10 best Gumroad alternatives in 2024 (free & paid)
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If you are an artist, blogger, writer, or any other type of creator, you must have heard of Gumroad.
However, if you haven’t, you must be wondering what Gumroad is and what its top alternatives are.
Gumroad is an easy-to-use tool developed to help artists and creators sell products online almost instantly. In essence, it’s a hosted eCommerce platform, which means that you can build an online store without having to worry about hosting, payment options, and inventory management as it’s all included.
You don’t need to be a tech guru to use Gumroad—the setup is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require you to have any previous experience. Gumroad also allows basic customization of your online store, so you can give it a unique look.
But, Gumroad’s main selling point is that it doesn’t have a subscription fee. It means that you get to create your online store and start selling products for free (almost).
However, is Gumroad really as good as it markets itself? Are there any flaws that potential sellers must be aware of before subscribing to the service? Not sure if Gumroad is the right platform for your eCommerce business?
Let’s explore what marketing features other platforms offer to improve the visibility of your business.
Why consider Gumroad alternatives for eCommerce?
We’ve now covered what Gumroad is and looked at its strong side.
But, even though Gumroad seems like a great option, it still has some drawbacks and you may want to look for an alternative solution.
For example, even though Gumroad doesn’t charge a monthly subscription fee, it would still cost you money to use it if you actually want to sell something.
Let me explain:
Gumroad takes a significant amount of your income in transaction fees — a crazy 10% (+ credit card fees) is deducted from your income each time someone buys your digital product.
Also, various reviews online point out that Gumroad’s customer support isn’t very helpful. Let’s face it, your online store is probably one of the most essential tools for your eCommerce business. So, you need to be absolutely sure you have someone to turn to when something goes wrong.
Apart from that, there are a few minor things that can make you think twice before you sign up for Gumroad. For example, they don’t have bump offers or product upselling, and these features are very important for running an online business. Plus, Gumroad only pays out money to the sellers once a week, which means that you won’t have instant access to your earnings.
So, if you’re looking for the best Gumroad alternatives, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve done our own research and found the 10 best Gurmoad alternatives in 2024.
Let’s find out which of these Gumroad alternatives is best for you:
10 best Gumroad alternatives
1. Sellfy
Here’s what makes Sellfy a good Gumroad alternative:
It was initially developed as a platform for selling digital downloads and has quickly become a leader in that niche. Later on, Sellfy was transformed into a full-fledged hosted eCommerce solution for creators and artists. Now, on par with its top competitors, Sellfy allows you to sell just about any type of product—digital, physical, subscriptions, and even print on demand.
Sellfy’s setup is even more effortless than Gumroad’s—something I wish I had known back in the day when I was trying to set up a shop on the same platform.
With Sellfy, you can start selling your products almost instantly—it won’t take you more than 10 minutes to build an online store from scratch. All you need to do is upload your first product, choose a payment method and start selling.
It’s also important to note that Sellfy stores are fully customizable—you’ll be able to make your store look the way you want just by using the Store Customizer tool.
Built-in print on demand is one of the coolest Sellfy features. So, if you decide to sell custom print-on-demand products you won’t have to look for external solutions or costly integrations (like you’d have to do with Gumroad). Moreover, Sellfy will take care of everything—after you make a sale, each order is automatically fulfilled, printed, and shipped to your customers worldwide. With Sellfy’s print on demand, you won’t have to make any upfront investments or worry about the unsold leftovers—you’ll be charged for product fulfillment only after you sell something.
Unlike Gumroad, Sellfy doesn’t take a part of your income in commission, transaction fees, or any other way. You also never have to worry about unnecessary or hidden costs.
Finally, Sellfy offers a great set of marketing tools to help you grow your business:
- Discount and coupon codes feature that allows you to issue discount codes, discount separate products, and even customize your sales by adding start/end time, changing the look of SALE badges, etc.
- Sellfy’s built-in email marketing tool is the best for email marketing automation. You’ll be able to craft your own email campaigns, send out newsletters with the latest product updates, and thank customers for shopping in your store.
- You’ll be able to send cart abandonment emails and offer additional discounts to customers who left your store without checking out.
- Instead of offering freebies, you can just use pay-what-you-want pricing and let your customers decide how much they want to pay for your product.
- There’s an upselling and cross-selling feature to offer an additional (discounted) product to the buyer when they add one of your products to the cart.
Is Sellfy right for you?
As the best Gumroad alternative, Sellfy is a perfect solution for all types of creators and artists. Everyone looking for an eCommerce platform with an effortless setup and tons of useful features will find Sellfy an excellent fit.
