Quick answer: WooCommerce sells in a single store currency out of the box. To show and charge prices in several currencies, you add a currency switcher plugin such as Aelia Currency Switcher or WooCommerce Currency Switcher. The key decisions are whether prices are converted automatically from exchange rates or set by hand per currency, whether customers are actually charged in their currency or only shown an estimate, and whether your payment gateway can settle in those currencies. Get those right, then check tax, shipping and reporting before launch.
If you sell to customers abroad, prices in an unfamiliar currency create friction. Shoppers have to work out the conversion, worry about bank fees and wonder what they will actually pay. Showing a familiar currency removes that hesitation. It sounds simple, but multi-currency touches pricing, payments, accounting and tax, so it is worth planning properly.
What WooCommerce does by default
In WooCommerce settings you choose one currency for the store. Every product price, coupon, shipping rate and report uses that currency. There is no built in way to show another currency or take payment in one. Everything beyond that comes from extensions.
Two approaches: display only or real multi-currency
Display only conversion
Some plugins simply convert the displayed price using a current exchange rate, while the checkout still charges in your base currency. The customer sees roughly what they will pay, but their bank does the actual conversion.
Pros: simple, works with any payment gateway, accounting stays in one currency.
Cons: the final charge on the customer’s statement will differ slightly from what they saw, and some may pay a foreign transaction fee. That mismatch can cause confusion and support emails.
True multi-currency checkout
More complete plugins let customers pay in their chosen currency. The order is recorded in that currency and the payment gateway charges the exact amount shown.
Pros: no surprise for the customer, a more trustworthy experience, and you can set prices that look natural in each market.
Cons: more setup, your payment gateway must support each currency, and reporting becomes more involved.
For a shop with a meaningful share of international orders, true multi-currency is usually worth the extra effort.
Plugins to consider
Several established extensions handle this. Among the better known:
- Aelia Currency Switcher: a mature paid plugin with true multi-currency checkout, per product prices in each currency, and good support for other WooCommerce extensions.
- WooCommerce Currency Switcher (WOOCS): a popular plugin with a free version, offering automatic rate updates and a range of switcher widgets.
- WPML with WooCommerce Multilingual: if you are also translating your store, this combination handles currencies alongside languages.
Before choosing, check compatibility with the other extensions you rely on, especially subscriptions, bookings and product add-ons. Multi-currency plugins have to hook into many parts of WooCommerce, and conflicts are the most common source of problems.
Setting prices: automatic or fixed
Automatic exchange rates
The plugin fetches rates from a source such as the European Central Bank or a currency service and converts your base prices. Rates update daily or on a schedule you choose.
This is convenient, but converted prices look odd: 29.00 GBP might become 37.83 EUR. Most plugins let you round prices, for example to the nearest .99, which helps. Be aware that prices will drift as rates move, so a product can cost slightly more on Tuesday than on Monday.
Fixed prices per currency
You set a specific price for each product in each currency. This gives clean, stable prices that suit each market, and lets you price differently where costs or competition differ.
The downside is maintenance. With hundreds of products and several currencies, manual prices take work to keep up to date. A common middle ground is to set fixed prices for best sellers and let the rest convert automatically.
Build in a margin
Exchange rates move and payment providers charge conversion fees. Many shops add a small buffer to converted prices so a currency swing does not wipe out their margin.
Payment gateways
The gateway decides what you can actually charge.
- Stripe supports charging in a wide range of currencies and settling to your bank account, converting where needed.
- PayPal accepts many currencies, though you may need to set how it handles balances received in currencies you do not hold.
- Other gateways vary widely. Some accept only your local currency.
Check that your gateway accepts each currency you plan to offer, how it converts funds when paying out, and what it charges for that conversion. Some plugins let you assign different gateways to different currencies, which is useful if one provider is better for a particular market.
How customers choose a currency
There are two common methods:
- Manual switcher: a dropdown or set of flags in the header or sidebar. Simple and transparent.
- Geolocation: detect the visitor’s country from their IP address and select the currency automatically. WooCommerce includes geolocation features, and many currency plugins build on them.
Geolocation is convenient, but always offer a manual switcher too. Travellers, expats and people using company networks are often detected in the wrong country.
Caching can break switching
Full page caching can serve one visitor’s currency to everyone. If you use a caching plugin or server cache, make sure it varies the cache by currency or excludes the relevant pages. Test this carefully with caching switched on, because it is a common cause of customers seeing the wrong prices.
Shipping, coupons and tax
Shipping costs
Flat rate shipping set in your base currency will be converted, which can again produce awkward numbers. Better plugins let you set shipping rates per currency or apply rounding.
Coupons
A fixed discount of 10 in your base currency means something different in each market. Check how your plugin handles fixed amount coupons, and consider percentage coupons for international campaigns.
Tax
Selling in a currency is separate from tax obligations, but the two go together in practice. If you sell digital goods into the EU, VAT is charged at the customer’s local rate under the rules introduced in 2015. Physical goods have their own thresholds and rules in each country. Speak to an accountant about where you need to register, and set up WooCommerce tax tables to match.
Reporting and accounting
Orders in several currencies make reports harder to read. WooCommerce’s built in reports assume a single currency, so check whether your plugin adds converted totals. Your accounting software needs to record the currency of each order and the converted amount actually received. Agree a process with whoever does your books before you go live.
A launch checklist
- Choose the currencies you will support, based on where your orders actually come from.
- Confirm your payment gateway accepts each one.
- Decide on fixed or automatic pricing, and set rounding rules.
- Install and configure the plugin on a staging site first.
- Test the full order flow in each currency, including emails and invoices.
- Test with caching enabled.
- Check coupons, shipping and tax in each currency.
- Confirm reporting and accounting processes.
FAQ
Can WooCommerce handle multiple currencies without a plugin?
No. The core plugin supports a single store currency, so you need an extension.
Will multi-currency affect SEO?
Prices shown to search engines will usually be your default currency. If you target several countries with separate content, look at language and country versions of pages as a separate project.
Should I offer every currency?
No. Start with the currencies your customers use most. Each additional one adds testing and support work.
For a wider view of choosing a platform for international selling, see our WooCommerce vs Shopify comparison.
Make buying easy wherever customers are
Familiar prices and a smooth checkout remove reasons to hesitate. We set up WooCommerce stores for international sales, with currency, payment and tax configured and tested together. See how we help businesses turn visitors into customers.
