Membership E-Commerce Advice Rainmaker or WooCommerce

[GR777]

Hi,

We are building a WP site on Genesis using Dynamik child theme. The main function of the site is to be a membership site that will both sell digital downloads to non members as well as provide them via download links to paying members. We will also be selling physical goods.

The site is basically built just trying to add the final component of e-commerce/membership now. Rainmaker seems like a great alternative that allows for a full platform ecosystem while woo commerce allows for some flexibility of working in our current site but comes with the issues of maintaining all the moving parts and making sure everything works.

Does anyone have any experience with Rainmaker and/or Woo that could recommend a good way to go? Or, can you recommend someone who advises clients on these types of decisions.

Thank you so much!!!
Todd

[ItsPhipps]

Hi Todd,

It depends on how complex you want your eCommerce system to be.

The Rainmaker Platform will be MUCH easier to get set up, to learn, and to use. But all that comes at the expense of limited customization. It should be sufficient for most people though, unless you need to get really complex.

Woocommerce allows for much more detailed customization, but it comes with a lot higher learning curve and difficulty. My opinion is that the official Woocommerce membership add-on is somewhat lacking as a full-blown membership plugin as well, but it's still pretty powerful.

Being that you say the MAIN function will be a membership site though, you might want to look at something other than Woocommerce. One thing that is easy with Woocommerce is providing download links to paying members. But achieving the same thing with Rainmaker and other membership plugins is still pretty darn easy.

If you don't need the added flexibility of Woocommerce, then I would go with Rainmaker. But, if you're a serial tinkerer like me, then Woocommerce will be the more flexible solution (but can be a real pain in the butt sometimes).

[GR777]

Thanks for the great response!
I am really having a hard time choosing because I like the notion of simplicity so I can focus on what I do best which is not build WP sites. Currently I have a Cart66 site running on WP Engine built on Genesis and it is lightening fast getting amazing results in page speed sites. The problem is Cart66 does not feel totally integrated from the user level. In order to check account etc the user is taken off site to cart66 hosted admin area and I am really wanting our members to stay in our system and feel safe there.

With Rainmaker I am a little put off by the fact that members can't adjust their payment options manually in their account and that I can't sell physical products from it either.

Woocommerce worries me because of all the tinkering. I am a musician and this site is being built to deliver music to my fans and I don't want to be tinkering too much!

Any additional thoughts by you or others are great appreciated!!

[ItsPhipps]

Take a look at this. Its somewhere in between the two, so you might like it:

https://ithemes.com/exchange/

[GR777]

do you have experience using exchange? is it a bit smoother or for lack of a better word easier?

[Author]

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