ThriveCart is a standalone shopping cart with a one-time $495 fee. SureCart is a WordPress ecommerce plugin with free and paid plans. The key difference: ThriveCart lets you keep recurring payments if you leave, SureCart does not.
Leaving Your Cart Shouldn’t Mean Losing Your Paying Customers
Here’s something most people miss when comparing SureCart vs Thrivecart: what happens to your recurring customers if you ever want to switch platforms.
With ThriveCart, your subscription payments run directly through Stripe or PayPal. You own those billing relationships. If you leave ThriveCart tomorrow, your customers keep paying you on the same schedule. No interruption, no re-signup.
SureCart manages subscriptions on its own platform, not directly on your Stripe or PayPal account. So if you decide to move away from SureCart, those recurring payments don’t follow you. You’d have to ask every single customer to re-enter their payment details on a new platform. Some will. Many won’t.
For a creator selling a $29/month membership to 200 customers, that’s $5,800 in monthly revenue at risk. Not because your customers want to leave, but because the platform sits between you and their payments.
The real question here: who actually owns the relationship with your paying customers?
ThriveCart gets this right. SureCart does not.
What to Look for Before Picking a Cart Platform
So what should you actually look for in a cart platform?
Start with the most important question: do you keep your recurring payments if you leave? If the answer is no, that should concern you, no matter how good the rest of the features look.
After that, check the basics. Are your download links protected, or can customers share them freely? How fast does support respond when something breaks? Is the pricing clear, or will you keep running into add-on costs you didn’t expect?
That’s the approach behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and we include our limitations alongside the comparison). CartMango was built for solo digital creators who want to sell digital products without worrying about losing their recurring customers. Your payments stay yours, period. Download links are protected. And if something breaks, you get a real person responding in about 2 hours and 16 minutes on average, not a chatbot.
CartMango is free until 2027, with 0% platform fees and all features included. It’s not the right fit for every brand, and I’ll cover that below. But if you’re selling online and don’t want the subscription hostage problem, it’s worth a look.
ThriveCart vs SureCart vs CartMango
Here’s how all three platforms compare across the features that matter most.
| Feature | ThriveCart | SureCart | CartMango |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your recurring payments gone if you leave the platform? | ✅ Your recurring payments stay with you | ❌ Recurring payments are lost if you leave. SureCart handles subscriptions through its own system, not through Stripe / PayPal directly | ✅ Your recurring payments stay with you |
| Completely free? (note: Stripe / PayPal fees apply across all cart platforms) | ❌ $495 for the base plan. $295/yr extra for added features. $195 extra for the LMS. | ❌ Free Launch plan with a 1.9% transaction fee on every sale. Pro (1 store): $179/yr Pro (5 stores): $249/yr Pro (unlimited stores): $399/yr | ✅ $0 monthly fees, 0% commission. Every feature included (until 2027). |
| Learning management system (LMS) | ✅ Yes, for an added $195 | ❌ No | ❌ On the roadmap |
| Funnels (upsells & downsells) after customers paid for the main product | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Customer support | Multiple user reports of poor customer support and removed feedback posts in their official Facebook group | Email/ticket only, no live chat. Free plan: 24-48hr weekday response. Pro plan: priority support. Thorough knowledge base and video tutorials. Reviews praise support quality. | Founder-led personal support, no chatbots, no live chat. Average response time is 2hr+ |
| Buy now, pay later (BNPL) for your customers (boost your sales) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Order bumps to boost sales | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Subscriptions (support trials & set up fees) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Flexible coupons & discounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Quick & smooth checkouts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Customers need NOT log in before buying (quick checkout) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Direct, instant payout to your Stripe / PayPal (no withholding payments) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| If download links are shared by rogue customers, will they work? | ❌ Your downloads can be pirated because links are not protected | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ Links are protected |
| Integrations | ✅ Wide range of connections: works with top email, membership, fulfillment, analytics, webinars, and payment tools, plus Zapier for thousands more apps. | ⚠️ Fewer native connections: LearnDash, LifterLMS, TutorLMS, SureMembers, and BuddyBoss. Payments: Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Paystack, Razorpay. Connects to thousands of apps through OttoKit or Zapier. | ⚠️ Fewer native connections, but the Make.com connector gives you access to 3,000+ apps. Current native connections: Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend, with more on the way. |
| Affiliate management | ⚠️ Yes, for an added $295/yr | ✅ Yes | ❌ Coming soon |
| Best for | Creators who prefer paying once upfront rather than monthly fees to get most features (not all), and can put up with mediocre support. | WordPress users who want an ecommerce plugin without the bloat of WooCommerce. Great for selling physical products, digital downloads, courses, subscriptions, and for agencies running multiple stores. Needs a self-hosted WordPress site, not ideal for non-technical users who want a fully hosted setup. | Solo digital creators who don’t want their recurring revenue held hostage, plus instant setup, human support, and 0 platform fees (free until 2027). |
| Free migration | ❌ No free migration | ❌ No free migration | ✅ Free migration included |
These are the links for each platform: ThriveCart, SureCart, CartMango.
