Look at the page assigned under WooCommerce, Settings, Advanced, not at the default a new store would receive. WooCommerce says stores started after version 8.3, released in November 2023, use Cart and Checkout blocks by default, and that a payment method shows in the Checkout block only when it is available and compatible with that block. The classic experience on that page is the Classic Shortcode, including the checkout shortcode. An extension's own page has to say it supports the type you have. Switching is not authorized by this guide. Block compatibility is not processing approval. Confirm implementation scope before a checkout change. Describe the work you need. Prism will confirm scope, responsibilities, fees, and terms before work begins.
For: An owner or the person who maintains a WooCommerce store, considering a checkout extension or a change to the page assigned as Checkout.
Updated 2026-09-21
The two checkouts WooCommerce documents
WooCommerce's Checkout block guide describes the block as the container for customer details, shipping and delivery, payment methods, and order review. Its cart-and-checkout guide says that for stores started after WooCommerce 8.3 in November 2023, the Cart and Checkout blocks are the default and do not need setup to function. That default does not tell you what an older store, or a store someone already converted, is using today.
The same guides call the other experience the classic cart and checkout. The editor transform turns the Checkout block into a Classic Shortcode placeholder. Advanced settings name the checkout shortcode, `[woocommerce_checkout]`, as the classic checkout that shows terms inline. Those are the two types this page compares. A page builder or a different plugin can present something else. If the assigned page matches neither description, write unknown rather than forcing the label.
Neither type is documented here as universally better. WooCommerce also says the blocks work with the cart: if you revert, revert both the cart and the checkout. This page does not tell you to do that revert.
Find the assigned page, then the block or the shortcode
WooCommerce's advanced settings say the store assigns the Checkout page at WooCommerce, Settings, Advanced, under page setup. Customers cannot check out if no Checkout page is assigned. The Checkout block guide repeats that the page has to be designated there before the block works as the store checkout. Start with that assignment. A Checkout block placed on some other URL is not, by itself, the store's checkout.
WooCommerce's current editor articles do not describe a single set of clicks for every theme. The checkout-page article tells a block theme to open Appearance, Editor, Templates, WooCommerce, and the Checkout template, and tells a non-block theme to edit the Checkout page under Pages. The cart-and-checkout article describes Appearance, Editor, Pages for a block theme. Use the path that matches the theme on this store, then open List View. A Checkout block means the block checkout. A Classic Shortcode placeholder, or the checkout shortcode, means the classic checkout. If you cannot see either, stop and ask the person who maintains the site.
You can record what that screen shows. You cannot record a type you have not opened. Reading this page does not change the live checkout.
List the behavior the current type is actually doing
Payment methods: the Checkout block guide says Payment Options shows methods that are available in the store and compatible with the block, according to the gateway settings. The cart-and-checkout guide says an incompatible gateway may not appear on the block checkout, and if every enabled gateway is incompatible, that checkout can show that no payment method is available. Those sentences are about the block. They do not say what the classic shortcode will display. A gateway's own settings still apply on either type, and only that gateway's documentation can say the method appears after a switch.
Buyer controls are not identical. Advanced settings say the classic shortcode shows terms inline, opened from a link, with a checkbox. The block shows a purchase sentence with links to the terms and privacy pages when those pages are set, and the block editor can change that sentence. The Checkout block also has its own terms checkbox setting, a coupon form that can be removed, and express-payment and local-pickup areas that appear only when their settings are on. The block local-pickup option is different from the older shipping-zone pickup the block guide calls legacy.
Custom checkout fields are a separate dependency. WooCommerce says extensions that add markup with hooks, including custom checkout fields, usually need integration work before they support the blocks. Order status, stock, and email still follow WooCommerce's order documentation after either checkout creates an order. Those systems are not converted by renaming the checkout block. Accessibility behavior is not compared here, because the pages above do not state a difference.
