There are two ways businessmen can sell online- either from their online store or via a multivendor marketplace. eCommerce stores are one-dimensional as they contain products from one seller/vendor. Whereas, customers can expect a variety of products from different sellers on a multivendor marketplace platform.
It is estimated that multivendor marketplace size would likely reach $8.1 trillion by 2026, which is an increase of 56%.
Statista
Creating and managing a multivendor marketplace is a complex task as you need to manage vendors as well as customers. However, if you are using WordPress, then creating a marketplace is easy. You will find plugins like Dokan Multivendor and WC Vendors to help you create the perfect marketplace platform.
However, choosing the right marketplace plugin can be tricky as both of them possess some great functions and features. That is why in this write-up, we are going to create a detailed comparison post on Dokan vs WC Vendors.
We will compare their features, pricing, support, and other aspects to give you a clear picture of which platform to choose while creating your dream marketplace.
Let’s grab a cup of joe and get started-
Dokan vs WC Vendors: Short Overview
Before we start digging into Dokan multivendor and WC Vendors, let’s get to know them and learn some stats about both the products.
What is Dokan Multivendor?
Dokan multivendor is a WooCommerce powered multivendor marketplace plugin that enables users to turn their WordPress eCommerce store into a multivendor marketplace platform. The plugin has 40+ modules, 45+ features that can be used to create and manage a marketplace easily.
Starting out as a WordPress theme, Dokan converted into a full-fledged multivendor marketplace plugin back in 2014. To this day, the plugin has 60000+ active installations, more than any other WordPress multivendor plugins, 4.6/5 ratings in WordPress.org, 577 5-star reviews, and has been translated into 15 languages.
What is WC Vendors?
WC Vendors is a popular multivendor marketplace plugin that enables users to turn their WooCommerce store into a marketplace. The plugin has more than 60+ feature and modules that will help users easily manage their makretplace.
After its launch back in 2012, the plugin has earned quite a name in the marketplace industry and the plugin has 7000+ active installations. The plugin has 4.5/5 ratings in WordPress.org and 136 5-star reviews.
The plugin was recently acquired by RYMERA WEB CO!
Dokan vs WC Vendors: Key Features, Similarities & Differences
So now that we know the basic things about both Dokan Multivendor and WC Vendors, let’s get to the most juicy part of the blog, the comparison.
We will break down the comparison into 10 parts including-
- Ease of Use & Dashboard
- Themes, Customization, and Mobile Responsiveness
- Vendor Management & Onboarding
- Modules & Extensions
- Payment Gateways & Vendor Withdraw Systems
- Frontend Order & Product Management
- Delivery and Shipping
- Customer Support, Documentation and Community
- Security, Backup & Performance
- Pricing
Let’s get started-
Ease of Use & Dashboard
Running a marketplace is already a complicated task, on top of that if you need to worry about figuring out the plugin as well, then you are in real trouble. That is why it is important to have a platform that is easy to use and configure.
Let’s see how easy it is to use both Dokan and WC Vendors in this Dokan vs WC Vendors comparison blog.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan multivendor is very easy to use. The plugin is easy to install, you can download the plugin from WordPress.org or directly install the plugin from the WordPress dashboard. Also, the setup wizard is very user-friendly and there are tooltips in every section to guide you through the process.
Also, the admin dashboard is very organized and the design of the dashboard is very eye-soothing as well. You will find all the settings under the dashboard and as we said, tooltips to guide you through every settings.
Also, there is a live search feature in the dashboard that will help you find the setting you are looking for with ease.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors is easy to use, even for non-technical users. The plugin has a simple installation process and a user-friendly interface. There are also a number of helpful tutorials and documentation available online.
One of the things that makes WC Vendors so easy to use is its integration with WooCommerce. WC Vendors dashboard is a central hub for managing your marketplace. From the dashboard, you can add and manage vendors, products, orders, and coupons. You can also track sales, view reports, and manage commissions.
