WooCommerce has robust native support for digital and downloadable products. Shopify, by contrast, has limited native digital product features — it was designed primarily for physical goods. If your store sells software, ebooks, music, digital art, courses, or downloadable files, you'll need to plan your digital product migration carefully.

WooCommerce digital products vs Shopify: the core difference

In WooCommerce, digital products are a first-class feature:

Products can be marked as "Virtual" (no shipping) and/or "Downloadable"
Files are uploaded directly to WordPress media library or hosted externally
WooCommerce automatically emails download links after purchase
Download limits and expiry are configurable per product
Customers can access downloads from their account area

In Shopify, there is no native concept of "downloadable products." Shopify's approach:

Any product can have a digital file attached via the Shopify Digital Downloads app (free, by Shopify)
After purchase, customers receive an email with a download link
No download limits or expiry dates in the native app
For more control (license keys, member access, streaming), a third-party app is required

Types of digital products and migration implications

Product type	WooCommerce approach	Shopify recommendation
Ebooks / PDFs	Native downloadable product + WC file hosting	Shopify Digital Downloads app (free)
Software / executables	Native downloads with license keys via plugin	SendOwl, Payhip, or custom app
Music / audio files	Native downloads	Shopify Digital Downloads or Sky Pilot
Online courses	LearnDash, LearnPress, or Tutor LMS	Thinkific, Teachable (external), or Courses app by Shopify
Memberships	WooCommerce Memberships plugin	Locksmith, Bold Memberships, or Memberful
Subscriptions with content access	WooCommerce Subscriptions + Memberships	Recharge + Locksmith (combined)
License keys (software activation)	WooCommerce Software Add-on	SendOwl, Mechanic + custom, or license key app
Stock photos / assets	Native downloads	Shopify Digital Downloads or SendOwl
Video files	Native downloads or stream via plugin	Sky Pilot (best for video streaming + downloads)

What doesn't migrate with standard product migration

When you migrate WooCommerce products to Shopify using k-sync or similar tools, only product metadata migrates — not the actual digital files. Specifically, what does not transfer automatically:

The downloadable files themselves (hosted in WordPress or S3)
Download limits per product
Download expiry dates
License keys associated with products
Customer-specific download links and download histories
The "virtual" product flag (though you can manually mark Shopify products as having no shipping required)

What does migrate: product title, description, price, SKU, categories/collections, images (product thumbnails for digital products), and custom meta fields if mapped.

Shopify Digital Downloads (free app)

For simple digital product stores (ebooks, PDFs, audio, graphics), the free Shopify Digital Downloads app by Shopify covers the basics:

Attach files to products (up to 5GB per file)
Automatic fulfillment after payment
Email with download link sent to customer
Customer can re-download from order confirmation page

Limitations: No download limits, no expiry, no streaming, no license keys, no member area with download history, no DRM.

Migration to Shopify Digital Downloads

After product migration, install Digital Downloads
For each digital product, go to the product in Shopify admin → Digital Downloads section → Add file
Upload the file or link from an external URL
Repeat for all digital products

This is manual work. There's no bulk upload or CSV import for file attachments in the native app. For stores with 5–50 digital products, this is manageable (1–3 hours). For 200+ products, use Sky Pilot or SendOwl which support bulk operations.

Sky Pilot (recommended for larger digital stores)

Sky Pilot ($19–$49/month) is the most feature-rich digital product app on Shopify:

Unlimited file storage
Download limits (configurable per product)
File expiry
PDF stamping (customer name/email stamped on each PDF download)
Video streaming (not just downloads)
Folder organization for products with many files
Customer downloads area (branded portal)
Bulk CSV import for attaching files to products

If you were using WooCommerce with download limits or expiry, Sky Pilot is the closest equivalent. Their CSV import lets you map product SKUs to file URLs for bulk setup.

SendOwl (for license keys and software)

SendOwl ($18–$37/month) specializes in software products requiring license keys:

License key generation (sequential, UUID, or custom list)
Automatic license key delivery after purchase
PDF stamping
Subscription content delivery
Integrates with Shopify via webhook (not Shopify app store directly)

If you were using the WooCommerce Software Add-on for license key management, SendOwl is the closest equivalent. You'll need to export your existing license key list from WooCommerce and import it into SendOwl's key pool.

Online courses: the special case

If your WooCommerce store powered an online course platform via LearnDash, LearnPress, or Tutor LMS, this is a more complex migration. Your options:

Option A: Migrate to an external course platform

Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi, or Podia host course content externally and integrate with Shopify for payment processing. Students get a separate login for the course platform. This separates the storefront (Shopify) from the learning platform — a clean separation but requires students to manage two accounts.

Option B: Shopify's Courses app

Shopify launched a native Courses app in 2024 that allows selling and delivering online courses directly from your Shopify store. Features are basic compared to dedicated LMS platforms but sufficient for straightforward video/text courses.

Option C: Stay on WordPress for course delivery, use Shopify for products

Some stores keep WordPress/LearnDash running for course delivery while migrating the product catalog to Shopify. Course purchases on Shopify trigger access via webhook. This is complex but avoids re-platforming the course content.

Membership content migration

WooCommerce Memberships restricts content to paying members. The Shopify equivalent is the Locksmith app ($9+/month), which locks pages, products, and collections behind customer tags or subscription status:

Migrate customer records with their membership status encoded as a Shopify customer tag (e.g., member-gold)
Install Locksmith and create rules: "This collection is visible only to customers tagged member-gold"
Set up your payment/subscription app (Recharge or Shopify's native subscriptions) to apply the appropriate tag on subscription activation

Handling existing download access for migrated customers

Customers who purchased digital products on WooCommerce should still be able to access their downloads. Options:

Keep WooCommerce accessible for 12 months: Existing customers use their WooCommerce account to download. After the grace period, email them with new Shopify download links.
Re-issue download links: If using Sky Pilot or SendOwl, you can generate and email new download links to existing customers via bulk email (Klaviyo or similar).
No action needed if using Digital Downloads: The free app doesn't have a customer portal — links from the original WooCommerce order emails are valid until WooCommerce is decommissioned.

Digital product migration checklist

Inventory all digital products with file locations (WordPress media library, S3, Dropbox)
Choose your Shopify digital delivery app before migration day
Migrate product metadata (title, description, price, SKU) via k-sync or similar
Manually attach files to products in your chosen app (or bulk import via CSV if supported)
Test purchase flow: buy a digital product, confirm email with download link arrives
Verify download limits and expiry if applicable
Email existing customers with information about accessing previous purchases
If selling software: export license key inventory and import into new key management app
For courses: migrate course content to new LMS before product migration

Digital product migration is more involved than physical product migration because the files themselves need to be re-attached or re-hosted. Budget extra time for this, especially if your catalog has hundreds of digital products with associated files.

Migrating WooCommerce digital products to Shopify (2026)