Best cost calculator plugin for WordPress

Are you looking to add a cost calculator plugin to your WordPress website? A lot of factors can influence the price of your products and adding a basic price might not always be the best solution. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to use the cost calculator and let customers calculate the final price based on their preferences.

Adding a cost calculator provides customers with a more flexible and accurate pricing mechanism. They can enter their preferences, such as size, and the cost calculator plugin will calculate the final price based on the numbers they input. This gives them more control over their purchases.

The best plugin for adding a stylish cost calculator is WooCommerce Product Options. This user-friendly plugin includes a price formula, allowing you to provide accurate pricing for complex products.

In this detailed guide, I'll walk you through the steps of installing the plugin and using it to add an advanced price calculator to your WooCommerce products.

Let's get started!

What is a WordPress cost calculator plugin?

A cost calculator plugin for WordPress is a tool that allows customers to see the exact price of a product based on their specific requirements. A customer can enter their specific requirements and the calculator will calculate the exact cost based on a specific formula. They can then add the product to their cart and pay the correct price.

This is an alternative to charging a fixed price for each product or variation, and is much more flexible.

For example, if you sell a product that is customizable in size - such as curtains - then a cost calculator plugin will allow your customers to enter the exact dimensions of the curtains and see the final cost estimation.

While cost calculators are useful for creating a WooCommerce measurement price calculator to sell products like curtains, you can use it to calculate any type of custom product cost.

Why is a cost calculator plugin important for online businesses?

Cost calculator plugins are becoming increasingly popular among online businesses as customers demand personalized and flexible pricing options. Businesses need to adapt to meet these demands. Here are a few of the top reasons why cost calculator WordPress plugins are important for online businesses:

• Accurate pricing Traditional pricing often fails to take into account the variables such as size, hours, distance, or the number of products. Cost calculator plugins account for all variables and provide customers with complete pricing details upfront.
• Increased sales Customers are more likely to purchase a product or service if they feel like they are in control of the pricing. By using a cost calculator plugin, businesses allow customers to customize their pricing and see the total cost upfront — no more cart abandonment due to unpleasant surprises.
• Improved customer experience Personalized and flexible pricing creates a positive impression on customers. The use of a cost calculator builder plugin makes the purchasing process transparent, thus improving the overall customer experience.
• Automation of pricing quotes With the ability to generate instant quotes based on customer inputs, businesses can save time and effort that would otherwise be spent creating quotes for individual customers.

Now that we know the benefits, let's look at why WooCommerce Product Options is the best cost calculator plugin available.

WooCommerce Product Options: The best cost calculator plugin for WordPress

If you sell custom products and want to give your customers complete control over pricing, then adding a cost calculator plugin to your WordPress site is a great solution. WooCommerce Product Options is an excellent choice as it's user-friendly and comes with lots of customization options:

This is because:

Using the above features, you can create a cost calculator that calculates the price of products based on one or more inputs from the customer. The plugin works with any theme as well as page builders like Gutenberg and Elementor.

How the cost calculator feature works

When a customer visits your website and chooses a customizable product, they are presented with input boxes to enter their requirements. To use the example of curtains again, this might be their preferred length and width.

Based on their input and the custom formula, the cost calculator builder automatically calculates and updates the final price. This eliminates the need for customers to manually calculate the price.

You can enter a custom formula which the cost calculator will use to work out the correct price. This can be a simple or a very complex formula, depending on your requirements. You can use mathematical operators, brackets etc. to make the WordPress cost calculator work exactly as you need.

The price changes as the numbers in the input boxes are changed. The same calculated price is shown and charged correctly in the WooCommerce cart and checkout, which ensures accurate payment processing.

How to add a cost calculator to your products using WooCommerce Product Options

Now that we've seen why WooCommerce Product Options is the best calculator plugin, let's take a look at how to install it on your WordPress website.

1. Install and activate the plugin

The first step to adding a cost calculator is to install WooCommerce Product Options. As it is a premium WordPress plugin, you need to purchase it from the Barn2 website.

After getting the plugin, you'll receive a zip file that you can install by navigating to the Plugins → Add New page in the WordPress backend.

Next, click the Upload Plugin button and select the zip file from your local storage. After installation, activate the plugin and follow the onboarding wizard that'll guide you through the setup process.

In the first step of the onboarding wizard, you'll need to verify your license key. Copy the key from your Barn2 account, paste it into the appropriate box, and click on the Activate button. Once your license key is verified, click on Next.

On the next page, you can select any additional WooCommerce plugins that interest you, or click the Finish setup button to complete the onboarding process.

Now that the setup is complete, let's now look at how to add a cost calculator to your WooCommerce products.

2. Create a product options group

To add a cost calculator, navigate to the Products → Product Options page and click on the Add Group button.

First up, give your group a name and set its visibility. You can add it to all products or select individual products or categories. If you choose to display it on specific products or categories, you can make use of the inclusion and exclusion rule. This allows you to fine-tune which categories and products to include or exclude from the custom calculator.

The plugin lets you add different types of fields such as text boxes, dropdowns, checkboxes, numbers, and more. To add a cost calculator, we'll need to add number fields to collect the values which will be used in the formula (e.g. length, width, weight, quantity, etc.). For example, if you're selling a product such as a curtain that's priced based on its size, the number field will allow the customer to enter the dimensions of the curtain they want to purchase.

To add the number field, click the Add Option button, give it a name, and choose Number as the Type. Enter the label name (e.g. "Width (cm)") without mentioning the price, as that'll be handled by the Price Formula field.

