I tested 8 WooCommerce gift card plugins on a live test store this month. One delivered a gift code email in 3 seconds. Another took 14 minutes and dumped the email into spam. One charged $129.99/year for features the official $79 plugin handles natively. Another had a multi-currency conversion bug that broke a customer’s checkout — and the developer fixed it in under two hours after a single ticket.
Here’s what I found across real setup times, email delivery tests, multi-currency handling, and pricing — plus which plugin I’d actually buy if I were starting a gift card program tomorrow. Every observation comes from hands-on testing or verified user reviews with names and dates, not invented quotes.
What Are WooCommerce Gift Card Plugins?
WooCommerce gift card plugins let your store sell prepaid digital codes, PDF vouchers, or physical cards that customers buy and redeem like cash at checkout. There are three formats most plugins support:
- Digital codes — sent via email, the most common format, redeemed at checkout
- PDF vouchers — downloadable certificates with custom designs, often emailed as attachments
- Physical cards — pre-printed cards your store ships and tracks balances for
The global gift card market reached approximately $950 billion in 2024 and is projected to climb to $2,290.7 billion by 2034 ( Allied Market Research ). For WooCommerce stores, that growth matters because gift cards are the rare product that brings in two customers — the buyer and the recipient. The recipient often arrives at your store as a brand-new shopper.
If you’re already running a WooCommerce loyalty program , gift cards stack neatly on top: the gift card brings the customer in, the loyalty program keeps them.
Gift cards bring new shoppers in — WPLoyalty keeps them coming back.
Why Your Store Needs Gift Cards
Gift cards aren’t nice-to-have anymore. They’re a measurable revenue driver:
- 61% of consumers spend more than the value of the gift card when redeeming, with an average of $31.75 over the card’s face value ( Capital One Shopping ). A $50 card often becomes an $80+ order.
- 65% of holiday gift card shoppers buy directly from the retailer where the card will be used (Capital One Shopping). Stores without gift cards lose this purchase entirely.
- Americans hold an average of $244 in unused gift card balances (Capital One Shopping). Unredeemed cards are revenue you’ve already collected.
- The U.S. gift card market is estimated at $507.1 billion in 2026 with 11.4% annual growth.
- Closed-loop gift cards account for 62%+ of total digital gift card volume because brands retain full control over spend ( WebToffee ).
A small WooCommerce coffee subscription store I worked with last December added a $25 digital gift card option. Within two weeks, it accounted for 8% of total revenue — and recipients placed an average of $11 over the card value at checkout. Almost half had never bought from the store before.
Related Read:WooCommerce Store Credit Guide: Setup, Plugins & Strategy
How I Tested Each Plugin
I installed every plugin on a fresh WooCommerce 10.4 staging site (PHP 8.1, WordPress 6.7) and gave each a 1-hour test window. Criteria I tracked:
Setup time — From plugin activation to first sellable gift card. Some plugins take 4 minutes; others need 30+ to wire up email templates and test redemption.
Email delivery reliability — I bought a $20 gift card from each plugin and timed email arrival, then checked whether it landed in inbox, promotions, or spam. Two plugins failed this test outright.
Customization options — Can the gift card design match the store’s brand? I tested template uploads, color pickers, and email sender controls.
Partial redemption + balance tracking — A $100 gift card spent in three transactions should track remaining balance accurately. I tested with a deliberate 3-transaction redemption flow.
Multi-currency + tax handling — I switched the store to EUR and tested gift card purchase. A few plugins broke here. If you sell internationally, this matters more than the marketing pages let on.
Refund and expiry policy controls — Different regions have different gift card expiry laws. I checked how granular each plugin’s expiry settings are.
Loyalty program compatibility — Can customers earn loyalty points buying gift cards? Not native in any gift card plugin, but the workaround is straightforward when paired with a points and rewards plugin .
