When it comes to selling digital products online, finding the right tool to manage your store is essential. Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is one plugin that often stands out for its focus on digital goods.
It’s specifically designed to help you create, manage, and grow an online store for selling items like eBooks, software, music, or any downloadable content.
In this review, I’ll explore what makes Easy Digital Downloads unique, how it simplifies managing digital products, and whether it’s the right choice for your eCommerce needs
Easy Digital Downloads Review: Why Use It in WordPress?
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is a plugin geared towards eCommerce stores primarily selling digital products like eBooks, PDFs, software products, and even your own WordPress plugins.
EDD is extremely simple to use, is lightweight, and is a complete solution for WordPress eCommerce sites that want to manage their digital downloads from a single platform.
- 1. Installing Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)
- 2. Creating Downloads with EDD
- 2. Product Page Frontend Appearance
- 3. Purchase Confirmations
- 4. Payment Methods
- 5. Customer Management
- 6. Full-Powered Ecommerce That’s Still Easy
- How Much Does Easy Digital Downloads Cost?
- Easy Digital Downloads Review: Is it Worth It?
1. Installing Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)
Grab a copy of the free EDD “core” plugin below. Once you have that ZIP file you’re ready to install Easy Digital Downloads.
On your WordPress admin menu go to Plugins » Add New. Next, click the Upload Plugin button. You can click the Choose File button to select the ZIP file you downloaded and then click Install Now.
2. Creating Downloads with EDD
To start with, let’s see how easy it is to create and configure your digital download using EDD.
After you install Easy Digital Downloads you’ll see a new menu item called Downloads on your WordPress admin menu (left side).
First, note, we suggest selling your download files as ZIP files, unless you have a specific reason not to. For more information, see this post about why you should use ZIP files for digital downloads.
On your WordPress dashboard, hover over Downloads and click Add New. Give your Download a name. Then add a description in the main text area below.
Now, you can easily set a price for your product by adding a price value under Download Prices.
It’s that easy to add the main product details (title, description, and price) with EDD!
Next, we’re going to configure the Download File. This is the eBook file that the customer gets after purchase. They’ll get a private link on the thank-you page after checkout and on their purchase confirmation email.
- Under File Name type in a phrase that describes the product. This is the clickable link text that will be displayed on the confirmation page and email.
- Under File URL click Upload a File and upload your ZIP file (download/product file). It will automatically be protected from unauthorized downloads (by non-customers) and search bots.
EDD also lets you add a Download Image to make your download page more attractvive. In this case, it’s the book cover, which as we all know, the customer is likely to judge your book by. So it’s important to make it look nice.
Not sure how? Use our free Canva template to get started. You can edit the pictures, text, colors, and all layers. You just need a free Canva account!
🎨 Get your free eBook cover Canva template
Once you have your image ready to go, look under Download Image and upload your image.
Great work! Your product is ready to preview. Click Publish.
Let’s look at it as the customer will see it on the product page.
2. Product Page Frontend Appearance
Click on the View Download link on the top notification banner that appeared after you clicked publish.
You’ll see your download on the frontend of your website. This is what the customer will see.
We are using the free WP Astra theme in the example below. Your site look will vary depending on which WordPress theme you have.
3. Purchase Confirmations
Once a customer makes a purchase they’ll get a purchase confirmation email that looks like this:
You can use the email text presets, or customize your own. On your WordPress admin look under Downloads » Settings » Emails » Purchase Receipts.
The ‘My eBook’ is what you set up above in step 3. The customer uses that link to grab their new download. The link provided expires after 24 hours.
- You can reissue a new download link at any time
- You can change and set that link expiration time to be whatever you want
These are incredibly useful EDD features and give you a lot of freedom for how you want to manage your digital downloads.
4. Payment Methods
Last, you need to set up a way for customers to pay. EDD supports Stripe to enable credit cards, and even Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Do you already have a Stripe or PayPal account? It’s simple to integrate with EDD. EDD officially recommends using Stripe due to its ease of use and overall convenience when it comes to managing payments for digital downloads.
If Stripe is not available in your country, or you need certain currencies for your region, PayPal is a good option. Or use both. That’s what we do on WPForms checkout page.
