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A side-by-side comparison of 12 platforms for selling digital products and content, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Stan Store, Beacons, Payhip, Whop, Ko-fi, Podia, Kajabi, Teachable, ThriveCart, and Shopify. It breaks each one down by monthly cost, transaction fees, payment processing, merchant-of-record status, payout timing, supported product types, best fit, and biggest watch-out.
Check out the Substack Live where Jamie and I spent more than an hour comparing these platforms:
Gumroad, Stan Store, ThriveCart, Others: What We Learned Comparing 10+ Platforms
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| Platform | Monthly cost | Transaction / platform fee | Payment processing | Merchant of record | Payout timing | Product types supported | Best for | Biggest watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad | $0 | 10% + $0.50 direct sales. 30% flat on Discover sales. | Bundled into the fee | Yes | Weekly. $100 payout minimum. | Digital downloads, basic memberships, limited course support | Testing an unproven product with zero upfront cost. High-ticket, low-volume sales. | Discover sales cost 3x the direct rate and you don't fully control which sales get tagged that way. $100 payout threshold means low-volume sellers wait months for a first payout. |
| Lemon Squeezy | $0 (single flat rate, no tiers) | 5% + $0.50. Add 1.5% international cards, 1.5% PayPal, 0.5% subscriptions, 5% recovered carts, 3% affiliate referrals. | Bundled into the fee | Yes | Twice monthly (1st and 15th). ~13-day hold before funds release. | Digital downloads, software licenses, subscriptions, SaaS | Subscriptions and software sold globally without registering for VAT or GST yourself | 13-day payout hold hurts cash flow. Surcharges stack fast on international, PayPal, and subscription sales. |
| Stan Store | $29/mo Creator or $99/mo Creator Pro ($25/$79 annual) | 0% platform fee | Stripe, ~2.9% + $0.30, separate | No | 3 to 9 days. Can't connect an existing Stripe account. Country locked at signup. | Digital products, courses, bookings, subscriptions, community, lead magnets | Coaches and creators selling from a link-in-bio to an existing audience | The $29 plan has no email marketing, discount codes, or affiliates. Break-even against a 10% fee platform sits around $290/month. |
| Beacons | Free, ~$10/mo, ~$30/mo, ~$90/mo tiers | 9% on Free and the ~$10/mo tier. 0% from ~$30/mo up. | Stripe/PayPal, ~2.9% + $0.30, separate | No | Standard processor timing | Link-in-bio, store, courses, email, media kit, invoicing | Creators who want link-in-bio, store, email, and media kit in one dashboard | Free tier plus processing runs close to 12% per sale. Domains bought through Beacons are registered to Beacons, not you, and moving one out costs roughly $70. |
| Payhip | Free, $29/mo, $99/mo | 5% (Free), 2% ($29 tier), 0% ($99 tier) | Stripe/PayPal, ~2.9% + $0.30, separate | Partial. Handles EU/UK VAT automatically, not full global tax. | Instant | Digital downloads, courses, coaching, memberships | Creators who want EU/UK VAT handled without paying for full merchant-of-record status | Not a full global MoR. US sales tax and other jurisdictions are still your responsibility. |
| Whop | $0 (free to use) | 2.7% + $0.30 processing. +3% platform fee if you gate Discord/Telegram access. Roughly 5.7-6% total on gated products. Discover's old 30% commission was removed in May 2025. | Bundled | Partial. 0.5% surcharge covers tax remittance if used. | Payout fee around $2.50 per withdrawal | Courses, Discord/Telegram community access, SaaS licenses, digital downloads, coaching | Community-first businesses and Discord-native audiences | The real fee stack (processing + platform + tax remittance + payout fees) runs 6-7%, well above the 2.7% headline. Buyer-side trust complaints exist. |
| Ko-fi | Free or $12/mo Gold | 0% on tips always. 5% on shop/membership/commissions on Free. 0% on Gold. | Stripe/PayPal, ~2.9% + $0.30, separate | No | Instant | Tips/donations, digital shop, memberships, commissions | Creators who mix tips with occasional product sales. Cheapest entry point in this list. | No email funnels, no upsells, no built-in discovery. You outgrow it fast past a few hundred dollars a month. |