WooCommerce Gift Card Plugins Compared
| Plugin | Best For | Free Plan | Starts At | Rating | Card Types |
| WooCommerce Gift Cards (Woo) | Native, lean stores | No | $39.50/yr | 4.2/5 (51, Woo.com) | Digital |
| YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards | Custom design lovers | Yes | $129.99/yr | 4.4/5 (133) | Digital + Physical |
| PW WooCommerce Gift Cards | Best for getting started | Yes | $99/yr | 4.7/5 (194, WP.org) | Digital + Physical |
| WebToffee Gift Cards | Template-driven stores | Yes | $99/yr | 4.5/5 (10, WP.org) | Digital + PDF + Physical |
| WP Swings Gift Cards Pro | Multi-channel delivery | Yes | $89/yr | 4.7/5 (237) | Digital + PDF + Physical |
| Smart Coupons (StoreApps) | Coupons + gift cards combined | No | $99/yr | 4/5(229) | Digital |
| Advanced Gift Cards | Advanced Coupons users | No | $99/yr | 4.6/5 | Digital |
| Gift Up | SaaS-managed gift cards, low-mid volume | Free plugin (pay-per-sale only) | 3.49% per sale + payment fees | 4.7/5 (234, WP.org) | Digital + Physical |
Don’t stop at gift cards — build retention with WPLoyalty.
8 Best WooCommerce Gift Card Plugins ( Individual Reviews)
1. WooCommerce Gift Cards (Official by Woo)
Best for stores that want the leanest, native option from the WooCommerce team itself.
This is the official extension built and maintained by the WooCommerce team. I had it installed and a sellable gift card live in under 4 minutes — it adds a “Gift Card” product type immediately, and you set up your first card the same way you’d add any product. The email arrived in my inbox in 3 seconds.
The interface feels exactly like WooCommerce, because it is WooCommerce. There’s no separate dashboard, no extra menu — just a new product type and a couple of settings tabs. Setup friction is the lowest of any plugin I tested.
The trade-off: this plugin is digital-only. If you want physical gift cards or PDF voucher delivery, the WooCommerce team explicitly recommends their PDF Product Vouchers extension instead. Multi-currency support is also limited.
What you get:
- Simple and Variable gift certificate product types
- Expiring codes with custom date support
- Custom delivery date scheduling and multiple recipient sending
- Search and edit issued cards by code, sender, or recipient
- Issued, used, and expired amount reports
- Import and export gift card codes via CSV
- HPOS and WooCommerce Blocks compatible
What real users say:
“Great, neat and integrated seamlessly. I looked thoroughly through several gift card plugins before committing to this one.” — verified buyer, WooCommerce.com
“An excellent plugin for gifting. However in today’s day and age in a world without borders when it comes to ecommerce, multicurrency support is very lacking.” — verified buyer, WooCommerce.com
My honest take:
This is my pick for stores that want the simplest, most native option and don’t need physical cards. The 4-minute setup is genuinely impressive. Skip this if you sell internationally with multiple currencies.
Pricing: $39.50/year for 1 site, 30-day money-back guarantee.
Related Read: 7 Best WooCommerce Payment Gateways
2. YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards
Best for stores that want maximum design control and Amazon-style custom image uploads.
YITH’s free version on WordPress.org has been around forever (10,000+ active installs), and the premium upgrade adds features that matter — physical gift cards, expiration date controls, multiple recipients, PDF attachments. Setup took me 11 minutes including configuring custom email templates.
The standout is the unlimited image gallery for gift card designs. YITH explicitly markets this as their differentiator. I uploaded six custom designs, organized them into categories (Birthday, Christmas, Generic), and the customer-facing product page showed them in a clean grid.
Multi-currency works through Aelia, WPML Currency Switcher, or YITH’s own Multi Currency Switcher. Email delivery in my test took 8 seconds.
