Choosing between Payhip and Sellfy comes down to more than the headline monthly price. If you are selling ebooks, templates, printables, courses, memberships or other digital products, the transaction fee, monthly subscription, sales limits, built-in discovery and the way you plan to bring in customers can make a much bigger difference than the storefront itself.
Both platforms make it possible to get a digital-product business online without building a complicated ecommerce site from scratch. The important question is which pricing model and selling workflow fits the way you actually expect to make sales.
Payhip vs Sellfy at a glance
| Feature | Payhip | Sellfy |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0/month | From $22/month when billed annually |
| Platform transaction fee | 5%, 2% or 0%, depending on plan | 0% within applicable plan limits |
| Own storefront | Yes | Yes |
| Marketplace discovery | Yes | No equivalent general marketplace |
| Payment processing | Separate processor fees can apply | Separate processor fees can apply |
Payhip pricing
Payhip has a straightforward pricing structure. Its Free Forever plan costs $0 per month and charges a 5% transaction fee. Plus costs $29 per month with a 2% transaction fee, while Pro costs $99 per month with no Payhip transaction fee.
The useful thing about this structure is that you can start without a monthly subscription and move to a lower transaction-fee plan as your sales grow. Payhip also says its plans include unlimited products and unlimited revenue.
Remember that PayPal and Stripe processing fees are separate from Payhip's platform fee and can apply regardless of which Payhip plan you use.
Sellfy pricing
Sellfy takes a more subscription-led approach. Its pricing varies according to the billing period, with annual billing reducing the effective monthly cost. Sellfy's current pricing information also ties each plan to an annual sales limit.
Sellfy advertises 0% transaction fees within the applicable plan limits. Its current plan information lists annual sales limits of $10,000, $50,000 and $200,000 for its successive plans. If you exceed the applicable limit without upgrading, Sellfy says a 2% fee can apply to additional sales.
That makes the headline 0% transaction fee worth looking at alongside the monthly subscription and annual sales ceiling.
What does a $20 sale actually look like?
| Plan | Platform fee on $20 sale | Amount after platform fee |
|---|---|---|
| Payhip Free | $1.00 | $19.00 |
| Payhip Plus | $0.40 | $19.60 |
| Payhip Pro | $0.00 | $20.00 |
| Sellfy within plan limit | $0.00 | $20.00 |
This illustration excludes payment-processing charges and, for Payhip, the monthly subscription where applicable.
Platform-fee-only comparison at different sales volumes
- 100 sales per month at $20 each: $2,000 in sales means $100 in Payhip Free platform fees, $40 on Payhip Plus, or $0 on Payhip Pro, before subscriptions and payment processing.
- 500 sales per month at $20 each: $10,000 in sales means $500 on Payhip Free, $200 on Payhip Plus, or $0 on Payhip Pro, before subscriptions and payment processing.
- 1,000 sales per month at $20 each: $20,000 in sales means $1,000 on Payhip Free, $400 on Payhip Plus, or $0 on Payhip Pro, before subscriptions and payment processing.
When does Payhip Plus break even?
Compared with Payhip Free, Plus costs $29 per month but reduces the platform fee from 5% to 2%. That is a saving of 3 percentage points. Dividing $29 by 0.03 gives a simple break-even point of about $966.67 in monthly sales.
Above that sales level, the 3% saving is greater than the $29 subscription, before considering payment-processing differences or other factors.
Payhip marketplace and discovery
Payhip also has a marketplace where eligible products can be discovered by shoppers. That gives sellers another potential discovery route alongside their own storefront, search traffic, email list, social media, Pinterest, YouTube or paid advertising.
It should not be treated as guaranteed traffic, but having an additional discovery channel can be useful, particularly when you are starting without a large existing audience.
What about Sellfy's marketplace?
Sellfy does not offer an equivalent general marketplace where shoppers browse a central catalogue of independent sellers in the same way. Its model is primarily based around creating your own storefront and bringing your own audience to it.
That difference matters because the platform fee is only one part of the economics. Your ability to generate customers through your own traffic sources can have a much bigger effect on the overall cost of running the business.
Tax and VAT
Payhip says it automatically handles EU and UK VAT collection and remittance for digital products. Your own tax responsibilities can still apply, particularly for income taxes and obligations outside the specific VAT responsibilities Payhip handles.
