5 Best Gumroad Alternatives that are Cheaper and Better (2023) (source: Gumroad)
Updated: December 20, 2022
Version 1.0 UpdateAs of December 2022, Gumroad has announced a price increase and will charge an additional 10% for every sale that users make through the platform (plus any additional fees for transactions from Paypal and Stripe). If you're affected by the shocking news and considering switching to other platforms, here is the listing of Gumroad alternatives that you'll need to check out!
Gumroad is one of the most popular platforms that sells digital items. Gumroad offers a online storefront that allows you to sell digital products online in a matter of minutes. Gumroad is also equipped with additional options like the ability that allow you to sell subscriptions, partnership with Paypal and Stripe, and other features.
However, it has negatives that discourage people from staying on the platform. Review sites have proven that amongst other things, Gumroad's expensive pricing and lack of support for customers and inability to scale to handle large volumes of sales have led users to migrate to different platforms.
In this post we'll look at Gumroad's best alternatives to selling digital products in order to choose the best option for your company. We have included many alternatives that are perfect for businesses that are just starting out, but we've also considered scalability in mind so you don't have to move to other platforms as your business grows.
Here is a quick list of the best Gumroad choices that's more affordable and more effective:
What is Gumroad and what does it offer?
Gumroad can be described as an eCommerce platform that is geared toward digital goods. Gumroad offers a variety of features, such as the ability to sell various product types including digital downloads and subscriptions. Additionally, it provides analytics and marketing tools in addition to the capability to integrate the product page on your site.
Gumroad is a great choice. Gumroad offers you a fully-hosted online store where you can sell your products from. Gumroad also provides a smaller online marketplace named "Gumroad Discover" which allows you to display your product listings amongst other creators.
How Much Does Gumroad Cost?
Gumroad will charge you 10% of the amount per sale you make on the platform.
In addition, you will also need to be charged transaction costs through Paypal and Stripe which usually come out to be about 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction.
It is important to note that Gumroad used to have unorthodox pricing structures prior to 2023. they've recently settled on the price structure for the future.
Why should you look to Gumroad Alternatives?
1. Expensive Pricing and Lack of Scalability
Gumroad's standard rate of 10% fee for every purchase is extremely costly when you're only beginning their journey, however it's also more expensive when the business expands because costs will only increase as a percentage of your earnings.
Imagine earning $100,000 a month, and then having to pay $10,000 fees - that doesn't seem like a lot of fun at all. Furthermore to that, the 10% charge does notinclude any additional Paypal or Stripe fees (which usually cost around 2.9 percentage plus $0.30 for each transaction) which you'll also have to pay.
2. Lack of Customizability
Although Gumroad offers a fully hosted website to display your merchandise online, you'll not be able to customize the design of your web store in order to reflect your brand. Gumroad is a unique design for its storefronts that is used on every seller's storefronts. All you have to do is customize on your storefront is a single highlight color and a few small customizations like your name, bio, as well as your logo.
Contrary to this, alternatives to the platforms mentioned in this article offer advanced features for store builders that are suitable for novices (no programming or design expertise required), but are still able to give you the full freedom to create an online store that is highly profitable that is consistent with your brand.
3. Discover Better Options to Sell Online Courses
If you're selling products like digital downloads, Gumroad is generally quite good at instantly delivering your documents to customers. If you're offering online courses, the platform does not provide robust functionalities that other online course platforms typically provide.
Gumroad's online courses feature lets the upload of a video or other files for your students to download, or simply click to view the video. However, this isn't exactly the interactive learning experience that you'd expect to get through an online learning platform. There are no advanced course features such as assessments such as drip schedules or certificates of completion.
Here's an example of student's learning experience
Here's an example of an enjoyable learning experience using different lesson format options would appear to be (the illustration below comes from ):
Specific Features to Search For in a Gumroad alternative
When looking for an alternative to Gumroad, there are several crucial aspects to take into consideration.
1. Specific Features for Selling Various Product Sorts
Does the platform provide powerful tools for selling various digital products? This will allow you maximize your source of income from various verticals. Take into consideration features like
- Features to sell digital download immediate file delivery PDF stamping, download limits and much many more
- Features to sell online course include: a fun online course player that includes a variety of different types of lesson (e.g. assignment videos, video lessons and more) and drip content schedule, various course pricing options including certificates and certificates.
- Features to sell coaching service Integration with online meeting platforms such as Zoom and Calendly and many more.
- The features to market subscriptions or membership: ability to bill recurring payments
In addition, look for flexibility to be able to embed product pages on your website. This lets you embed an order cart, and a seamless checkout functionality into any web page.
2. Cost-effective Pricing (Little to No Costs Up-Front)
How much does it cost per transaction? Are there monthly costs that are not disclosed, fees hidden, or limitations?