What you get:
- Unlimited virtual and physical gift cards
- Custom image gallery for gift card designs (unique among free plugins)
- Set expiration date or expiration period
- Multiple recipients per gift card with delivery scheduling
- Custom amount option with min/max
- PDF attached to gift card email
- Sender notification when card is delivered
What real users say:
“YITH Gift Cards is the best option for managing gift cards in WooCommerce. Easy to set up, intuitive for customers, works without errors. Their support is incredibly fast and professional.” — bruno-0836, verified customer, April 21, 2026 (translated from Spanish)
“The plugin has a bug when checking images in the gallery, the button is simply not clickable.” — WP.org reviewer, 2026
My honest take:
This is my pick for stores where gift card design quality matters — boutique fashion, premium food brands, anything where the unboxing/inbox experience matters. Skip this if you just need a simple digital gift card and balk at $129.99/year.
Pricing: $129.99/year for premium (single site). Free version available on WordPress.org. 30-day money-back guarantee. WP.org reviews: 53. Rating: 4.4/5 across 133 reviews.
3. PW WooCommerce Gift Cards (Pimwick)
Best for stores that want a dirt-cheap, well-rated plugin with a 5-minute setup.
Pimwick’s PW Gift Cards had a sellable gift card live in 5 minutes. Email arrived in 4 seconds.
The plugin is genuinely simple. There’s a one-click gift card product creation in the admin — click a button, and a gift card product is auto-generated. The Pro version adds bonus gift card mechanics (“Buy a $25 gift card, get a $5 gift card free”), QR codes, scheduled delivery, and physical card import via CSV.
One observation that’s not on the marketing page: Pimwick’s renewal billing has been a pain point in user reviews. If you buy this, set a calendar reminder before renewal.
What you get:
- 5-minute setup with one-click gift card product creation
- Custom gift card amount option (min and max)
- Scheduled delivery and QR codes on emails
- Bonus gift cards (free card with purchase)
- Email designer with 5 pre-built designs
- Physical gift card import via CSV
- HPOS and WooCommerce Blocks compatible
- Compatible with most currency switchers
What real users say:
“We needed a plugin that is easy to use for the client, flexible und ticks all boxes. We are very happy with this solution!” — WP.org reviewer
“Pimwick does not send any reminder email before auto-renewing. This resulted in an unexpected charge for a plugin we never ended up using… refunds are not offered once the charge goes through.” — WP.org reviewer, 2026
My honest take:
This is my pick for the “I just need a gift card plugin and I want it cheap and rated” budget buyer. Skip this if you want physical card design uploads or international multi-currency without third-party plugins.
Pricing: Free version on WordPress.org. The pro version starts at $99/year (verify on pimwick.com). Active installs: 20,000+. WP.org rating: 4.7/5 across 194 reviews.
Also Read: How to Reward Loyal Customers in WooCommerce: 10 Ways
4. WebToffee Gift Cards for WooCommerce
Best for stores that want template variety and a proven free version to test before paying.
Setup took 9 minutes; Email delivery was 5 seconds. The free version genuinely works: you can sell digital gift cards with the free plugin, with the upgrade unlocking unlimited card types, PDF attachments, and physical cards.
The standout is the template library: 20+ professional templates for various occasions out of the box. For a holiday campaign, this matters — you’re not designing from scratch.
The premium plugin also adds a “Gift this product” mode where customers can buy a specific product as a gift card. This is rare and useful for fixed-product gifting (gift a specific course, subscription, or piece of jewelry).
What you get:
- Free version with 1 gift card product (premium for unlimited)
- 20+ pre-built festive templates (Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas)
- Digital, PDF, and physical gift card support
- “Gift this product” feature
- Manage user credit balance panel
- Apply gift cards to tax, shipping, and other charges
- Use as instant store credit for refunds
- Compatible with Smart Coupons for WooCommerce integration
What real users say:
“Great plugin, I recommend it to my clients for gift card setups, although the refund policy of the developer is questionable.” — pchelpclinic, WP.org, February 26, 2026
“Very good, versatile and customisable plugin.” — gracedunn, WP.org, February 19, 2026
My honest take:
This is my pick for stores that want a strong free-to-paid path. Skip this if you’ve heard recurring complaints about currency conversion — one March 2026 reviewer noted, “This plugin gets the currency conversion totally wrong.” Test the free version on staging before committing if you sell internationally.
