Gift cards are one of the few things shoppers ask for by name. According to the National Retail Federation, they rank as the second-most popular gift of the 2025 holiday season, with 43% of shoppers planning to buy at least one and $29 billion in total spending expected.
For most online WooCommerce stores, Advanced Gift Cards is the best overall option. It covers the features shoppers and store owners need, including custom amounts, scheduled delivery, built-in and custom designs, email previews and detailed reporting. More importantly, redeemed gift cards become store credit, giving stores a more connected way to manage gift card value, refunds and future rewards.
Some stores may need a particular feature, such as physical cards, WhatsApp delivery or reloadable balances. This comparison looks at five popular options, where each one fits and why Advanced Gift Cards offers the strongest overall setup for most online stores.
What Makes A Good WooCommerce Gift Card Plugin
A good gift card plugin has to issue a unique code, remember what’s left on it, and apply only that amount at checkout. Every option here clears that bar, so the useful criteria sit above it.
Five things are worth checking before you buy:
- Amount flexibility: can buyers enter their own figure, and can you control it with a minimum, maximum and step? Custom amounts give shoppers more room to match the gift to their budget or occasion.
- Delivery control: can the buyer choose the day it arrives, and how far ahead? Someone shopping in October for a December birthday needs months, not days.
- Design: does the plugin include usable card designs, or does every card need artwork from you before it looks presentable?
- Admin visibility: when a customer emails asking what’s left on their card, how many clicks does the answer take?
- What the balance becomes: this is the one that matters most, and it’s the one that rarely appears in a comparison table.
Plugins handle redemption in two different ways. With some, the remaining value stays tied to the gift card or coupon code. Others convert the full value into store credit attached to the customer’s account, which the customer then spends down over future orders. That difference becomes especially useful to understand if your store also issues refunds as credit or runs a rewards program.
Our guide on how store credit differs from a gift card explains how the two approaches work.
The Comparison At A Glance
The table below shows how the five plugins compare on the features that matter most when choosing a WooCommerce gift card plugin.
| Plugin | Best For | Standout Features | Price, 1 Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Gift Cards | Best overall for online stores | Custom amount controls, delivery up to 1 year ahead, email preview and account-based store credit | $99.50 first year $199 renewal |
| YITH | Stores selling online and in person | Physical cards, QR codes, printable PDFs and in-person balance tools | € 129,99/ year |
| WP Swings | WhatsApp and SMS delivery | 20+ card designs, PDF attachments and multiple delivery channels | $89 |
| PW | Reloadable and bonus gift cards | Card reloading, bonus cards and in-person balance adjustments | $99 |
| WebToffee | Physical cards and store credit | 20+ card designs, refund credit and redemption restrictions | $99 |
Advanced Gift Cards
Advanced Gift Cards takes a different approach to redemption. Instead of keeping the remaining value tied to the gift card code, it converts the card into the customer’s store credit balance. Refunds can use that same balance, and redeemed loyalty points can join it when Advanced Loyalty Program is active.
It also covers the core features store owners expect. You can sell fixed-value cards, create variable gift cards with multiple options in one product, or let buyers choose an amount within a minimum, maximum, and step, with up to five preset buttons for common values. The plugin includes three built-in designs: Gift Card, Happy Birthday, and Thank You. Your license also includes 85 extra gift card designs at no additional cost, a $99 value, and you can upload your own image from the media library.
When scheduled delivery is enabled, buyers can choose a date up to one year ahead, enter the recipient’s name, and add a short message. Sales, activity, and redemption history are available from the dashboard.
Two smaller details also make setup easier:
Switching from a fixed value to a customer-chosen one takes one setting, not a different product type. Enable custom amounts and the minimum, maximum, step, default, and preset controls appear in the same product panel. That means you can update a gift card that’s already selling without rebuilding the product.
The email preview sits in the same options panel as the design picker. A card design that looks fine at full width may look different inside an email, so the preview gives you a quick way to check it before sending.
One practical mistake to avoid is sending yourself an immediate test card and stopping there. Future-dated delivery runs through WooCommerce’s Action Scheduler, which WordPress cron drives, so a low-traffic site may not process the delivery exactly when expected. Test a future-dated card before you promote gift cards, not after.
Where it pulls ahead is the balance. A gift card redeemed here lands in store credit, so a $50 card that gets $30 spent against it leaves $20 in the customer’s account for a future order. Gift card redemptions and store credit refunds feed into that same balance. If you also run Advanced Loyalty Program, redeemed points can join it too. There’s more on configuring the open-amount version in our guide to custom amount gift cards.
There are two setup requirements to keep in mind. Advanced Gift Cards needs the free Advanced Coupons plugin because the store credit system lives there. Recipients also need an account to redeem a card, since its value is added to their personal store credit balance. A single-site license costs $99.50 for the first year and renews at $199.
Other WooCommerce Gift Card Plugins Worth Considering
The other four plugins have their own strengths, especially when a store needs physical cards, additional delivery channels, or more specialized gift card tools.
YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards
YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards is a feature-rich option for stores that sell both online and in person. It supports physical as well as virtual cards, QR-code redemption, print-at-home PDFs, sender notifications and in-person balance adjustments.
For an online-only WooCommerce store, Advanced Gift Cards offers the more connected workflow. YITH limits scheduled delivery to three months, builds card artwork from image galleries you upload and organize yourself, and keeps the remaining value tied to the card instead of moving it into an account-based store credit balance. A single-site license is listed at € 129,99/ year.