Repeat the same process to add number fields for other product dimensions such as the length. You should make each number field mandatory to force customers to input all the required data into your price estimation forms.

3. Add the price calculator to your WooCommerce products

After you've added the number fields, you should add a price formula field to create the cost calculator. The price formula field takes number field values as inputs and uses your custom formula to generate the calculated result. But before we set up the cost calculator, you first need to save the changes made so far.

After you do that, add a new option and select the type as Price formula. Give it a name and proceed to create the formula that'll be used to calculate the price. To create the formula, you can use the number field values and basic operators such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You can add these values using the buttons available beneath the formula field.

Next, in the Price display suffix field, add any text that you want to display after the price on the product page. In the curtain example, we can add "per centimeter" as the suffix.

Below it, tick the checkbox to stop adding the main product price to the formula's calculated price. For example, if the curtain price is per cm, you wouldn't want to include a fixed price in the calculated price.

When done, click the Save Changes button again to save everything and publish your cost calculator for WordPress.

You can learn in detail how to create price formulas in the plugin documentation. 

Optional: Add conditional logic

If you need a calculator plugin for WordPress that has built-in conditional logic, then WooCommerce Product Options has you covered. Its conditional system lets you dynamically show and hide fields based on the customer's other selections.

For example, maybe you normally sell products in standard fixed sizes, but want customers to be able to tick a box to reveal the hidden cost calculator fields. This lets them enter custom measurements and calculate an accurate price without cluttering up the page for shoppers who need standard sizes.

To use conditional logic, enable the 'Advanced' toggle of the field that you want to hide. You can then conditionally display it depending on which other extra product options are selected.

4. Add other field types to WooCommerce products

WooCommerce Product Options is a feature-rich plugin that lets you add many types of fields as product options. These extra options work in conjunction with the cost calculator and enable you to sell customizable products that go beyond the basic dimensions.

You can add fields such as a checkbox, dropdown list, radio button, text input, file upload, text label, and clickable image buttons. Add a fixed cost to each of these. When the customer selects them, the extra fees will be added on top of the calculated cost.

To add these fields, click the Add Option button, enter a name, and select the appropriate field type. You can add any number of choices and assign them different types of prices. You can add a flat fee, a percentage increase or decrease, or quantity based price.

Similar to the number and price formula field, you can also provide a description and mark these fields as required.

And that's all. Click the Save Changes button again to make your extra options visible on the product page.

5. Test the WordPress cost calculator on the frontend

Now that the calculator is live on the website, we'll test it to see how it works for the customers.

Visit the product page with the added price calculator form and you'll see fields for customers to enter the dimensions. Enter any number in the designated boxes and you'll see the cost calculator displaying the final price. You can also experiment with different numbers to see if the price changes.

If you've added any additional form elements, they'll appear on the product page as well. You can choose your preferred options, and the pricing form plugin will adjust the final cost accordingly. As the integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, it supports all major payment gateways, including Paypal and Stripe. You can place a test order and see if the calculated fields form appears in the invoice and order email.

What types of products need a cost calculator plugin for WordPress?

So far, we've learned what a WordPress cost calculator is and how to set one up. Before we finish, let's think about how to get the most out of the cost calculator plugin. This will help you to get even better value for money.

Here are some examples of products that could benefit from a cost calculator plugin. Some of them might add flexibility to your pricing in ways you haven't thought of before!

Example products

• Printing services They can use a cost calculator to determine printing costs based on size, paper type, and quantity. This way, customers will have a clear idea of how much they'll have to spend before making a purchase decision.
• Furniture makers They can use a cost calculator to calculate the price based on dimensions, materials, and design complexity. This way, customers can input their specifications and get an accurate quote for their desired furniture.
• Web design services They can estimate project costs using the WordPress cost calculator plugin based on server, number of pages, and extra functionality. This can help clients determine the costs of web development before committing to a project.
• Catering services They can use a cost calculator plugin for WordPress to calculate prices based on the number of guests, menu selections, and special requirements. This way, clients can have a good idea of how much they'll have to spend depending on their catering needs.
• Home renovation They can make use of a cost calculator to calculate expenses based on room dimensions, number of rooms, materials, and additional services. This can help clients understand the costs of their renovation project before signing up for a specific service.
• Car rental They can use a cost calculator to determine the price based on the number of kilometers, hours, and car model. Customers can use this to see an estimated price and book the right vehicle for the right amount of time.
• Loan calculator By using a cost calculator, customers can get a good idea of how much they will need to pay back each month based on the loan amount, interest rate, and repayment period.

Any business that sells customizable products can use a cost calculator plugin to achieve advanced price calculations. How will you use cost calculators in your WooCommerce store?

Add a cost calculator plugin to your WordPress site today

If you sell customizable products, then adding a cost calculator will allow you to provide accurate pricing to customers. It saves them from unpleasant checkout surprises and allows you to offer accurate products according to the dimensions they input. It also saves you time compared to having to quote for products manually.

If you're looking for a simple yet powerful solution, the WooCommerce Product Options is the best WordPress cost calculator plugin available. It makes adding a price calculator to any of your WooCommerce products an easy task. With features like mathematical operators, number fields, and brackets, businesses can easily create complex calculation formulas tailored to their needs.

In addition, it supports various field options such as dropdowns, radio buttons, checkboxes, image buttons, and more. These extra fields work together with the cost calculator to make it even more useful.

Try the WooCommerce Product Options today and take your eCommerce store to the next level. And if for any reason you're not satisfied, don't worry as it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.