Payhip vs Gumroad (2026): Fees, Features and Which Is Better for Ebooks

Checked on 28 October 2026. Every fee, rule and feature below comes from Payhip's and Gumroad's own pricing pages and help centres, read that day and linked in Sources. Money examples are for a US buyer paying by card, in US dollars, before sales tax or VAT, using Stripe's standard US card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 (the same figure Gumroad quotes for its own card processing). Where a company did not say something, we say so instead of guessing.

Payhip and Gumroad are the two names that come up first when an author asks where to sell an ebook directly to readers. Both give you a product page, take the payment, deliver the file and hand you the buyer's email address, with no monthly fee to start. Up close they differ in four ways that change what you take home: how much of each sale they keep, who deals with sales tax and VAT, when the money reaches you, and which tools come included for growing a list of readers.

This guide compares the two using only what each company publishes about itself, with a calculator for your own numbers and a verdict for each kind of seller. If you are still deciding between selling direct and selling through stores like Amazon, start with our broader guide to where to sell ebooks in 2026 and come back here when you have narrowed it to these two.

Disclosure: Inkfluence AI is our product. It writes ebooks with you, publishes straight to your own Gumroad account and exports the files you upload to Payhip. Neither company pays us.

Payhip vs Gumroad at a glance (October 2026)

The short version, row by row. Each line is expanded in its own section below.

Fees: what each one keeps from a sale

Gumroad's pricing page shows "10% + $0.50" and no monthly fee, which sounds like the whole cost. Its help article on fees adds what the pricing page leaves out: the 10% + $0.50 "does not include" credit card processing at 2.9% + $0.30, or PayPal fees. Payhip says the same about itself: PayPal and Stripe "will still charge at their standard rates" on every plan. On both, you pay the platform and the processor; the difference is the size of the platform's share.

Gumroad's fees

On a sale through your Gumroad profile, a link you share or a buy button on your site, Gumroad keeps 10% plus $0.50, and card processing comes off as well: $1.00 + $0.50 + $0.59 on a $9.99 ebook, leaving about $7.90. The fixed parts hurt cheap ebooks most: at $4.99 you keep about $3.55, or 71%.

When a buyer finds you through Gumroad's Discover marketplace, Gumroad takes a flat 30% with processing included, so a $9.99 sale leaves $6.99. A quirk: below about $4.68, a Discover sale leaves you more than one through your own link, because the $0.80 of fixed fees outweighs the extra percentage.

Two more rules matter at the edges. Once your paid sales in a calendar month reach $20,000, new direct sales that month cost 5% + $0.50, automatically, resetting on the 1st. And on a refund, Gumroad returns its own fee but keeps the processing part.

Payhip's fees

Payhip's three plans all include every feature ("no feature-gating here", says its pricing page). Only the split between a monthly fee and a per-sale fee changes:

• Free Forever: $0 a month, 5% per sale.
• Plus: $29 a month, 2% per sale.
• Pro: $99 a month, no transaction fee.

With a card through Stripe at the US standard rate, a $9.99 sale leaves $8.90 on Free, $9.20 on Plus and $9.40 on Pro, before the monthly fee. Through PayPal (3.49% + $0.49 for PayPal Checkout in the US) the free-plan figure is about $8.65. Payhip's marketplace adds no fee of its own.

One detail in Payhip's VAT article works in your favour: the 5% is charged on your price before VAT. Its example is a $10 ebook sold in France with 20% VAT on top: the buyer pays $12, Payhip takes $0.50 plus the $2.00 of VAT, and you receive $9.50 before PayPal's fee.

Side by side at four common prices

What you keep from one sale, US buyer paying by card, before tax. Payhip Plus and Pro figures are before their $29 and $99 monthly fees. Gumroad direct: price minus 10% minus $0.50 minus 2.9% minus $0.30. Gumroad Discover: 70% of the price. Payhip: price minus the plan's percentage minus 2.9% minus $0.30.

The gap between Payhip Free and Gumroad's own-link fee is 5% of the price plus $0.50: about $1.00 on a $9.99 ebook, or roughly $600 a year at 50 copies a month. Whether Gumroad's extras are worth that is what the rest of this guide helps you decide. For pricing the ebook itself, see how to price an ebook.

