If you have a digital download, template, pattern, guide or similar product ready to sell, the choice between Payhip and Ko-fi comes down to what you want the platform to do for you. Both can sell digital products, but they are built around rather different approaches.
At a glance
| Feature | Payhip | Ko-fi |
|---|---|---|
| Free to start | Yes | Yes |
| Digital products | Yes | Yes |
| Physical products | Yes | Yes |
| Memberships | Yes | Yes |
| Tips / fan support | Not its main focus | Core part of the platform |
| Marketplace discovery | Yes, for eligible digital products | No equivalent creator marketplace |
| Free-plan fee on shop sales | 5% | 5% |
| Zero platform-fee option | Pro at $99/month | Gold at $12/month |
| Payment processor fees | Charged separately | Charged separately |
| Digital VAT / sales-tax handling | Handles certain taxes on the seller's behalf | Creator is responsible |
Payhip pricing
Payhip currently keeps its pricing straightforward. There are three plans, and all three include the same core features. The main difference is the transaction fee.
| Plan | Monthly price | Payhip transaction fee | Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | $0/month | 5% | All features, unlimited products and unlimited revenue |
| Plus | $29/month | 2% | All features, unlimited products and unlimited revenue |
| Pro | $99/month | 0% | All features, unlimited products and unlimited revenue |
Stripe and PayPal fees are charged separately from Payhip's own transaction fee. Payhip states that its payment processors continue to charge their standard rates after processing a transaction, regardless of which Payhip plan you use.
Official pricing: Payhip pricing.
Ko-fi pricing
Ko-fi works slightly differently. Its main idea is to give creators a page where they can receive tips, offer memberships, sell products and take commissions. Its Shop can absolutely be used for digital downloads, but fan support remains a much bigger part of the overall platform.
Ko-fi currently has a free service-fee model and a paid Gold option. The free model itself has two fee settings: Free mode gives one-off tips a 0% Ko-fi service fee, while the standard Contributor mode applies a 5% service fee to all payment types.
| Ko-fi option | Monthly price | One-off tips | Shop / memberships / commissions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | 0% service fee | 5% service fee |
| Contributor / Standard | $0/month | 5% service fee | 5% service fee |
| Gold | $12/month | 0% service fee | 0% service fee |
Ko-fi payments go directly to the creator's connected PayPal or Stripe account. Ko-fi does not absorb those payment-processing costs, so normal processor fees are charged separately.
Gold remains available to new creators at $12/month, although Ko-fi's current model means you can access the platform without paying a monthly subscription and instead pay its service fee when you receive payments.
Official pricing: Ko-fi pricing.
What does a $20 sale actually leave you with?
To make the comparison concrete, the example below uses a $20 digital-product sale and Stripe's currently published standard US domestic-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30. This is a worked comparison, not a promise that every seller will pay exactly this processor rate. Stripe's rates vary according to factors such as country, card type and currency.
For a $20 transaction, the Stripe calculation is $20 × 2.9% = $0.58, plus $0.30, giving a processor fee of $0.88.
| Option | Sale | Platform fee | Processor fee | After both fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payhip Free Forever | $20.00 | 5% = $1.00 | 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.88 | $18.12 |
| Payhip Plus | $20.00 | 2% = $0.40 | 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.88 | $18.72 |
| Payhip Pro | $20.00 | 0% = $0.00 | 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.88 | $19.12 |
| Ko-fi Free Shop sale | $20.00 | 5% = $1.00 | 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.88 | $18.12 |
| Ko-fi Standard / Contributor | $20.00 | 5% = $1.00 | 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.88 | $18.12 |
| Ko-fi Gold | $20.00 | 0% = $0.00 | 2.9% + $0.30 = $0.88 | $19.12 |
This example uses the same Stripe rate for both platforms so that the platform-fee difference can be isolated. Your actual payment-processing fee may be different.
Platform fee only: three price points
If we strip out payment processing and look only at the platform fee, the comparison is simple:
- $10 sale: Payhip Free Forever = $0.50; Payhip Plus = $0.20; Payhip Pro = $0.00; Ko-fi Free/Standard Shop = $0.50; Ko-fi Gold = $0.00.
- $30 sale: Payhip Free Forever = $1.50; Payhip Plus = $0.60; Payhip Pro = $0.00; Ko-fi Free/Standard Shop = $1.50; Ko-fi Gold = $0.00.
