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E-Commerce · head to head

Heartland Retail vs WooCommerce

Heartland Retail logo

Heartland Retail

E-Commerce

Cloud point of sale and inventory management sold alongside Heartland card processing

From
$150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
WooCommerce logo

WooCommerce

E-Commerce

The flexible, open-source ecommerce platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only WooCommerce has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Heartland Retail the software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.; WooCommerce the plugin is free but you must supply and pay for WordPress hosting, which WooCommerce itself puts at $25 to $350 per month for most stores
  • They diverge on capability: Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory, WooCommerce covers Product management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Heartland Retail and WooCommerce actually diverge.

Attributes where Heartland Retail and WooCommerce differ
AttributeHeartland RetailWooCommerce
Starting price$150/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfreemium
Free tierNoYes
Founded19972011

Identical on both: platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Heartland Retail

  • Multi-store inventory
  • Cloud point of sale
  • Purchasing and receiving
  • Customer records
  • Sales and stock reporting
  • Integrated card processing
  • E-commerce integrations

Only in WooCommerce

  • Product management
  • Shopping cart
  • Payment integration
  • Shipping management
  • Tax calculations
  • Customer accounts
  • Order management
  • Inventory tracking

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Heartland Retail

  • A specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of themnot WooCommerce
  • Replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every storenot WooCommerce
  • A retailer whose buying team needs purchase orders and receiving rather than just a cash registernot WooCommerce
  • An existing Heartland processing customer consolidating software and payments under one suppliernot WooCommerce

WooCommerce

  • Running an online store inside an existing WordPress sitenot Heartland Retail
  • Selling physical, digital or subscription products with full control of the codenot Heartland Retail
  • Building a customised commerce workflow through plugins and hooksnot Heartland Retail

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Heartland Retail

  • The software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.
  • Leaving means changing till software and merchant account together, and since the payment terminals, the reporting history and the staff training are all tied to the same supplier, the switching cost is far higher than a software migration alone.
  • It is not an online store platform, so a merchant selling on the web still buys and maintains a separate e-commerce platform, and the stock and order integration between the two is an ongoing operational dependency rather than a one-off setup.
  • Historical sales and customer purchase history rarely migrate cleanly out of a point of sale system, so a retailer who switches typically starts with an empty history and keeps the old system read-only, paying for it, for years.
  • Heartland sits within Global Payments, a group that has repeatedly restructured its portfolio through acquisitions and divestitures, so which entity owns and invests in this specific product is not stable over a long contract term.

WooCommerce

  • The plugin is free but you must supply and pay for WordPress hosting, which WooCommerce itself puts at $25 to $350 per month for most stores
  • Functionality such as subscriptions and bookings comes from paid extensions priced at $29 to $299 per year each, renewed annually
  • Card payments through WooPayments cost roughly 2.50 to 2.90 percent plus 30 cents per transaction
  • Total cost depends on how many extensions a store needs rather than a single published plan price

Pricing, plan by plan

Heartland Retail

$150/month
  • Core$150/month
    • POS system
    • Inventory management
    • Customer management
  • Professional$350/month
    • All Core features
    • Omnichannel
    • Advanced analytics

WooCommerce

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Core ecommerce features
    • Unlimited products
    • Community support
  • Premium$299/year
    • All Free features
    • Premium support
    • Performance optimization

Which should you pick?

Choose Heartland Retail if

  • You need multi-store inventory.
  • You also want cloud point of sale.
Heartland Retail review

Choose WooCommerce if

  • You need product management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want shopping cart.
WooCommerce review

Questions people ask

Is Heartland Retail or WooCommerce better?
Neither clearly leads. Heartland Retail starts at $150/month and WooCommerce at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Heartland Retail or WooCommerce?
WooCommerce has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $150/month for Heartland Retail and Free for WooCommerce.
Does Heartland Retail or WooCommerce run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use WooCommerce for free?
Yes. WooCommerce has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Heartland Retail starts at $150/month.
What is Heartland Retail best used for?
Heartland Retail is most often used for a specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of them, replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every store, a retailer whose buying team needs purchase orders and receiving rather than just a cash register, an existing heartland processing customer consolidating software and payments under one supplier. Of those, a specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of them and replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every store are not what WooCommerce is typically brought in for.
What can Heartland Retail do that WooCommerce cannot?
Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory, Cloud point of sale, Purchasing and receiving, Customer records. WooCommerce covers Product management, Shopping cart, Payment integration, Shipping management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Heartland Retail: Can I use it as my online store?

No. It manages the shop floor and stock. Selling online means a separate e-commerce platform and an integration to keep the catalogue and stock aligned.

WooCommerce: Does WooCommerce offer a money-back guarantee?

Yes. The platform offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Source
Heartland Retail: Do I have to use Heartland for card processing?

The product is sold as part of a payments relationship, and that is where the supplier's margin sits. Ask explicitly what the software costs standalone before assuming you have a choice.

WooCommerce: Is WooCommerce secure for online payments?

The platform offers safe and secure online payments through its integrated system.

Source
Heartland Retail: What should I negotiate hardest on?

The card processing rate and the contract term, not the software subscription. Ask for interchange-plus pricing in writing rather than a blended rate.

Heartland Retail: What happens to my sales history if I leave?

Assume products and current stock export cleanly and that years of transaction history do not. Budget for keeping the old system available read-only during any transition.

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