Editorially reviewed by Carlos Gil. Fees checked on vendor pricing and help pages on 2026-10-08. No affiliate links on this page. How we make money.
Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 on every direct sale, and 30% when a buyer finds you through its Discover marketplace. What most fee comparisons miss: Gumroad's help center says the 10% + $0.50 does not include card processing (2.9% + $0.30) or PayPal fees. On a $29 product that's about $4.54 per sale, or 15.7%. The 30% Discover fee does include processing.
The cheapest alternatives (Stripe Payment Links, Whop, a flat-fee plan on Stan, Ko-fi Gold or Payhip Pro) keep roughly $2,750 to $2,790 of every $2,900 in sales, versus about $2,446 on Gumroad. The catch is tax: Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy and Payhip collect and remit sales tax and VAT for you. Most of the others don't.
Why creators leave Gumroad
The fee stacks. 10% + $0.50 to Gumroad, then 2.9% + $0.30 to the processor. There's no monthly plan to buy your way out. Gumroad does cut the rate to 5% + $0.50 on direct sales once your paid sales pass $20,000 in a calendar month, resetting on the 1st, per its help center. Most creators never see that discount.
Discover costs 30%. Sales from Gumroad's marketplace carry a flat 30% fee. If Discover sends you buyers you wouldn't otherwise get, that can be worth it. If buyers were coming from your own audience anyway, it's expensive.
Branding and depth. Checkout, receipts and the product page are Gumroad's. Course delivery, subscriptions and licensing are basic compared with dedicated platforms.
What Gumroad still does well: no monthly fee, no setup, and since January 1, 2025 it acts as merchant of record, handling sales tax collection and remittance worldwide, per its pricing page. For a creator selling a few products a month, that's a real reason to stay.
The nine alternatives
1. Lemon Squeezy: lower fees with tax handled, but watch the Stripe transition
Lemon Squeezy review · lemonsqueezy.com
5% + $0.50 per transaction, no monthly fee. Lemon Squeezy is merchant of record, so global sales tax and VAT are its job, and the fee covers card processing. Its fee docs list surcharges of +1.5% for international transactions, +1.5% for PayPal and +0.5% for subscription payments, plus +3% on affiliate referrals and +5% on revenue recovered by abandoned-cart emails. US Stripe payouts are free.
The status note: Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy, and a January 28, 2026 post on Lemon Squeezy's blog says the team is building Stripe Managed Payments, Stripe's merchant-of-record product, and that the goal is to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy way to migrate to it. No shutdown is announced. If you're choosing today, factor in a possible move later.
- Pick it if you sell software, templates or digital downloads internationally and want tax handled with lower fees than Gumroad.
- Skip it if you want marketplace discovery; nobody browses Lemon Squeezy.
2. Stan: flat monthly fee, built for link-in-bio selling
Creator is $29/month or $300/year; Creator Pro is $99/month or $948/year. Stan says it charges 0% transaction fees; Stripe or PayPal processing still applies. 14-day free trial. Stan is not merchant of record, so sales tax is your responsibility.
- Pick it if your buyers come from Instagram or TikTok and you sell several products a month.
- Skip it if you sell one or two products a month; $29 is a lot of fee to cover at low volume.
3. Payhip: Gumroad's model with a lower fee and tax handled
Free Forever: $0/month + 5% transaction fee. Plus: $29/month + 2%. Pro: $99/month + 0%. PayPal and Stripe charge their standard processing on top. Payhip's FAQ says it collects and remits EU and UK VAT on your behalf on all plans, and its help center says that from July 1, 2026 it also collects and pays US sales tax as a marketplace facilitator.
- Pick it if you want Gumroad's simplicity at half the platform fee, with EU and UK VAT and US sales tax handled.
- Skip it if you need a merchant of record: Payhip describes itself as a marketplace facilitator for US sales tax, not a merchant of record, and it publishes no annual pricing.