How much does Sellfy cost?
In January 2023, Gumroad implemented a pricing change from a tiered to a flat 10% fee system, excluding payment processing fees. Many big sellers left the platform, as the new pricing left some of the sellers with a fee that’s now four times higher.
Sellfy, on the other hand, does not have any additional fees. As a creator, you would only need to pay the subscription fee. Sellfy offers three paid plans with a starting price at $22/mo if you take a yearly subscription).
Pros
- Fully-hosted eCommerce platform
- Effortless setup
- Support for EU VAT & sales tax
- 100% customizable storefront
- Support for digital, physical & subscription products
- Built-in print-on-demand
- Built-in marketing tools
- Pay-what-you-want pricing
- Possibility to embed your store into the website
- Has a mobile app
- Fast and clean payment gateway
- Various payment options such as Google Pay
- Google Analytics & app integrations
Cons
- Limited third-party app integrations
- No advanced product filtering or sorting options
2. SendOwl
SendOwl has proven to be one of the best Gumroad alternatives for people looking for a simple way to sell digital downloads. Its main focus has always been to provide a straightforward and clean checkout solution for creators and small businesses. And they’re doing it pretty well.
SendOwl is super easy to use. All you have to do is create an account and upload your product. Once it’s done, you immediately get a Quick Sell link, a possibility to share your product on social media, and a generated code snippet that allows you to embed a Buy Now button on your website or blog.
To make your life easier there are some use cases and demos on their home page that will help you understand how their service works.
Apart from that, SendOwl offers a bunch of useful marketing features like upselling, cart abandonment, discounts and vouchers, pay-what-you-want pricing, and gift certificates. SendOwl also works well with most eCommerce solutions and external marketing services.
But, there’s one very important thing that’s worth mentioning:
Even though SendOwl offers a simple and quick way to start selling online, you won’t be able to build a storefront with this platform. So, if you’re looking for a way to create an online store you’ll find platforms like Gumroad or Sellfy much more useful.
Is SendOwl right for you?
If you’re looking for an eCommerce back office for your existing website or a blog, you will find SendOwl a great alternative to Gumroad. Not only is it easy to use, but it also offers a solid set of eCommerce features.
How much does SendOwl cost?
SendOwl doesn’t offer a free plan and has a somewhat complicated pricing plan. On their pricing page you’ll find three tabs—Standard, Self-hosted, and Subscription—each offers different pricing plans, so you can choose the one that fits you best. Their cheapest Standard plan starts at $15/month.
Pros
- Simple setup
- Support for digital, physical & subscription products
- Built-in marketing tools
- Pay-what-you-want pricing
- Integrates well with other services
- Supports multiple currencies
- Simple and responsive checkout
Cons
- No possibility to build an online store
- No free plan
- Limited customization
- No live chat support or Facebook groups
3. Shopify
As one of the most popular eCommerce platforms, Shopify definitely deserves a spot among Gumroad alternatives.
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that allows you to build an online store without any previous experience or web design background. Moreover, they’ve managed to create a whole ecosystem that includes 3000+ useful apps and countless store themes.
Shopify’s main advantage is that it’s fully customizable and with the right set of app integrations, you can sell pretty much anything in your store—from tangible items to subscriptions and digital goods.
On the flip side, you should be ready for Shopify to charge you extra for most third-party app integrations. For example, Shopify’s paid store themes cost between $140–$180, while the monthly fees for the apps can vary from just a few dollars up to $100 per month. Add this to your subscription fee (Shopify doesn’t have a free plan) and you get a considerable amount of money you should be ready to pay every month.
Plus, even though Shopify gives you access to advanced marketing integrations, solutions like Gumroad and Sellfy offer much more advanced in-built marketing functionality.
Lastly, Shopify positions itself as an easy-to-use platform for building an online store. In reality, even though you don’t need to have web development skills to use Shopify, it still comes with a huge learning curve. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many “how-to” guides on starting a Shopify store.
Is Shopify right for you?
In general, almost anyone looking for a complete eCommerce solution and who is ready to invest time and money (mainly on third-party apps) will find Shopify a great fit.
How much does Shopify cost?
Unlike Gumroad, Shopify doesn’t offer a free plan and has three paid plans with prices ranging from $29-299/month.