Calculator: your price, your sales, your break-even

Enter your price and expected monthly sales, pick a Payhip plan and how buyers pay, and, if you expect some Gumroad sales from Discover, their share. You get each platform's monthly and yearly take, the cheapest Payhip plan at that volume, and the sales level where each paid plan pays for itself.

A typical result: a $9.99 ebook selling 50 copies a month leaves about $445 on Payhip Free against about $395 on Gumroad. With 20% of Gumroad sales from Discover the gap widens to about $59 a month, unless those are buyers you would never have reached; the calculator shows how many Gumroad would need to bring. For Payhip in other currencies, or with discounts and affiliates, use our Payhip fee calculator.

Where the break-even points fall

Payhip's free plan already undercuts Gumroad on every card sale, so the interesting break-evens are inside Payhip: when a monthly fee is worth paying to cut the per-sale fee.

• Plus beats Free when 3% of your monthly sales is more than $29, so from about $967 a month in sales: 97 copies at $9.99, 49 at $19.99, 34 at $29.
• Pro beats Plus when 2% of your monthly sales is more than the extra $70, so from about $3,500 a month: 351 copies at $9.99, 176 at $19.99, 121 at $29.
• Pro beats Free from about $1,980 a month, but Plus is cheaper than both between $967 and $3,500, so most sellers go Free, then Plus, then Pro.
• Against Gumroad, Plus pulls ahead from 23 sales a month at $9.99 and Pro from 67. These matter only if you were thinking of starting on a paid Payhip plan; the free plan is ahead from the first sale.

Gumroad's high-volume rate of 5% + $0.50 starts only after $20,000 of sales in a month, and even then a $9.99 direct sale leaves about $1.00 less than on Payhip Pro. At that volume, tax handling and payout timing matter more than the fee.

Merchant of record, sales tax and VAT

Selling digital files across borders creates tax obligations even for a one-person business: VAT for EU and UK buyers, sales tax in many US states, GST, HST and provincial taxes in Canada. Both platforms now take most of this off your hands, in different ways.

Gumroad: merchant of record for everything

Gumroad says that since 1 January 2025 it "handles ALL your tax obligations": it "now acts as the Merchant of Record for all sales", so it is legally the seller to your buyer and collects and pays sales tax worldwide, with no tax settings left for you. Two details matter for ebooks. Gumroad adds VAT on top of your price and you cannot make it inclusive. And its "Mark product as e-publication for VAT purposes" setting applies the reduced VAT rates many EU countries set for ebooks, and 0% in the UK.

If you already file sales tax returns, Gumroad provides a reseller certificate for reporting its sales as sales for resale. Income tax on your earnings remains yours.

Payhip: VAT, US and Canadian sales tax, region by region

Payhip handles digital EU and UK VAT, the rules the EU introduced in 2015 and the UK kept after leaving: it adds the VAT at checkout, collects it and pays it to the tax authorities each quarter. Since 1 July 2026 it also collects and pays US sales tax, as what US law calls a marketplace facilitator, and Canadian GST, HST and PST, as a digital platform operator. Payhip says it charges nothing for this. Three edges remain with you: Quebec's QST, if you are required to collect it; a possible "zero dollar" sales tax return in a US state where you have a physical presence, which Payhip suggests checking with a tax professional; and any other tax you choose to set up, which Payhip reports to you but does not pay.

Payhip lets you add tax on top of your price or include it, which keeps the price buyers see the same everywhere at the cost of a smaller share on taxed sales. Business buyers with a valid EU VAT number can use the reverse charge.

For most ebook sellers the difference is now small. If you sell everywhere and want one company legally responsible for every sale, Gumroad is cleaner; if your readers are mostly in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU, Payhip covers you.

Getting paid

Payhip never holds your money. You connect PayPal and, in most cases, one other processor (Payhip supports 13, including Stripe, Square, Mollie and Razorpay), and each payment lands there when the sale completes: "We will deposit your sales to you immediately after a transaction has been completed." The processor then pays you on its normal schedule.