Gift Cards For WooCommerce Pro
WP Swings sells this one at $89 for a single site, with a free version called Ultimate Gift Cards for WooCommerce if you want to try the basics first. Its clearest advantage is delivery choice: alongside email, gift cards can be shared through WhatsApp or sent by SMS using Twilio. It also includes more than 20 card templates, a selection comparable to WebToffee’s, and can attach gift cards as PDFs.
If WhatsApp is already a common customer channel for your store, that may make this plugin a good fit. Its gift cards are coupon-based, though. Converting redeemed value into an account wallet requires the separate Wallet System for WooCommerce Pro, which starts at $79. That adds another purchase and another plugin to maintain.
PW WooCommerce Gift Cards Pro
PW WooCommerce Gift Cards Pro costs $99 for one site and focuses deeply on gift card management. It can apply the balance after tax where local rules require that treatment, let customers reload existing cards, and create bonus cards for offers such as “buy a $25 card, get a $5 card free.” It also supports CC and BCC recipients, expiry dates based on the purchase date, and in-person balance adjustments from its check-balance page.
PW is a strong option when gift cards are the main priority, and its reloading feature is something Advanced Gift Cards does not offer. Its balance remains separate from coupon and rewards workflows, though, so stores planning those promotions would manage them elsewhere.
WebToffee Gift Cards for WooCommerce
At $99 for a single site, WebToffee is the closest alternative here for stores that also want gift cards to work with store credit. Refunds can be issued as full or partial store credit, and its dashboard tracks customer balances, credit used, expired credit, and total credit acquired. You can also restrict redemption by product, category, or spending threshold. The plugin can also prevent customers from using existing credit to buy another gift card, which helps stop store credit from being recycled into new cards.
The difference is the surrounding promotions workflow. WebToffee’s gift card plugin handles gift cards, store credit, and refunds, while its advanced coupon features sit in the separate Smart Coupons for WooCommerce plugin, which starts at $89. Advanced Gift Cards requires the free Advanced Coupons plugin, so store credit, refunds, and coupon promotions are already managed within the same toolkit. Advanced Loyalty Program is still a separate purchase, but redeemed points can feed into that same store credit balance if you add rewards later.
Which WooCommerce Gift Card Plugin Should You Choose?
For online stores that want gift cards connected to a wider coupon and store credit workflow, Advanced Gift Cards is the best overall option. It covers the essential buying, delivery, and reporting features, then converts redeemed cards into the customer’s store credit balance.
That approach is especially useful when your store also issues refunds as credit or plans to add rewards. Gift card redemptions and store credit refunds use the same customer balance, while the free Advanced Coupons plugin manages coupon promotions alongside them. Adding Advanced Loyalty Program later lets redeemed points enter that balance too. Advanced Gift Cards also supports scheduled delivery up to one year ahead, compared with YITH’s three-month limit.
The alternatives mainly stand out for particular features. YITH suits stores that need physical cards, printable PDFs, QR codes and sender notifications. PW stands out for reloadable and bonus cards, Gift Cards For WooCommerce Pro adds WhatsApp and Twilio SMS delivery, and WebToffee combines physical cards, more than 20 templates and built-in store credit refunds.
For a mostly online WooCommerce store that already uses coupons or plans to connect gift cards with refunds and rewards, Advanced Gift Cards offers the most cohesive setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best gift card plugin for WooCommerce?
Advanced Gift Cards is the best overall option for most online stores that want gift cards connected to a wider coupon and store credit workflow. It supports custom amounts, scheduled delivery up to one year ahead, built-in and custom designs, an email preview, and full redemption tracking. Redeemed value becomes store credit, and Advanced Loyalty Program can add redeemed points to that same balance if you introduce rewards later.
Does WooCommerce include gift cards by default?
No. WooCommerce has no native gift card feature, so every option in this comparison is a third-party plugin. A simple product priced at $50 that emails a coupon code is not a substitute, because a coupon discounts an order rather than holding a balance that depletes as it’s spent.
How much does a WooCommerce gift card plugin cost?
Four of the five plugins in this comparison list single-site pricing in US dollars, starting at $89 per year. YITH lists its single-site plan at € 129,99/ year. Advanced Gift Cards costs $99.50 for the first year and renews at $199, and it requires the free Advanced Coupons plugin.
Can customers choose their own gift card amount?
Yes, in all five. The useful difference is how tightly you can control it. Advanced Gift Cards lets you set a minimum, a maximum, a step, and a default, and add preset buttons next to the open field, so buyers can pick a common value in one click or type something specific.
Can gift cards be delivered on a future date?
Yes, all five support future delivery. Advanced Gift Cards lets buyers schedule a card up to one year ahead, while YITH sets a three-month limit. The other vendors offer scheduled delivery but do not state a maximum range on their product pages, so check that detail if far-ahead scheduling matters.
Choosing the Best WooCommerce Gift Card Plugin
After comparing the five options, Advanced Gift Cards stands out as the best overall WooCommerce gift card plugin for most online stores. It covers the essential buying, delivery, and management features while connecting redeemed gift card value to the store credit system inside Advanced Coupons.
When a card is redeemed, its value moves into the customer’s store credit balance. Refund credit can use that same balance, and redeemed loyalty points can join it when Advanced Loyalty Program is active. This gives store owners a cleaner way to manage gift cards alongside their wider coupon, refund, and rewards strategy.
Physical cards, WhatsApp delivery, or reloadable balances may point some stores toward a more specialized option. For a mostly online WooCommerce store that wants gift cards to work naturally with the rest of its promotions, though, Advanced Gift Cards remains the best overall choice. You can also learn more about how gift cards support your business model before choosing your amounts and launch strategy.