Sellfy provides integrations with payment providers such as PayPal and Stripe, but sellers should check the current tax settings and their own responsibilities for the countries in which they sell. Tax treatment can depend on your location, business structure, product type and customer location.
Which is cheaper if you're bringing your own traffic?
If most of your customers will arrive through your own links, social posts, email list, SEO, Pinterest, YouTube or advertising, the comparison becomes largely about your expected sales volume and whether you prefer a percentage fee or a fixed subscription.
Payhip lets you start at $0 per month and pay a percentage fee until your sales justify moving to a lower-fee plan. Sellfy puts more emphasis on a paid storefront subscription while removing the normal platform percentage within the applicable plan limits.
For Pinterest sellers specifically
If Pinterest is part of your traffic strategy, either platform can be used with it because you are not required to depend entirely on the platform's own discovery system.
Personal note: There are plenty of ways to drive traffic to digital products, and you should choose the sources that make sense for your audience and business. For me, Pinterest has long been one of my go-to methods for generating free traffic. I like creating useful pins, keeping a consistent daily posting cadence and sending that traffic through relevant bridge pages before visitors reach the sales page. When the pins, bridge page and offer are properly connected, it can become a useful source of ongoing visitors without paying for every click. That's simply the approach I personally use; you can choose whichever traffic sources work best for you.
Affiliate disclosure: This page contains a referral link to Payhip. If you sign up through it, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — Payhip's free plan costs nothing to join. The comparison above is based on the platforms' pricing and features rather than the existence of that referral relationship.
Ready to try Payhip?
Start selling your digital products. Try Payhip's free plan and see whether its storefront and selling model fit your business.
The practical difference
The biggest practical difference is the business model behind the fees. Payhip lets you start at $0 per month and progressively reduce its transaction fee as your sales grow. Sellfy is more subscription-led, with 0% platform transaction fees within its plan limits but a recurring cost from the outset.
Someone testing their first digital product may value a $0 monthly starting point differently from an established seller generating substantial monthly revenue. Likewise, someone with an existing audience may care more about checkout, storefront and marketing features than marketplace discovery.
There is no single pricing model that fits every seller. The useful comparison is the one based on how you expect to get customers, how much you expect to sell and which costs you are comfortable with.
FAQ
Is Payhip free to start?
Yes. Payhip's Free Forever plan costs $0 per month and charges a 5% transaction fee on sales, with payment-processing fees separate.
Does Payhip have a monthly subscription?
Yes. Plus costs $29 per month with a 2% transaction fee, while Pro costs $99 per month with no Payhip transaction fee.
Does Sellfy charge transaction fees?
Sellfy advertises 0% platform transaction fees within the applicable plan limits. If you exceed the relevant revenue limit without upgrading, Sellfy says a 2% fee can apply to additional sales.
Which platform has a marketplace?
Payhip has a marketplace for product discovery. Sellfy is primarily designed around your own storefront and your own traffic sources rather than an equivalent general marketplace.
Do Payhip and Sellfy include payment-processing fees?
No. Payment processors such as PayPal and Stripe can charge their own fees, so the platform transaction fee should not be treated as the entire cost of accepting a payment.
Can I use Pinterest to promote either platform?
Yes. Pinterest can be used alongside either platform, just as you can use SEO, email, YouTube, social media, paid advertising or other traffic sources to send potential customers to your store or relevant bridge pages.
Which should I choose for digital products?
Compare the pricing structure with your expected sales volume, the importance of marketplace discovery, your preferred traffic sources and the features you actually need. Those factors will determine which model fits your business.
Final thoughts
Payhip and Sellfy take noticeably different approaches to charging sellers. Payhip is particularly straightforward for testing an idea because you can start at $0 per month and pay a percentage only when you sell. Sellfy is more subscription-led, with 0% platform transaction fees within its applicable plan limits but a recurring subscription cost.
If you're starting small, avoiding a monthly subscription may be useful. If you're already generating significant sales, the calculation changes and a fixed subscription with lower platform fees may become more attractive. Your own traffic strategy matters too, particularly if you are building sales through Pinterest, SEO, email or an existing audience.
So rather than looking only at the headline price, work backwards from how you expect to get customers, how much you expect to sell and how much you are comfortable paying for the platform. That gives you a much clearer picture of the real cost of selling your digital products.