Gumroad holds the payment in your Gumroad balance. You need at least $100 to be paid (more in some countries), on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly schedule; on the last three, each sale waits at least 7 days and a payout covers sales through the previous Friday. Bank payouts arrive in local currency in 2 to 7 business days; where banks are not supported, Gumroad pays through PayPal in US dollars with a 2% fee. Eligible US sellers can take instant payouts up to $10,000 for 3%, or daily payouts.

For a new author the difference is noticeable: on Payhip your first $4.99 sale is in your PayPal account the same day; on Gumroad your first payout waits for a $100 balance, which at $4.99 is 29 sales. Gumroad also runs identity checks through Stripe as your sales grow, which is standard for a platform that holds your money.

Audience: Gumroad Discover vs the Payhip marketplace

A checkout does not bring you readers; you bring them. Both platforms now add a marketplace on top.

Gumroad Discover recommends products to people browsing and searching on Gumroad. Your account qualifies once your payout settings are complete, you have a balance of at least $100 from genuine sales (self-purchases and friends do not count), and Gumroad's risk team has reviewed you, which takes about three weeks on average after you pass $100. Each product then needs at least one sale, a category and ratings switched on. Discover sales cost 30%, and products on Discover are automatically opted into Gumroad Affiliates, where anyone can promote you for a fixed 10% commission (you can opt out).

The Payhip marketplace launched in 2024. Your store qualifies after $10 in total sales and a review by Payhip's accounts team; then each product is approved separately, usually within 10 days. Only digital products are listed for now. There is no extra fee: a marketplace sale costs the same 5%, 2% or 0% as any other.

Neither company publishes how many buyers browse its marketplace, so there is no honest way to say one sends more. Discover is older and dearer; Payhip's is newer, cheaper and easier to qualify for. Set categories and tags carefully and treat marketplace sales as a bonus. For buyers actively searching, Etsy (printables and workbooks) and the ebook stores (books read on a device) bring far more; see Payhip vs Etsy, Etsy vs Gumroad and Gumroad vs Amazon KDP.

Features ebook sellers use

Here are the features that matter for selling ebooks, workbooks and guides, compared on what each help centre says they do.

Protecting your PDF

Both stamp PDFs with the buyer's details to discourage sharing, and neither is DRM. Payhip stamps the buyer's email address and the purchase date on the top left of every page, for PDFs under 250 MB in portrait orientation, and also limits downloads (5 per buyer by default, adjustable, and you can reset a buyer's count). Gumroad stamps the buyer's email and Gumroad's logo in the bottom-right corner of the first page only, which keeps stamping fast; a stamped PDF cannot also be password-protected, and Gumroad's help says plainly that it has no DRM for authors.

Files and formats

Both deliver any file type, so one product can hold a PDF and an EPUB. Payhip allows 5 GB per file; Gumroad 20 GB per file on products above $0.99 and 250 MB in total on free ones. Neither sends an EPUB to a reader's Kindle for them. Our guide to ebook formats explains when to offer which.

Pricing tools

• Pay what you want, discount codes, bundles: both (on Payhip, type "5+" for a $5 minimum).
• Upsells: Gumroad offers one after the buyer presses Pay. Payhip has cross-sells and order bumps at checkout, upgrade discounts after purchase, and since 2026 cart-abandonment emails.
• Regional pricing: Gumroad offers purchasing power parity discounts of 20% to 60% by country. Payhip has none, but a "refer a friend" discount instead.

Email and your reader list

This is Gumroad's strongest feature for authors: built-in emails to followers and customers, a subscribe page, and automated workflows such as a welcome sequence, a drip-fed course or abandoned-cart reminders. The catch: no emails until you have earned $100 after fees and received a payout. Payhip's built-in option is lighter: Email Updates to all customers or one product's buyers, and a newsletter section that collects followers you export. Beyond that it connects to 14 email services, including Mailchimp, ConvertKit, MailerLite, Flodesk and Klaviyo, and adds buyers to your list automatically. EU buyers must tick a consent box, so your list will be smaller than your customer count.

If you already use an email service, Payhip's approach keeps your list in a tool you control; if not, Gumroad works on day one. For building a list with a free ebook, see how to create a lead magnet that converts.

Affiliates

Both let affiliates promote you for a commission you set, with a 30-day cookie. The difference is who pays them. Gumroad splits each sale and pays the affiliate itself, sharing fees in proportion to the commission. Payhip "is not able to pay your affiliates for you": it gives you a monthly report with each affiliate's PayPal email and commission, and you pay them.

