Best Gumroad Alternatives: Lower Fees, Tax Still Handled

Nobody shops for a new checkout until the old one starts to sting. This page is for sellers who already have a product and buyers, and want to keep more of each sale without taking on the tax paperwork themselves.

The closest Gumroad alternatives are Payhip and Lemon Squeezy. Both have no monthly fee, both collect sales tax and VAT for you, and both take less per sale. On a $29 sale to a US buyer, Gumroad leaves you $24.46, Payhip's free plan $26.41 and Lemon Squeezy $27.05. Stan Store and Sellfy suit sellers with steady volume, because a flat monthly fee replaces the percentage.

A note on where this comes from. RichTactic sells its own guides on Gumroad, at richtactic.gumroad.com, so this page is written by a Gumroad seller. The comparison below is of published features and prices, taken from each company's own pages, with the date and source under every product. If you are still deciding whether Gumroad suits you at all, our Gumroad selling guide covers what sells there and how to price it.

Why do sellers look for a Gumroad alternative?

Almost always it is the fee. Gumroad charges no monthly fee, which is the reason most people start there, and takes its cut per sale instead:

• No monthly fee
• 10% + $0.50 per sale through your profile or direct links
• 30% per sale when a new customer finds you through the Discover marketplace
• Card processing (2.9% + $0.30) is charged on top, per Gumroad's fee article
• Merchant of record since 1 January 2025: Gumroad collects and remits sales tax and VAT

Prices as of November 2026, from Gumroad's pricing page.

The card processing line is the one sellers miss. Gumroad's fee article says the 10% + 50 cent fee "does not include: Credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30)". On a $29 sale that is $3.40 to Gumroad and $1.14 to processing, so $4.54 in total, or 15.7% of the price. On a $9 product the same arithmetic takes $1.96, which is 22%.

The second reason is Discover, Gumroad's marketplace. A sale to a new customer who found you there costs 30%. That is the price of buyers you did not have to find yourself, and some sellers are happy to pay it. Sellers who bring all their own traffic pay the direct-sale rate and get nothing for the difference.

What Gumroad does well is worth keeping in view while you compare. It has no monthly fee, it has been merchant of record since 1 January 2025, so it collects and remits sales tax and VAT for you, and Discover can send buyers. Any alternative has to beat it on the thing you care about without losing the others.

Gumroad alternatives compared

One $29 sale to a US buyer on a US card, no discount, no affiliate. Where a platform passes card processing to Stripe, we used Stripe's standard US rate of 2.9% + 30 cents. Monthly fees are left out of the "you keep" column and covered under each platform.

The "you keep" figures are our arithmetic from the published rates. Every price above is dated and sourced in the section for that platform.

1. Payhip: the cheapest like-for-like swap

Payhip is the closest thing to Gumroad with a smaller cut. It sells downloads, courses, coaching and memberships from one store, it has a free plan, and it handles digital VAT and sales tax on every plan.

• Free Forever: $0 a month plus a 5% transaction fee
• Pro: $99 a month, no transaction fee
• All features on both plans, unlimited products and revenue
• Stripe or PayPal charge their standard processing fees on every plan
• Collects and remits EU and UK VAT and US and Canadian sales tax on digital sales

Prices as of November 2026, from Payhip's pricing page.

Who it suits: sellers of templates, ebooks, presets and small courses who bring their own buyers and want the tax side done for them. At $29 a sale you keep $1.95 more than on Gumroad. On 50 sales a month that is $97.50.

Who should skip it: anyone who relies on Gumroad's Discover for buyers. Payhip has a marketplace too; check how much traffic it sends in your category before counting on it.

Pro, at $99 a month, removes the 5% fee. Against the free plan it saves $1.45 on each $29 sale, so it pays for itself at about 69 sales of $29 a month. Below that, stay on the free plan.

2. Lemon Squeezy: merchant of record with processing included

Lemon Squeezy charges one fee that already includes card processing, so the number on its pricing page is close to what you pay. Like Gumroad, it is the merchant of record: it collects, files and pays sales tax and VAT in your place.

• No monthly fee for selling
• 5% + $0.50 per sale, with card processing included in that fee
• Some payments, including some outside the US, may carry small additional fees
• Email marketing free up to 500 subscribers
• Merchant of record: collects, files and pays sales tax and VAT

Prices as of November 2026, from Lemon Squeezy's pricing page.

Who it suits: sellers with international buyers, and anyone selling software, licence keys or subscriptions, which Lemon Squeezy handles natively. On a $29 sale it leaves $27.05, the most of any no-subscription option here.

Who should skip it: sellers of very cheap products. The 50 cent fixed fee is the same as Gumroad's, so on a $5 product you still lose 15% before anything else. Lemon Squeezy also notes that some payments outside the US "may encounter small additional fees", so check the extra fees page if most of your buyers are abroad.

3. Stan Store: a flat fee for link-in-bio sellers

Stan Store replaces the percentage with a subscription. It is built around a mobile storefront that sits in your Instagram or TikTok bio, and sells downloads, coaching calls, courses and memberships.

• Creator: $29 a month, or $300 a year
• Creator Pro: $99 a month, or $948 a year
• 0% Stan transaction fee on both plans; Stripe or PayPal processing still applies
• 14-day free trial; no free plan

Prices as of November 2026, from Stan Store's pricing page.

