Title: Difference between attribute and variation
Last modified: December 8, 2016

---

# Difference between attribute and variation

 *  Resolved [SJW](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whitsey/)
 * (@whitsey)
 * [9 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/)
 * I have been using WooCommerce for a while but i have just blindly setup attributes
   and variations without ever thinking – why?
 * I did a google search and I got a suggestion for auto complete: “woocommerce 
   difference between attributes and variations” which tells me it is a common search
   BUT, the results are unrelated.
 * Why do I need to set it up twice?
 * If I am selling shoes which have sizes – do I need it to be a variable product
   or can I just use attributes with a simple product somehow?
 * As I said – I’ve just been doing the same thing over and over without thinking“
   Why” and now I’d like to know…

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

 *  [Alundra](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alundra/)
 * (@alundra)
 * [9 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8527478)
 * Can you try it and let us know? This could save me a lot of trouble. I think 
   I have to use variations anyway because my products are downloads, and the only
   way to have multiple downloads and product photos for each one is to go through
   variations.
 *  [nashoba](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nashoba/)
 * (@nashoba)
 * [9 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8527892)
 * this helped me a bit in understanding how it should work: [https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/variable-product/](https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/variable-product/)
 *  Plugin Support [Riaan K.](https://wordpress.org/support/users/riaanknoetze/)
 * (@riaanknoetze)
 * [9 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8529049)
 * A simple way to remember things:
 * Variations NEED Attributes;
    Attributes alone DON’T NEED to used variations.
 * Attributes can be used in two ways:
    * To give more information about a product(
   i.e. part number, ISBN number) * To be used in a variation where the user selects
   a variation.
 *  [azhar04](https://wordpress.org/support/users/azhar04/)
 * (@azhar04)
 * [9 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8576211)
 * Why haven’t you tried figuring out earlier!
 * Nevertheless,
 * In your case, if you are selling shoes with different sizes, you can set it as
   a **Simple Product**. But if you have more quantity, it may not work well. So
   it would be appropriate to make it as a **_Variable Product_**.
    An **Attribute**
   is an information for the product which your customers see in the product page,
   where as a **Variation** is possible options the product will be available in
   and which can also be seen by your customer in the product description section.
   Basically, variations help to configure inventory, price, shipping class and 
   other settings of each variation of the product. Attributes are necessary for
   creating variations and you have to set both variations and attributes for the
   product.
 * Read more on [how to manage a variable product](http://learnwoo.com/woocommerce-manage-variable-product/)
   and [Setting attributes](http://learnwoo.com/woocommerce-manage-product-categories-tags-attributes/).
    -  This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by [azhar04](https://wordpress.org/support/users/azhar04/).
 *  Thread Starter [SJW](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whitsey/)
 * (@whitsey)
 * [9 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8579427)
 * > Why haven’t you tried figuring out earlier!
 * I’m sorry, Is there a time limit on asking questions?
 * As for the rest of the answer – thanks, [@riaan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/riaan/)
   cleared that up with his similar answer.
 *  [Alundra](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alundra/)
 * (@alundra)
 * [9 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8579704)
 * I would think you’d have searched for the answer sooner as well if you’ve been
   using it for a while like you say and it’s kind of important for your store to
   know the difference, given your products need variations.
 * I like the way Azhar ironed it out too, it made it a lot more clearer than Riaan’s
   explanation…or rather complimented it perfectly so I understood it better.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

The topic ‘Difference between attribute and variation’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/woocommerce/assets/icon.svg?rev=3234504)
 * [WooCommerce](https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/woocommerce/reviews/)

 * 6 replies
 * 5 participants
 * Last reply from: [Alundra](https://wordpress.org/support/users/alundra/)
 * Last activity: [9 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/difference-between-attribute-and-variation/#post-8579704)
 * Status: resolved