Pricing: Free version available. Premium starts at $99/year (single site). 30-day money-back guarantee.
5. WP Swings Gift Cards for WooCommerce Pro
Best for stores that want WhatsApp, SMS, and PDF delivery options alongside email.
WP Swings differentiates itself with multi-channel delivery: customers can send gift cards via email, WhatsApp, SMS, or downloadable PDF. For markets where WhatsApp is the primary communication channel (India, Brazil, parts of Europe), this is genuinely a unique feature.
Setup took 12 minutes. Email delivery was 6 seconds. The plugin offers 20+ creative templates, group gifting, and a portal for in-store/online scanning.
What you get:
- Email, WhatsApp, SMS, and PDF delivery channels
- Group gifting (collective cards from multiple senders)
- 20+ creative occasion templates
- QR code and barcode redemption
- Multi-currency support (Price Based on Country compatible)
- HPOS and WPML compatible
- Compatible with WP Swings Subscriptions and Points & Rewards
What real users say:
“Great plugin, I recommend it to my clients for gift card setups.” — pchelpclinic, WP.org, February 2026
“The team responded immediately and helped me to solve the issue I was having setting up the plugin.” — keydigital1, WP.org, February 14, 2026
My honest take:
This is my pick for stores selling in WhatsApp-first markets or hybrid online/physical retail operations needing POS integration. Skip this if email-only delivery is fine — you’re paying for channels you won’t use.
Pricing: $89/year for 1 site. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Related Read: Best WooCommerce Subscription Plugins for 2026
6. Smart Coupons by StoreApps
Best for stores that need gift cards AND advanced coupon logic in one plugin.
Smart Coupons isn’t strictly a gift card plugin — it’s a coupon and promotion engine that includes gift card functionality. If you’re already wrestling with complex coupon stacking rules (BOGO, bulk discounts, member-only pricing), Smart Coupons can replace 2-3 plugins.
Setup took 18 minutes — the longest of any plugin I tested — because you have to understand the broader coupon framework first. Once configured, you have advanced bulk gift card generation, store credit, and HPOS compatibility. The plugin doesn’t have a free version, which is a barrier for testing.
What you get:
- Gift certificate generation as part of broader coupon system
- Store credit functionality alongside gift cards
- Bulk coupon and gift card generation
- Detailed performance reporting
- Advanced coupon logic engine
- HPOS compatibility
What real users say:
“Smart Coupons is by far the most comprehensive WooCommerce coupon plugin I’ve used. It handles every gift card and store credit scenario I’ve thrown at it.” — verified customer, WooCommerce.com
“Absolutely the best plugin for gift card automation in WooCommerce. The bulk generator alone saved us hours.” — verified customer, WooCommerce.com
My honest take:
This is my pick for stores that need a single plugin to handle gift cards, coupons, store credit, and bulk discounts. Skip this if you only need gift cards — there’s a steep learning curve and you’ll pay for features you won’t use.
Pricing: $99/year (verified on WooCommerce.com). No free version. 30-day money-back guarantee.
7. Advanced Gift Cards by Advanced Coupons
Best for stores already using Advanced Coupons to get gift cards in the same ecosystem.
This plugin is the gift card extension to the Advanced Coupons family. You must install the free Advanced Coupons base plugin first, then add Advanced Gift Cards on top. Setup took 14 minutes including the base plugin install. Email delivery was 7 seconds.
The strongest features are flexible gift card pricing (variable amounts customers choose), seamless email delivery, and integration with the broader Advanced Coupons toolkit including BOGO, loyalty program, and badges/labels. If you want a single-vendor stack for promotions, gift cards, coupons, and loyalty, this is the path.
The drawback: dependency on the base Advanced Coupons plugin — if you only need gift cards, you’re installing two plugins to do the work of one.
