Best shipping plugin for WooCommerce 2023

Having the right shipping plugin is essential for any WooCommerce site. This is because it helps businesses communicate shipping times better which leads to an increase in customer satisfaction. On top of this, you also reduce the chances of customers issuing refunding or canceling their order due to late delivery times.

Providing the right shipping options on your ecommerce store makes it more likely for your business to make sales and push out more orders. While the default WooCommerce shipping options are pretty good, there are WooCommerce plugins that you can use to enhance them further.

There are many categories of shipping plugins for WooCommerce that cover most things such as displaying shipping costs on the product page, choosing a delivery slot, displaying product lead times, and taking more control over the shipping costs you charge customers.

In this article, I will share my list of the best option from each category. If you're in a rush, then here's a quick summary of the best shipping plugin options for WooCommerce:

• WooCommerce Shipping Calculator - Show shipping costs on product pages.
• Delivery Slots - Let customers select a specific delivery date and time.
• WooCommerce Lead Time - Showcase product lead or handling times.
• Product Shipping - Set flexible shipping rates based on various factors.
• WooCommerce Wholesale Pro - Offer special shipping rates and options for wholesale customers.
• Per Product Shipping - Set shipping rates per product or product group.
• WooCommerce Dropshipping - Set up and manage a dropshipping store.
• Shipping Multiple Addresses - Let shoppers choose shipping addresses per item

You may also like: The complete guide to WooCommerce shipping 📦

#1: WooCommerce Shipping Calculator

It's easy to explain why you need this first plugin. Just ask yourself this question:

Have you ever been shopping online and added a product to the cart just to check the shipping cost? 

I bet the answer is "Yes". And think about how ridiculous that is! As a customer, I'm sure you expect to be able to check the shipping cost before adding a product to your cart. After all, you need to know the shipping options in order to decide whether or not you will buy the product - not afterwards!

WooCommerce gets this completely wrong because it only displays shipping information on the checkout page. You literally don't see the subtotal for your order until you've nearly finished!

Luckily, there's an easy shipping solution to this problem: the WooCommerce Shipping Calculator plugin.

WooCommerce Shipping Calculator key features

This WooCommerce shipping plugin works by displaying a shipping calculator directly on product pages. Customers enter their location and immediately see the available shipping options and costs for them. That way, they can make an informed decision on whether to add the product to their cart.

• Let customers calculate shipping costs on the WooCommerce product page.
• Allow customers to check if you deliver to their area before adding items to their cart.
• Select where the shipping calculator will appear on the product page. For example, you can add it above the add to cart button or in a 'Shipping' tab.

This simple plugin solves a hugely important need, eliminating abandoned carts due to unexpected shipping costs. That's why it's easily the best WooCommerce shipping plugin.

#2: WooCommerce Delivery Slots

The WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin lets you enable delivery and pickup time slots on your online store.

The robust plugin offers features that let you increase customer satisfaction on your WooCommerce site by allowing your shoppers to select their own desired pickup or delivery time slot from the checkout page. For instance, a shopper can choose to have their order shipped overnight and expect to pay an extra shipping fee premium in exchange for speedy delivery.

WooCommerce Delivery Slots key features

The plugin comes pre-built with a fully responsive date and time picker that’s easy to use and understand for your shoppers. This way, you don’t have to worry about adding clutter or ruining the performance of your WooCommerce site when adding delivery time and date slot functionality.

• While the WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin is fully optimized for the front-end of your online store, it is also very easy to use in the back-end for admins and store managers. For starters, you can create a unique shipping schedule for your online store and let customers select their desired shipping time and date slots. This gives you full control over how the “Delivery slots” are displayed on your WooCommerce site.
• In addition to this, the WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin lets you put a limit on shipping or delivery slots for your online store. You can specify a maximum number of orders, set the desired time frame for your custom-created delivery slots, and set a same-day delivery expiry time so users don’t end up ordering after the same-day delivery time period ends.
• Similarly, you can also specify a fee for same-day delivery shipping slots so customers who want their order delivered as soon as possible are charged an extra fee. You can even charge extra fees depending on the day or time of the shipping slot. For instance, you can set it up so customers have to pay extra if they want their orders to be shipped on the weekends or during the holidays.
• The plugin also lets you manage your WooCommerce orders. This way, you can accurately see the total “upcoming” deliveries or orders that have to be shipped to customers by their selected delivery slot time and date.

#3: WooCommerce Lead Time

The WooCommerce Lead Time plugin offers an all-in-one solution for creating and displaying order lead times on your WooCommerce site.

