What it does
Disable or hide WooCommerce shipping methods for specific product categories. GoUp Shipping Method by Category filters the shipping rates WooCommerce has already calculated according to the product categories in each package. Create focused rules that allow only approved methods or disable selected methods for furniture, wholesale goods, oversized products, and other categories—without changing shipping prices or replacing your shipping zones.
Step-by-step guide: How to Disable a Shipping Method for a Specific Product Category in WooCommerce
Screenshots
Common use cases
- Allow only freight and local pickup when a package contains furniture
- Disable Free Shipping for wholesale product categories
- Restrict oversized products to selected carrier services
- Apply a category restriction only to the matching package in a split shipment
Features
- Evaluate product categories separately for each WooCommerce shipping package
- Match ANY or ALL selected categories with optional child-category support
- Handle variable products through their parent product categories
- Target exact configured shipping instances or every instance of a method type
- Combine Allow Only and Disable rules in deterministic priority order
- Choose default Safe Mode or intentional Strict Mode, with a tester, diagnostics, JSON import/export, and optional logging
How it works
- Download the plugin ZIP from your GoUpWP account.
- In WordPress, open Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, then install and activate it with WooCommerce active.
- Open WooCommerce → Shipping by Category and create a rule.
- Choose categories, matching behavior, an Allow Only or Disable action, and shipping targets, then enable and test the rule.
Compatibility and requirements
Frequently asked questions
How do I hide a shipping method for a specific product category in WooCommerce?
Add a rule for the category and choose Disable for the methods to remove (or Allow Only to keep an approved list). WooCommerce still calculates rates through your shipping zones as normal; the plugin only filters which of those rates appear.
Does the plugin calculate shipping prices?
No. WooCommerce calculates rates first. The plugin only controls which of those existing rates remain available; it does not change their cost, tax, label, or delivery metadata.
Does it work with split shipping packages?
Yes. Each package is evaluated against its own products and categories, so a restriction applies only to the package it matches.
What happens if rules remove every shipping method?
Safe Mode is enabled by default and restores that package’s original rates. Strict Mode keeps the empty result when that behavior is intentional.
Does it support third-party shipping methods and Checkout Blocks?
Yes when the extension returns standard WooCommerce shipping rates and method IDs. Filtering runs server-side through WooCommerce’s package-rate filter, which is supported by Cart and Checkout Blocks.
How do category and product shipping rules combine?
Rules combine restrictively across both GoUp shipping plugins: Disable removes rates, and Allow Only intersects the remaining rate set. Neither plugin restores a rate removed by WooCommerce or another plugin.
Customer reviews
No reviews yet. Reviews come only from customers who hold a license for this plugin.
Updates, support, and cancellation
Every license covers one production website plus one staging or local development site, and includes maintained releases, automatic updates, fresh downloads, and product support during its term. Annual licenses renew automatically until cancelled. Two-year licenses are prepaid and renewed manually; lifetime licenses never expire. If a fixed-term license ends, your installed plugin continues working at its current version.
Changelog
1.0.5 27 September 2026 · tested with WordPress 7.1
- Hardened JSON imports with POST/capability/nonce enforcement, extension and exact-size checks, JSON depth/schema validation, a 500-rule limit, duplicate detection and all-or-nothing rule validation.
- Protected checkout from malformed extension/filter values and prevented hooks from injecting arbitrary rate records or corrupting stored rule/settings shapes.
- Added bounded rule fields, category/method collections and privacy-safe logger context to resist oversized configuration and log payloads.
- Rebuilt the category candidate cache when filtered rules change, preserving correct dynamic integrations during a request.
- Refined the responsive GoUpWP blue admin experience, rule table, status chips and controls while retaining the shared GoUpWP logo header.
- Expanded focused regression coverage for filter failures, data invariants, bounds, cache invalidation and malformed rate descriptors.
1.0.4 26 September 2026 · tested with WordPress 7.1
- GoUpWP admin identity: every plugin screen now opens with a GoUpWP header showing the plugin name, version, documentation, support and licence status.
- GoUpWP styling for settings, rule tables, tabs, cards and buttons, scoped to this plugin's screens so WordPress and other plugins are untouched.
- GoUpWP mark on the Plugins screen, Documentation and Support links in the plugin row, and GoUpWP icons on the Dashboard → Updates screen.
1.0.3 20 September 2026 · tested with WordPress 7.1
- Updates: the installer now fetches a freshly signed download link at install time and verifies the SHA-256 checksum, so "Update now" works hours after WordPress last checked for updates.
- Updates: update checks are cached for six hours and the Plugins screen shows a clear message (with a link to the license page) when an update exists but the license is not active.
- License screen: named per plugin in the WooCommerce menu, shows the installed version and a "Check for updates" button, and every string is translatable.
- Plugins screen: Settings and License links on the plugin row.
- Uninstall: releases the license seat on goupwp.com and removes all license data, regardless of the data-retention setting.
- Code style: all source files expanded to readable, documented PHP.
- Fixed a fatal error when opening the rule editor and the Diagnostics tab (shipping zones could not be loaded).
- Unit tests covering instance/type targeting, allow-only and disable actions, child categories and ALL mode.
1.0.2 20 September 2026 · tested with WordPress 7.1
- License screen now explains activation failures (unrecognised key, wrong plugin, site limit reached, expired) and shows the environment, activation counts and end date.
- Activate and Deactivate always contact goupwp.com immediately instead of waiting out a network backoff.
1.0.1 20 September 2026 · tested with WordPress 7.1
- Added the GoUpWP licensing and update client.
- Normalized plugin headers and code style.