If you're selling digital products, the platform you choose can make a surprisingly big difference to what you actually keep from each sale.
Gumroad and Payhip both let you sell digital products without building a complicated ecommerce store, but their pricing, transaction fees, marketplace systems and tax arrangements work differently.
So which one makes more sense?
The answer depends largely on how you expect people to find your products and how much you're likely to sell.
Prices, fees, marketplace requirements, tax arrangements and platform features can change. The information in this article was checked against current pricing and help documentation available on 16 September 2026. Payment-processing fees can vary by payment method, country and processor, so any processing-fee examples below are illustrative rather than universal.
Gumroad vs Payhip at a glance
| Feature | Payhip | Gumroad |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly fee | $0, $29 or $99 depending on plan | No monthly subscription |
| Platform fee on direct sales | 5%, 2% or 0% | 10% + $0.50 |
| Marketplace | Yes | Yes, through Discover |
| Marketplace fee | Normal plan transaction fee | 30% |
| Merchant of Record | No | Yes |
Payhip pricing
Payhip has three main plans:
- Free: $0/month + 5% transaction fee
- Plus: $29/month + 2% transaction fee
- Pro: $99/month + 0% transaction fee
Payment-processing fees are separate from Payhip's platform fee and depend on the payment processor and transaction.
The important thing about the free plan is that there is no monthly subscription to cover while you're still trying to make your first sales.
Gumroad pricing
Gumroad does not charge a monthly subscription. Instead, its standard direct-sale fee is:
10% + $0.50 per transaction
Gumroad also has its Discover marketplace. Sales attributed to Discover are subject to a higher 30% fee.
Gumroad also has a higher-volume pricing exception for qualifying sellers, with direct-sale fees of 5% + $0.50 after the relevant threshold is reached.
What does that mean on a $20 sale?
Here's a simple illustration using a hypothetical payment-processing charge of 2.9% + $0.30. Actual processing charges can vary depending on your payment processor, country and payment method.
| Platform | Platform fee | Illustrative processing | Approx. fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payhip Free | $1.00 | $0.88 | $1.88 |
| Payhip Plus | $0.40 | $0.88 | $1.28 |
| Payhip Pro | $0 | $0.88 | $0.88 |
| Gumroad | $2.50 | $0.88 | $3.38 |
These figures are an illustration of the platform-fee difference and are not a quote of your actual payment-processing costs.
How much difference does the platform fee make?
Looking only at the platform fee, before payment-processing charges:
- On a $20 sale, Payhip Free charges $1.00 while Gumroad charges $2.50.
- On a $50 sale, Payhip Free charges $2.50 while Gumroad charges $5.50.
- On a $100 sale, Payhip Free charges $5.00 while Gumroad charges $10.50.
The difference becomes more noticeable as your sales volume grows, particularly if most of your customers are coming from your own traffic rather than a marketplace.
When does Payhip Plus make sense?
The basic calculation is straightforward.
$29 ÷ 3% = approximately $966.67
That's the approximate monthly sales level at which paying $29 for Payhip Plus and reducing the platform fee from 5% to 2% produces the same platform-fee cost as staying on the Free plan.
That's before considering any other differences between the plans, and it does not include payment-processing fees.
What about the Payhip marketplace?
Payhip also has a marketplace where eligible products can potentially be discovered by shoppers who are already browsing for digital products.
Marketplace access isn't simply automatic as soon as you create an account. Payhip currently requires at least $10 in genuine sales before a seller can request marketplace approval. The product then goes through review, and approval can take up to 10 days.
Payhip does not add a separate marketplace fee on top of your normal plan transaction fee.
What about Gumroad Discover?
Gumroad's Discover marketplace works differently.
A new seller doesn't simply list a product and immediately gain full access to Discover. Current eligibility requirements include completing payout settings, reaching at least $100 in genuine sales and passing Gumroad's review process. Gumroad also states that products need to meet its eligibility requirements.
Discover sales are subject to a 30% fee, which is considerably higher than Gumroad's standard direct-sale fee.
That makes it important to distinguish between a customer you bring yourself and a customer acquired through the marketplace.
Tax and VAT handling
One of the biggest structural differences between the two platforms is how tax administration is handled.
Gumroad has operated as a Merchant of Record since 1 January 2025. This means Gumroad takes responsibility for collecting and remitting applicable sales taxes, VAT and GST on transactions where it is required to do so.
Payhip also provides tax-handling features, including EU and UK VAT support. From July 2026, Payhip expanded its automated tax handling for US sales tax and most Canadian taxes, although Quebec QST remains an exception.