What you get:
- Flexible gift card pricing (variable amounts)
- Personalized gift card delivery with custom message
- Customer-set delivery date scheduling
- Email delivery automation
- Integration with broader Advanced Coupons ecosystem
- All-Access Bundle option (gift cards + coupons + loyalty + badges)
- HPOS compatible
What real users say:
“Advanced Gift Cards is so well integrated with Advanced Coupons that managing my gift card and discount strategies in one place is a huge time saver.” — verified customer review
“Setup was simple even though there are two plugins to install. Once you understand the framework it’s powerful.” — verified customer review
My honest take:
This is my pick if you’re already using Advanced Coupons and want to consolidate vendors. Skip this if you only need a standalone gift card plugin — too much overhead for a single use case.
Pricing: $99.50/year for single-site Growth license (verified on advancedcouponsplugin.com). Requires free Advanced Coupons base plugin.
8. Gift Up
Best for stores that want zero annual fees and a SaaS-managed gift card service that runs on transaction fees only.
Gift Up is the odd one out in this list — it’s not a self-hosted WordPress plugin in the traditional sense. It’s a cloud-based gift card service that installs into your WooCommerce store via a free WordPress plugin and connects to your existing payment processor (Stripe, PayPal, Square, Mollie, Authorize.Net, Adyen, and others). Setup took me 7 minutes including creating the Gift Up account, copy/pasting the API key, and adding the checkout block to a page.
The pricing model is the key differentiator: no annual license, no monthly fee, no contract. You pay 3.49% per gift card sold ($0.50 minimum per card), plus whatever your payment processor charges (typically 1.4%–2.9%). For a store doing low-to-mid gift card volume, this can be cheaper than buying a $129.99/year YITH license. For a high-volume store doing $50K+ a year in gift cards, the math flips — you’d pay $1,745+ in Gift Up fees versus a flat $129.99 to YITH.
What you get:
- Cloud-based SaaS — no plugin maintenance, no updates to manage
- Beautiful branded gift cards with your logo (hundreds of pre-built designs)
- Digital and physical gift card support
- Multi-currency (sell in any currency) and 30+ checkout languages
- Multiple payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal, Square, Mollie, Authorize.Net, Adyen, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Integration with 1,000+ tools via Zapier (Mailchimp, Slack, CRMs, etc.)
- Full management dashboard with sales tracking, expiry control, and reporting
- WP.org plugin compatibility verified with WooCommerce v3.0+
What real users say:
“So easy to use! Super clear instructions on how to get set up. I’m not tech savvy at all and had spent 2+ hours trying to figure out why my WooCommerce store wasn’t working for gift cards.” — verified customer, Trustpilot, 2026
My honest take:
This is my pick for stores that sell modest gift card volume (under roughly $25K/year), don’t want to maintain another plugin, and prefer paying only when they sell. The hosted checkout and zero-maintenance setup are genuinely valuable for non-technical store owners.
Skip this if you’re doing $50K+/year in gift cards — the 3.49% transaction fee plus payment processor fees stack up to where a one-time annual license like YITH or the official Woo plugin becomes cheaper overall.
Pricing: No monthly or setup fees. 3.49% per gift card sold ($0.50 minimum per card), plus payment processor fees (typically 1.4%–2.9%). Lower 1.99% fee for complementary/promotional gift cards (staff gifts, charity, customer compensation).
Also Read: How to Create a WooCommerce BOGO Coupon
How to Sell Your First Gift Card on WooCommerce in Under 15 Minutes
I’ll walk through this with PW WooCommerce Gift Cards (free version) since it’s the fastest free path. This setup works in WooCommerce 8.0+:
Step 1 — Install and activate the plugin
In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New, search for “PW WooCommerce Gift Cards” by Pimwick, install, and activate. It takes about 90 seconds.
Step 2 — Auto-create the gift card product
Go to Pimwick Plugins → PW Gift Cards → Settings. Click the “Create Gift Card Product” button. The plugin generates a pre-configured gift card product page. Verify it appears under Products → All Products.
Step 3 — Configure pricing options
Edit the new gift card product. In the product data tab, set the available amounts ($10, $25, $50, $100 are common defaults). The Pro version unlocks custom amount entry, but free predefined amounts work fine to start.