- $75 sale: Payhip Free Forever = $3.75; Payhip Plus = $1.50; Payhip Pro = $0.00; Ko-fi Free/Standard Shop = $3.75; Ko-fi Gold = $0.00.
So there is no platform-fee advantage between Payhip Free Forever and a normal Ko-fi Shop sale. The differences become more interesting when you look at the paid plans, tax administration, discovery and what each platform is actually designed around.
When does upgrading make sense?
Payhip Plus
Payhip Free Forever charges 5%, while Plus charges 2%. That is a 3 percentage-point reduction. Plus costs $29 per month.
$29 ÷ 0.03 = $966.67.
On platform fees alone, Plus therefore reaches its break-even point against Free Forever at $966.67 in monthly sales. At that sales volume, the 3% fee saving is $29.
Payhip Pro
Payhip Free Forever charges 5%, while Pro charges 0%. Pro costs $99 per month.
$99 ÷ 0.05 = $1,980.
On platform fees alone, Pro therefore reaches its break-even point against Free Forever at $1,980 in monthly sales.
Ko-fi Gold
A normal Ko-fi Shop sale carries a 5% service fee under the free model, while Gold charges 0%. Gold costs $12 per month.
$12 ÷ 0.05 = $240.
On Shop fees alone, Gold therefore reaches its break-even point against the 5% model at $240 in monthly Shop sales.
These are deliberately simple fee-only calculations. They do not assign a monetary value to features, discovery, tax administration, branding, memberships, tips or other differences between the platforms.
Payhip's marketplace and discovery
Payhip currently has a marketplace specifically intended to help prospective customers discover digital products outside a seller's existing following.
There is an eligibility requirement. Payhip says a store must have generated at least $10 in total sales and must have been reviewed by its accounts team. Individual digital products then need to be approved for marketplace listing.
There is no additional marketplace fee. Sales generated through the marketplace are charged at the seller's normal Payhip transaction fee.
That is not a promise that the marketplace will generate sales for a new seller. It simply gives a qualifying Payhip store an additional discovery route that is not dependent entirely on bringing every visitor yourself.
Payhip's marketplace currently supports digital products.
What about Ko-fi discovery?
Ko-fi has a Shop where creators can list digital and physical products, but it does not operate an equivalent general marketplace for buyers to search through creators.
Ko-fi's own guidance says creators cannot be searched for directly on Ko-fi and encourages creators to share their pages through social media, websites, email and other channels.
That makes Ko-fi particularly straightforward when you already know where your audience is coming from. It also means discovery works differently from Payhip's marketplace model.
Tax and VAT handling
Payhip: Payhip says it automatically collects and remits UK and EU VAT on qualifying digital sales. Payhip also states that, from 1 July 2026, it handles US sales tax on sellers' behalf as a marketplace facilitator. Other tax obligations can still apply to the seller's own business.
Ko-fi: Ko-fi says it is not the merchant of record and does not collect or remit sales tax or VAT for creators. It provides tools that allow creators to add applicable tax to Shop products, memberships and commissions, but the creator remains responsible for determining where tax is due and for remitting it to the relevant tax authority.
That distinction can be significant for someone selling digital products internationally. It does not mean Payhip takes responsibility for your income tax or every tax obligation connected with running a business.
Cheaper for your own traffic
If you already have an audience and you simply need somewhere to send that audience, the discovery difference matters less.
For a normal digital product sale, both Payhip Free Forever and Ko-fi's free Shop model charge 5% before payment processing. At that level, neither has a platform-fee advantage.
Ko-fi can be especially appealing when your income is primarily audience support. In its Free mode, one-off tips carry a 0% Ko-fi service fee, although the payment processor still charges its normal fee.
If your main activity is building a catalogue of digital products, the comparison becomes broader. Payhip's lower-fee paid plans, marketplace, ecommerce focus and tax handling can matter alongside the basic transaction percentage.
For Pinterest sellers specifically
Pinterest changes the decision because a pin can introduce your product to someone who has never heard of you. You may not have a large social following or an email list waiting for your next product.
That makes the distinction between bringing your own traffic and having another discovery route worth considering.
A Ko-fi Shop can handle a Pinterest visitor perfectly well once they arrive. But Ko-fi's own documentation makes clear that creators are responsible for sharing their pages and bringing people to them. Payhip also lets you bring your own traffic, while its marketplace provides an additional discovery route once your store qualifies.