| Podia | Mover $49/mo ($42 annual), Shaker $99/mo ($84 annual), Earthquaker $179/mo ($150 annual) | 5% on Mover only. 0% on Shaker and Earthquaker. | Stripe/PayPal, ~2.9% + $0.30, separate | No | Standard processor timing | Courses, digital downloads, memberships, coaching, bundled email and website | Creators who want courses, email, and a website in one tool instead of stitching several together | No permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial. Mover's 5% fee erases its price advantage past roughly $840/month in sales. |
| Kajabi | Basic ~$143-179/mo, Growth ~$199-249/mo, Pro ~$399-499/mo (annual billing roughly 20-25% cheaper) | 0% via Kajabi Payments. 0.5-2% surcharge if you use your own Stripe (surcharge drops at higher tiers). | Kajabi Payments (Stripe-based) or your own Stripe with surcharge | No | Standard processor timing | Courses, coaching, communities, websites, email marketing, sales funnels, mobile app | Creators scaling past one product who want a full stack replacing separate email, funnel, and hosting tools | Highest entry price on this list. Custom design or code needs a developer. Migrating in from another platform is manual, not turnkey. |
| Teachable | Starter ~$29-39/mo annual. Builder and above (0% fee tiers) run up to ~$189/mo. | 7.5% on Starter. 0% on Builder and above. | Stripe/PayPal, separate | No | Standard processor timing | Courses, coaching (dedicated LMS, narrower than Kajabi) | Creators who want focused course hosting and are fine adding email or funnel tools separately | Starter's 7.5% fee erases its price advantage past about $1,520/month in sales. No built-in email or funnel tools at any tier. |
| ThriveCart | Lifetime option: Standard $495 one-time, Pro+ $295/yr starting year 1. Or new monthly plans: Standard $37-47/mo, Pro+ $67-87/mo. | 0% platform fee. Small tax-processing fee (0.5% Standard, 0.35% Pro+) when its tax engine runs. | Your own Stripe/PayPal, connected directly | No | Your processor's normal schedule, since funds go straight to your own account | Checkout pages, funnels, digital products, light course/community hosting via ThriveCart Academy | Creators who want to own their checkout and funnel outright without an ongoing platform bill | The old $495 lifetime deal is being phased out in favor of monthly plans. No deep LMS features, pair it with a dedicated course tool for education-heavy products. |
| Shopify + digital delivery app | Basic $39/mo ($29 annual) plus a digital delivery app, typically $10-30/mo extra | 0% Shopify-specific fee with Shopify Payments. 2.9% + $0.30 card processing on Basic. +0.2-2.0% surcharge with a third-party gateway. | Shopify Payments (Stripe-based) or third-party gateway | No | 1 to 3 business days via Shopify Payments | Physical and digital products, full storefront, blog, SEO | Creators who sell or plan to sell physical goods alongside digital products, or want a fully owned site | Digital delivery isn't native, you need a third-party app and its extra monthly cost. Heavier setup than a creator-specific storefront. |
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The platforms split into four pricing shapes.
Free with revenue share: Gumroad (10% + $0.50 direct, 30% flat on Discover) and Lemon Squeezy (5% + $0.50, plus stacked surcharges for international cards, PayPal, and subscriptions) cost nothing upfront but take the largest cut. Both act as merchant of record.
Flat monthly fee dropping to 0% at higher tiers: Stan Store, Beacons, Payhip, Whop, Podia, and Teachable follow this pattern. Break-even against a 10% fee platform lands around $290/month for Stan Store, $840/month for Podia, and $1,520/month for Teachable. None of these fully handle merchant-of-record tax duties, Payhip only covers EU/UK VAT, and Whop covers a 0.5% tax remittance surcharge if used.
Full stack: Kajabi bundles courses, email, funnels, and a website at the highest price in the group ($143 to $499/month), aimed at creators ready to drop several separate tools for one.
Own your checkout: ThriveCart charges 0% platform fee and sends funds straight to your own Stripe or PayPal. Its old $495 lifetime deal is being phased out for monthly plans, and it has no deep course features.
Shopify sits apart, built for physical plus digital products with its own storefront, but digital delivery needs a separate app.
Given you're weighing these partly for tax handling, only Gumroad and Lemon Squeezy fully take merchant-of-record duties off your plate. Everyone else, aside from Payhip's partial EU/UK VAT coverage, leaves sales tax and VAT/GST as your responsibility.
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