Posting because I've seen 3 stores hit this and it doesn't seem widely discussed yet.
FedEx is sunsetting their old Web Services SOAP API. Their official deprecation timeline points to 2026. The new path is REST-based.
Here's what I've found about the impact on WooCommerce:
What breaks for stores still on SOAP-based plugins:
- Live rates at checkout return empty — customers see "no shipping options"
- Tracking integrations fail because the SOAP tracking endpoint stops responding
- Label printing returns auth errors
- International customs documents (commercial invoice, ETD) can't be generated
- Residential surcharge calculations fall back to wrong values
Most of the popular FedEx WooCommerce plugins on the directory and on CodeCanyon were built on SOAP. Some have started migrating, some haven't announced anything.
Things I'm trying to figure out (would value the community's input):
- Has anyone here already migrated their store from SOAP to REST? What broke that wasn't obvious in advance?
- For people running multiple FedEx accounts (parent/child structure), does REST handle account hierarchy the same way SOAP did?
- For Freight LTL users — does anyone know if the REST Freight API supports liftgate and inside-delivery accessorials the same way?
- For international shipping with paperless customs (ETD), has anyone tested the REST endpoint? SOAP had quirks with certain country pairs.
- For developers — is there a known way to run SOAP and REST side-by-side for testing without breaking production rates?
If you're on a SOAP-based plugin right now, two practical things to do this week:
- Log into your FedEx Developer portal and check whether your account already has REST credentials provisioned. Most do, some need a manual request.
- Ask your current plugin author (or check their changelog) whether they've shipped REST support yet. If they're silent, plan for either an upgrade or a switch.
Curious what others are seeing on this. Has it broken anything for anyone yet, or is the SOAP endpoint still working fine on your stores today?