Neither platform makes Pinterest traffic automatic. Your pin still needs to attract the right person, and your product page still needs to convince that person to buy.
But if the plan is to build a catalogue of digital products and use Pinterest as an ongoing source of visitors, I would look beyond the initial 5% fee and compare the complete selling setup.
That means considering the storefront, delivery, marketing tools, discovery, tax administration and what happens as your sales grow.
Transparency note: this page may contain a referral link to Payhip. If you sign up through this page, I may receive a commission from Payhip. That does not add a charge to your signup, and Payhip's Free Forever plan costs $0 per month. Ko-fi is included here as a genuine alternative, including the situations where its creator-support model may make more sense.
If you're building a digital-product shop rather than mainly collecting fan support, this is where I'd test Payhip first.
The practical difference
- Both can sell digital products. You can use either platform for downloads such as guides, templates, patterns and other files.
- Both let you start without a monthly subscription. Payhip Free Forever is $0/month with a 5% transaction fee. Ko-fi's free model has a 5% service fee on Shop sales.
- Ko-fi is built strongly around creator support. Tips, memberships, commissions and products all sit together, with one-off tips potentially carrying a 0% Ko-fi service fee in Free mode.
- Payhip is more ecommerce-focused. Its storefront, product-selling tools, marketing features and digital-product marketplace make selling products a central part of the platform.
- Discovery is different. Payhip has a marketplace for eligible digital products. Ko-fi does not provide a general creator-search marketplace.
- Tax responsibilities are different. Payhip handles certain UK, EU and US indirect-tax obligations under its current policies, while Ko-fi places sales-tax and VAT responsibility on the creator.
- Processor fees remain separate. The platform percentage is only one part of the cost of receiving a payment.
FAQ
1. Is Payhip or Ko-fi cheaper for selling a digital product?
At the free level, both charge 5% on a normal digital-product Shop sale before payment processing. Payhip Plus reduces its transaction fee to 2% for $29/month, while Payhip Pro removes the transaction fee for $99/month. Ko-fi Gold removes its service fee for $12/month. Your sales volume and the other features you need are therefore important to the comparison.
2. Does Payhip charge Stripe or PayPal fees as well?
Yes. Payhip's transaction fee is separate from the fee charged by the payment processor. Payhip says Stripe and PayPal continue to charge their standard processing rates on all Payhip plans.
3. Can I sell PDFs, templates and printables through Ko-fi?
Yes. Ko-fi Shop supports digital products, including downloadable files, printables and templates. Digital products can be delivered to the customer through the Shop after purchase.
4. Does Payhip have a marketplace?
Yes. Payhip currently has a marketplace for digital products. Your store needs at least $10 in total sales and an account review before it becomes eligible, and individual products must then be approved. Payhip says marketplace sales do not carry an additional marketplace fee.
5. Does Ko-fi have a marketplace like Payhip?
No equivalent general marketplace is currently offered. Ko-fi has a Shop where you can list products, but Ko-fi says creators cannot be searched for directly on the platform. Its guidance instead encourages creators to share their Ko-fi page through social media, websites, email and other channels.
6. Is Ko-fi better suited to tips and fan support?
That is a natural use case for Ko-fi. Tips are one of its central features, alongside memberships, commissions and Shop sales. In Free mode, one-off tips carry a 0% Ko-fi service fee, although payment processor fees still apply. If your main activity is selling a growing catalogue of digital products, the wider comparison is different.
7. Which should I consider if Pinterest is going to send visitors to my products?
Consider both the storefront and what happens after the visitor arrives. Either platform can receive traffic from Pinterest, but Payhip also has a marketplace that can provide an additional discovery route after your store qualifies. Ko-fi relies more heavily on creators bringing visitors to their pages. For someone building digital products as the main business, that difference is worth considering alongside fees and tax handling.
Final thoughts
Ko-fi is a legitimate choice if you want one creator page where people can tip you, join a membership, buy products or commission work. Its free entry and creator-support model make it particularly relevant when you already have an audience.
Payhip takes a more ecommerce-oriented approach. You can start on its $0/month plan, move to a lower transaction percentage as sales grow, use its digital-product marketplace once eligible, and have Payhip handle certain indirect-tax obligations that Ko-fi leaves to the creator.
If your particular goal is to build a catalogue of digital products and use Pinterest to send people towards that catalogue, those are the differences I would pay closest attention to. The 5% starting fee is only one part of the decision.