So the two platforms can both reduce the amount of tax administration you have to handle, but they do not operate under exactly the same model.
What happens if you refund a Gumroad customer?
Gumroad's refund treatment is worth understanding because the platform fee and payment-processing fee are treated differently.
When a transaction is refunded, Gumroad returns its platform fee on the refunded portion. The payment-processing fee is retained.
There can also be differences depending on how an account is connected to payment processing, so sellers should check Gumroad's current refund documentation for their specific setup.
Which is cheaper for your own traffic?
If you're bringing customers yourself through Pinterest, LinkedIn, SEO, email or social media, the marketplace is less important than the cost of processing the sale you generated.
In that situation, Payhip's Free plan has a straightforward advantage in platform-fee terms: 5% compared with Gumroad's 10% + $0.50.
For a low-volume seller, the absence of a monthly subscription can also be useful because you're not paying a fixed monthly amount before you've established consistent sales.
For Pinterest sellers, the traffic source matters
Pinterest can send people directly from a pin to a product page, landing page or other piece of content. That means you're potentially generating the customer yourself rather than relying on a platform marketplace.
This changes the fee calculation.
If you generate your own traffic, you're generally comparing the direct-sale economics of the platforms. If you're relying on marketplace discovery, the relevant fees and eligibility requirements can be very different.
That's why simply asking which platform has the lowest headline fee doesn't tell the whole story.
Disclosure: This article includes a link to Payhip's free sign-up. If you choose to sign up through my link, I may earn a commission in the future, at no extra cost to you. This does not affect the information or comparison in this article.
Want to start selling digital products?
Payhip lets you create a store without paying a monthly subscription on its Free plan. You can upload digital products, take payments and start selling without building a full ecommerce website.
Payhip vs Gumroad: the practical difference
There isn't one platform that works identically for every seller. The useful comparison is how each one fits the way you intend to sell.
- If you're bringing your own traffic: Payhip Free charges 5% compared with Gumroad's 10% + $0.50 direct-sale fee.
- If you're interested in marketplace discovery: both platforms have marketplace options, but their eligibility requirements and fees are different.
- If you want Merchant of Record treatment: Gumroad operates as a Merchant of Record.
- If you're starting with little or no revenue: Payhip's Free plan has no monthly subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Is Payhip really free?
Yes. Payhip has a Free plan with no monthly subscription. It charges a 5% transaction fee, with payment-processing fees charged separately by the relevant payment processor.
Is Gumroad free to use?
Gumroad does not charge a monthly subscription. Instead, it takes a percentage of each transaction. Its standard direct-sale fee is 10% + $0.50.
Does Payhip have a marketplace?
Yes. Payhip has a marketplace, although sellers must meet its current eligibility requirements before their products can be submitted for approval.
Does Gumroad have a marketplace?
Yes. Gumroad has its Discover marketplace. Access is subject to Gumroad's eligibility and review requirements, and Discover sales carry a 30% fee.
Does Payhip handle VAT and sales tax?
Payhip provides tax-handling features for sellers, including EU and UK VAT support and expanded automated handling for US sales tax and most Canadian taxes. There are exceptions, so sellers should check the current Payhip tax documentation for their circumstances.
Is Gumroad a Merchant of Record?
Yes. Gumroad has operated as a Merchant of Record since 1 January 2025, handling applicable sales tax, VAT and GST obligations on transactions.
Which one has lower fees?
For direct sales, the platform-fee structure is different: Payhip Free charges 5%, while Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50. But the overall cost also depends on payment processing, your sales volume, your Payhip plan and whether a sale comes through a marketplace.
Final thoughts
Gumroad and Payhip solve a similar problem, but they take different approaches.
Gumroad combines a simple storefront with its Merchant of Record model and Discover marketplace. Payhip offers a Free plan, paid plans that reduce its transaction fee, and its own marketplace.
If you're primarily planning to generate your own traffic through Pinterest, SEO, social media or an existing audience, the direct-sale fee structure deserves particular attention.
And if you're just getting started, the difference between paying a monthly subscription and paying a fee only when you make a sale can matter more than it first appears.
The best way to compare the two is therefore not simply to look at the headline percentage. Work out where your customers will come from, how much you're likely to sell and which features you actually need.
Platform pricing, fees, tax arrangements, marketplace requirements and features can change. Always check the current terms and pricing directly with Payhip or Gumroad before making a business decision. Payment-processing fees vary by processor, country and payment method, and examples in this article are illustrative.