The dashboard is well-designed and easy to navigate. All of the important information is at your fingertips, and you can easily access the tools you need to manage your marketplace.
Themes, Customization and Mobile Responsiveness
To give the marketplace a professional look, the platform you are using must have themes and customization options to help you do that. Let’s see how Dokan multivendor and WC Vendors do in this part.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan multivendor is compatible with all WooCommerce themes. That means you can use any theme that is compatible with WooCommerce to create your marketplace. However, Dokan multivendor has its themes like Otel and Dokani, that help give the marketplace a professional look.
You will find a list of third-party premium themes that are compatible with Dokan multivendor on the site that you can also use. These themes are highly customizable and you can easily tweak the design to make it look the way you want.
And yes, Dokan multivendor is mobile responsive.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors offers a variety of themes to choose from, so you can find one that perfectly matches the look and feel of your brand. You can also customize the look of your marketplace by adding your own logo, colors, and fonts.
You will find the list of recommended themes on their website. The theme’s names include Botiga, Generatepress, OceanWP, Easy Commerce, etc.
WC Vendors is also mobile responsive, so your marketplace will look great on all devices.
Vendor Management & Onboarding
As a multivendor marketplace, we can’t stress enough how important it is to manage the vendors. Along with customers, they are the heart and soul of the marketplace.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan Multivendor has a terrific vendor management system. There is a built-in vendor registration form that allows users to become a vendor in the marketplace. All they need is to add the necessary information while signing up. However, if the admin wants they can tweak the fields of the registration form.
When a user applies to be a vendor, they will get a vendor setup wizard, where they need to upload all the information related to their store. Then the admin will go through the information and decide whether to approve the user as a vendor.
Vendors will get a dashboard that they can use to manage their stores. The dashboard is user-friendly and all the necessary settings are present there.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors provides a comprehensive vendor management system that allows you to easily manage all aspects of your vendor relationships. You can add, edit, and delete vendors, as well as set their permissions and access levels. You can also track their sales, commissions, and performance.
The plugin also streamlines the vendor onboarding process, making it easy for new vendors to get up and running quickly. Vendors can create their own accounts, add their products, and start selling right away.
Modules & Extensions
In order to add advanced functionalities to your marketplace, you need to add modules and extensions. Dokan Multivendor and WC Vendors both have an extensive list of modules and extensions.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan multivendor has 40+ modules. This is a big number and it covers all the advanced functionalities you need to add to your marketplace.
With these modules, you can add functionalities like
- Subscription
- Table Rate Shipping
- Payment Gateways
- Vendor Analytics
- Delivery Time
- Booking
- Auction
- Seller Badges
- Request for Quotation
- Product Advertising
- Min/Max order
- Geolocation and more.
But you need to buy the premium version in order to enable these modules on your marketplace.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors modules are add-ons that extend the functionality of the core WC Vendors plugin. There are a wide variety of modules available, covering a wide range of features, such as:
- Vendor membership
- Vendor reviews
- Product commissions
- Vendor payouts
- Shipping
- Marketing.
Payment Gateways & Vendor Withdraw Systems
To accept payments from all over the world, and to also pay the vendors their due, you need to have payment integrations with your marketplace platform.
Dokan Multivendor
Other than having compatibility with all the WooCommerce-supported payment gateways, Dokan multivendor also has integrations with a few other popular payment gateways. You will find integrations with PayPal, Stripe, Wirecard, Stripe Express, Razorpay, and Mangopay.
These payment gateways are specially configured to manage the complex transaction process of a marketplace. For example, if a customer buys from two different vendors, the payment gateways must split the payments correctly so that the admin gets his commission and the vendors get their money.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors offers a variety of payment gateways to choose from, so you can find one that perfectly meets your needs. Some of the most popular payment gateways for WC Vendors include:
- PayPal
- Stripe
- Mollie
- MangoPay
- Stripe Connect.