CartMango Is Not for Everyone, and That’s Fine
CartMango is built for one type of seller: the solo digital creator. The goal is to simplify selling so you can focus on creating. If you’re a coach, consultant, or course creator selling your products and services directly to your audience, it fits.
But if you need a WordPress-based e-commerce plugin that runs inside WordPress, SureCart or WooCommerce are better choices. If you need a built-in learning management system right now, ThriveCart has one (for $195 extra). CartMango doesn’t have an LMS yet, but it’s on the roadmap.
The same goes for native connections. CartMango’s catalog of apps is still growing. It works with Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend natively, and the Make.com connector opens up 3,000+ apps. But if you need deep native connections to dozens of tools on day one, ThriveCart has more there.
Affiliate management? Also coming soon for CartMango. SureCart already has it. ThriveCart has it too, as an add-on for $295/yr.
What CartMango does offer right now: zero platform fees (free until 2027), protected download links, founder-led support with a 2 hour and 16 minute average response time, and full ownership of your recurring customer relationships. For the right creator, that’s enough. For everyone else, keep reading.
ThriveCart: The One-Time Payment Shopping Cart
ThriveCart is a standalone cart platform. No WordPress needed, no specific CMS required. You pay $495 once and you’re done. No monthly SaaS fees, no annual renewals. For creators who don’t want to use subscription-based pricing tools, that’s a strong draw.
What ThriveCart offers
- Funnel builder with upsells and downsells
- Order bumps at checkout
- Buy now, pay later (BNPL) and installment options
- Flexible coupon and discount codes
- Checkout page customization with quick pages where customers don’t need to log in
- Direct payout to Stripe or PayPal
- Connects with CRM tools, email apps, and hundreds of third-party apps through Zapier and its API
- Embed your checkout page on any website or page builder
ThriveCart pricing
The base plan is $495 (one-time). If you want affiliate program management, add $295/yr. The LMS add-on costs $195. ThriveCart’s full feature set can run $495 + $295/yr + $195 depending on what you need.
The limitations
ThriveCart’s customer support is a known weak spot. Users have reported poor response times and removed feedback posts in their official Facebook group. If you hit a bug or need help with your dashboard, you may wait a while.
Download links are not protected. If a customer shares a link, anyone can access your secure file downloads. For creators selling digital products, that’s a real concern.
Best for
Creators who prefer a one-time payment, need a wide range of app connections, and can tolerate spotty support.
This is the link for ThriveCart.
SureCart: The WordPress Ecommerce Plugin
SureCart is a WordPress plugin built as a WooCommerce alternative. It lives inside your WordPress dashboard, handles both digital and physical products, and SureCart also includes subscription billing, making it a full ecommerce platform.
What SureCart offers
- Upsell and downsell flows after purchase
- Order bumps during checkout
- Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support
- Flexible coupon and discount codes
- A customer portal where buyers manage their orders
- Affiliate program management (included, not a paid add-on)
- Protected download links with access control
- SureCart allows you to sell both physical products and digital downloads from your catalog
- VAT collection and conditional logic for checkout fields
SureCart pricing
The free Launch plan charges 1.9% per transaction. At $5,000/month, that’s $95 gone before Stripe fees.
