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Want to offer digital downloads on your site?
These plugins make it easy.
In this collection, you’ll find plugins that allow you to offer both free and paid digital downloads. Plus, loads of options for discount codes, email integrations, analytics, and more.
Keep reading to find the top picks.
Don’t have a beautiful website already? Choose a template from our digital downloads WordPress themes collection.
Digital download plugins
We’ve featured both free and premium solutions in this list. Some of them are robust eCommerce platforms and others are simple download managers, so you can find exactly what you need.
Here are the top picks for the best WordPress digital download plugins.
1. Easy Digital Downloads
Plugin Description
If you’re looking to sell digital downloads on your site then Easy Digital Downloads should be the first plugin you consider. EDD is incredibly popular and we use it to sell our themes here at Compete Themes!
With EDD, you can add new Downloads to your site the same way you would publish new Posts. Set a price, add the file to be delivered to the customer, add variable price options, and more all from your WP dashboard. You can add as many downloads as you want and EDD can handle the payment processing and all eCommerce aspects for you.
What makes EDD even better are all the extensions. You can add recurring payments for subscription products, auto-generate license keys, integrate with numerous email service providers, offer flexible discounts, and so much more.
Sound great? You can click the link below to see everything Easy Digital Downloads is capable of.
2. WooCommerce
Plugin Description
You’ve surely heard of WooCommerce. It’s the eCommerce backbone behind millions of online stores. In fact, it’s active on more eCommerce shops than any other product on the market (including Shopify).
What many people don’t know is that WooCommerce can be used just as easily for digital goods as physical goods. Each product has a simple option you can select if it is a digital product. The shipping address and costs will automatically be removed from the site.
WooCommerce is a very reliable choice for selling digital downloads and has tons of premium extensions available for further upgrading your eCommerce store. And because of its popularity, there are literally hundreds of amazing WooCommerce themes to choose from for your site.
3. Document Library Pro
Plugin Description
Most WordPress digital download plugins are good at listing a small number of items but not so good if you have many downloadable files. The Document Library Pro plugin is designed specifically for listing large numbers of downloads. Its table layout has lots of built-in features to help people find downloads more quickly, including filter dropdowns, instant search boxes, and sortable columns.
You can display whatever information you like on the main digital downloads page – even embedded audio and video players. Users can click on a button or file type icon to download each item to their computer.
Document Library Pro is a free download plugin. If you like the searchable table layout but want to sell downloads, we recommend using Easy Digital Downloads with the Posts Table Pro plugin or using WooCommerce with the WooCommerce Product Table plugin. These table plugins are from the same company as Document Library Pro but are designed to work alongside e-commerce plugins.
4. Simple Download Monitor
Plugin Description
Looking for a light solution to get up and running fast? Consider Simple Download Monitor.
This WordPress plugin is best used for free downloads rather than as an eCommerce solution. Easily add new download links and share them anywhere on your site. Simple Download Monitor will track the download count for you so you can measure the performance. Each download also records the IP address and time of download.
The Simple Download Monitor plugin also includes options to password product downloadable files if you want to keep some of them private. Downloads can be added into posts and pages using shortcodes provided by the plugin. In fact, the shortcode is extremely customizable so you can include lists of downloads, latest downloads, and popular downloads too.
5. WPForms
Plugin Description
WPForms is one of my favorite plugins. You can read my full review here, but here’s how it can be used for digital downloads.
If you want to offer a few files on your site, you can upload them to your WordPress Media Library. Then publish a “thank you” page on your site with a link to the download. And lastly, create a signup form with WPForms and set the redirect after form submission to the “thank you” page.
WPForms also has PayPal and Stripe add-ons that allow you to accept payments. Simply add a price to the signup form and visitors will only gain access to the download after completing the purchase.
6. Payhip
Plugin Description
Payhip is a popular solution for selling digital downloads and memberships. They have a separate application where you can manage your downloads and content. Plus, the eCommerce functionality is handled with their stable on-site platform.
The Payhip plugin is a simple way to integrate their service with your site. Please know in advance that using it does require a Payhip account (FREE).
If you choose Payhip for your site, you can sell digital downloads directly to your customers, off discount coupons and social discounts in exchange for a Tweet. The plugin lets you keep the customers on your site the whole time and use PayPal or Stripe to handle the payment processing.
Which digital download plugin is best?
Easy Digital Downloads is most likely the best choice for your site. It can be used for both free and paid downloads. It’s simple to set up but is also incredibly extensible thanks to all the premium extensions.
Otherwise, consider if you want a complete eCommerce solution or just a simple download manager.
If you have any remaining questions about these WordPress digital download plugins, leave a comment below.