Pair every dependency with that vendor's current statement
WooCommerce.com product pages have a Compatibility section for Cart and Checkout blocks. An extension that has declared itself incompatible can show a warning, and a one-click switch to classic checkout, when the Checkout block is selected. That warning is evidence about the extension. It is not an instruction to convert a store that needs the block, and it is not an instruction to convert a store that does not use the extension.
WooCommerce Checkout Add-ons is one checked example, not a stand-in for every plugin. Its documentation says that as of WooCommerce 8.3 the blocks are the default, that this extension has not yet been updated to be compatible with those blocks, and that stores needing it should revert to the cart and checkout shortcodes. It also says further compatibility updates are intended and points readers to its compatibility page for later news. Until that extension's own page says the installed version supports the Checkout block, the add-on is a blocker to moving a store that requires it onto the block. It is not a reason for a store that does not use it to leave the block.
Write the installed version next to the sentence you found. A forum post, or a compatibility claim for a different version, does not fill the gap. If a required behavior remains unverified, pause the proposed change until its support is confirmed. Other completed rows do not resolve that uncertainty; obtain current documentation or written vendor confirmation for the installed version.
Do not convert from a checklist
WooCommerce documents a transform to the Classic Shortcode and says both cart and checkout should be reverted together if you leave the blocks. It does not describe that transform as a backup. Have the person who maintains the site keep a recoverable copy of the current pages before any live change, and have them place a test order that proves the payment method, the required fields, shipping or pickup, taxes, coupons, order creation, and the buyer-facing confirmation. This page cannot run that test.
The order-received endpoint is WooCommerce's confirmation route after what it calls a successful purchase. Confirmation text is still not a reason to skip the gateway record. Proving the change means the gateway and the order agree, on the checkout type you intend to keep.
Confirm who is responsible for any checkout or gateway implementation. Nothing on this page changes your store. A provider's willingness to process a research-use-only catalog is a separate decision from whether a gateway appears in a block.
Hand the evidence to the people who can change it
The handoff names the WooCommerce version if you know it, the assigned Checkout page, whether List View showed a Checkout block or a Classic Shortcode, each required gateway and extension with its version, the vendor sentence and URL, and the behavior you have not proved. It names who may edit the live page. Unknown version stays unknown.
A consultation can discuss that checkout question alongside the storefront. Prism's published services are a website review, preparation for a processing conversation, and help with a provider's website questions. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before work. The contact form is for the website, the products, and the question. Keep plugin files and admin credentials out of the public form. Any conversion requires a separately agreed scope and authorization.
You can decide that the evidence is incomplete and that no one should switch the live checkout yet. You cannot decide from a count of checked rows that the other checkout is safe, or that a provider will approve the account.
Checkout compatibility matrix
One row is one required behavior. If current documentation or written vendor confirmation does not establish support for the installed version, mark it unverified. Checking rows does not authorize a conversion. Worksheet entries are not submitted by this worksheet or saved by this site. Use only non-sensitive summaries; do not enter credentials, government identifiers, card or bank-account numbers, private receipt links, or customer details.
Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.
Checkout compatibility matrix. The last column is for temporary notes.
Required behavior
What to verify on this store
What an unanswered row means
Your evidence
Assigned Checkout page
What to verify on this storeWooCommerce, Settings, Advanced, page setup names the Checkout page. A block on a different URL is not the assigned checkout.
What an unanswered row meansIf no page is assigned, WooCommerce says customers cannot check out. Do not convert a page the store is not using. Write the assigned page title. If you have not opened the setting, write unknown.
Block or Classic Shortcode
What to verify on this storeOn the assigned page, List View shows a Checkout block or a Classic Shortcode. The editor path depends on whether the theme is a block theme.
What an unanswered row meansIf you cannot tell, the type is unknown. Do not guess from the store's age or from WooCommerce 8.3's default. Write the label you saw, and whether the cart page uses the matching type.
