The 6 Best WooCommerce Flexible Shipping Plugins
Last Updated July 6th, 2022
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Shipping can be a nightmare scenario for both store owners and customers alike. Fortunately, there are a lot of shipping options and controls out of the box with WooCommerce. Unfortunately, these shipping rules and setups can be quite rigid and set in stone. WooCommerce, thanks to the power of the plugin system, is easy to extend and improve upon. Dealing with shipping is no exception. Let’s take a quick look at some of the best WooCommerce flexible shipping plugins available right now. These plugins will allow you to have finer control over what shipping options your customers have, how much they have to spend, and how accurate those costs are at checkout.
Popular WooCommerce Flexible Shipping Plugins
These WooCommerce flexible shipping plugins are some of the most popular available for download at WordPress.org. Every one of the plugins in this article is available for free in some form. Each of them also has a paid version with extra functionality. Generally, the free versions should be enough to start but know in advance that more features are available at a price.
Flexible Shipping
Flexible Shipping claims to be one of the most advanced WooCommerce shipping plugins available. With Flexible Shipping, store owners can figure out their shipping costs by weight and cart total. You can use this plugin to add additional fees, for handling or insurance as two examples, based on the value of the order being placed. There are no limits on the number of shipping methods or rules for cost calculation. Flexible Shipping also includes customization features so you can tailor the checkout experience to match your store needs more. This means offering options like only showing shipping methods to customers already logged in to your site.
Plugin Details
This piece of software was first released by its owner in June of 2016. It is presently on version 5.1.2 and last underwent a change on December 17th, 2024. The most recent edition operates on WordPress 6.7.1 and requires at least PHP 7.4 to work on your server. This plugin is presently working on over 100,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 7,004,320 downloads. There have been 33 help requests with a 88% response rate. Table Rate Shipping Method for WooCommerce by Flexible Shipping is well supported by its creator. Reviews for this plugin are very positive. Many of the customers who left an evaluation found this plugin to be wonderful.
Security Issues and Vulnerabilities
There has been one recorded security or vulnerability issue with Flexible Shipping. The security problem was fixed and here are the details.
| Date | Description | Fixed? |
|---|---|---|
| 6/14/22 | Reflected Cross-Site Scripting This was a medium concern issue that was fixed in version 4.11.8. | Yes |
Premium Version
The premium version of this plugin is called Flexible Shipping Pro. It expands on the free version by adding a large number of additional features. You can use the pro release to control shipping costs according to order quantities or line items. There are controls for managing shipping prices by product dimensions, volume, categories, user role, and more. You can disable shipping methods depending on the current time or day. Flexible Shipping Pro also supports a system of conditions. This gives you even more flexibility when setting delivery prices for your WooCommerce store. This is one of the most robust and useful WooCommerce flexible shipping plugins you will find today.
Flexible Shipping for FedEx and WooCommerce
Adding live shipping rates is a very common request amongst WooCommerce site owners. Fortunately, there is a free plugin available that lets you do just that. The aptly named Flexible Shipping for FedEx and WooCommerce gives your customers the ability to see real FedEx shipping rates right at checkout. This plugin claims you can have this up and running on your site in under five minutes. Out of the box, the plugin automatically calculates shipping costs and displays live rates from FedEx. It can limit available options based on your customer’s address and offers support for insurance and all currencies that FedEx works with. Importantly, this plugin also includes a debug mode to help you solve issues when FedEx experiences service problems.
Plugin Details
This product was first published by its creator in September of 2019. It is actively on version 4.0.2 and last saw a revision on December 9th, 2024. The most recent update functions on WordPress 6.7.1 and requires at least PHP 7.4 to operate on your server. This plugin is presently working on over 2,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 143,410 downloads. There have been 5 assistance requests with a 80% response rate. Shipping Live Rates for FedEx for WooCommerce has ok support from its developer. Reviews for Shipping Live Rates for FedEx for WooCommerce are very positive. Many of the end-users who left a piece of feedback found this plugin to be wonderful.
Premium Version
Flexible Shipping for FedEx and WooCommerce PRO is the paid upgrade to this free plugin. It helps you deal with box packing for products that need to be split based on their dimensions. It also includes estimated delivery dates right inside of your WooCommerce checkout which is a huge concern for customers. In terms of delivery dates, you can exclude specific days of the week or include information such as time in transit, lead time, and cut-offs.
WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping
WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping gives owners flexible shipping choices throughout their store. You can use this plugin to set advanced controls to figure out when customers should have free shipping. Rules are made by you, the store owner, to determine when in fact shipping should be free on an order. You use this plugin’s intuitive interface to create and implement these shipping rules. Rules can be set based on country, product, category, cart totals, quantities, and more. It is one of the most practical WooCommerce flexible shipping plugins on our list.
Plugin Details
This piece of software was originally published by its owner in October of 2019. It is now on version 1.6.4.46 and last underwent an update on November 15th, 2024. The latest edition works on WordPress 6.7.0. This plugin is actively functioning on over 2,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 117,500 downloads. There have not been many help requests from end-users. Reviews for this plugin are very positive. Many of the users who left a piece of feedback found this plugin to be great.