4. Ko-fi: best for tips plus small products
The free plan takes 0% on one-off donations and 5% on shop sales, memberships and commissions. Ko-fi Gold is $12/month and removes the platform fee on those. Processing goes through PayPal or Stripe.
- Pick it if your audience already tips you and you sell a few downloads or commissions alongside.
- Skip it if you need a polished product catalog or tax handling.
5. Whop: lowest card rate, no monthly fee
Whop review · whop.com · Gumroad vs Whop
2.7% + $0.30 per domestic card sale, +1.5% for international cards, +1% if currency conversion applies, no monthly plan. Optional add-ons include 2% for Whop to collect and remit tax; payouts cost money (next-day ACH is $2.50 per payout).
- Pick it if you sell access (Discord roles, communities, software) or want the lowest per-sale rate without monthly fees.
- Skip it if you sell simple PDFs and want tax handled by default; add the 2% tax add-on to compare fairly with Gumroad.
6. Stripe Payment Links: cheapest, most do-it-yourself
Stripe's Payment Links let you sell a product, a subscription or collect donations from a link, no code required. Standard US pricing is 2.9% + $0.30 per domestic card, +1.5% for international cards and +1% if currency conversion is required. Stripe Tax is 0.5% per transaction where you're registered to collect, and you still have to register and file.
- Pick it if you're comfortable handling file delivery, refunds and tax registration yourself.
- Skip it if you want someone else to own tax compliance. That's the whole point of Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy and Payhip.
7. Podia: a storefront with courses and email included
Mover is $42/month billed annually ($49 monthly) with a 5% transaction fee; Shaker is $84 / $99 with no Podia fee. Both include a website, store, community and email (100 or 500 subscribers). Stripe or PayPal processing applies. 14-day trial.
- Pick it if your Gumroad products are turning into courses and you want site, email and checkout in one place.
- Skip it if you only sell one-off downloads. You'd be paying for a platform you don't use. See Kajabi alternatives for course-first options.
8. Shopify: when the catalog becomes a store
Shopify review on BestStorefront · shopify.com
Basic is $29/month billed yearly ($39 month to month), with Shopify Payments card rates from 2.9% + $0.30 online and a 2% fee if you use a third-party payment provider instead. Digital delivery needs an app. This is overkill for a single template pack and the right move once you sell physical merch alongside digital. Our sister site BestStorefront covers ecommerce platforms in depth.
9. Beacons: link-in-bio store with a free plan
The free plan sells with a 9% seller fee; Creator Plus ($30/month) drops it to 0%, per Beacons' help center. Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30) or PayPal applies. Beacons also bundles a media kit and email.
- Pick it if you're a social-first creator who wants store, media kit and links in one profile.
- Skip it if you're on the free plan and selling steadily; 9% is close to Gumroad's rate.
See the best link-in-bio tools for creators for more on Stan and Beacons.
What you keep from 100 sales of a $29 product
Example. Assumptions: 100 sales of a $29 digital product in one month ($2,900 gross); every buyer in the US paying by card; no sales tax collected (or tax collected on top and passed through, so it doesn't change your share); no refunds, disputes, affiliates, discounts or payout fees; monthly billing for any plan fee; card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per sale ($1.14) wherever the platform passes processing through.
