If you’re searching for “Finest Floating Cart for WooCommerce” or looking for an alternative, you need to read this before installing anything. Finest Floating Cart hasn’t been updated in years, and using it on a modern WordPress store is a gamble you don’t need to take.
Here’s how it compares to Caddy, an actively maintained side cart plugin with 4,000+ installs, and why the choice is straightforward.
TL;DR
Finest Floating Cart was a decent free side cart plugin when it launched. But it hasn’t been updated in years. It hasn’t been tested with recent major WordPress releases. WordPress.org itself warns you about this on the plugin page. It requires a minimum of PHP 5.4, which reached end-of-life in 2015.
Caddy is a free, feature-rich side cart for WooCommerce with 4,000+ active installs, built on the modern WordPress Interactivity API and WooCommerce Store API. The free version includes product recommendations, a free shipping meter, save for later, rewards, coupons, and more. Caddy Pro adds analytics, automation, and abandoned cart tracking starting at $99/year.
Bottom line: There is no scenario where installing an abandoned plugin makes more sense than using an actively maintained one with a richer feature set. Use Caddy.
Overview
When store owners search for floating cart or side cart plugins for WooCommerce, Finest Floating Cart still shows up in results. On paper, it looks like a reasonable free option: AJAX cart, multiple cart styles, coupon support, quantity controls.
The problem is everything that’s happened since the last update. WordPress has shipped multiple major releases since then. WooCommerce has introduced High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS), new block-based checkout flows, and significant API changes. PHP 8.x is now the standard. None of these changes have been accounted for in Finest Floating Cart.
Caddy, built by Tribe Interactive, has been actively maintained throughout all of these changes. Version 3.0 is a ground-up rebuild on the WordPress Interactivity API and WooCommerce Store API, the same modern foundations that WordPress and WooCommerce themselves are built on going forward. With 4,000+ active installs and ongoing development, Caddy is the plugin that Finest Floating Cart users should be migrating to.
The Maintenance Problem
This is the single most important factor in this comparison, and it’s not close.
WordPress plugins aren’t “set it and forget it” software. WordPress core ships major updates multiple times per year. WooCommerce updates even more frequently. Each update can change hooks, deprecate functions, modify database schemas, and introduce new security requirements. A plugin that isn’t being updated to match these changes will eventually break, or worse, introduce vulnerabilities that put your store and your customers at risk.
Since the last Finest Floating Cart update, WordPress has shipped multiple major releases, WooCommerce has made HPOS the default, introduced a new block checkout, and continued evolving the Store API. Finest has not been updated to account for any of it.
WordPress.org now displays a warning on the Finest Floating Cart listing: “This plugin hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress.” That warning exists for a reason. The WordPress ecosystem treats it as a red flag, and so should you.
Meanwhile, Caddy 3.0 was built with full HPOS support, block theme compatibility, and architecture built on the APIs that WordPress and WooCommerce are actively investing in.
Feature Comparison
To be fair, Finest Floating Cart had a reasonable feature set at launch. But even setting aside the maintenance issue, Caddy’s free version alone offers significantly more functionality.
| Feature | Caddy (Free) | Caddy Pro | Finest Floating Cart |
|---|---|---|---|
| AJAX Side Cart | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cart Styles/Positions | Yes | Yes | Yes (2 styles, 6 positions) |
| Quantity Controls | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Coupon Application in Cart | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Responsive/Mobile Friendly | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Shipping Progress Meter | Yes | Yes | No |
| Product Recommendations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Save for Later | Yes | Yes | No |
| Rewards Meter | Yes | Yes | No |
| Announcement Bar | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cart Bubble Icon | Yes | Yes | No |
| Menu Widgets & Shortcodes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Custom CSS | Yes | Yes | Limited |
| HPOS Support | Yes | Yes | No (predates HPOS) |
| Block Theme Compatible | Yes | Yes | Unknown/Untested |
| Analytics Dashboard | No | Yes | No |
| Abandoned Cart Tracking | No | Yes | No |
| Workflow Automation | No | Yes | No |
| Free Gifts & Offers | No | Yes | No |
| Advanced Display Rules | No | Yes | No |
| Cart Session Monitoring | No | Yes | No |
| Font Customization | Via CSS | Via CSS | Yes (1,000+ fonts) |
| Active Development | Yes (v3.0) | Yes | No (development appears stalled) |
| WordPress 6.6+ Tested | Yes | Yes | No |
| PHP 8.x Support | Yes | Yes | No (minimum PHP 5.4) |
The pattern is clear. Caddy’s free version already matches or exceeds everything Finest offers, and Caddy Pro opens up an entirely different tier of functionality (analytics, automation, and cart recovery) that Finest never offered at any point.
Finest’s one unique selling point was its typography customization with 1,000+ Google Fonts built into the cart interface. That’s a nice touch for design flexibility, but it’s a cosmetic feature that doesn’t move the needle on revenue, and Caddy’s custom CSS support gives you equivalent control over styling.