Look for platforms that have solid records of stable pricing models. While a lot of companies will offer you a reasonable pricing structure in the beginning it is important to make sure you're not facing unexpected price increases down the line.
3. Robust Marketing Tools
Aside from the basic marketing tools such as discounts, it is important to look for a platform that can offer more complex and effective marketing tools, including affiliate marketing. This lets you run various marketing campaigns to scale your company.
It is the sole alternative on this list that offers the affiliate marketing feature for free Other platforms require monthly subscription fees to access the features.
4. Easy-to-use and Custom-designed Store Builder for Beginners
The digital world is awash with opportunities, and having an online store or web site is essential for every company or brand to build the brand's popularity and demonstrate the professionalism of their business. When done properly creating your own site is not just a way to set yourself to be a professional within your industry, but it can it can also build relationships with customers as they are able to know about the company's brand better.
Look for platforms that allow you to build a fully customized online store to represent your business in the best possible way. There are plenty of options that do not require any design or coding abilities.
5. The Tax Department will take care of VAT So You Don't Have To
The dread of having to navigate the confusing tax system could stop you from expanding your company and slowing down the growth. Consider selecting a platform which is compliant and able to not only take VAT payments from your clients at checkout and remit the VAT for you and you don't have to do anything.
5 of the Best Gumroad Options for Selling Digital Products
Let's review some of the most popular alternatives to Gumroad when it comes to selling digital goods. Each one has unique options and plans for pricing, making it important to review these carefully before you make your selection.
1.
is the best Gumroad alternative overall in terms of value as well as affordability.
is easily the most well-known platform and is often compared with Gumroad because they're the closest Gumroad rival that has everything Gumroad has to offer and a price that is much more reasonable which works for businesses that are of any size.
is popular for having a Forever-free plan that gives sellers access to all of the tools it has to provide. Instead of the massive 10% that Gumroad charges, only charges the buyer 5% per sale. Once your revenue grows and you are ready to upgrade, change to the monthly service for a lower cost. There is no need to worry about scaling your company's size .
If you're in search of an organization that's committed to the growth of your enterprise, then this platform is your ideal choice.
PRICING:
The company has disrupted the market by offering an innovative pricing strategy that is geared towards helping small businesses succeed, but in addition, ensuring that businesses maintain their prices at a low level in the process of growing into million-dollar enterprises.
Offers a selection of 3 pricing plans:
- Free for life with only 5% fee (perfect for beginners)
- $29.30/month, 2% of which is fees.
- A monthly payment of $99 with no charges
Why is this "unconventional"? That's because all of pricing plans provide an equal access privilege to all of their awesome features. 's founders created the company because of their belief in establishing a platform which helps small businesses grow by never limiting their access to the powerful features that they need. This belief is well-received by a large number of sellers who have's online reviews.
If you're starting your business from scratch, you can start on 's most popular Plan, Free for Lifewith no monthly charges and the 5% fee for each sale (excluding shipping charges). Once your business grows and you need to expand, you may change to the Plus plan, which costs $29 for month fee plus 2percent fees per sale, or to the Professional plan for $99 per month fees (no other fees per sale).
has maintained this pricing for a long time, so it is possible to have peace of mind that the price won't go anywhere.
PROS :
- This is the cheapest alternative to Gumroad
- Built-in key features to sell various products including:
- Unlimitless product listings, and unlimitable revenue
- Optimized check out experience for high conversion
- A powerful and easy-to-use store building tool - no coding or design skills needed
- Ability to fully customize your online store to match your branding
- Storefront that is hosted completely for free (you are also able to connect a custom domain)
- If you have your own website, you can easily embed your site on any eCommerce site.
- Instant and secure payouts via Paypal and Stripe
- Pricing options for Pay-what-you-want for your products (a.k.a. Tip Jar)
- Pays for and collects UK & EU VAT on your behalf
- Store analytics & ability to link to Google Analytics
- Bonus: also appreciated for its excellent customer service level. Every user is treated with respect regardless of what plan you're in
CONS
- No automated shipping label integration or software (e.g. Shippo, or ShipStation). Its platform is more focused towards digital goods, however you're still able to comfortably sell physical products if you would like to.
2. Shopify
As one of the largest eCommerce platforms around the globe, Shopify is often a popular option as a Gumroad alternative. Shopify is a comprehensive eCommerce platform that allows the creation of an online shop and control the products you sell. Shopify also provides a broad selection of tools and functions like the ability to process payments, analyze data, as well as marketing tools. Additionally, Shopify has a variety of pricing plans to suit various budgets.
Due to the sheer size of this eCommerce platform, there are many third-party software applications every business category which you can integrate with the Shopify store. This lets you equip your shop online with distinctive software from tweaking the design of your website to marketing tools, and many more. The only caveat is that these apps are often not free, so you'll have to manage your expenses carefully.