Pro (1 store): $179/yr
Pro (5 stores): $249/yr
Pro (unlimited stores): $399/yr
SureCart’s Pro plans come with features like priority support and zero transaction fees, which saves money fast once revenue grows.
The limitations
SureCart manages recurring payments on its own platform, not on Stripe or PayPal directly. If you leave, your paying customers don’t come with you. Other cart platforms have come and gone, and tying your billing to any one of them is risky.
SureCart requires a self-hosted WordPress site. If you don’t want to manage WP hosting and plugins, this isn’t for you. Native connections are limited to a handful of LMS and membership plugins. For anything beyond that, you’ll need OttoKit or Zapier to sync your tools.
Best for
WordPress users who want an e-commerce plugin for selling physical and digital products without the backend complexity of WooCommerce.
This is the link for SureCart.
Pricing Breakdown: What You Actually Pay
All costs below include Stripe/PayPal processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), assuming an average order of $50. For SureCart, I’m using the Pro plan ($179/yr) since it’s cheaper than the Free Launch plan’s 1.9% fee at every revenue level shown.
| Monthly Revenue | ThriveCart Cost (per month) | SureCart Cost (per month) | CartMango Cost (per month) | CartMango Savings vs ThriveCart (Year 1) | CartMango Savings vs SureCart (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 (20 orders) | $0 platform + $35 processing = $35 | $14.92 platform + $35 processing = $49.92 | $0 platform + $35 processing = $35 | $495 | $179/yr |
| $5,000 (100 orders) | $0 platform + $175 processing = $175 | $14.92 platform + $175 processing = $189.92 | $0 platform + $175 processing = $175 | $495 | $179/yr |
| $10,000 (200 orders) | $0 platform + $350 processing = $350 | $14.92 platform + $350 processing = $364.92 | $0 platform + $350 processing = $350 | $495 | $179/yr |
| $50,000 (1000 orders) | $0 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $14.92 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,764.92 | $0 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $495 | $179/yr |
For this comparison, I amortized ThriveCart’s one-time $495 fee across Year 1 so you can see the savings side by side. After Year 1, both ThriveCart and CartMango cost $0/month in platform fees, so there are no further savings to compare.
SureCart’s $179/yr fee repeats every year. With CartMango, you don’t need to pay that, so the $179/yr savings continue for as long as you use it. Compared to platforms like Shopify or Gumroad that take a cut of every sale, both ThriveCart and CartMango avoid per-transaction platform fees entirely.
ThriveCart vs SureCart vs CartMango: Which One Fits You?
These are the links for each platform: ThriveCart, SureCart, CartMango.
Choose ThriveCart if you prefer a one-time $495 payment, need a wide range of app connections, and can handle support that’s hard to reach. ThriveCart offers upsells, downsells, and a familiar dashboard. It’s one of the few platforms with no recurring cost. Just know your download links won’t be protected.
Choose SureCart if you run a self-hosted WordPress site and don’t want to use WooCommerce. SureCart offers a clean user experience, built-in affiliate management, and the ability to sell digital and physical products from inside your WP admin. The trade-off: if you leave SureCart, your recurring customers don’t come with you. If that works for you, it’s a solid WordPress-based option for selling online.
Choose CartMango if you’re a solo creator who wants zero platform fees, protected download links, and full ownership of your recurring customer relationships. In 2026, there aren’t many ecommerce platforms offering all of that for free. CartMango is free until 2027. It doesn’t have an LMS yet or deep native connections for now, but for selling digital products with less time spent on platform headaches, it’s worth trying.
Whether you’re coming from Easy Digital Downloads, WooCommerce, or something else, the right choice depends on your priorities. But if you don’t need a WordPress plugin, CartMango gives you the simplest path to start selling with zero fees. You can customize your checkout page, embed it on any site, and your paying customers stay yours no matter what.
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