What Are Variable Products? #
WooCommerce variable products let a single product listing contain multiple purchasable options called variations. Each variation has its own price, SKU, and stock settings. Starting in DDLS v1.2.0, each variation can also have its own complete set of licensing settings.
Why This Matters for Licensing #
Before v1.2.0, all variations of a product shared the same licensing configuration defined on the parent product. Selling “1 Site” vs “5 Sites” options required creating separate simple products. With variable product support, you configure both options as variations of one product.
A Typical Use Case #
A WordPress plugin sold with three pricing tiers:
| Variation | Price | Activation Limit | License Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | $49/year | 1 site | Standard |
| Business | $99/year | 5 sites | Professional |
| Agency | $199/year | 25 sites | Enterprise |
All three are variations of one WooCommerce product. Each variation is independently licensed. When a customer purchases the Business variation, they receive a license with a 5-site activation limit. A customer who later upgrades does not receive the wrong license.
How It Works #
When WooCommerce processes an order containing a variable product variation, DDLS reads the variation_id from the order line item. It then resolves the effective license settings for that specific variation using the three-level inheritance model:
The resolved settings are written to the new license record. See [How Settings Are Resolved](#) for details.
Related Topics #
- [Creating a Variable Product with Licensing](#)
- [Per-Variation Licensing Settings](#)
- [How Settings Are Resolved](#)
- [What Are License Types?](#)