Payment gateway
What to verify on this storeThe Checkout block lists a method only if it is available and compatible. An incompatible gateway may be missing, so the classic shortcode is not the same test.
What an unanswered row meansNo vendor sentence for this version means you do not know whether the method will appear after a switch. Name the gateway and version, plus the compatibility sentence and where you read it.
Custom fields or checkout add-ons
What to verify on this storeWooCommerce says hook-based checkout fields usually need integration work for the blocks. Checkout Add-ons' own page says that extension is not yet compatible.
What an unanswered row meansA required field without a compatibility statement for the target type blocks the change. Another plugin is not covered by the add-ons sentence. List each required field and the vendor page for the installed version.
Terms, coupons, shipping, and pickup
What to verify on this storeClassic shortcode and Checkout block present terms differently. The block's coupon form, express buttons, and block local pickup depend on their own settings.
What an unanswered row meansA control you have not found on the current page is unknown, not unused. Do not drop it by converting. Note which of these buyers use today, and which type you observed them on.
Order, notice, and confirmation
What to verify on this storeEither checkout still has to create an order the gateway agrees with. The order-received endpoint is the confirmation route, not proof by itself.
What an unanswered row meansA test you have not run is an open gap. Do not treat a saved editor screen as a proved purchase. Write who will place the test, on a recoverable copy, before any live change.
Who may change the live page
What to verify on this storeThe transform is a content change. WooCommerce does not describe it as a backup.
What an unanswered row meansNo named owner and no recoverable copy means the change waits. Name the person. If that person is not you, the row stays with them.
These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. The consultation form does not include these entries.
Limits
A Prism consultation can help you organize the facts and discuss the website or processing question. The payment provider decides eligibility, pricing, reserves, and whether an account is opened or closed.
Do not switch a live checkout because you read this page. Neither the Checkout block nor the classic shortcode is presented as the better checkout for every store.
An extension's compatibility with the Checkout block does not mean a provider will approve or keep a processing account. Confirm implementation responsibilities before changing the assigned checkout.
Checkout Add-ons' incompatibility is that extension's documented status. It is not a finding about other plugins or about Prism.
Do not send admin passwords, plugin files, card data, or customer lists through the public form.
WooCommerce: Cart and Checkout blocks — checked 2026-09-21. Stores started after WooCommerce 8.3 in November 2023 default to Cart and Checkout blocks. Reverting uses Classic Shortcode and should include both cart and checkout. Incompatible gateways may not appear. Hook-based fields usually need integration work. Product pages mark block compatibility.
WooCommerce: Customizing the Checkout page — checked 2026-09-21. The Checkout block contains customer details, delivery, payment methods, and order review. A block theme is edited through Appearance, Editor, Templates. A non-block theme is edited under Pages. Transform chooses Classic Shortcode.
WooCommerce: Checkout block — checked 2026-09-21. The designated checkout page is set under WooCommerce, Settings, Advanced. Payment methods must be available and block-compatible. The coupon form can be removed. Express pay and block local pickup depend on their settings. Terms can require a checkbox.
WooCommerce: Advanced settings — checked 2026-09-21. Page setup assigns the Checkout page. The classic shortcode shows expandable terms with a checkbox. The block shows a linked terms and privacy sentence. The order-received endpoint is the confirmation route.
WooCommerce Checkout Add-ons — checked 2026-09-21. This extension's documentation says it is not yet compatible with the Cart and Checkout blocks that became the default in WooCommerce 8.3, and it recommends shortcodes for stores that need the extension.
Prism solutions — checked 2026-09-21. Published support is a storefront review, processing preparation, and help with a provider's website questions. The provider decides eligibility and account terms. Scope, fees, and terms are discussed before work.
Prism contact — checked 2026-09-21. The form collects the website, products, and question. It excludes passwords and customer records. A request is not a purchase or a processing application.
Request a consultation
Describe the business and this specific question. Prism follows up by email to discuss fit and scope. An inquiry is not a processing application or an approval.