Who it suits: creators who sell steadily from a social profile. Against Gumroad's direct-sale rate, the $29 Creator plan is cheaper from about 9 sales of $29 a month. At 50 sales Gumroad's fees come to $227 and Stan's to $86, including the subscription.

Who should skip it: anyone with no sales yet, since there is no free plan, and anyone selling to buyers in many countries who wants tax handled, because Stan's pricing page does not say it collects sales tax or VAT. Our Stan Store review covers its payouts and refund rules, and the Stan Store alternatives page compares the other link-in-bio stores.

4. Ko-fi: zero fees on tips, 5% on the rest

Ko-fi is best known for tips and also sells shop items, memberships and commissions. Money goes straight to your own PayPal or Stripe account.

• No monthly cost
• Ko-fi Free: 0% on one-time tips, 5% on shop items, memberships, monthly tips and commissions
• Standard mode: 5% on everything, with extra page features
• PayPal or Stripe processing on top, usually around 3% + $0.30
• Ko-fi Gold is still offered for 0% service fees at a fixed monthly cost

Prices as of November 2026, from Ko-fi's pricing page.

Who it suits: artists, writers and podcasters whose income is part tips, part small products. A one-off tip costs nothing beyond processing. A $29 shop sale leaves about $26.41 with Stripe's US rate, the same as Payhip's free plan.

Who should skip it: sellers who want a storefront that looks like a shop rather than a creator page, and sellers who need sales tax handled. Ko-fi's fee page does not mention collecting tax for you.

5. Sellfy: a store with no transaction fee

Sellfy is a hosted store for digital products, subscriptions and print-on-demand merch, with a flat monthly price and no transaction fee on any plan.

• Starter: $22 a month billed yearly, or $29 monthly, up to $10,000 in sales a year
• Business: $59 a month billed yearly, or $79 monthly, up to $50,000 a year
• Premium: $119 a month billed yearly, or $159 monthly, up to $200,000 a year
• 0% transaction fee on every plan; Stripe or PayPal processing applies
• Over the yearly limit, Sellfy may charge 2% on the extra sales until you upgrade

Prices as of November 2026, from Sellfy's pricing page.

Who it suits: sellers with a few hundred dollars or more in monthly sales who want a branded store with email marketing included. The Starter plan billed yearly ($22 a month) beats Gumroad's direct-sale fees from about 7 sales of $29 a month.

Who should skip it: sellers just starting, because there is no free plan, and sellers who want the tax filing done for them. Sellfy lists VAT and tax settings for you to configure, and its pricing page does not say it files the returns. Watch the yearly sales caps too: past $10,000 a year on Starter, Sellfy says it may charge 2% on the extra.

6. Podia: when downloads are turning into courses

Podia sells courses, downloads, coaching, webinars and a community, with a website and email built in. It costs more than the stores above and does more.

• Mover: $49 a month, or $42 a month billed yearly ($504), with a 5% transaction fee
• Shaker: $99 a month, or $84 a month billed yearly ($1,008), no Podia transaction fee
• Earthquaker: $179 a month, or $150 a month billed yearly ($1,800), no Podia transaction fee
• Stripe or PayPal charge their own processing fee on every plan
• 14-day free trial, no card needed; no free plan

Prices as of November 2026, from Podia's pricing page.

Who it suits: sellers whose ebook or template is growing into a course or a membership, and who want the website and email list in the same place. On the Mover plan the 5% fee matches Payhip's free plan; on Shaker it disappears.

Who should skip it: anyone selling only downloads. Mover at $49 a month plus 5% costs more than Payhip's free plan at every volume, for features a download store does not need. For course platforms in particular, our Teachable alternatives page goes further.

How to choose

Answer three questions in order and the list shrinks fast.

1. Do you need someone else to handle sales tax and VAT? If you sell to buyers in the EU, the UK or several US states, yes. That leaves Gumroad, Payhip and Lemon Squeezy (and Podia's sales tax feature, which is worth checking against your countries).
2. How many sales do you make a month? Under about 9 sales of $29, a no-subscription platform costs less. Above it, a flat fee (Stan Store, Sellfy, Payhip Pro at higher volume) starts to win.
3. Where do your buyers come from? If Discover sends you a real share of sales, Gumroad's 30% may be worth paying on those. If every buyer comes from your own posts or email list, you are paying for traffic you do not use.

For most sellers who bring their own buyers and want tax handled, that points at Payhip's free plan or Lemon Squeezy. For a social-first seller past 9 sales a month, Stan Store.

When staying on Gumroad makes sense

• Discover sends you buyers. Check where last month's sales came from. If a meaningful share came through Discover, moving loses them.
• You sell rarely. At a handful of sales a month, the difference between $24.46 and $27.05 on a $29 product is a few dollars. The time spent moving is worth more.
• You use more than one platform. Plenty of sellers keep Gumroad for Discover and put their own traffic through a cheaper checkout. The same file can sit on both.

Before you move, download your product files and your customer list, and check that the new platform can import buyers or at least email them. Moving a few products takes an afternoon. Moving a membership with recurring billing takes planning: check whether the new platform can move existing subscriptions, because if it cannot, every subscriber has to sign up again with their card.

To check the card-processing line at your own price, including international cards (Stripe adds 1.5%) and currency conversion (another 1%), use the Stripe fee calculator. For the same platforms priced at $9 and $99, see our comparison of platforms to sell digital products.