WooCommerce orders stuck on "Pending Payment"? Here's what's actually causing it and how to fix it fast.
After 14+ years of WooCommerce development, these are the 7 root causes I see most often:
- Payment gateway in test mode
Easy to miss after a migration or plugin update. Check WooCommerce → Settings → Payments.
- Wrong or missing webhook URL
For Stripe: https://yourdomain.com/?wc-api=wc_stripe
If this isn't set correctly in your Stripe dashboard, orders stay Pending forever.
- Caching on checkout pages
Exclude /cart, /checkout, /my-account, /wc-api from every cache layer — plugin, CDN, and server-level.
- WP Cron disabled
If DISABLE_WP_CRON is set to true in wp-config.php, payment callbacks never process. Re-enable it or set a real server cron.
- Plugin conflict
Disable all plugins except WooCommerce + gateway. Test. Re-enable one by one.
- Server firewall blocking gateway callbacks
Especially common on self-managed VPS/dedicated servers. Whitelist payment gateway IP ranges.
- PHP error during checkout
Check WooCommerce → Status → Logs. The error is almost always logged there.
Full guide with code snippets and checklist:
👉 https://amanurrahman.com/blog-post/woocommerce-order-not-completing-fix