Gumroad vs Payhip: what you keep from each sale (2026 fees)

If you sell ebooks, templates, presets or other downloads, Gumroad and Payhip are the two names that keep coming up together. In our check of Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo search suggestions on 29 October 2026, “gumroad vs” suggested Payhip first or second on every engine, and “payhip vs” suggested Gumroad first on all of them.

Both let you upload a file, set a price and share a link in minutes, with no website needed. The real difference is how they take their cut: Gumroad charges no monthly fee but takes a bigger share of each sale, while Payhip has a free plan with a smaller fee and paid plans that cut the fee further. That makes the cheaper choice depend almost entirely on how much you sell.

How this comparison was made: every fee and feature below comes from each platform’s own pricing page and help centre, captured on 29 October 2026 (saved copies are kept with our records). We haven’t run the same shop on both, so this compares published fees and terms, not day-to-day use. Amounts are in US dollars.

The quick answer

• Gumroad charges 10% + US$0.50 per sale made through your own profile or links, with no monthly fee. Card processing (2.9% + US$0.30) is charged on top. Sales that come through Gumroad’s own Discover marketplace cost a flat 30%, processing included.
• Payhip is free to start with a 5% fee, or US$29 a month + 2% on Plus, or US$99 a month with no Payhip fee on Pro. Every plan has the same features. Stripe or PayPal fees apply on top at their standard rates.
• At most sales levels Payhip keeps you more money. On a US$20 product, Payhip’s free plan takes about half what Gumroad takes per direct sale.
• Gumroad does more of the tax work. It’s the merchant of record, so it collects and pays sales tax for you where it has an obligation. Payhip collects and pays EU/UK VAT and US/Canadian sales tax for you; other taxes you set up yourself.

Fees side by side

Checked on gumroad.com/pricing, Gumroad’s “Gumroad’s fees” help article and payhip.com/pricing on 29 October 2026.

Gumroad

Gumroad is a pay-per-sale platform for creators: digital products, ebooks, courses, tutorials and memberships, sold from a simple profile page or a direct link.

Fees

• 10% + US$0.50 on each sale through your profile or your own links, plus sales tax.
• Card processing (2.9% + US$0.30) and PayPal fees aren’t included in that 10%, according to Gumroad’s help centre.
• 30% flat on sales made through Gumroad’s Discover marketplace, which includes all processing fees.
• High-volume discount: once your paid sales in a calendar month reach US$20,000, new direct sales that month are charged 5% + US$0.50. It applies automatically and resets on the 1st of each month.
• No monthly fee and, Gumroad says, no other hidden charges.

If a sale is refunded, Gumroad returns its own fee on the refunded part but keeps the processing part. If you run an affiliate program, fees on affiliate sales are split between you and the affiliate in proportion to their commission.

Tax

Since 1 January 2025, Gumroad has been the merchant of record for sales: it collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST in the places where it has a tax obligation, and the old tax settings in your dashboard are switched off. For a seller with buyers in many countries, that’s real time saved.

Strengths

• Nothing to pay until you sell. Good for testing a first product.
• Tax handled for you as merchant of record.
• A marketplace that can bring buyers you didn’t find yourself (at 30%).

Watch out for

• The fixed US$0.50 per sale hurts cheap products. On a US$5 template, Gumroad’s fee is US$1.00 (20%) before card processing.
• 10% is high once you’re selling regularly, and the discount only starts at US$20,000 a month.
• Marketplace sales cost 30%, so check where your sales come from in your sales export.

→ See Gumroad’s pricing

Payhip

Payhip is an online store builder for digital downloads, courses, coaching and memberships (it lists physical products too), with a free plan and two paid plans that differ only in the transaction fee.

Plans

• Free: US$0 a month + 5% transaction fee. All features, unlimited products, unlimited revenue.
• Plus: US$29 a month + 2% transaction fee.
• Pro: US$99 a month, no transaction fee.

Payhip’s FAQ is clear that PayPal and Stripe still charge their standard rates on every plan, through your own connected accounts. Payhip says it deposits your sales to you immediately after a transaction completes, and that there’s no feature-gating: the free plan has the same features as Pro. You can cancel at any time.