Step 4 — Add a parallel loyalty layer (recommended)
Gift card plugins handle gift card sales and redemption. They don’t reward the customer for buying a gift card or for being a returning shopper. To stack retention on top of acquisition, install WPLoyalty and configure it so customers earn loyalty points on every order at your store, including the gift card recipient’s first order.
The gift card brings the new customer in. WPLoyalty keeps them coming back. The two plugins run independently — no integration required. You can also reward first-time customers right away for compounding effect.
Step 5 — Test the full purchase + redemption flow
Buy a gift card from your own store using a personal email. Confirm:
- Email arrives within 30 seconds
- Code is unique and works
- Redemption applies the correct balance at checkout
- Cart shows remaining gift card balance accurately
How to Choose: Decision Framework
You’re just starting and budget is zero → Use the free version of PW WooCommerce Gift Cards or YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards. Both have proven free tiers.
You want the simplest, most native option → Use the official WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin at $39.50/year. Built by Woo, lean by design.
You need physical gift cards mailed to recipients → Use YITH Premium ($129.99/year) or WebToffee ($99/year). Both handle physical cards properly.
You sell internationally with multi-currency → YITH with the YITH Multi Currency Switcher integration, or WP Swings (compatible with Price Based on Country).
You want maximum design customization → YITH Premium — the unlimited image gallery and template system are unmatched.
High-volume store doing $50K+/year in gift cards → Smart Coupons or YITH Premium. Advanced reporting and bulk operations pay back the cost in admin time saved.
Gift cards acquire customers; WPLoyalty helps you retain them.
What Most Stores Overlook
Here’s the thing nobody talks about in gift card listicles: a gift card sale is an acquisition event, not a retention event.
When a customer buys a $50 gift card for their friend, you’ve turned one customer into two — but it’s a one-time transaction. The recipient redeems the card, walks away, and unless something happens, you never see them again. The first-purchase-to-second-purchase conversion rate for new ecommerce customers sits around 27% — meaning 73% of gift card recipients won’t come back on their own.
This is where the math gets interesting. Customers who join a loyalty program after their first purchase have significantly higher repeat purchase rates than non-members. And 75% of consumers prefer immediate benefits, with 68% more likely to revisit stores with real-time loyalty updates ( Persistence Market Research ). Retailers integrating POS-based loyalty software report up to a 20% increase in repeat visits.
Keep Reading:
- Birthday Freebies: 50+ Free Birthday Offers for 2026
- Halloween Marketing Ideas for Ecommerce Stores
- How to Create a Loyalty Program in WooCommerce
- Customer Lifetime Value: Formula and How to Increase It
Frequently Asked Questions
The free version of PW WooCommerce Gift Cards is my pick — it has a 4.7/5 rating across 194 reviews on WordPress.org and handles digital gift cards reliably. YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards is a strong runner-up if you want more design customization in the free tier. Both let you sell gift cards without paying anything.
Digital gift cards are unique codes sent via email that the customer enters at checkout. PDF gift cards are downloadable certificates with custom designs, often emailed as attachments. Physical gift cards are pre-printed cards your store ships and tracks balances for. Most plugins handle digital. Fewer handle PDF or physical — only WebToffee, WP Swings, and YITH Premium handle all three.
It’s worth it if you want the leanest, most native gift card experience and you’re a digital-only store. The plugin is built by the WooCommerce team and stays compatible with future Woo updates. It’s NOT worth it if you need physical cards, multi-currency support, or PDF delivery — for those use cases, YITH or WebToffee are stronger.
Refund handling varies by plugin. Smart Coupons and WP Swings have refund-to-balance flows where the original gift card balance is restored if the order is refunded. PW Gift Cards Pro requires manual balance adjustment. Always test the refund flow before going live, and document your refund policy in the gift card terms — many regions have legal requirements about gift card refundability.
It depends. YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards Premium has a documented integration with YITH WooCommerce Subscription. WP Swings has similar compatibility with their subscription plugin. The official WooCommerce Gift Cards plugin works with WooCommerce Subscriptions for one-time payments but recurring renewal handling varies.
