Product Import Export alternative, for imports
A free plugin adds a chat to your WP dashboard. Attach your file as it is and check one card. One Undo takes it back.
Imports are on the paid plan, not open yet. Simple products, no images.
- Nothing changes without your OK
- Undo in one click, or a warning first
- No account, no password to share
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
Imports open with the paid plan. The rest works now.
Product Import Export for WooCommerce is a trademark of its owner; WooCommerce is a trademark of Automattic Inc. CMSHands is not affiliated with either.
Watch it do this on a real site
You attach your file
We made this file up for our test shop: 10 new products in 5 columns called SKU, Product name, Price, Qty and Category. Semicolons sit between the columns and the prices use a comma, like 88,00. Excel saves files that way in countries that write prices with a comma. We sent it as it was.
Add the products in this file to my shop.
You check one card
Its first script on the file failed. It tried again, and the chat marks that step. Then it read the shop to find the categories and look for the SKUs. About 20 seconds after the request, one card showed the whole job: 10 new products as drafts, prices from 12 to 88, stock tracking on. Under the card it said what the card can't show. Nothing on the site had changed yet.
Two things the card can't show: the file is semicolon-separated with comma decimals, which I read as prices like 88.00; and I kept the Qty column as each product's stock number, all four categories (Mugs, Bowls, Plates, Vases) already exist, and none of the ten SKUs is on the site yet.
- 2 secondsRunning a script on shop-additions.csv
- 10 secondsRunning a script on shop-additions.csv
- 14 secondsReading from your site
- Reading from your site
- 16 secondsRunning a script on shop-additions.csv
- 17 secondsChecking the import against your site
You open a product
Show all 10 opens the rows one product at a time. The Moss teapot's 88,00 in the file is 88.00 here, its Qty of 3 is its stock, and 20 is the number of the shop's Mugs category. Its status is draft.
Added, as drafts
We pressed Import it about 30 seconds after the card came up. The 10 products were in about 2 seconds after the press. They went in as drafts, so shoppers couldn't see them yet. The Undo link would move all 10 to the trash. We didn't press it this time.
- 52 secondsAdding products 1–10
Done. I added 10 products (as drafts where they can be).
A real run on our test site, Quillmoor Pottery (WP 7.1.3, Twenty Twenty-Four), Oct 11, 2026. From asking to done, it took 53 seconds. Imports are on the paid plan, which isn't open yet.
That's the whole job, on the paid plan when it opens. The plugin is free today: 3 changes to try it, no account. Nothing changes until you press the button.
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
Who should keep Product Import Export for WooCommerce
Keep Product Import Export for WooCommerce if you move whole catalogs in and out. Its free version brings in each product's main picture and gallery, grouped and external products, and reviews, and it exports your products to a CSV, filtered by things like category or stock status. Pro adds products sold in sizes or colors (variations), custom fields, Excel and XML files, and imports on a schedule over FTP (wordpress.org and webtoffee.com, read Oct 11, 2026). CMSHands can't add pictures yet, and it doesn't import variations, export, or run on a schedule.
How they compare
| CMSHands | Product Import Export for WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A free plugin with a chat in your WP dashboard, the screens you log in to at yoursite.com/wp-admin. You attach a file and say what to do with it | A plugin with its own import and export screens in your dashboard. A free version on wordpress.org and a paid Pro version1, 2, 3 |
| Price | The plugin is free. Imports are on the paid plan, which isn't open yet | Free version. Pro is $69 a year for 1 site, $129 for 5 and $249 for 25, with 30 days to ask for your money back1, 2 |
| Your file's columns | It works out which column is which and shows the result on the card, a box in the chat that shows exactly what would change. In our run the file kept its own names: SKU, Product name, Price, Qty, Category | A mapping step where you match your columns to its fields, or Quick import for a file it exported itself3 |
| Semicolons between columns | In our run it spotted them, read 88,00 as 88.00 and said so before anything changed | You pick the separator when you import: comma, semicolon, tab, space or another character4 |
| Products you already have | Found by SKU and updated. Rows that wouldn't change anything are skipped. Paid plan | Matched by ID or SKU. You choose to skip them or update them3 |
| Sizes and colors (variations) | No. Simple products only | Pro only. The free version does simple, grouped and external products1 |
| Product pictures | Not yet | Yes, the main picture and the gallery, in the free version too1 |
| Export to a CSV | No | Yes, filtered by category, tag, status, stock status or product type1 |
| Imports on a schedule | No. You attach each new file in the chat | Pro: scheduled imports and exports over FTP or SFTP1, 2 |
| Undo the whole import | Yes, one Undo. New products go to the trash for 30 days; changed ones get their old values back | Not listed on its plugin page, Pro page or import guide, read Oct 11, 20261, 2, 3 |
- 1. https://wordpress.org/plugins/product-import-export-for-woo/, 2026-10-11
- 2. https://www.webtoffee.com/product/product-import-export-woocommerce/, 2026-10-11
- 3. https://www.webtoffee.com/docs/product-imp-exp-basic/import-export-woocommerce-products-basic/, 2026-10-11
- 4. https://www.webtoffee.com/blog/change-woocommerce-product-import-export-delimiter/, 2026-10-11
Product Import Export for WooCommerce is a trademark of its owner; WooCommerce is a trademark of Automattic Inc. CMSHands is not affiliated with either.