| Platform and plan | Platform fees | Processing | Plan fee | Total cost | You keep | Handles sales tax/VAT? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad (direct sales) | $340 (10% + $0.50) | $114.10 | $0 | $454.10 | $2,445.90 | Yes (merchant of record) |
| Gumroad (all via Discover) | $870 (30%, processing included) | included | $0 | $870 | $2,030 | Yes |
| Lemon Squeezy | $195 (5% + $0.50, processing included) | included | $0 | $195 | $2,705 | Yes (merchant of record) |
| Stan Creator | $0 | $114.10 | $29 | $143.10 | $2,756.90 | No |
| Payhip Free | $145 (5%) | $114.10 | $0 | $259.10 | $2,640.90 | EU/UK VAT, US sales tax |
| Payhip Plus | $58 (2%) | $114.10 | $29 | $201.10 | $2,698.90 | EU/UK VAT, US sales tax |
| Ko-fi (free) | $145 (5%) | $114.10 | $0 | $259.10 | $2,640.90 | No |
| Ko-fi Gold | $0 | $114.10 | $12 | $126.10 | $2,773.90 | No |
| Whop | none beyond card rate | $108.30 (2.7% + $0.30) | $0 | $108.30 | $2,791.70 | Only with 2% add-on |
| Stripe Payment Links | $0 | $114.10 | $0 | $114.10 | $2,785.90 | No (Stripe Tax +0.5% calculates; you file) |
| Podia Mover | $145 (5%) | $114.10 | $49 | $308.10 | $2,591.90 | No |
| Shopify Basic | $0 (Shopify Payments) | $114.10 | $39 | $153.10 | $2,746.90 | No (apps extra) |
| Beacons Free | $261 (9%) | $114.10 | $0 | $375.10 | $2,524.90 | No |
| Beacons Creator Plus | $0 | $114.10 | $30 | $144.10 | $2,755.90 | No |
How to read it: the flat-fee plans win at 100 sales a month and lose at 10. At 10 sales of $29 ($290), Stan Creator's $29 plan fee alone is 10% of revenue, and Gumroad's per-sale model looks better. The merchant-of-record column matters more than the last $30: if you'd have to register for VAT or US state sales tax on your own, Lemon Squeezy's $195 includes work you'd otherwise do or pay an accountant for.
Moving off Gumroad without losing sales
- Export your customers. Gumroad's help center says you can export a CSV of your sales with a full fee breakdown. Do it before you change anything, and keep the file; it's your customer list.
- Keep the old listings live. Links in old posts, videos and newsletters outlive every migration. Leave Gumroad products up and point their descriptions to the new store for a few months.
- Move subscriptions deliberately. Recurring memberships don't transfer between processors. Announce a date, give members a link to re-subscribe on the new platform, then cancel on Gumroad.
- Check who owns the customer email afterwards. Before you commit, confirm in the new platform's docs that you can export buyer emails to CSV. Your list is the asset; don't move it somewhere that keeps it.
- Discover sellers: if a meaningful share of your sales comes from Discover, run both. Keep Gumroad for marketplace buyers and send your own audience to the cheaper checkout.
Should you switch?
Under about $300 a month in sales, probably not. Gumroad's fee on small revenue is less than the hours you'd spend rebuilding checkout, and you get tax handling for free. Above that, do the math once with your real numbers: last month's Gumroad fees versus Lemon Squeezy's 5% + $0.50, or versus a flat plan. If your product is really a course, a course platform will serve students better than a download link; see Kajabi alternatives and Teachable alternatives.
What would change our recommendation: Gumroad lowering the threshold for its 5% rate, or Stripe Managed Payments opening publicly with clear pricing.
How we review: methodology.
- How much does Gumroad take per sale?
10% + $0.50 on direct sales, plus card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 (or PayPal fees), per Gumroad's help center. Discover marketplace sales are a flat 30% including processing. There's no monthly fee.
- Does Gumroad have a volume discount?
Yes. Once paid sales in a calendar month pass $20,000, new direct sales that month are charged 5% + $0.50 instead of 10% + $0.50. It resets on the 1st.
- What is the cheapest Gumroad alternative?
On per-sale cost, Whop (2.7% + $0.30) and Stripe Payment Links (2.9% + $0.30), but neither handles tax by default. The cheapest option that handles tax for you is Lemon Squeezy at 5% + $0.50 all-in.
- Which Gumroad alternatives handle sales tax and VAT?
Lemon Squeezy (merchant of record), Payhip (EU and UK VAT per its FAQ, plus US sales tax since July 1, 2026 as a marketplace facilitator, per its help center) and Whop (with a 2% add-on). Gumroad itself has been merchant of record since January 1, 2025.