Pros
- Fully hosted eCommerce platform
- An ecosystem of useful app integrations and store themes
- Fully customizable online store
- Store embed functionality
- Built-in blog
- Supports multiple currencies
- Unlimited product bandwidth
- Has a mobile app
Cons
- Key functionalities require the installation of an app
- App integrations may require additional expenses
- Steep learning curve
- Shopify charges transaction fees
- Not enough built-in marketing tools
- Multi-currency selling is available only for Shopify Payments users
4. Podia
If you’re looking for a Gumroad alternative to sell your online courses, digital downloads, membership, or webinars then you definitely should consider Podia.
Podia is a hosted eCommerce platform with a focus on selling online courses. It allows you to sell anything digital and has a relatively clean interface that lets you construct a landing page for digital downloads—no coding, just simple drag-and-drop.
Apart from decent customization options, Podia also offers a great set of built-in marketing features including email marketing campaign, upselling and cross-selling, product bundles, coupon codes, affiliate marketing, and more. Plus, they offer speedy and clean checkout that is optimized to improve your conversion rates as it doesn’t require customers to create an account.
Of course, there are some limitations to Podia that more experienced users may find unacceptable, like basic customization options or almost no possibility to integrate external services. It also won’t fit anyone who at one point may decide to start selling physical products (including merchandise).
One of the main differences between Gumroad and Podia is that the latter doesn’t take a part of your income in transaction fees. On the other hand, Podia’s pricing seems to be a bit too steep when compared to other solutions. So, we’ll leave it to you to decide which one is better.
Is Podia right for you?
There’s nothing much to say here. Like Gumroad, Podia is great for small business owners who focus on selling digital downloads. It’s easy to use and it doesn’t take a lot of time and effort to start selling.
How much does Podia cost?
Podia doesn’t have a free plan; instead, they offer three paid plans with prices ranging from $39-179/month.
Pros
- Fully hosted eCommerce platform
- Clean and easy-to-use interface
- Supports online courses, digital downloads, memberships, and webinars
- Store embed functionality
- Customization possibilities
- Built-in marketing features
- No product or bandwidth limitations
- No transaction fees
Cons
- No support for physical products
- Limited integrations
- Limited analytics
- No free plan
- Paid plans are quite expensive
5. Teachable
Teachable is another great alternative to Gumroad for selling digital content. Just like Podia, the platform mainly concentrates on selling online courses, but it has also proven to be a great fit for selling digital products.
Simply speaking, Teachable is another online course platform that helps people deliver their learning and educational experience. Teachable lets you easily create an unlimited number of online courses as well as build a website from scratch, or integrate your educational content into an existing website or blog.
Just like Gumroad, Teachable allows you to upload any type of files and content including video, audio, photos, text, PDFs, etc. However, in case you’re looking for a way to sell a mix of digital content and physical products, it’s impossible to do it on Teachable.
Teachable has a beginner-friendly setup. So, you’ll be able to quickly and easily create a sales page with their drag-and-drop builder—no previous experience is needed. Even though Teachable’s customization options are somewhat limited, there’s a tool called Power Editor that allows more experienced users to tap into the code.
Teachable offers a solid marketing toolkit that includes coupons, promotions, affiliate programs, and email marketing. You’ll also have the possibility to create bundle courses and subscriptions, as well as choose various pricing options.
On the downside, even though Teachable offers a limited free plan, it will also charge you a crazy $1 + 10% for every transaction. And even if you decide to switch to a paid plan, you’ll still have to pay a 5% transaction fee.
Is Teachable right for you?
Teachable is a great service for everyone who is ready to share their skills with the world and make some income on the side by selling their knowledge and experiences.
How much does Teachable cost?
Teachable offers a free plan for unlimited courses and is limited to 10 students. There are also three paid plans starting at $29/month.
Pros
- Fully hosted eCommerce platform
- Offers a free plan and three paid plans
- Simple setup
- Supports for online courses and digital downloads
- Store embed functionality
- Built-in marketing features
- Option to host your own affiliate program
Cons
- No support for physical products
- Transaction fees
- Not perfect for selling memberships
- Limited integrations
6. Payhip
When we compare Payhip to Gumroad, it appears that these two platforms are more similar to each other than the other ones mentioned in the list. Just like Gumroad, Payhip is a basic checkout solution for artists and creatives looking to start selling digital or physical products, as well as memberships.
Payhip is an all-in-one eCommerce platform that offers a host of useful tools to start an online business. You can easily embed the service right into your website or blog, or build your own Payhip storefront to sell products directly to your audience.
Though Payhip works much better as an integration for your own website, you can still build a basic storefront for your products. However, you shouldn’t expect full customization—the storefront you get with Payhip looks very basic.
Payhip’s main benefit is that it’s fantastically easy to use. Even if you have no clue about how eCommerce works, you should feel right at home with Payhip.
