STOAR vs WooCommerce
All the flexibility of WooCommerce, none of the plugin sprawl.
WooCommerce is powerful, but you become the sysadmin — hosting, security, updates and a dozen plugins that fight each other. STOAR gives you the same openness, fully managed, with features built in on request.
Why merchants leave WooCommerce
WooCommerce is free to install, but the real cost is everywhere else: hosting you have to size and secure, premium plugins for features that should be standard, and the constant maintenance of keeping WordPress, themes and extensions from breaking each other.
STOAR delivers a complete store on a modern Laravel stack, with dedicated infrastructure managed for you and instant Meilisearch search built in. When you need something specific, describe it and STOAR builds it — no plugin hunt, no compatibility roulette.
How they compare
| STOAR | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat monthly plans from $26/mo — hosting included | Free plugin, but you pay for hosting, themes & premium plugins |
| Transaction fees | None — you keep 100% of revenue | None from Woo; your gateway’s fees apply |
| AI feature building | Describe a feature, STOAR builds it into your store | None natively — depends on third-party plugins |
| Technology | Laravel & Meilisearch — modern PHP | WordPress + PHP, self-hosted |
| Data & hosting | Dedicated infrastructure per store, fully managed | You size, secure and update hosting yourself |
| Extensibility | Features built into the core | Thousands of plugins — sprawl, conflicts & upkeep |
| Migration | Managed migration with 301 redirects | DIY or paid migration plugins |
Why switch
No plugin sprawl
The features you’d bolt on with a dozen WooCommerce plugins — search, accounts, inventory, analytics — are built into STOAR’s core and kept in sync.
Managed, not self-hosted
No servers to size, patch or scale. STOAR runs dedicated infrastructure per store so you focus on selling, not sysadmin.
Features on request
Describe what you need and STOAR builds it into your store — instead of searching for a plugin and hoping it stays maintained.
Switching is handled for you.
Our team migrates your products, customers and orders and sets up 301 redirects, so your catalog and your search rankings come across intact.
See the migration offer →Everything built in
A complete store, from day one.
No marketplace, no plugin fees, no technical debt. Catalog, checkout, payments, inventory and REST APIs compatible with Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce and BigCommerce — all in the core.
Product Catalog
Nested categories, variants, configurable pricing and instant Meilisearch-powered search.
Cart & Checkout
A conversion-tuned checkout with hosted and offline payment methods.
Customer Accounts
Registration, login, full order history and back-in-stock alerts.
Admin Panel
A full admin for products, categories, orders and customers with live stats.
Analytics
Revenue, orders, top products and search behaviour, tracked in real time.
Auto-Scaling
Infrastructure that scales with traffic, so your store stays fast and responsive.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I move my WooCommerce store to STOAR?
- Yes. We migrate your products, customers and orders and set up 301 redirects, so your SEO and history carry over.
- Is STOAR self-hosted like WooCommerce?
- No — STOAR is fully managed on dedicated infrastructure per store, so you don’t handle hosting, security patches or scaling.
- Will I lose the flexibility WooCommerce gives me?
- No. STOAR is built on an open Laravel stack with full REST APIs, and custom features are built on request rather than bolted on as plugins.
Ready to retire the plugin stack?
See a real STOAR store, or tell us about your WooCommerce site and we’ll plan the move.