Payhip leaves you more of every direct sale than Gumroad. On a $10 product, Payhip’s free plan costs you $1.09 in fees and Gumroad costs $2.09, so 100 sales leave $891 on Payhip and $791 on Gumroad. Gumroad’s extra dollar buys a marketplace, Discover, and sales tax handling as merchant of record worldwide.
How much do Gumroad and Payhip take?
Gumroad takes 10% + $0.50 per direct sale and Payhip’s free plan takes 5%, with card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 on top of both, as of October 2026. Payhip also sells lower fees for a monthly price, which Gumroad does not.
| Detail | Gumroad | Payhip Free | Payhip Plus | Payhip Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 | $0 | $29 | $99 |
| Platform fee | 10% + $0.50, or 5% + $0.50 after $20,000 in a month | 5% | 2% | 0% |
| Card processing | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 via Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 via Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 via Stripe |
| Marketplace sales | 30% flat through Discover | No marketplace | No marketplace | No marketplace |
What do you keep at $300, $1,000 and $5,000 a month?
The figures below are arithmetic on published fees, not reported earnings. They assume $10 direct sales on US cards and no Gumroad Discover sales.
| Monthly sales | Gumroad | Payhip Free | Payhip Plus | Payhip Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $300, 30 sales | $237 | $267 | $247 | $183 |
| $1,000, 100 sales | $791 | $891 | $892 | $842 |
| $5,000, 500 sales | $3,955 | $4,455 | $4,576 | $4,606 |
On direct sales there is no crossover. Gumroad’s fee is 5 points and $0.50 higher than Payhip Free’s on every sale, and once your sales pass $20,000 in a calendar month Gumroad drops to 5% + $0.50, which still leaves the $0.50 gap. At $5,000 a month, Payhip’s best plan leaves $651 more than Gumroad.
Within Payhip, the plan to pick depends on volume. Free is cheapest below about $967 a month, Plus from there to $3,500, and Pro above $3,500. Gumroad has no plans to switch between.
Cheap products show the gap most clearly. On a $3 product, Gumroad’s flat $0.80 plus percentage fees take $1.19, about 40% of the sale, while Payhip Free takes about $0.54, or 18%. Buyers paying by PayPal trigger PayPal’s own fees on both, and Gumroad’s 10% + $0.50 still applies on top.
Discover changes the math only for buyers you would not have found yourself. A $10 Discover sale leaves $7.00 after Gumroad’s 30%, against $8.91 for a direct Payhip sale, but Payhip has no way to reach those buyers at all.
How do Gumroad and Payhip compare on tax and payouts?
Gumroad covers more tax, and Payhip pays you faster. Gumroad has acted as merchant of record for all sales since January 1, 2025, so it calculates, collects and remits sales tax and VAT worldwide, with the buyer paying tax on top of your price.
Payhip acts as the reseller for digital sales to EU and UK buyers and files that VAT every quarter. It also says it collects and pays sales tax as a marketplace facilitator in the US and a digital platform operator in Canada. For any other tax you choose to charge, Payhip passes the money to you and you report it. For a US creator selling to US, EU and UK buyers, the two cover the same ground. Our creator taxes guide covers the income tax you still owe on both.
Payouts differ sharply. Payhip deposits each sale into your PayPal or Stripe account right after the transaction, with no Payhip minimum, and Stripe pays your bank daily by default. Gumroad holds your money until your balance reaches $100, pays US banks on Thursdays and holds each sale 7 days on weekly, monthly and quarterly schedules. Eligible US creators can take an instant Gumroad payout from $1 for a 3% fee. We score Payhip 9 and Gumroad 6 on payouts.
Does Gumroad or Payhip help you find buyers?
Gumroad is the only one of the two that brings buyers. We score its discovery 5 and Payhip’s 1, because Discover can sell your products to people who have never heard of you.
Discover has entry rules. Your payout settings must be complete, you need at least $100 in genuine sales, and Gumroad’s risk team must verify your account, which takes about 3 weeks on average. Each product then needs one sale, a category and ratings turned on. Products on Discover join Gumroad’s affiliate program automatically unless you opt out.
Payhip scores 8 for ownership and Gumroad 5. Payhip pays into processor accounts in your name and lets you run a store on a custom domain or embed checkout on your own site. Gumroad lets you export buyers and their emails as a CSV, but it is the merchant of record and new sellers cannot connect their own Stripe account, except in Brazil. Members who pay through Gumroad would have to subscribe again elsewhere if you leave.
What features actually differ?
Payhip sells more kinds of products with every tool on every plan, while Gumroad keeps things minimal and adds a marketplace.
| Feature | Gumroad | Payhip |
|---|---|---|
| Products | Digital products and memberships | Downloads, courses, memberships, coaching and physical products |
| Course tools | Courses sold as digital products | Quizzes, assignments, drip publishing and certificates |
| Payment processors | Gumroad’s own accounts, plus PayPal | PayPal plus one of 13 supported processors in most cases |
| Where your money sits | Gumroad balance until payout | Your own PayPal or Stripe account |
| Marketing tools | Affiliates, emails and workflows to customers | Coupons, affiliates, upsells, referral pricing, email and reviews |
Gumroad’s memberships come with sensible controls, including tiers, free trials of a week or a month, prorated upgrades and 7 days’ notice to members before a price rise. Payhip runs memberships and subscription installments through Stripe, and adds coaching with Zoom and Calendly and physical products with inventory tracking.
Setup speed is a draw. We score each 9 out of 10 for ease, and on Gumroad or Payhip’s Free plan you pay nothing until a sale comes in.
Which should you choose?
Choose Payhip unless Discover is the reason you are selling. It leaves $100 more of every $1,000 on its free plan, puts the money in your own account and costs nothing until you sell. Our list of the best platforms for digital products ranks more options, Gumroad vs Stan Store covers the link-in-bio route, and our guide to selling digital products covers pricing.
- Pick Gumroad if you want Discover to sell to buyers who have never heard of you, at 30% on those sales.
- Pick Gumroad if you sell internationally and want one merchant of record handling sales tax and VAT worldwide.
- Pick Gumroad if you want instant payouts from $1 as a US creator and can accept the 3% fee.
- Pick Payhip if you sell to your own audience, because its free plan keeps $1 more of every $10 sale.
- Pick Payhip if you want each sale in your own PayPal or Stripe account with no payout minimum.
- Pick Payhip if you sell cheap products, where Gumroad’s flat $0.80 per sale hurts most.
- Pick Payhip Plus once sales pass about $967 a month, and Pro above $3,500.