On the flip side, Payhip’s ease of use and basic setup come with a few limitations when it comes to marketing and sales features. For example, there are almost no built-in marketing tools apart from discounts and discount codes. Even though Payhip has a free plan, it comes with a crazy 5% payment processing fee and other fees (that’s actually a bit less than what Gumroad will charge you).
Is Payhip right for you?
Payhip works well for anyone taking baby steps in eCommerce. But, in case you’re looking for something more than a simple checkout solution with limited sales and marketing capabilities, Payip may disappoint you.
How much does Payhip cost?
Payhip has a very simple pricing scheme. There’s a free plan with a 5% transaction fee, a Payhip Plus plan that comes at $29/month and has a 2% transaction fee, and a Payhip Pro plan that comes at $99/month and has no transaction fees. Additionally, you also have to pay the transaction fees charged by payment processors (usually 2.9%).
Pros
- It’s free to start
- Simple setup
- Supports for digital downloads and memberships
- Store embed functionality
- Option to host your own affiliate program
Cons
- Limited marketing and sales features
- Transaction fees
- Limited store customization
- Not perfect for selling physical products
7. SamCart
SamCart is a shopping cart software that helps creators start selling online by building an optimized product page.
Yes, there’s a reason for calling SamCart a shopping cart instead of eCommerce software. The difference is that a shopping cart may not offer the same extended functionalities as a typical eCommerce platform like Sellfy.
At first sight, SamCart seems to be a more feature-reach solution than Gumroad as they offer some great eCommerce tools to help sellers increase their conversions. For example, one-click upsells, A/B split testing, coupons and trial offers, cart abandonment, affiliate programs, and many more.
Designing your product page with SamCart won’t be a difficult task thanks to the drag-and-drop editor. Apart from that, SamCart offers a host of premade page templates you can use instead of designing from scratch.
However, SamCart will only build a simple product page instead of a fully-fledged online store. It means that this solution might not be a perfect fit for someone looking to sell various products at the same time.
Is SamCart right for you?
If you want to sell just one or a few products, SamCart might be a good fit for you. However, even with all of the built-in eCommerce features, SamCart’s pricing might appear a little too high.
How much does SamCart cost?
SamCart doesn’t have a free plan and offers three paid plans that are quite expensive when compared to many other solutions mentioned in our list. SamCart’s cheapest plan starts at $49/month.
Pros
- It’s easy to use
- Support for digital, physical, and subscription products
- Supports multiple pricing models
- Great set of built-in eCommerce features
- No transaction fees
Cons
- No free plan
- Paid plans are quite expensive
- Limited customization options
- No possibility to build a complete online store
- No marketing features
8. Etsy
Even though Etsy doesn’t seem like an obvious alternative to Gumroad, it’s still an option worth considering.
Why is that?
Well, the main reason is that Etsy is usually the first solution that pops up in people’s heads when they think about selling creative work.
But, what is Etsy? And, most importantly, what makes it so different from solutions like Gumroad?
First and foremost, Etsy is not a fully-hosted eCommerce platform—it’s a creative marketplace. In other words, comparing Etsy to Gumroad is like trying to compare an art fair to a standalone art store. Plus, you should keep in mind that there’s no way to sell your services on Etsy as it’s mostly a marketplace for handmade and physical goods.
Etsy’s main benefit is that, just like most marketplaces, it has an established customer base interested in the arts and crafts. It gives you a chance to access your target audience more easily.
On the one hand, you have 30+ million potential buyers browsing Etsy that can notice your products. And, on the other hand, you have 50+ million other products to compete with.
However, Etsy offers a bit more than just a marketplace. There’s also a service called Pattern by Etsy that allows you to create a personal storefront for your products. The solution is somewhat similar to fully-hosted platforms like Gumroad, but not as advanced or customizable. It’ll cost you a monthly fee of $15, but it’s nothing more than an add-on for someone already selling their products on Etsy.
Is Etsy right for you?
Etsy can be a great place for a small business as it’s free and easy to use. So, if you’re not looking for any complicated setups and customization (the only thing you can customize on Etsy is your logo), you should definitely give it a try.
How much does Etsy cost?
Etsy doesn’t have a subscription fee, but there’s a 5% transaction fee for every item you sell as well as a $0.20 fee for every digital download listed in your store.
Pros
- It’s free to start
- It’s easy to use
- Good for exposure of your products
Cons
- No customization options
- Transaction and listing fees
- No control over your store
- Strict product guidelines
- No marketing features
9. Ko-fi
Ko-fi is another great alternative to Gumroad for digital creators. In essence, Ko-fi is a platform that resembles Patreon as it allows people to donate money to support their favorite creators. In other words, you may think of Ko-fi as a virtual tip jar.