Can you use both?
Yes, once imports open with the paid plan. Until then, the free plugin already helps with your store. It can list the products that are out of stock. It can update a plugin from wordpress.org, then check your site. It can rewrite a sentence on a page. Each change waits on a card until you approve it. Product Import Export keeps doing your exports and pictures, and variations if you have Pro. We haven't tested the two side by side on our test site yet. Until we have, send each file through one of them only, so you always know which tool made a change.
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
What it won't do here
Importing needs the paid plan, which isn't open yet
Simple products, no variations
No pictures from your file yet
No exports, schedules or extra fields
Up to 2,000 products at a time
Questions
Is CMSHands made by WebToffee?
No. CMSHands is a separate product from a separate company. It isn't affiliated with WebToffee, with Product Import Export for WooCommerce or with WooCommerce itself. For help with their plugin, use the support forum on its wordpress.org page or the help on webtoffee.com.
What does Product Import Export for WooCommerce cost?
The basic version is free on wordpress.org. Pro costs $69 a year for 1 site, $129 for 5 sites and $249 for 25, with a year of updates and support and 30 days to ask for your money back. We read these prices on webtoffee.com on Oct 11, 2026, so check there for today's.
Does the free version import products with sizes or colors?
No. Its wordpress.org page says the free version doesn't support variable products, the kind sold in sizes or colors. For those you need Pro. The free version covers simple, grouped and external products (read Oct 11, 2026). CMSHands doesn't import variations either, so keep their Pro or another tool for them.
My CSV uses semicolons and prices like 88,00. Will that work?
It did in our run. The file had semicolons between the columns and commas in the prices. It read 88,00 as 88.00 and told us so under the card, before anything changed. In Product Import Export you set the separator yourself, in the Delimiter menu when you import (webtoffee.com, read Oct 11, 2026).
Can I undo an import if the prices come out wrong?
With CMSHands, yes. One Undo takes back the whole import: new products go to the trash, where they stay for 30 days, and products it changed get their old values back. It leaves alone any product you edited after the import. Product Import Export's plugin page and import guide don't list an undo (read Oct 11, 2026).
What can the free plugin do for my store before imports open?
Answer questions and make small changes you approve. Ask “Which of my products are out of stock?” and you get a list, with nothing changed. It can change the words on a page, or update a free plugin from wordpress.org and check your site after. You get 3 changes with no account, then 10 a month with your email.
Written by CMSHands team. Checked on WP 7.1, Oct 11, 2026.
Try it on your own site
Needs WP 6.3 to 7.1, PHP 8.0 or newer, and an administrator login. One site per install.
The download is a plugin. Turning it on connects your site to cmshands.com and adds 3 small rescue files. Deleting the plugin removes them and everything it stored. What we send
Download the plugin.
It's free: 3 changes to try it. No account, no card.
Upload and activate it.
In your dashboard: Plugins › Add Plugin › Upload Plugin (Add New Plugin on older WP). Choose the file, press Install Now, then Activate Plugin.
Press Turn on.
Press Turn on CMSHands. No account, no key, no password.