Whether you sell custom products or made-to-order products, it’s important to give your customers the right shipping information before they checkout from your online store. A great way to do this is by displaying order lead times on single product pages so customers can form realistic shipping expectations when buying from your ecommerce site.

WooCommerce Lead Time key features

The WooCommerce Lead Time plugin lets you showcase lead times and expected delivery times anywhere on your WooCommerce site. This includes the main shop page, product category pages, the single product page, the cart page, checkout, and order confirmation emails. It makes it easy for store owners to keep their shoppers informed before they go on to make the purchase. This not only helps improve customer satisfaction but is a great way to enhance the shopping experience on your online store.

• The robust plugin is very easy to configure, even if you’re not very tech-savvy.
• You can set product lead times either globally, by product category, or by specific products or variations. This gives you full control over how lead times are displayed for different products on your online store. For instance, if you sell multiple custom products but some require more time than others to be processed, you can showcase different lead times for different products.
• While the WooCommerce Lead Time plugin lets you set static lead times for products, you can also let the plugin calculate wait times for products that are out of stock. For example, if a product is going to be back in stock after 7 days, you can set the back-in-stock date and let the plugin automatically calculate and display the lead time on the front-end.
• In addition to this, the WooCommerce Lead Time plugin seamlessly integrates with the WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin to automatically calculate and display lead times on your online store. This will display an additional “Product handling” time when customers select their delivery time or delivery slot.

#4: Product Shipping

Product Shipping is the most flexible and best shipping plugin for WooCommerce if you want to add extra shipping rates to your store.

While the default shipping options let you charge users flat rate shipping, this WooCommerce shipping plugin takes it to another level and lets you specify shipping charges based on the item count or the weight of the order.

This plugin falls into the category of 'WooCommerce table rate shipping plugins'. While I'm not particularly fond of that term, it means that you can set up advanced shipping rules based on order information such as total weight. It's a very flexible way to set up shipping in WooCommerce.

Product Shipping key features

• Set multiple shipping rates according to the shipping zone, price, the total number of items, or the total weight of the order (i.e. weight based shipping). For example, if an order exceeds a certain weight, the logistics company, shipping service provider, or shipping carrier (like USPS Shipping, FedEx, or DHL) will charge your business extra for shipping out that order. For this reason, you’d want to offer shipping rates based on the weight or the total number of items the customer adds to their shopping cart. Similarly, you might want to charge customers a shipping fee according to the destination the order is being shipped to. This helps your business remain profitable.
• Create a shipping rate table and assign it to specific geographical zones. This is the perfect solution for big stores or wholesale stores that have a lot of products in their catalog. You can use it to offer accurate shipping rates based on products customers add to their shopping carts.

#5: WooCommerce Wholesale Pro

WooCommerce Wholesale Pro is a dedicated wholesale plugin that lets you create a full-fledged WooCommerce site. It comes with everything you need to sell to trade users, including wholesale registration, pricing, and the ability to offer different pricing and shipping options to wholesale buyers.

It's common for wholesale customers to order in larger quantities, so you might want to charge them differently for shipping. For example, normal retail customers might pay flat rate shipping whereas you'd prefer to offer weight-based shipping to wholesale users.

WooCommerce Wholesale Pro gives you full control over which users see which shipping option and rate on your store. It's the perfect solution if you’re looking to assign and manage shipping costs to different customer groups on your WooCommerce site.

WooCommerce Wholesale Pro key features

• While the plugin is designed to let you create a wholesale area on your ordinary WooCommerce site, it also lets you offer multiple shipping methods based on the user role. This way, you can offer different shipping rates to different types of customers. For example, if you sell to wholesale customers and retail customers, you might want to charge wholesale customers extra shipping fees (for larger orders) while retail customers pay the normal shipping rate.
• Using the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin you can assign specific user roles on your WooCommerce site their own shipping methods. This way, you can set up multiple shipping methods and charge extra fees accordingly.
• The plugin lets you create and assign unlimited custom user roles so you can create special shipping methods according to the customer’s user role on your WooCommerce site. This is an easy way to charge customers a fair shipping rate.
• Fully compatible with all other WooCommerce shipping plugins and add-ons, for example the Per Product Shipping plugin that I'm going to tell you about next. For best results, use Wholesale Pro with either the built-in shipping options or dedicated WooCommerce shipping plugins, and choose which user roles will see each shipping option.

#6: Per Product Shipping

Per Product Shipping, as the name suggests, is a plugin designed to let you offer shipping rates according to the product.