Courses, memberships and coaching

If an ebook is the first step of a bigger offer, both can carry the next one. Payhip's course builder has seven lesson types (video, text, quiz, download, survey, assignment, embed) in a branded player, memberships have tiers and free trials, and coaching connects to Calendly and Zoom. Gumroad sells courses, tiered memberships, and calls and commissions once your account is 30 days old. To turn a book into a course, see our guide to converting a book into an online course and the AI course creator cover the content side.

Storefront, branding and your own domain

Payhip gives every plan a full drag-and-drop store builder with themes, sections, a blog, customer reviews, SEO settings, a cookie banner and an announcement bar. You can connect your own domain (Payhip generates the SSL certificate), customise the checkout page with your banner, logo and colours, and switch off the "Powered by Payhip" badge. For an author without a website, a Payhip store on a custom domain can be the website.

Gumroad gives you a profile at yourname.gumroad.com, customisable product and landing pages, and custom domains: more uniform than a Payhip store, with less to configure and less room for your own brand. Both give you buy buttons to embed on an existing site, or link from a newsletter, a social profile or a Shopify store.

AI content and what you can't sell

Neither platform has a rule against ebooks written with AI help, which puts them among the more relaxed places to sell. Our guide to which stores allow AI-written books compares them with Amazon, Apple, Etsy and the rest.

Gumroad's prohibited list (revised 16 September 2026) bans "AI services", meaning selling access to AI tools, not a book written with one. It also bans reselling what you did not create, including PLR and MRR ebooks, plus credit-repair ebooks and sexually explicit content. Payhip bans get-rich-quick schemes, debt and credit-repair content, unlicensed medical advice, pornography, copyright infringement and gambling, and you must follow PayPal's and Stripe's terms too.

On both, sell only what you have the rights to and describe it honestly. If a topic sits near a banned category (a money book that could read as get-rich-quick, a health book that could read as medical advice), frame it as education. The can you sell AI-generated books guide goes further on rights and disclosure.

Reputation and support

On Trustpilot, read on 28 October 2026, Payhip has a TrustScore of 4.5 from 561 reviews and Gumroad has 1.4 from 421 reviews, with Trustpilot noting that Gumroad "hasn't replied to negative reviews". Review sites over-represent people with a problem, and Gumroad has far more sellers, so treat this as a signal about how each company handles complaints rather than a measure of how often things go wrong.

The complaints follow the business models. Gumroad holds money and runs risk reviews, so unhappy reviews tend to be about held balances and account reviews; its help centre documents payout delays and reviews in detail. Payhip never holds your money, so that kind of problem moves to PayPal or Stripe. Both run support by email and publish detailed help centres; we answered every question in this guide from them.

Publishing to each from Inkfluence AI

Gumroad: publish from the app

On the Creator and Premium plans, Inkfluence AI publishes a finished book straight to your own Gumroad account. Open the book, click Publish, pick the "Sell on Gumroad" tab and connect your Gumroad account (it opens Gumroad so you can authorise; payments and payouts stay on Gumroad). Then:

1. Click "Auto-fill with AI" to draft the description, a summary, up to 10 tags and a suggested price. Every field stays editable.
2. Choose the files: PDF (the default), EPUB, or both.
3. Publish. Your cover becomes the product image and the product goes live; if Gumroad payouts are not set up yet, it stays a draft until they are.
4. Click "Edit listing" to add a refund policy, PDF stamping or a discount in Gumroad's own editor.

The step-by-step version is in our selling help, and selling ebooks on Gumroad covers the listing itself in depth.

Payhip: export and upload

Payhip's public API currently covers coupons and license keys only, so no app can create a Payhip product for you yet. Uploading takes a couple of minutes:

1. In Inkfluence AI, export the book as a PDF, an EPUB or both. The free plan exports PDF; EPUB, Word and the KDP print files come with any plan or credit pack (see exporting help).
2. In Payhip, add a new digital product, upload the files and your cover image.
3. Paste a description. Our free book description generator helps if you are starting from a blank box.
4. Set the price, switch on PDF stamping and a download limit in Advanced Settings, choose a marketplace category and tags, and publish.