Tax

Payhip automatically collects, reports and remits EU and UK VAT on digital products and US and Canadian sales tax for you. You can set up any other taxes yourself, and Payhip reports them to you.

Strengths

• Lower fees at almost every level, including on the free plan.
• No fixed per-sale Payhip fee, so cheap products aren’t penalised beyond the card fee.
• Same features on every plan, so you only upgrade to cut the fee.

Watch out for

• You need your own Stripe or PayPal account, and their rates depend on your country. In Australia, for example, Stripe lists 1.65% + A$0.30 for domestic cards.
• Tax handling covers EU/UK VAT and US/Canadian sales tax; anywhere else is on you to set up.
• Paid plans only change the fee. Check your monthly sales against the break-even points below before upgrading.

→ See Payhip’s pricing

What you keep at three sales levels

Here’s a US$20 product at three monthly sales levels, all direct sales (not Gumroad’s marketplace). Card processing is set at 2.9% + US$0.30 on both, Gumroad’s published processing rate and Stripe’s standard US rate, so the only difference is each platform’s own fee.

How the fees are worked out per US$20 sale: Gumroad US$2.50 (10% + US$0.50) plus US$0.88 card fee; Payhip Free US$1.00 (5%) plus US$0.88; Plus US$0.40 (2%) plus US$0.88 plus US$29 a month; Pro US$0.88 plus US$99 a month.

Two break-even points matter on Payhip:

• Free to Plus: Plus saves 3% of sales and costs US$29, so it’s cheaper above about US$967 a month in sales.
• Plus to Pro: Pro saves another 2% for US$70 more, so it’s cheaper above US$3,500 a month.

On Gumroad, the effective fee on a US$20 direct sale is about 16.9% including card processing, against about 9.4% on Payhip’s free plan. The gap is widest on cheap products, because of Gumroad’s US$0.50 fixed fee.

Which should you pick?

• You sell mostly cheap downloads (under about US$10): Payhip. The US$0.50 fixed fee makes Gumroad expensive at low prices.
• You’re testing a first product and want zero setup: either works. Payhip Free keeps more per sale and uses your own Stripe or PayPal account; Gumroad takes the payment itself and pays you by direct deposit or PayPal, depending on your country.
• You sell to buyers in many countries and don’t want to think about tax: Gumroad’s merchant-of-record model covers more places for you, and that can be worth the higher fee.
• You sell around US$1,000 or more a month: Payhip Plus, and Pro once you pass about US$3,500 a month.
• You’re also choosing an email tool to sell to your list: see our best email platform for digital product sellers guide.

The 5-hours-a-week verdict: start on Payhip Free unless the tax handling is the thing you most want off your plate; then Gumroad is the simpler choice. Whichever you choose, put a calendar reminder in three months to check your sales against the break-even points above.

Quick answers

Is Payhip cheaper than Gumroad? At most sales levels, yes. On a US$20 direct sale Gumroad takes 10% + US$0.50 and Payhip’s free plan takes 5%, with card processing charged on top on both.

Does Gumroad charge a monthly fee? No. Gumroad charges 10% + US$0.50 per direct sale and 30% on marketplace sales, with no monthly fee.

Do I still pay Stripe or PayPal fees on Payhip? Yes. Payhip’s FAQ says PayPal and Stripe charge their standard rates on every plan, including Pro.

Does Gumroad handle sales tax? Yes. Since 1 January 2025 Gumroad has been the merchant of record, collecting and remitting sales tax where it has a tax obligation.

Before you choose: both platforms change fees from time to time. Everything here was checked on each vendor’s website on 29 October 2026. Check the pricing page again before you move a catalogue.

Sources (each vendor’s own pages, checked 29 October 2026): Gumroad pricing, Gumroad’s fees (help centre), Payhip pricing and FAQ, Stripe Australia pricing. Search-suggestion check: Google (US and Australia), Bing and DuckDuckGo autocomplete for “gumroad vs” and “payhip vs”, 29 October 2026.