Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search (formerly Smart Ajax Product Search) vs WooCommerce PayPal Payments
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| Feature | Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search (formerly Smart Ajax Product Search) v3.0.14 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.4/5 Visit Details | WooCommerce PayPal Payments v4.2.0 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 2.9/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 5,000+ | 800,000+ |
| Last updated | October 21, 2026 | October 21, 2026 |
| Editions | Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search · Smart WooCommerce Search Pro ($) | WooCommerce PayPal Payments |
| Pros | Live Ajax suggestions with images and prices; Search index for larger product catalogues; Search widget and analytics toggle in the free version | Official PayPal gateway with smart buttons on product and checkout pages; Pay Later, card fields and Apple Pay or Google Pay wallets; Subscriptions, saved payment methods and ShipStation order tracking |
| Cons | Free and Pro versions cannot run together; Some widget fields and features need Pro; Adds custom database tables for the search index | Available payment methods depend on PayPal account and country eligibility; Many modules are switched on in settings, so the setup has several steps |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | — |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Ajax product suggestions through a REST route, Prebuilt search index in custom tables, Search widget for sidebars, Opt-in GA4 search event tracking, Pro-only widget fields show an upgrade prompt ($) | PayPal smart buttons on product, mini-cart and checkout, Pay Later messages on product, cart and checkout blocks, Apple Pay gateway, Google Pay gateway, Card fields module, Pay upon invoice alternative payment method, PayPal subscriptions and renewals, Saved payment methods, Fraud protection module, Order tracking through the ShipStation plugin |
| Integrations | ||
| Payment | — | PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay |
| Analytics | Google Analytics 4 | — |
| E-commerce | WooCommerce | — |
| Plugins | Polylang, Divi | ShipStation |
| Other | Freemius | — |
| Requires WordPress | 5.9 | 6.5 |
| Requires PHP | 7.0 | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | Only if you agree | No |
| External services | api.freemius.com, checkout.freemius.com | api-m.paypal.com, www.paypal.com, api-m.sandbox.paypal.com, www.sandbox.paypal.com, api.woocommerce.com, www.paypal.ai, d.joinhoney.com, www.google.com |
| Blocks | — | 6 |
| Shortcodes | 1 | — |
| Custom tables | 2 | — |