads as part of a membership site, MemberPress is the plugin for you. It lets you easily create a membership site and restrict access to your digital products to paying members only.
This is one of the best solutions you can use to monetize your website and its content. MemberPress offers flexible membership management, content access controls, and payment integrations. With MemberPress, you can easily set up recurring payments, protect your digital content, and provide an exclusive experience to your members.
There are so many different types of digital downloads you can offer and sell via MemberPress. Some of the most popular examples include online courses, eBooks, members-only blogs, digital service & subscription sites, and more.
🔑 Key Features
- Membership management capabilities, including tiered & subscription plans
- Content access controls to restrict downloads
- Build & sell online courses
- Customizable checkout process with multiple payment gateway integrations
- Drip content functionality to schedule the release of digital downloads to members
- Built-in reporting & analytics with email notifications
- Membership Downloads addon for extra features
- Download file tracking & email notifications
- Integration with third-party tools & apps for email marketing, page builders, & popup widgets, etc.
🛒 Pricing: Pricing for MemberPress starts at $179 per year.
7. Simple Download Monitor
Rounding out our list of the best digital download plugins for WordPress is Simple Download Monitor. If you’re looking for a free, standard plugin for tracking download counts in WordPress, this hassle-free tool is worth checking out.
Simple Download Monitor is easy to use and provides a straightforward interface for uploading and monitoring file downloads directly from your dashboard.
You can add customizable download buttons across your site, including pages, posts, and sidebars. It also provides reports for tracking file download counts, user browsers, and IP addresses.
🔑 Key Features
- Monitor file & document downloads
- Password protection & reCAPTCHA for downloadable files
- File uploading, editing, & monitoring
- Download date, time, & IP address logging
- Drag-and-drop interface for file & document upload
- Ability to organize downloadable files by categories & tags
- Download buttons with option to set display rules & add terms & conditions
🛒 Pricing: Simple Download Monitor is free. Premium addons are available for purchase.
Bonus: SeedProd
As a drag-and-drop website builder, SeedProd isn’t specifically tailored for digital downloads.
However, it does let you create stunning landing pages to promote and sell your digital products. With over 1 million active installations, this beginner- and user-friendly plugin includes a visual editor for building custom pages without touching any code.
You can add Add to Cart and Buy Now buttons to pages to provide visitors with a quick and seamless checkout.
🔑 Key Features
- Ability to create custom digital download/product category pages
- Shopping cart navigation menu item
- 200+ templates
- 90+ blocks for displaying static & dynamic content
- Pre-built themes
- Subscriber management & tracking
- Email marketing integrations (MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, Constant Contact, etc.)
- Free downloads
- Spam protection
- Access control by role or IP address
🛒 Pricing: There is a free version available. Pricing for SeedProd premium plans starts at $39.50 per year.
FAQs About WordPress Digital Download Plugins
Before we wrap up, let’s address some frequently asked questions about digital downloads in WordPress.
Can you make money selling digital downloads?
Yes, whether you’re a freelancer, small business, or larger company, there’s always a way you can make money selling digital products. The key is choosing the right type of asset to sell and using an eCommerce tool packed with features to help drive conversions.
What is the best plugin for digital downloads?
The answer may depend on your specific needs. But, overall, the best digital download plugin for WordPress is Easy Digital Downloads.
It’s one of the few WordPress eCommerce solutions built specifically for digital products and files. It provides everything you need to start an online store, integrate various payment options, and create a positive, personalized, and seamless shopping experience for customers.
What are the advantages of digital downloads?
Digital downloads offer numerous advantages for both sellers and buyers. Some of the key benefits are convenience and cost-effectiveness. Downloads are instantly delivered without having to deal with physical shipping and delivery costs/wait times.
Additionally, you can use digital downloads to reach customers worldwide without geographical limitations. You can replicate them indefinitely (meaning unlimited sales potential) and easily distribute & update versions as needed.
Get the Best Digital Download Plugins for WordPress
When it comes to adding, managing, and selling downloads on your WordPress website, choosing the right plugin is crucial. Hopefully, this comparison of the best digital download plugins helped narrow your decision.
Each of the tools we discussed has its own unique advantages.
But if you’re looking for an affordable, all-in-one solution for offering and selling digital downloads on your WordPress website, you can’t go wrong with Easy Digital Downloads! Grab your pass to get started:
eCommerce without limits!
That is our promise. Most eCommerce solutions limit your creativity
…not Easy Digital Downloads!
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