This simple yet powerful WooCommerce extension enables shipping per product based on the geographical location of customers. For example, if you sell furniture products such as beds or chairs on the same online store that you sell apparel products, it can be useful to assign different shipping costs to different product groups.

This way, you can set unique shipping rates for each product or group of products on your WooCommerce site. This makes it easy to set up and manage shipping costs for different products in your product catalog.

You can also use the Per Product WooCommerce shipping plugin to assign different shipping rates to specific products. This allows businesses to continue selling “regular” items as well as products or product variations that have special shipping needs.

For example, you can sell fragile glassware products but charge customers a higher shipping fee than other, non-fragile products on your online store.

Per Product Shipping key features

• Set different shipping costs for each product, region, state, or city.
• Manage shipping costs for simple and variable products.
• Create shipping rules by category or product tag.
• Display shipping costs summary on the product page.
• Choose the countries and conditions to apply each rule.

#7: WooCommerce Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a WooCommerce shipping plugin that allows you to automate the fulfillment process of your WooCommerce dropshipping store. Consider installing it if you are running a dropshipping store where orders are sent to a third party for fulfilment.

WooCommerce Dropshipping key features

• With the robust plugin, store owners can easily connect their WooCommerce site popular dropshipping services such as AliExpress. The plugin also comes with Amazon Affiliate support. This is a great option if you’re looking to create your AliExpress dropshipping store on WooCommerce.
• Once you set up your dropshipping store, you can start revising orders right away and view all order data from the dropshipping dashboard. This gives you access to important metrics such as the total number of orders, profit, and out-of-stock product information. It also displays pending orders, as well as the best-performing or best-selling products. As a result, it makes it easy to run and manage your brand's dropshipping store on WooCommerce, even if you’re not very tech-savvy.
• Another great feature of the WooCommerce Dropshipping plugin is that it lets you bulk import products directly from AliExpress. This can be a huge time saver especially for ecommerce businesses that are setting up their first dropshipping store. The plugin automatically processes all product data including the product images, price, description, and even the comments along with images present on AliExpress and displays it on your WooCommerce site.
• In addition to all of these great features, you can use the WooCommerce Dropshipping plugin to add local dropshipping suppliers and quickly add products from the supplier to your online store. This is a great way to reduce the time and cost involved in shipping products to customers from your WooCommerce dropshipping store.

Further reading: Complete guide to WooCommerce dropshipping.

#8: Shipping Multiple Addresses

Shipping Multiple Addresses is another of the best shipping plugins for WooCommerce. It lets your customers ship cart items to multiple addresses. This is useful when an order needs to be sent to multiple recipients.

Here are some examples of where you might want to ship a WooCommerce order to multiple addresses:

• A customer wants to buy gifts for their friends and family and ship them to different locations in one order.
• Someone wants to order the same product for themselves and their colleagues and ship them to different offices or homes.
• Ordering different products for different purposes and shipping them to different addresses, such as personal, business, or charity.
• A customer wants to split their order into multiple shipments and send them to different addresses, such as when they are moving or traveling.

With the Shipping Multiple Addresses plugin, customers can select the address for each cart item or product they want to purchase before checking out from your WooCommerce site.

Shipping Multiple Addresses key features

• Using the plugin, you can give customers the option to enter multiple addresses for their cart items in an intuitive user interface.
• Manage multiple addresses in the cart or on the account page.
• Customers can choose whether to ship all items to every address, or different items to different addresses.

Customers love being able to select whether they want to ship all cart items to one address or multiple ones. This is a great way to enhance the shopping experience and improve customer satisfaction. It makes shopping from your online store more convenient and helps boost sales for your brand.

#9: WooCommerce UPS Shipping Plugin with Print Label

WooCommerce UPS Shipping Plugin with Print Label is a powerful tool that streamlines the shipping process for your store.

WooCommerce UPS Shipping Plugin key features

• With WooCommerce UPS Shipping Plugin, you can access real-time UPS rates directly within your WooCommerce store. This means you can provide your customers with accurate shipping costs based on UPS's current pricing. By offering live rates, you can eliminate guesswork and ensure transparency, helping customers make informed decisions during the checkout process.
• Simplify your shipping process with the automatic label printing feature. It eliminates the manual label generation by seamlessly generating and printing UPS shipping labels as soon as an order is placed. The ability to print shipping labels allows you to save time, reduce errors, and ensure accurate labeling.
• You can also improve transparency and customer satisfaction with live UPS order tracking. Easily integrate with UPS's tracking system to provide real-time tracking number information to customers, enhancing their experience. Advanced shipment tracking lets you easily address delivery issues for smooth and reliable order fulfillment.
• In addition to its core features, this plugin provides additional benefits to schedule UPS pickups. You can use UPS special shipping services such as UPS SurePost and UPS Access Point and packing slips.
• It covers both domestic and international shipping needs, serving as an end-to-end UPS shipping tool.

