5 Best Gumroad alternatives that are less expensive and Better (2023) (source: Gumroad)
The last update was December 20 20, 2022
update:As of December 2022, Gumroad has announced a cost increase, and they will be charging 10 percent for each sale it makes on its platform (plus extra transaction charges from Paypal and Stripe). If you're affected by the terrible news and you're considering switching to other platforms Check out this listing of Gumroad alternatives that you'll want to consider!
Gumroad is a popular platform to sell digital goods. It offers a hosted storefront so you can offer digital goods online for sale within a matter of seconds. Gumroad also comes with other options like the ability for selling subscriptions, integration of Paypal and Stripe, and other features.
That said, Gumroad has drawbacks that turn people off to staying on the platform. Online reviews have shown among other issues, Gumroad's expensive pricing, lack of customer support and inability to scale for big volume sellers are causing users to switch to other platforms.
In this post, we'll explore Gumroad's best alternatives for selling digital products so you can take a shrewd decision about your business. We have included many alternatives that will be perfect for small businesses which are only beginning However, we've also considered scalability in mind to ensure that you will never have change platforms as your business grows.
This is a brief overview of the top Gumroad alternatives that are more affordable and more effective:
What exactly is Gumroad and what does it Offer?
Gumroad is an eCommerce platform that's geared to digital products. It provides a range of capabilities, like selling different product types including digital downloads as well as subscriptions. It also offers marketing and analytics tools and the ability to embed the product page on your site.
Gumroad is a great choice. Gumroad it is possible to have an online store that is hosted fully and where you can sell your products through. Gumroad also offers a tiny online marketplace known as "Gumroad Discover" in which you are able to showcase your product listings amongst other creators.
How Much Does Gumroad Price?
Gumroad charges a flat rate of 10% for each sale you make on the platform.
In addition, you will be required to pay transaction charges for transactions with Paypal and Stripe which usually are around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.
Note that Gumroad used to have an alternative pricing structure before 2023. However, they have decided to adopt this price structure for the future.
What are the reasons to look for Gumroad Alternatives?
1. Pricey Pricing and the Lack of Scalability
Gumroad's flat rate of a 10% charge for each sale can be extremely expensive when you're only beginning their journey, however it's even more expensive as the business expands because costs will only rise as a percentage of the revenue.
Imagine earning $100,000 a month, and then having to pay $10,000 fees - that doesn't look very exciting. Additionally that the fee of 10% doesn't notinclude the additional PayPal and Stripe fees (which usually cost around 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction) that you also need to pay.
2. Inability to Customize
Even though Gumroad has a fully-hosted online storefront for you to sell your goods on, you won't be able to customize the look of your online store in order to reflect your brand. Gumroad is a unique store theme that applies to every seller's storefronts. The only thing you can alter on your storefront a single highlight color and a few small customizations like the name of your business, bio and logo.
As a contrast, the alternatives to the platforms mentioned in this post have sophisticated store builder capabilities that are suitable for novices (no need for coding or designing skills needed) However, they are in a position to provide you with the freedom to design an extremely profitable online store that is consistent with your brand.
3. Find Better Alternatives to sell online courses
If you're selling items such as digital downloads, Gumroad is generally quite good at instantly delivering your downloads to clients. However, if you're still taking online classes, this platform doesn't offer the robust features that online platforms generally have.
Gumroad's online courses feature lets users to upload videos or any other file that your students can download or click to watch the video. It's not the exciting educational experience you'd like to receive from an online course platform. The courses don't have advanced tools like assessment such as drip schedules or certificates of completion.
Here's an example of student's experience in a course:
In comparison, here's what an enjoyable learning experience using different lesson format options would appear to be (the above example is from ):
features to look for in an Gumroad Alternative
In the search for alternatives to Gumroad, there are several essential aspects to be considered.
1. Specific Features for Selling Various Product Types
Does the platform have powerful tools for selling different digital goods? It will help maximize the revenue you can earn from various verticals. Take into consideration features like
- The features to market digital download Instant file delivery, pdf stamping, download limitations as well as many more
- Online course features that can be sold include: a fun online course player, with a range of different types of lesson (e.g. videos, assignment and more) as well as a drip schedule of content and a variety of pricing options for courses, certificates, and more
- Tools to market coaching services including integration with online meetings platforms like Zoom and Calendly as well as other
- Features to sell subscription or membership: capability to charge recurring payment
In addition, look at the possibility of being able to integrate product pages onto your website. This lets you embed an online shopping cart as well as a seamless checkout functionality into any website.
2. Cost-effective Pricing (Little to No Costs Up-Front)
What is the take to complete a transaction? Are there monthly costs such as hidden charges, limitations?