Our guide to selling ebooks on Payhip walks through the store setup in full, and the Payhip review covers what it is like to use day to day.

Every plan can also put the book on a free public showcase page with a sample chapter and a buy button for Gumroad, Etsy or Amazon. For what to write first, digital product ideas and making money selling AI ebooks are good places to start, and the workbook generator suits the printable products that sell well on both.

Verdict by seller type

Put simply: Payhip is the better default for authors because it keeps more of each sale, pays faster and its free plan is complete. Gumroad earns its higher fee when its worldwide tax coverage, built-in email and hands-off affiliate payouts are worth more to you than about a dollar per $10 sale. For workbooks, planners and other printables, see how to sell workbooks and our guide to creating a workbook with AI; for books people read on a device, the ebook stores belong in the plan too, as our guide to publishing wide explains.

Using both, and switching

Both are non-exclusive and free to list on, so you can promote one checkout and list the same ebook on the other for its marketplace. The only conflict is KDP Select: while enrolled, the digital edition must be sold only on Amazon for each 90-day term. Our guide to KDP Select vs going wide covers that choice.

If you move, email past buyers a link to their files (both can), take your list with you (Gumroad exports followers and a CSV of every sale; Payhip exports its follower list, and buyers are already in your email service if you connected one), and leave the old page up for a few weeks with a pointer to the new one. A launch routine for the new store is in our ebook launch checklist, and the ebook income calculator helps you set a realistic monthly target before you pick a plan.

Payhip vs Gumroad: FAQ

Sources

Every external fact on this page was read on the source below on 28 October 2026. Inkfluence AI features were checked in our product code the same day.

• Gumroad: Pricing (10% + $0.50 direct, 30% Discover, no monthly fee, all tax obligations handled since 1 January 2025)
• Gumroad Help: Gumroad's fees (card processing 2.9% + $0.30 and PayPal fees excluded; Discover includes processing; 5% + $0.50 after $20,000 a month; refunds)
• Gumroad Help: Sales tax on Gumroad and EU and UK VAT on Gumroad (merchant of record; VAT not inclusive; e-publication rates)
• Gumroad Help: Getting paid ($100 minimum, schedules, 7-day hold, PayPal 2% payout fee, instant payouts 3%)
• Gumroad Help: Gumroad Discover (eligibility, risk review, automatic Gumroad Affiliates)
• Gumroad Help: Affiliates on Gumroad, Workflows, PDF stamping, File size limits, Upsells, Purchasing power parity, Selling services
• Gumroad: Prohibited products (last revised 16 September 2026) and Things you can't sell on Gumroad
• Payhip: Pricing (Free Forever, Plus, Pro; all features on every plan; PayPal and Stripe fees; immediate deposits; tax FAQ)
• Payhip: Features (store builder, marketplace, courses, coaching, memberships, PDF stamping, license keys)
• Payhip Help: Digital EU VAT and UK VAT, US sales tax and Canada sales tax (from 1 July 2026)
• Payhip Help: How do I get paid? and How Payhip works
• Payhip Help: Marketplace (no extra fee, $10 in sales and a review, digital only)
• Payhip Help: Protect your products, Affiliates, Email Updates, Mailing lists, Courses, Coaching, Adding a digital product, Changelog
• Payhip Help: What products are not allowed on Payhip?
• Stripe: Pricing (US standard card rate 2.9% + 30 cents, plus 1.5% for international cards) and PayPal: Business fees, US (PayPal Checkout 3.49% + $0.49, plus 1.50% international)
• Trustpilot: Payhip and Trustpilot: Gumroad

Related reading

• Where to Sell Ebooks in 2026: every channel, with a picker
• How to Sell Ebooks on Payhip and the Payhip Fee Calculator
• Payhip Review (2026) and Payhip vs Etsy
• How to Sell Ebooks on Gumroad
• Ko-fi for Authors (2026): tips, memberships and a shop on one page
• Selling Ebooks on Etsy and Gumroad
• Which Stores Allow AI-Written Books
• Lead Magnet Generator and AI Ebook Generator
• AI Book Cover Generator
• Inkfluence AI plans and pricing