What makes a good WooCommerce shipping plugin?

As an online store owner, you want to make sure the shipping experience on your online store is top-notch. This is because the shipping experience is directly related to customer satisfaction and the overall user experience of your store.

Of course, you should choose a WooCommerce shipping plugin that provides the functionality you need for your eCommerce store. Beyond this, there are certain quality indicators which you should look for in any WordPress plugin that you install. In particular, a good WooCommerce shipping plugin can help you manage your shipping process efficiently and effectively. Look for:

• Quality and reliability - To qualify as the best shipping plugin for WooCommerce, a plugin must be well coded and reliable. Look for plugins by well-known plugin companies that have professional-looking websites. Read reviews to see what other customers think of the WooCommerce shipping plugin. Also check the plugin changelog to make sure it is updated regularly and well maintained.
• Flexibility - You should be able to create custom shipping methods and rates based on various factors. These might include product weight, cart total, dimensions, quantity, location, etc. You should also be able to offer different shipping options such as flat rate, free shipping, local pickup, etc.
• Integrations - You should be able to integrate your WooCommerce store with popular shipping services and carriers, such as USPS, DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc. This way, you can get real-time shipping rates, print labels, track shipments. You can also provide tracking information to your customers.
• Simplicity - You should be able to set up and configure your WooCommerce shipping plugin easily without any coding or technical skills. You should also be able to manage your shipping orders from your WooCommerce dashboard. Ideally you shouldn't need to switch to another platform or software.

How to set up shipping in WooCommerce

Before we finish, I want to make sure you know how to use WooCommerce's built-in shipping settings. That will help you decide when to use WooCommerce on its own, and when to use a plugin.

WooCommerce comes with a choice of built-in shipping options, such as flat rate, free shipping and local pickup. It also has some built-in features such as the ability to link shipping options with a minimum order amount or coupon code.

How do I integrate Shipping in WooCommerce?

1. Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping in the WordPress admin.
2. Go to the 'Shipping zones' tab and add one or more areas that you will ship to.
3. Now add one or more shipping options for each shipping zone.
4. Save your changes, and the shipping options will be available on the WooCommerce checkout page.

For a more in-depth tutorial, read our complete guide to WooCommerce shipping.

If the built-in shipping options don't meet your needs then it's time to use a plugin. These generally work by adding extra shipping options to the shipping area of the WooCommerce settings.

How do I automate shipping in WooCommerce?

To save time and money on shipping, you can automate some of the tasks. For example, you could automate shipping by:

1. Displaying real-time shipping rates from various carriers on your store.
2. Printing shipping labels and invoices for your orders.
3. Tracking and updating the shipment and order status.
4. Requesting pickups and generating manifests for your shipments.
5. Sending email notifications to your customers with tracking information.

To automate these tasks, you will need plugins that can integrate your WooCommerce store with your preferred shipping carriers. The plugins featured in this article are an excellent starting point for automating shipping.

Choosing the best WooCommerce shipping plugin

To extend the default shipping options, you will need to use the best shipping plugin for WooCommerce. Let’s go over some of the best WooCommerce shipping plugins in each category:

• Let customers check the shipping cost on the product page with the WooCommerce Shipping Calculator plugin.
• If you need to display delivery slots on your online store, you can use the WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin.
• With displaying delivery date and time, it’s also important to showcase product lead or handling times. Do this with the WooCommerce Lead Time plugin.
• Looking for a more complex plugin that allows you to set flexible shipping rates based on factors such as the shipping class, weight, or shipping destination? Product Shipping is the right table rate shipping plugin for you.
• Wholesale stores that want to offer special shipping rates for wholesale and retail customers should use the WooCommerce Wholesale Pro plugin.
• For a shipping plugin that lets you set shipping rates per product or group of products, use the Per Product Shipping plugin is your best option.
• Dropshipping stores can use the WooCommerce Dropshipping plugin.
• To let shoppers specify shipping addresses for each item in their cart, use the Shipping Multiple Addresses for this.

Which of these WooCommerce advanced shipping options you're thinking of adding to your store? Let us know in the comments section below.