These payment gateways are designed to handle the complex payment systems of a multivendor marketplace.
Frontend Order & Product Management
A marketplace needs to have a good product and order management system. Fortunately both Dokan multivendor and WC Vendors have excellent order and product management systems.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan Multivendor provides a comprehensive front-end order management system for vendors. Vendors can view all of their orders, their status, and other relevant information from their vendor dashboard. They can also take quick actions like viewing the details of an order, marking it as complete, or putting it on hold.
In the detailed view of an order, vendors can see all of the important information, including the customer’s name, address, phone number, email address, and the products that they ordered.
Dokan Multivendor also provides a front-end product management system for vendors. Vendors can add, edit, and delete products from their vendor dashboard. They can also manage their product categories, tags, and attributes.
WC Vendors
With WC Vendors, vendors can easily view, manage, and process orders from their frontend dashboard. They can see all the details of an order, including customer information, product details, shipping information, and payment status. Vendors can change the status of an order to reflect its progress.
Vendors can issue full or partial refunds to customers if necessary. They can also manage their products directly from their frontend dashboard. They can:
- Add new products
- Edit existing products
- Manage product categories and tags
- Set product stock levels
- Manage product variations
- Upload product images.
Delivery and Shipping
Whether it is an eCommerce store or a multivendor marketplace, delivery and shipping is an essential part. Dokan Multivendor and WC Vendors both offer extensive delivery and shipping features.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan supports WooCoomerce shipping features. Other than that, it also has a Zone Wise Shipping features. Vendors can configure the shipping features from the frontend vendor dashboard. Also, Dokan multivendor has Table Rate Shipping and Distance rate shipping that helps vendors set complex shipping terms with ease.
Also, Dokan multivendor has a shipping tracking feature so that customers can track their orders live. The plugin integrates with a variety of popular shipping carriers, such as FedEx, UPS, and USPS.
In case of delivery, the Delivery Time module will enable users to choose the time and date of the delivery from the checkout page.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors provides a comprehensive suite of delivery and shipping features to help you manage your multi-vendor marketplace effectively. You will find shipping features like Flat Rate Shipping, Table Rate Shipping, and Local Pickup.
Also, WC Vendors allows you to create shipping zones to define different shipping rates for different regions. This is useful if you want to charge different shipping fees for domestic and international orders, or for orders shipping to different countries or states.
WC Vendors also allows you to track shipments and provide tracking information to your customers.
But the plugin doesn’t have delivery time features like Dokan Multivendor.
Customer Support, Documentation and Community
As we said earlier, managing a multivendor marketplace is a complex task and so is managing the platform. That is why you will need customer support, comprehensive documentation, and a strong community.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan Multivendor offers a variety of customer support options, including:
- Online documentation: Dokan Multivendor has a comprehensive online documentation library that covers all aspects of the plugin, from installation to advanced features. The documentation is well-written and easy to follow, and it includes screenshots and videos to help you understand the concepts.
- YouTube Videos: Dokan Multivendor also has a YouTube channel that contains tutorials to all the modules and features. Users can easily follow the videos to manage their marketplace.
- Support forum: The Dokan Multivendor support forum is a great place to get help from other Dokan users and the Dokan team. The forum is active and well-moderated, and you can usually get a response to your question within a few hours.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors offers comprehensive customer support, documentation, and a vibrant community to help you get the most out of the plugin. Including-
- Documentation: WC Vendors has comprehensive online documentation that covers all aspects of the plugin, from installation and setup to advanced features and troubleshooting.
- Support forums: WC Vendors has a dedicated support forum where you can ask questions and get help from other users and the WC Vendors team.
- Ticket system: WC Vendors also offers a ticket system where you can submit support tickets and get one-on-one help from the WC Vendors team.
WC Vendors has a large and active community of users. You can find help and support from other users in the WC Vendors support forums. You can also follow the WC Vendors blog for news, updates, and tips.