Although Shopify is a strong eCommerce platform, it does have a few limitations. Shopify does not offer built-in functions to market digital goods as Shopify's platform has been designed toward tangible products. You will have to install additional third-party apps that would likely increase the costs of selling your digital products.
PRICING:
For small businesses that want to try different platforms before settling on one that suits their needs, Shopify offers a 14-day free trial. It is not a forever-free plan.
For a price of just $29 per month, Shopify's Basic Plan is the most well-liked plan. Other Shopify plans are available for $79/month, 299/month in the case of Advanced Shopify, and $2000/month for Shopify Plus/Enterprise. You will be charged an additional transaction cost that will be charged for each sale.
The Shopify platform does not come with built-in features to sell digital items. It is likely that you will require third-party apps through the Shopify app store which typically comes with additional cost.
PROS :
- The ability to download thousands of third applications from third parties available on Shopify, the Shopify app store
- It supports multi-channel sales. This is particularly helpful when you have a brick-and-mortar store
- Shopify is used by numerous small and medium-sized businesses, in addition to the creators of content who are specialized on Shopify content. The communities you join will likely provide you with a lot of helpful tips on online businesses
- The Shopify features may not be sufficient for those selling predominantly digital items, physical product sellers could profit from Shopify's extensive eCommerce features
CONS :
- No built-in features to sell digital products. It is necessary to download an app from a third party, and it will be accompanied by additional cost. Shopify is not a suitable alternative for creatives.
- There are no built-in marketing tools like affiliate marketing, referral, cross-sell, upsell and many more.
3. Kajabi
Kajabi is another well-known alternative to Gumroad as it also provides an all-in-one solution for the sale of digital products. One of the main advantages of Kajabi over Gumroad is the fact that it lets creators set up communities. But, Kajabi is known for having monthly fees which can be a bit costly to small-sized businesses who have just started out.
PRICING:
Kajabi gives 14 days of trial. You will need to input your credit card information prior to being eligible to get started with your free trial.
After your trial period is over then you can choose between 3 paid plans:
- Basic: $149/month
- Growth: $199/month
- Pro: $399/month
There's a tiny discounts if you decide to purchase the annual subscription.
PROS :
- Kajabi is a provider of educational materials to their customers through Kajabi university (although it's important to note that you'll probably be able to obtain these information from free Youtube videos available online)
- The ability to access features that aren't available via Gumroad including community services sales funnels, community, and more
CONS
- It is not affordable for small-scale business customers
- Complex marketing feature such as affiliate program are available only in plans like the Growth and Pro plans.
- Numerous limits on various items like the amount of items, the number of contacts, number of members, number of administrators, and so on. Not recommended for those of you who would like to "set-it-and-forget-it" because you'll need to keep track of your usage
4. Podia
Podia is also one of the top choices to creators. One of the major advantages of using Podia is that they offer a forever-free plan. But keep your mind that you'll not be able to upload multiple merchandise on the plan for free.
PRICING:
- For free, 8% of fees
- Mover: $39/month
- Shaker: $89/month
- Earthquaker: $199/month
PROS :
- Options to market other categories of product that aren't on Gumroad such as community and webinars
- On-page chat widget to help users interact with their website visitors
CONS
- The free plan comes with an 8% transaction cost and you'll only be able to offer one digital download (you'll most likely need to upgrade to Podia's paid plans to become a fully functional eCommerce store)
- Complex marketing tools such as affiliate marketing can only be found for Shaker ($75/month) or Earthquaker ($166/month) plans
- It is necessary to pay an additional $20/month for additional team seating
- You can't turn off Podia brand unless you purchase an annual fee for Shaker ($75/month) or the Earthquaker ($166/month) plans.
5. Mighty Networks
If you're looking for a Gumroad alternative to establish a community, sell online classes, or even sell coaching services, Mighty Networks is a popular option. Though this option might not be the best choice for selling digital downloads, you might consider this to be a superior Gumroad alternative for selling classes.
PRICING:
There are two plans to choose from: two plans that are paid for:
- The community plan is $39/month.
- The business plan: $119/month
- Mighty Pro: You'll have to contact the team for pricing
PROS :
- Mighty Networks' community feature is more sophisticated than any of the platforms mentioned in this article, the interface almost mimics that of Facebook's social media site
- Members can see each other's posts through content feed which could encourage genuine interactions
CONS :
- The absence of solid features for marketing product categories such as digital downloads
- Course features on online courses aren't as robust as other online course platforms as they don't offer lesson types including assessments, quizzes, as well as the certificates of achievement
- Does not have integration with PayPal
Last Thoughts on Choosing the Best Option for Your business
There you have it! There are plenty of alternatives to Gumroad that you can try out, so don't forget to take advantage of each of the platform's free trials to find out which options provide the ideal blend of benefits and pricing plans to meet your company's demands.