How to add custom product options in WooCommerce

By Raz Technologies · published 27 Sept 2026 · data updated 2 Nov 2026

Short answer (data as of 2 November 2026): install a product add-ons plugin, which adds priced option fields to the product page and carries the choices into the cart and order, or add a text field with four WooCommerce hooks (below) if you only need one simple field. See our product add-ons plugin ranking for the full comparison.

The problem

Stores selling personalised or made-to-order products need more than WooCommerce variations: an engraving text, a gift-wrap checkbox that adds a fee, an uploaded logo, a delivery date. WooCommerce has no built-in way to add such fields to a product page.

Option 1: a product add-ons plugin (no code)

These are the highest-ranked product add-ons plugins we track. Each lets the store add several field types and charge for options. The column shows whether priced options are documented in the free or the paid version.

Need customers to upload artwork or photos? Not every plugin supports uploads, and some only in the paid version:

Option 2: one text field in code (for developers)

For a single free-text field (for example an engraving line), four hooks are enough: show the field, store it with the cart item, display it in the cart, and save it to the order. Add it to a small custom plugin.

add_action( 'woocommerce_before_add_to_cart_button', function () {
    echo '<p><label for="engraving">Engraving text</label> <input type="text" id="engraving" name="engraving" maxlength="40"></p>';
} );

add_filter( 'woocommerce_add_cart_item_data', function ( $data ) {
    if ( ! empty( $_POST['engraving'] ) ) {
        $data['engraving'] = sanitize_text_field( wp_unslash( $_POST['engraving'] ) );
    }
    return $data;
} );

add_filter( 'woocommerce_get_item_data', function ( $item_data, $cart_item ) {
    if ( isset( $cart_item['engraving'] ) ) {
        $item_data[] = array( 'key' => 'Engraving', 'value' => $cart_item['engraving'] );
    }
    return $item_data;
}, 10, 2 );

add_action( 'woocommerce_checkout_create_order_line_item', function ( $item, $key, $values ) {
    if ( isset( $values['engraving'] ) ) {
        $item->add_meta_data( 'Engraving', $values['engraving'] );
    }
}, 10, 3 );

Charging for the option, conditional fields or uploads is where a plugin earns its place: pricing has to be recalculated server-side in the cart, not only shown on the product page.

Other plugins people ask about

• Advanced Product Fields ranks #5 of 18 in our product add-ons ranking as of 2 November 2026 (score 70.3/100). Its strongest scores are momentum (download growth) and performance (our lab); its weakest are security (vulnerability history) and adoption (active installs).
• Flexible Product Fields ranks #6 of 18 in our product add-ons ranking as of 2 November 2026 (score 68.6/100). Its strongest scores are security (vulnerability history) and satisfaction (ratings); its weakest are momentum (download growth) and adoption (active installs).

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