Payhip vs Gumroad 2026: Which Is Cheaper for Selling Digital Products?

Payhip is cheaper than Gumroad for almost every seller. Gumroad charges a flat 10% fee plus payment processing on every sale, with no way to lower it. Payhip’s free plan charges 5%, dropping to 2% on the $29/month Plus plan and 0% on the $99/month Pro plan. Gumroad’s advantage is its built-in Discover marketplace, which can send you buyers; Payhip’s advantage is dramatically lower fees and a free plan with every feature. PassiveKit earns a commission on Payhip and nothing on Gumroad.

Gumroad recently changed its pricing in a way that matters for this comparison – and not in sellers’ favor. This breakdown covers the real fee math at different revenue levels, with verified 2026 pricing, and is honest about which one we earn from.

Payhip vs Gumroad 2026:

The news: Gumroad got more expensive

Gumroad used to run a sliding-scale fee that dropped as you sold more. It scrapped that and replaced it with a flat 10% + payment processing on every sale, regardless of volume. For small creators under about $10,000 in lifetime earnings, that’s roughly the same as before. For anyone growing past that, it’s effectively twice as expensive – with no added benefit to justify it. That single change is why “Gumroad alternatives” is a rising search, and why Payhip’s scaling fee model is suddenly the more attractive structure.

Quick comparison

	Payhip	Gumroad
Starting cost	Free (5% fee)	Free (10% fee)
Can you lower the fee?	Yes – 2% (Plus) or 0% (Pro)	No – flat 10% always
Monthly plans	$29 (Plus), $99 (Pro)	None
Built-in marketplace	No	Yes (Gumroad Discover, +10%)
Sell on own domain	Yes	Limited (Gumroad-branded)
Best for	Keeping fees low as you scale	Discovery via the marketplace

The fee math at different revenue levels

This is where the gap becomes obvious. Gumroad takes 10% of every sale forever. Payhip takes 5% on the free plan, and you can buy that down to 2% or 0% with a monthly plan once your volume justifies it. Both also pay Stripe/PayPal processing (~2.9% + $0.30), which is universal.

At $1,000/month in revenue, Gumroad’s 10% costs about $100; Payhip’s free plan costs about $50 – half. At $5,000/month, Gumroad costs roughly $500 in platform fees, while Payhip Plus ($29 + 2%) costs about $129 total. The more you sell, the wider the gap, because Gumroad’s rate never drops and Payhip’s does. For any seller growing past hobby level, Payhip keeps far more of your revenue.

The one thing Gumroad has that Payhip doesn’t

Gumroad Discover is a built-in marketplace that recommends products to buyers browsing Gumroad – it can send you sales you didn’t have to find yourself. Payhip has no equivalent marketplace; you bring your own traffic. The catch: Gumroad takes a 10% fee on Discover sales on top, so it’s not free exposure. Still, for a brand-new creator with no audience, that discovery can be genuinely useful in a way Payhip doesn’t offer. It’s the main honest reason to pick Gumroad despite the higher fees.

A shared warning: the subscription-hostage problem

Worth knowing about both platforms: if you sell subscriptions and later leave the platform, your recurring payments can stop – your customers’ subscriptions don’t simply port out. On Payhip, subscriptions also only work through Stripe, not PayPal. This isn’t unique to either tool, but if recurring revenue is core to your business, factor in that switching platforms later can mean losing that income stream on either one.

Who should use which

• Use Payhip if: you want the lowest fees, plan to grow past hobby level, and can bring your own traffic – it’s cheaper at every revenue level.
• Use Gumroad if: you’re a brand-new creator with no audience and want the Discover marketplace to help you find your first buyers, and you don’t mind the flat 10%.
• Selling subscriptions? Either works, but plan for portability – leaving later can interrupt recurring payments on both.

Frequently Asked Questions