Stackless Lite for EDD: The Free Edition
Stackless Lite for EDD is the free edition of Stackless for EDD. It has 15 of the 40 modules: the catalog, wishlist, saved cart and checkout tools most Easy Digital Downloads stores want first. If your store doesn’t take recurring payments or sell license keys yet, I’d start with Lite.
Lite and Stackless for EDD share their settings, tables and hooks. When you move up, everything you set up in Lite is already there, and your customers keep their wishlists and saved carts.
What You Get in Lite
Each module works the same way it does in Stackless for EDD, and each one links to its full guide.
| Group | Module | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog | Free Price Text | Shows “Free” or your own text instead of a zero price. |
| Catalog | Custom Add to Cart Text | Your own Purchase button text per download type, download or price option. |
| Catalog | Sold Count | An “X sold” badge once a download passes your threshold. |
| Catalog | Min/Max Quantity | Minimum, maximum and step quantities, checked in the cart and at checkout. |
| Catalog | Hide Price Until Login | Hides prices and buying from guests. |
| Catalog | External Downloads | Sends buyers to a download you sell on another website. |
| Catalog | Product Details Table | A specs table that also feeds product schema. |
| Store tools | Wishlist | Guest and account wishlists that merge on sign-in, with share links. |
| Store tools | Saved Carts & Order Again | Named saved carts and reordering from any past order. |
| Store tools | Service Products | After-payment instructions and a booking link for services. |
| Store tools | EDD Optimizer | Loads EDD scripts and styles only on store pages. |
| Checkout and sales | Checkout Enhancements | Consent checkboxes, your own wording and a shorter checkout for free orders. |
| Checkout and sales | Extra Enhancements | Coupon links, payment methods per download, test-order tools and a checkout guard. |
| Checkout and sales | Buy Links | Signed links that fill the cart and open checkout. |
| Checkout and sales | Pay What You Like | Buyers choose a price above your minimum. |
Your customers also get the account page with their orders, downloads and profile, plus the tabs of the Lite modules you switch on.
In Lite, Extra Enhancements has everything except the email for failed live payments. That alert watches the Stackless payment gateways, so it needs Stackless for EDD.
What Needs Stackless for EDD
The other modules are in the paid plugin. Your Lite dashboard shows each one as a locked card with a short description, so you can see what it does before you decide.
- Subscriptions, with renewals, trials and a customer subscription portal
- Payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal, Polar, Paddle and Dodo Payments
- Software licensing and page access for buyers
- Multi-currency checkout and a currency selector
- Custom invoices, quote requests and coupon affiliates
- Order bumps, product add-ons and the checkout layouts, including modal and on-page checkout
- FluentCRM, AI agents, webhooks and the REST API and EDD Redesign
Install Lite
- Get the ZIP. Complete the free checkout on the Stackless Lite for EDD product page and download it from your account, or use the direct download on that page. The latest GitHub release has the same file.
- In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, upload the ZIP and activate it.
- Open Stackless → Dashboard and switch on the modules your store needs. Each one has its settings under Stackless → Settings.
Lite needs WordPress 6.7 or later, PHP 8.0 or later and Easy Digital Downloads 3.5 or later. The free Easy Digital Downloads plugin is enough.
Keep the plugin folder named stackless-lite-edd. GitHub’s green Download ZIP button names the folder after the branch, and updates need the original name.
Updates Without a License Key
Your site gets Lite updates from gauravtiwari.org without a key. About every 12 hours, WordPress asks whether a newer version exists, and new versions show up on Dashboard → Updates like any other plugin. Lite checks each package against its SHA-256 checksum before WordPress installs it.
The update check sends no license key and none of your store or customer data. It’s the standard request WordPress makes, which includes your WordPress version and site address. Lite does no tracking.
Upgrade to Stackless for EDD
- Buy a license on the Stackless for EDD product page and download the plugin from your account.
- Upload and activate Stackless for EDD. Lite goes idle as soon as Stackless for EDD is active.
- Activate your license under Stackless → License.
- Deactivate and delete Lite. Deleting it keeps your data.
Your module switches, settings, wishlists and saved carts carry over, because both plugins store them in the same options, meta and tables. The modules you switched on in Lite stay on.
Go Back to Lite
Deactivate Stackless for EDD and activate Lite. Lite runs its 15 modules and leaves the settings and records of the paid modules in the database, so they’re back the day you upgrade again.
Remove Lite and Its Data
Deleting Lite keeps your settings and records. To remove them as well, define STACKLESS_EDD_REMOVE_ALL_DATA as true in wp-config.php before you delete the plugin. Nothing is removed while Stackless for EDD is installed, and EDD orders are never deleted.
Good to Know
- Lite and Stackless for EDD never run together. If both are active, Lite stays idle and Stackless for EDD does the work.
- Lite is GPL-2.0-or-later. Its source is on GitHub, where you can also report bugs and suggest features.
- The product page compares Lite with Stackless for EDD, with prices for the paid licenses.