Find platforms with an established track record of stability in pricing structure. While many companies will offer you a reasonable pricing structure in the beginning, you'd want to make certain that you don't have sudden price hikes later on.
3. Tools for Marketing that are robust Tools
Aside from the basic marketing tools, such as discounts, it is important to seek out a system that offers more advanced and efficient marketing tools such as affiliate marketing. It allows you to conduct different marketing campaigns that can grow your business.
This is the only alternative that provides the affiliate marketing service for free, other platforms charge monthly subscription fees to use these tools.
4. A Beginner-Friendly Store Builder that is Fully Customizable and Fully-Custom
Today, an online store or website is critical for any firm or company to boost customer loyalty and display their level of professionalism. If done correctly creating your own site is not just a way to set yourself on the right path to becoming an expert in your field but also help build connections with your customers since they are able to know about the brand more closely.
Find platforms that permit the creation of a custom online store that will showcase your company in the most professional possible way. There are a ton of possibilities that don't need any programming or design skills.
5. Takes Care of VAT, so You Won't Have To
The dread of having to navigate the confusing world of VAT may prevent you from expanding your company and slowing down your expansion. You should consider a system that is fully compliant to not only take VAT payments at the time of checkout from customers and remit the VAT for you so you won't need to lift a finger.
5 Best Gumroad Solutions to Sell Digital Products
Let's look at some of the most popular alternatives to Gumroad to sell digital goods. Each platform offers unique characteristics and pricing plans therefore it is important to evaluate them carefully before making your selection.
1.
It is the most effective Gumroad alternative overall in terms of value as well as affordability.
It is the most popular of platforms that often gets compared to Gumroad as they are the closest Gumroad rival that has the same features Gumroad provides, with way more affordable pricing which is ideal for companies of all sizes.
The platform is well-known due to its forever-free subscription that allows sellers access to all of the functions it has to offer. In lieu of the huge 10% that Gumroad charges, only charges 5percent for each sale. If your business is growing then you may move to a monthly subscription for a lower cost. It is not necessary to worry about scaling your business .
If you're searching for a platform that is genuinely dedicated to the success of your business, is your ideal choice.
PRICING:
disrupted the industry by providing an unconventional pricing plan that is geared towards helping small companies succeed while making sure that companies keep their costs low as they grow to become million-dollar enterprises.
Offers a selection of 3 pricing plans:
- Forever-free with 5% fees (perfect for beginners)
- $29.30/month, 2% of which is fees.
- $99/month with no fees
Why is it "unconventional"? It's because the pricing plans provide the same access to ALL of their amazing capabilities. The company's founders founded it with a strong belief in establishing a platform which aids small companies grow in the long run by ensuring they have access to the advanced capabilities they require. This belief is well-received by many sellers on 's online reviews.
If you're only starting out, you can start on the most popular free-forever planswith no fees per month and the 5% fee per sale (excluding shipping fees). Once your business grows and you need to expand, you may change to the Plus plan, which costs $29 for month fees + 2percent fees per sale or Pro plan for $99 per month for fees (no other fees per sale).
The price has been maintained for a long time, so you can have a peace of mind that this pricing isn't going anyplace.
PROS :
- A more affordable alternative for Gumroad.
- Key features built-in to help sell various products including:
- Unlimitless product listings, and unlimitable income
- Check out experience optimized for high conversion
- A powerful and easy-to-use store building tool - no coding or design expertise required
- You can completely personalize your store's online appearance to reflect your brand
- Fully hosted and free storefront (you can also connect to a domain you have created)
- If you already have your own website, you can easily embed into any eCommerce website
- Instant and secure payouts via Paypal and Stripe
- You can choose to pay what you want to your goods (a.k.a. Tip Jar)
- Collects and remits UK & EU VAT on your behalf
- Analytics for the store and ability to connect to Google Analytics
- Bonus: It is praised for its customer support level. Each user gets prioritization regardless of plan you're in
CONS:
- No automated shipping label integration or application (e.g. Shippo or ShipStation). The platform of ShipStation is more targeted towards digital goods, however it's still possible to offer physical items if you want to
2. Shopify
As one of the largest eCommerce platforms around the globe, Shopify is often a preferred choice as a Gumroad alternative. Shopify is an online store that lets you to create an online store and manage your merchandise. Shopify also provides a broad selection of tools and functions, such as payment processing, analytics, as well as marketing tools. Additionally, Shopify has a variety of pricing plans that can be adapted to various budgets.
Because of the massive size of the eCommerce platform, there are thousands of third-party apps spanning every business category that can be connected to the Shopify store. This allows you to equip your online store with unique software from tweaking the design of your site to advertising tools, and many more. One caveat to note is that they are usually not cost-free, which means you'll have to manage your expenses cautiously.
