Easy Digital Downloads Review, Pricing, Pros and Cons

Ready to dive into the world of digital sales but not sure where to start? Buckle up, because we’re about to unravel the mysteries of Easy Digital Downloads – a WordPress plugin that’s more than just a digital cash register.

From resending those pesky lost receipts to protecting your digital treasures, we’ve got the answers to all your burning questions.

So, are you ready to become an EDD wizard? Let’s get started!

What is Easy Digital Downloads ?

Easy Digital Downloads features

Ready to turn your WordPress site into a digital goldmine? Let’s dig into the treasure trove of features that Easy Digital Downloads offers, and trust me, it’s more than just “add to cart.”

File Download Logs

This feature allows you to view everything about customer file downloads from your system, including download dates and times, IP address, and attached payment record.

File Access Control

All product files are restricted to authorized customers only. You can also set the file download limit and download link expiration.

Shopping Cart

The shopping cart feature supports Stripe and PayPal out of the box. It allows customization of action button text and enables cart saving for potential customers.

Users can opt for registered or guest checkout, and it also requires agreement of terms before purchase.

Refund Tracking

For most online businesses, refunds are inevitable. With select payment gateways, EDD makes processing refunds hassle-free.

Payment History

Record payment records of every transaction in your system and use the familiar Payment History interface to see key details about payments, resend purchase receipts, and more.

Detailed Reporting

This feature provides actionable insights into your business. You can filter reports by specific dates and products, track refunds, and control churn. It also allows you to export store data to a CSV file and monitor all aspects of your store.

Payment Gateways

Supports the industry’s most popular payment processors and several more.

Open Sourced & GPL

As a platform built on WordPress, EDD is licensed under GPLv3 and is also an open-source software.

Order Management

Order management lets you manage the status of orders, reassign customer details, and features advanced refund capabilities. It also offers role-based capabilities for different users.

Extension Catalog

While Easy Digital Downloads is a full eCommerce platform, its true power lies in its extensibility. With hundreds of available extensions, you can tailor EDD to your needs.

Actively Developed

Not a day goes by that EDD is not actively developed. Issue logging, bug fixing, and feature enhancements are a daily occurrence.

Customer Management

Maintain a separate record for each customer, view, edit, or delete any customer record. It also allows you to track customer lifetime value and activity, link customer records to user profiles, and create a customer account page.

Rest API

Developers can take advantage of a complete RESTful API that provides easy access to sales and product information in either JSON or XML format.

Customer Account Page

Through the use of a single shortcode, output an entire purchase history table that is only viewable by logged-in customers.

Affiliate System Integration

The software is fully supported by AffiliateWP right out of the box.

Mailing List Integration

Build relationships with your customers by keeping in touch with them after the purchase. Connect EDD to your favorite email marketing service tool.

External File Storage

Supports content delivery tools like Amazon S3 and Dropbox for hosting product files.

Developer Friendly

Actions, filters, and smart coding make EDD a developer-friendly platform.

Intelligently Designed

The effects of site design on customer behavior are well-known. EDD includes a base style that looks great as-is but is also ready to integrate with any WordPress theme.

Easy Digital Downloads pricing

Ah, the million-dollar question – or maybe just a couple hundred bucks. Either way, let’s break down how much it’ll cost you to become the next digital mogul with Easy Digital Downloads.

Personal Plan

• Price: $99.50/year (normally $199.00)
• Savings: $99.50
• Features: Provides everything needed to get started with Easy Digital Downloads.

Extended Plan

• Price: $199.50/year (normally $399.00)
• Savings: $199.50
• Features: Aimed at improving customer experience with extended functionality.

Professional Plan

• Price: $299.50/year (normally $599.00)
• Savings: $299.50
• Features: Includes the most popular features to transform your business model.

All Access Pass

• Price: $499.50/year (normally $999.00)
• Savings: $499.50
• Features: Provides access to every feature offered now and in the future.

Note: All pricing is in USD. Special introductory pricing applies, and all renewals are at full price. You can change plans or cancel your account at any time.

Conclusion

Easy Digital Downloads is a comprehensive solution for anyone looking to sell digital products online.

It offers a robust eCommerce platform that integrates with popular payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe, provides advanced reporting tools, and supports unlimited products and transactions.

The software is designed to enhance customer experience, offering features like automatic access control, customizable discount codes, and over 100 integrations with services like Mailchimp.

It’s not just a payment form; it’s a full-featured shopping cart that allows for easy store management and secure payments.

Advantages

• Ease of Use: The platform is user-friendly and requires no coding skills.
• Payment Flexibility: Supports multiple payment gateways including PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.
• Advanced Reporting: Offers comprehensive reporting tools for data-driven decision-making.
• Customer Focus: Provides a customer-first approach with features like automatic access control and customizable discount codes.
• Extensibility: Over 100 integrations available, making it highly adaptable to various business needs.

Disadvantages

• Cost: The pricing can be a bit steep, especially for small businesses.
• Complexity: While feature-rich, the plethora of options can be overwhelming for beginners.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can customers view past purchases?

Yes, they can, and no, it’s not a trip down memory lane. Create a customer account page using the [purchase_history] shortcode. This will display a list of a customer’s purchases when they’re logged into their account.

Are download files protected ?

Worried about your digital goodies getting swiped? Fear not! Files are automatically placed in a special folder on your server that’s protected via a .htaccess file.

How does the Download work ?

It’s not magic, but it’s close. EDD knows where the file is and has permission to access it. The download link the customer receives goes to a special URL that checks if the file is allowed to be accessed, fetches the file, and sends it to the browser.

What about external hosting like Dropbox or Amazon ?

EDD’s got you covered there too. It knows how to keep these files safe using the same method as above.

What if my server isn’t using Apache ?

If you’re not on Team Apache, you’ll need to look into other means of protecting your files. But don’t worry, there are plenty of articles to help you out with different server configurations.

What about Images and Audio files ?

Ah, the pretty and the melodious. These files are exceptions to the “protected” rule. They’re left unprotected so that your visitors can actually see or hear them. If you’re selling these types of files, it’s recommended to compress them into a .zip file before uploading.