Security and Compatibility Concerns
Running an abandoned plugin on a live WooCommerce store is a genuine security risk. Here’s why:
PHP 5.4 minimum requirement. PHP 5.4 reached end-of-life in September 2015, over a decade ago. Modern WordPress requires PHP 7.4 at minimum, and PHP 8.0+ is recommended. A plugin built for PHP 5.4 may technically run on newer versions, but it won’t be using modern security practices, type safety, or performance optimizations.
No security patches. When vulnerabilities are discovered in WordPress plugins, responsible developers issue patches. If the developer has walked away, those patches never come. Your store, and your customers’ payment information, sits exposed.
WooCommerce compatibility gaps. WooCommerce’s shift to HPOS (High-Performance Order Storage) changed how order data is stored and accessed. Plugins that haven’t been updated for HPOS can cause data inconsistencies, broken order flows, or outright errors. Finest predates this transition entirely.
Conflict potential. As WordPress core and WooCommerce evolve, deprecated functions get removed, hook signatures change, and new standards replace old ones. An unmaintained plugin becomes increasingly likely to conflict with other plugins and themes that are keeping up with these changes.
Caddy 3.0, by contrast, is built on the WordPress Interactivity API and WooCommerce Store API. These are the forward-looking foundations of the WordPress ecosystem. Caddy is also tested and compatible with the major themes and plugins store owners actually use: WooCommerce Subscriptions, Product Bundles, Elementor, Divi, GeneratePress, Flatsome, Astra, Kadence, OceanWP, and Storefront.
What to Look for in a Cart Plugin
If you’re evaluating side cart plugins for your WooCommerce store, here’s what actually matters:
- Active maintenance. Check the “Last Updated” date on WordPress.org. If it’s more than 6 months old, proceed with caution. More than a year? Walk away.
- WordPress and WooCommerce version compatibility. The plugin should be tested with the current major releases. If WordPress.org shows a compatibility warning, believe it.
- HPOS and block theme support. These aren’t optional anymore. WooCommerce is making HPOS the default, and block themes are the future of WordPress. Your cart plugin needs to work with both.
- Revenue-driving features, not just cosmetics. A side cart should do more than slide open. Product recommendations, free shipping meters, and save-for-later functionality directly increase average order value. Analytics and abandoned cart tracking tell you what’s working and what’s not.
- Real support channel. When something breaks after a WooCommerce update (and it will eventually), you need a developer who responds. Abandoned plugins have no support.
- Install base. A plugin with 4,000+ active installs has been battle-tested across thousands of different store configurations, themes, and hosting environments. A plugin with 200 installs has not.
Why Caddy Is the Better Choice
This comparison is less “which plugin is better” and more “should you use an abandoned plugin or an actively maintained one.” The answer is obvious, but here’s the summary:
Caddy gives you more for free. Product recommendations, free shipping meter, save for later, rewards meter, announcement bar, coupon support, all in the free version. Finest’s free version covers the basics but nothing beyond them.
Caddy Pro adds revenue intelligence. For $99/year, you get analytics that show you exactly how your cart is performing: revenue attribution, conversion tracking, abandonment data. Plus workflow automation, free gift offers, and advanced display rules. Finest never offered anything in this category at any price.
Caddy is built for the modern WordPress stack. The Interactivity API and Store API architecture means Caddy works with where WordPress is going, not where it was three years ago. HPOS support, block theme compatibility, and PHP 8.x optimization are all built in.
Caddy has a track record. 4,000+ active installs. Active development with version 3.0 as a ground-up rebuild. A development team at Tribe Interactive that has been maintaining and improving the plugin consistently.
Caddy has actual support. If something breaks, there’s a team to help you fix it. Finest’s support forums have gone silent.
Pricing
| Caddy Free | Caddy Pro (1 Site) | Caddy Pro (5 Sites) | Caddy Pro (Unlimited) | Finest Floating Cart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $99/year | $199/year | $399/year | $0 |
| Side Cart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Revenue Features | Yes (recommendations, shipping meter, rewards) | Yes + analytics, automation, abandoned cart | Yes + analytics, automation, abandoned cart | Yes + analytics, automation, abandoned cart | Basic only |
| Support | WordPress.org forums | Priority support | Priority support | Priority support | None (abandoned) |
| Updates | Regular | Regular | Regular | Regular | None (stalled) |
| Money-Back Guarantee | N/A | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days | N/A |
The free version of Caddy already outperforms Finest in features. If you need analytics, automation, and cart recovery, Caddy Pro starts at $99/year with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Don’t Risk Your Store on an Abandoned Plugin
If you landed on this page searching for Finest Floating Cart, you’re looking for a side cart solution for your WooCommerce store. That’s the right instinct. A well-built side cart reduces friction, increases average order value, and keeps shoppers engaged.
But Finest isn’t the answer anymore. It was a decent plugin when it launched. Today, it’s a liability.
Download Caddy free from WordPress.org and see the difference an actively maintained, feature-rich side cart makes. You’ll get product recommendations, a free shipping meter, save for later, rewards, , all without spending a dollar.
And when you’re ready for analytics and automation, Caddy Pro starts at $99/year with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Your store deserves a plugin that’s still being built. That’s Caddy.