Premium Version
You can purchase the Pro WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping version of this plugin for additional features. Control free shipping decisions based on city, state, and/or zip code. Calculate order weights, width, height, and/or length to determine if an order is eligible for free shipping. You can even dictate shipping based on what kind of payment method your customers are using at checkout. These are just a few of the dozens of additional rules and conditions available in the premium version.
Fish and Ships
The hilariously named Fish and Ships provides conditional shipping for WooCommerce sites. You can use this plugin to set flexible shipping rates based on many factors. Rates can be determined by weight, volume, price, product quantity, cart total, and more. In addition to setting shipping rates, this plugin lets you control what triggers flat shipping and even local pickup options. One of the key selling points of Fish and Ships is that you can stack conditions together. This means you can determine your shipping, for example, by product quantity and weight to reach a specific price for your customers to pay.
Plugin Details
This plugin was first released by its owner in March of 2020. It is now on version 1.6.2 and last underwent a change on December 11th, 2024. The newest release functions on WordPress 6.7.1 and requires at least PHP 7.0 to work on your server. This plugin is presently operating on over 1,000 WordPress websites. It has had over 52,060 downloads. There have been 3 help requests with a 67% response rate. Fish and Ships – Most flexible table rate shipping for WooCommerce has ok support from its developer. Reviews for this plugin are very positive. Many of the customers who left an evaluation found Fish and Ships – Most flexible table rate shipping for WooCommerce to be worthwhile.
Premium Version
The premium release, Fish and Ships Pro, includes additional selection choices for making your conditions. These extra choices include what category a product is in (or isn’t) and the same possibilities for product tags. The pro version also lets you use the OR operator when setting up your conditions. The free version is limited to just offering AND as an option. On top of those features, Fish and Ships Pro has extra display capabilities so you can add custom messages and rename existing shipping methods inside of WooCommerce.
DHL Express WooCommerce Live Rates
The DHL Express WooCommerce Live Rates plugin does exactly what it says: offers real shipping costs directly from DHL based on your customer’s order. This plugin is the only free WooCommerce flexible shipping plugin that supports DHL at the moment. You can use this plugin to present your customers with real, live shipping costs for DHL Express directly inside your checkout process. The rates are based on cart weight and the customer’s shipping address. You can limit services based on that address as well. Support for shipment insurance and a fallback if DHL’s data service fails are also provided.
Plugin Details
This product was originally published by its developer in April of 2020. It is currently on version 4.0.2 and last saw an update on December 10th, 2024. The newest update functions on WordPress 6.7.1 and requires at least PHP 7.4 to operate on your server. This plugin is actively operating on over 700 WordPress websites. It has had over 50,060 downloads. There have not been many assistance requests from customers. Reviews for DHL Express Shipping for WooCommerce – Live Rates are very positive. Many of the users who left a review found DHL Express Shipping for WooCommerce – Live Rates to be useful.
Premium Version
DHL Express WooCommerce Live Rates PRO, the paid upgrade of this plugin, comes with automatic box packing for your products based on their volume and weight. It also supports custom boxes if your WooCommerce store requires that. Estimated delivery dates, displayed right in the checkout, come as part of the premium version. You can omit certain days of the week from those estimated dates as well if you need to.
USPS WooCommerce Live Rates
The USPS WooCommerce Live Rates plugin is a free option to offer your shoppers real-time shipping prices from USPS. This applies to both domestic shipments and those going out internationally. During checkout, your customers will be able to see live pricing from USPS to know exactly how much their order will cost to ship. These rates are calculated, immediately, based on an order’s destination and dimensions. You control which USPS services are available so there are no surprised on your side when an order comes through. The plugin supports fallback measures in case the USPS data service has an outage as well.
Plugin Details
This piece of software was initially released by its developer in October of 2021. It is actively on version 3.0.1 and last experienced a revision on December 9th, 2024. The newest edition functions on WordPress 6.7.1 and requires at least PHP 7.4 to work on your server. This plugin is presently working on over 2,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 53,190 downloads. There have been 4 support requests with a 100% response rate. USPS Shipping for WooCommerce – Live Rates is well supported by its owner. Reviews for USPS Shipping for WooCommerce – Live Rates are very positive. Many of the customers who left an evaluation found this plugin to be wonderful.
Premium Version
USPS WooCommerce Live Rates PRO is the paid upgrade to this free plugin. It has additional features that offer support for shipping in multiple boxes by weight and volume. You can set fixed, or percentage-based, handling fees and discounts against the rates USPS provides. One interesting feature here is that you can set a custom origin that is different than what might be set in your WooCommerce settings. Some stores need that flexibility and it is available here with the paid plugin.
The End of Our Look at WooCommerce Flexible Shipping Plugins
There you have it. That’s the conclusion to our article about the best WooCommerce flexible shipping plugins. These are all great choices if you are looking to improve the checkout experience in your store. Offering flexible shipping choices, and real-time pricing, means you are more likely to have completed sales and fewer instances of an abandoned WooCommerce cart.
Before you go, check out our collection of tutorials and plugins. We’ve built this site to help you get the most out of customizing WooCommerce. You can follow our articles to write your own coded solutions or purchase one of our plugins to handle the hard work for you. Our list of guides and plugins is always growing as we offer more ways to change WooCommerce to suit your needs.