There are several ways to earn money on Ko-fi. For example, you can set up a fan page where your audience donates your money (buy a virtual cup of coffee) in exchange for some additional content.
Apart from gathering donations from fans, you can also create your own Ko-fi Shop to sell digital and physical products (just like Gumroad). Yes, setting up a Ko-fi Shop allows you to start selling your work directly to your fans, but the number of available eCommerce features is very limited. Storefront customization is also super basic and there are almost no built-in marketing features to help you promote your products.
It goes without saying that Ko-fi is super easy to set up. You just need to pick a username, add a photo and bio, and connect a payment source like PayPal or Stripe. The whole process will literally take just a minute or two and you’ll have your page up and running.
Ko-fi doesn’t take a single cent from your donations, however, there’s a 5% transaction fee for every item you sell from your Ko-fi Shop. Do you also want a mobile app for your online store? Well, there’s also no mobile app on this platform, so you won’t be able to manage your account from your phone.
Is Ko-fi right for you?
Ko-fi is an effortless way to crowdsource your creative business. Bloggers and content creators will find this platform more suitable since they already have an audience that’s ready to support them or buy their products.
How much does Ko-fi cost?
Ko-fi is free to use, but Ko-fi Shop users should be ready to pay a 5% transaction fee for each product sold. There’s also a Ko-fi Gold plan that will cost you $6/month and will give you access to more advanced features.
Pros
- It’s free to start
- Effortless setup
- 0% commission from donations
- Support for digital and physical products, fundraising, and donations
- Instant payouts
- Shopping cart embed functionality
Cons
- No customization options
- Transaction fees
- Limited integrations
- No mobile app
- No marketing features
10. Paddle
Paddle is a service that makes it quite easy to sell apps, games, and other digital downloads. Their main focus is on helping businesses that sell software as a service with processes like handling payments, managing subscriptions, and streamlining checkouts.
Paddle allows you to easily create a checkout page for your software and digital downloads that you can integrate into your existing website. The good thing is that Paddle takes care of all the complicated stuff like managing checkout processes, invoicing, subscriptions, and recurring payment.
Padlle allows you to customize the checkout page to match your website’s overall look and feel. Plus, with the help of an overlaid checkout screen, your customers can buy your product without leaving the product page.
On the other hand, you won’t have the possibility to build your own storefront, which automatically makes this platform not suitable for those looking for a way to build an online storefront.
Is Paddle right for you?
If you create and sell apps, games, and similar software products and don’t mind the transaction fees, you should definitely give Paddle a try.
How much does Paddle cost?
There are no monthly costs for using Paddle. You will be charged a flat 5% of the transaction amount + 50 cents per transaction.
Pros
- Perfect for selling apps, games, and software
- It’s free to use
- Possibility to integrate a shopping cart into a website
- Great set of built-in eCommerce features
Cons
- No possibility to build a storefront
- Transaction fees
- Limited customization options
- Limited marketing features
- Not suitable for selling physical products
Over to you
As you may have noticed, there are plenty of sites like Gumroad for you to choose from. Which of these Gumroad alternatives did you find suitable for your business?
One thing is clear:
If you’re looking for a better alternative to Gumroad that is suitable for beginners, has a better feature list, and simply performs better, you should take a closer look at Sellfy.
FAQ: best Gumroad alternatives
What is the best alternative to Gumroad?
When it comes to alternatives to Gumroad, Sellfy clearly stands out as a top choice. Sellfy offers a user-friendly platform for creators to sell digital downloads, including e-books, music, videos, and more. With its robust features, customizable store, and seamless payment processing, Sellfy provides a reliable and efficient alternative to Gumroad.
Is Gumroad free to use?
Gumroad doesn’t have a subscription fee. However, Gumroad takes a significant amount of your income in transaction fees — a crazy 10% (+ credit card fees) is deducted from your income each time someone buys your product. So, even though Gumroad doesn’t charge a monthly subscription fee, it would still cost money to use it if you actually want to sell something.
Why is Sellfy the best alternative to Gumroad?
Sellfy offers several advantages that make it a much better choice than Gumroad. Sellfy doesn’t charge transaction fees, allowing sellers to keep 100% of what they earned. Sellfy’s user-friendly interface, robust marketing tools, customizable online storefront, and secure file delivery make it a perfect choice for starting an online business. Additionally, Sellfy’s pricing plans offer flexibility and scalability to accommodate different business needs.
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