Overall, WC Vendors offers excellent customer support, documentation, and a vibrant community to help you get the most out of the plugin.
Security, Backup & Performance
As you are running a website, it is very normal to lose data or have security issues as WordPress is the most attacked platform. That is why you will need strong security and backup features for your marketplace plugins.
Dokan Multivendor
Dokan Multivendor includes the following security features:
- Regular security updates: The Dokan team releases regular security updates to patch any vulnerabilities that are discovered.
- Code review: The Dokan team reviews all of the code that is added to the plugin to ensure that it is secure.
- Security audits: The Dokan team regularly commissions security audits to identify and fix any potential security vulnerabilities.
- Secure coding practices: The Dokan team follows secure coding practices to minimize the risk of security vulnerabilities.
Dokan Multivendor is designed to be as lightweight and efficient as possible. It includes a number of performance optimizations to ensure that your marketplace loads quickly and runs smoothly.
For example, Dokan Multivendor uses caching to store frequently accessed data in memory. This can reduce the number of database queries that Dokan Multivendor needs to make, which can improve performance.
WC Vendors
WC Vendors is committed to providing a secure platform for your multi-vendor marketplace. The plugin is regularly updated with security patches and enhancements to protect your data and your customer’s information.
Here are some of the security measures that WC Vendors implement:
- Vulnerability scanning: WC Vendors are regularly scanned for vulnerabilities by a team of security experts.
- Secure coding practices: WC Vendors is developed using secure coding practices to help prevent security vulnerabilities.
- Input validation: WC Vendors validate all user input to help prevent malicious code from being executed.
- Data encryption: WC Vendors encrypt sensitive data to protect it from unauthorized access.
- Regular backups: WC Vendors recommends that you regularly back up your data to protect yourself from data loss.
Pricing
In terms of pricing-
Dokan Multivendor Pricing
Dokan Multivendor has a free version that you can download from WordPress.org or install from the WordPress dashboard. For the premium version, it has 4 plans-
- Starter: $149/year
- Professional: $249/year
- Business: $499/year
- Enterprise: $999/year.
WC Vendors Pricing
WC Vendors also has a free version that you can download from WordPress.org or install from the WordPress dashboard. For the premium version, it has 3 plans-
- Pro: $199/year
- Growth: $399/year
- Business: $599/year.
Dokan vs WC Vendors: Summary
Here is a summary table to compare the features of Dokab vs WC Vendors-
| Features | Dokan | WC Vendors |
| Demo | Yes | No |
| Support | Support ticket, email, live chat | Support ticket, email, live chat |
| Built-in Multilingual Support | Yes | Yes |
| Withdrawal System | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in Refund Management | Yes | Yes |
| Admin & Vendor Report | Yes | Yes |
| Customizable Registration Form | Yes | No |
| Different Commission Types | Yes | Yes |
| Welcome Wizard for Vendors | Yes | Yes |
| Store Policy | Paid | Pro |
| Built-in Live Search | Paid | No |
| Product Category | Yes | Yes |
| Zone-wise Shipping | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor Admin Contact Form | Yes | No |
| Store SEO | Paid | Pro |
| Coupon Management | Paid | Pro |
| Ratings | 4.6 | 4.5 |
Dokan vs WC Vendors: Final Verdict
Dokan Multivendor and WC Vendors both are exceptional multivendor marketplace plugins. However, in terms of user base, user trust, and longevity, Dokan edges out.
You should choose Dokan Multivendor over WC Vendors if you are looking for-
- Comprehensive Feature Set
- Modern & User-Friendly Interface
- Advanced Customization Options
- Extensive Integrations
- Strong Community Support
- Regular Updates
- Cost-Effective Solution.
Dokan has been leading the way for almost 10 years now!
Dokan hasn’t released a major feature or module in the past 3 months, but still, the users are trusting this plugin to create their marketplaces. That is why it is the most installed marketplace plugin in the whole WordPress industry.
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