Even though Shopify is a powerful eCommerce platform but it does offer no come with built-in features to sell digital products as Shopify's platform has been designed to selling tangible goods. You will have to install an additional app from third parties that can potentially add to the cost of selling digital items.
PRICING:
For businesses with a small budget who wish to test different platforms prior to choosing one that best suits the requirements of their company, Shopify offers a 14-day free trial. There is no forever free program.
With a monthly cost of $29, the Shopify Basic Plan is the most well-liked plan. Additionally, Shopify plans are offered for $79/month, $299/month to use Advanced Shopify, and $2000/month for Shopify Plus/Enterprise. There is an extra transaction fee you'll need to pay per sale.
Like we said, the Shopify platform is not equipped with built-in functions to market digital goods. It is likely that you will require third-party apps through the Shopify app store , which generally comes at additional cost.
PROS :
- You can access thousands of 3rd app developers through Shopify, the Shopify app store
- Supports multi-channel sales. This can be particularly useful if there is a brick-and-mortar shop.
- Shopify is utilized by a variety of small-scale businesses in addition to the creators of content who are specialized on Shopify content. They will offer lots of useful tips on online businesses
- The Shopify features may not be sufficient for retailers whose catalogue is predominantly digital products but physical sellers may gain from Shopify's eCommerce capabilities
CONS:
- No built-in features to sell digital items. It is necessary to download third party apps which will be accompanied by additional charges. Shopify is not a suitable option for creators
- No built-in complex marketing tools like affiliate marketing, referralmarketing, cross-sell, upsell and more
3. Kajabi
Kajabi is a different option to Gumroad since it offers 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 permits creators to create an online community. But, Kajabi is well-known for its monthly costs which aren't ideal for businesses with small budgets who are only beginning their journey.
PRICING:
Kajabi offers 14 days of trial. It is necessary to enter the details of your payment before being allowed to begin your trial. trial.
When your trial expires You have the option to choose between three paid plans:
- Basic: $149/month
- Growth: $199/month
- Pro: $399/month
There's a small amount of discounts if you decide to sign up for the year-long subscription.
PROS :
- Kajabi provides educational resources to their customers through Kajabi university (although it's worth noting that you're probably going to find this information through free YouTube videos on the internet)
- Access to features not accessible through Gumroad such as community, sales funnels, and more
CONS :
- It is not affordable for small-scale business customers
- A complex marketing function, such as the affiliate programs are only available with those plans. Growth and Pro plans
- Numerous limits on various things such as the number of items, the amount of contacts, of members, the 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 among the top choices for creators. One of the main benefits of Podia is the fact they have a perpetually free plan, but bear your mind that you'll not be able upload more than one merchandise on the plan for free.
PRICING:
- The cost is free: 8 percent fees
- Mover: $39/month
- Shaker: $89/month
- Earthquaker: $199/month
PROS :
- The features are designed to help sell additional kinds of products that aren't offered on Gumroad such as community and webinars
- A chat-on-page widget that can help to interact with website customers
CONS:
- The free plan comes with an 8% transaction cost and allows you to sell one digital download (you'll most likely have to upgrade to Podia's paid plans in order to have a functioning eCommerce store)
- The more complex marketing tools, such as affiliate marketing can only be found on the Shaker ($75/month) or the Earthquaker ($166/month) plans
- It is necessary to pay an additional $20/month for additional team seats
- You can't turn off Podia logo unless you subscribe to for the Shaker ($75/month) or Earthquaker ($166/month) plans
5. Mighty Networks
If you're looking for an Gumroad alternative for establishing communities, sell online coursesor the services of a coach, Mighty Networks is a well-known option. While this platform might not be suitable for the sale of digital downloads, you might consider this to be a superior Gumroad alternative for selling classes.
PRICING:
There is a selection of 2 paid plans:
- The Community Plan: $39/month
- The plan for business: $119/month
- Mighty Pro: You'll have contact the team to inquire about price
PROS :
- Mighty Networks' community feature is more developed than other platforms listed in this article The interface is similar to that of the social media platforms.
- Members can see each other's posts through content feed which may encourage more genuine interactions
CONS :
- Lack of robust features for selling product types such as digital downloads
- Online course features aren't as robust as other platforms for online courses since it doesn't provide lesson type like quizzes or assessments along with the certificates of achievement
- It is not integrated with PayPal
Last Thoughts on Choosing the Best Option for Your Company
Here you go! There's plenty of Gumroad options to test Don't be a fool to avail each of the platform's free trials to find out which ones offer the perfect mix of advantages and pricing plans to suit your company's needs.