Click one of the payment gateway links below to get started:
5. Customer Management
EDD turns your site into a full-featured eCommerce store. The customer management dashboard maintains a record of your customers.
You can manage customers, view payment history, and see reports all from your WordPress admin when you use EDD.
Here’s the Customers menu in EDD which displays information like the number of purchases and total amount spent by each of your customers:
Plus. you can easily see payment details for each purchase made by your customers.
EDD also provides a graphical view of your total earnings over a selected period of time.
6. Full-Powered Ecommerce That’s Still Easy
EDD is really powerful, yet it’s easy to use. We recommend it for selling digital products because it has everything you need and it can grow with you over time.
The free version has what you need to get started and run a successful business. As you grow, if you need to add other functionality, just purchase an EDD annual Pass. You can choose which pass is right for you. With a Pass you can add features like:
- Email marketing integration
- Subscriptions (recurring payments)
- Software licensing
- Amazon S3 or Dropbox Integration
How Much Does Easy Digital Downloads Cost?
Regarding pricing, Easy Digital Downloads offers several plans designed to suit different types of businesses. Here’s a breakdown of the options:
- Personal: This plan is great if you’re just starting out with a single site. It includes core features like email marketing integrations, software licensing, and free updates for one year. It’s an affordable option for smaller businesses or creators testing the waters.
- Extended: If you manage up to three websites, the Extended plan offers everything in the Personal plan, plus access to more advanced extensions like Recurring Payments. This plan is ideal for those who want to scale their business across a few platforms.
- Professional: Designed for larger operations, the Professional plan supports up to five sites and provides premium extensions like Stripe Pro and Checkout Fields Manager. It’s perfect for businesses that need more robust functionality and a range of payment options.
- All Access Pass: As the name suggests, this plan unlocks everything Easy Digital Downloads has to offer. It includes unlimited site usage and access to all current and future extensions. If you’re a developer or agency managing multiple clients, this plan provides the best value and the most flexibility.
Each plan is priced annually, and you can find the exact details on the Easy Digital Downloads pricing page. From my experience, picking the right plan really depends on the scale of your business and the features you need to grow effectively.
Easy Digital Downloads Review: Is it Worth It?
Unlike other eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce, EDD is specifically designed for digital products. This focus makes managing your store much easier without dealing with features you don’t need, such as shipping or inventory management.
What really sets EDD apart are the tools built specifically for digital businesses. It offers features like file protection to ensure your products are safe, download logs to track customer activity, and even software licensing support for selling plugins, apps, or themes.
These are things you don’t typically find in more general eCommerce plugins.If you’re just starting out, the free version of EDD is incredibly generous. You can sell unlimited digital downloads without any hidden costs, and it supports payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon Payments.
But if you want access to more advanced features, such as additional payment methods, marketing integrations, and tools to manage your store better, you’ll need one of the premium plans. From my experience, the Extended or Professional licenses are the best options for most users.
Easy Digital Downloads Review: FAQs
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is a popular topic of interest and plugin among our readers. Here are answers to some common queries about it:
Is Easy digital download free?
Yes, Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) offers a free version that allows you to sell unlimited digital products without hidden fees. However, for advanced features like extra payment gateways or marketing tools, you’ll need to upgrade to one of their premium plans.
Can you make money with digital downloads?
Absolutely! You can sell various digital products like eBooks, music, software, or online courses using platforms like Easy Digital Downloads. With the right strategy, selling digital downloads can become a profitable business.
How do I start making money digitally?
To start, identify a niche or digital product you’re passionate about, such as online templates, guides, or tools. Next, set up a store using a plugin like Easy Digital Downloads to manage sales and payment processing. Focus on promoting your products through social media or email marketing to attract customers.
Is digital money real money?
Yes, digital money refers to funds stored electronically, such as bank transfers, PayPal balances, or cryptocurrencies. While it doesn’t exist in physical form, it holds the same value and can be used to purchase goods and services.
Next, A Great Store Needs Great Forms
Now that you have an e-commerce store for digital products, you’ll need a contact us and a support request form. We’ve got you covered! WPForms is the most user-friendly WordPress form builder with over 5 million active installations.
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Also, if you’re looking for a search plugin for your WordPress site, don’t forget to check out review of SearchWP and see if this is what you need for your site.
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