- Is Lemon Squeezy shutting down?
No shutdown has been announced. Stripe owns Lemon Squeezy, and Lemon Squeezy's January 2026 update says the team is building Stripe Managed Payments and aims to give Lemon Squeezy users an easy migration path to it.
- Is Gumroad still worth it in 2026?
For low volume, yes: no monthly fee and tax handled. At steady volume, the fees add up faster than a flat plan.
SOURCES (CHECKED OCT 10, 2026)
| Claim | Source URL | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Gumroad 10% + $0.50 direct; 30% Discover; no monthly fee; merchant of record since Jan 1, 2025 | https://gumroad.com/pricing | 2026-10-08 |
| Gumroad fee excludes card processing (2.9% + $0.30) and PayPal fees; Discover 30% includes processing; $20k/month → 5% + $0.50; sales CSV export; refunds return Gumroad's fee | https://gumroad.com/help/article/66-gumroads-fees (article JSON in page) | 2026-10-08 |
| Lemon Squeezy 5% + 50c, no monthly fee, merchant of record | https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/pricing | 2026-10-08 |
| Lemon Squeezy surcharges (+1.5% intl, +1.5% PayPal, +0.5% subscriptions), payout fees, marketing fees | https://docs.lemonsqueezy.com/help/getting-started/fees | 2026-10-08 |
| Stripe acquired Lemon Squeezy; Jan 28, 2026 update on Stripe Managed Payments and migration goal | https://www.lemonsqueezy.com/blog/2026-update (read via WebFetch) | 2026-10-08 |
| Stan Creator $29/mo or $300/yr; Creator Pro $99/mo or $948/yr; 0% transaction fees; 14-day trial | https://stan.store/blog/stan-store-pricing/ | 2026-10-08 |
| Payhip Free 5%, Plus $29 + 2%, Pro $99 + 0%; EU/UK VAT handled; processor fees apply | https://payhip.com/pricing (read via WebFetch; curl returned 403) | 2026-10-08 |
| Payhip collects and pays US sales tax from July 1, 2026 (marketplace facilitator) | https://help.payhip.com/article/392-us-sales-tax | 2026-10-10 |
| Ko-fi Gold $12/mo; free plan 0% donations, 5% shop/memberships/commissions | https://help.ko-fi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005506873-What-is-Ko-fi-Gold (search summary; site returns 403) + secondary schoolmaker.com, per review-correction-patches.md | 2026-10-07 |
| Whop 2.7% + $0.30; +1.5% intl; +1% FX; tax add-on 2%; next-day ACH $2.50 | https://docs.whop.com/fees | 2026-10-08 |
| Stripe 2.9% + 30c domestic; +1.5% international; +1% conversion; +0.5% manual | https://stripe.com/pricing | 2026-10-08 |
| Payment Links: sell products, subscriptions, donations, no code | https://stripe.com/payments/payment-links | 2026-10-08 |
| Stripe Tax 0.5% per transaction where registered | https://stripe.com/tax/pricing | 2026-10-08 |
| Podia Mover $42/$49 + 5%; Shaker $84/$99; processor 2.9% + 30c; 14-day trial | https://www.podia.com/pricing | 2026-10-08 |
| Shopify Basic $29 (yearly) / $39 monthly; 2.9% + 30c online; 2% third-party fee | https://www.shopify.com/pricing | 2026-10-08 |
| Beacons free 9% seller fee; Creator Plus $30/mo 0%; Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 | https://beacons.ai ; https://help.beacons.ai/en/articles/4700289 (prior record) | 2026-10-07 |
| Example math | Derived: Gumroad 100 x ($2.90 + $0.50 + $0.841 + $0.30); Lemon Squeezy 100 x ($1.45 + $0.50); Whop 100 x ($0.783 + $0.30); processing 100 x $1.141 | 2026-10-08 |