Best Platforms to Sell Digital Products in 2026

The Leading Ecommerce Platforms for Selling Digital Goods

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Selling digital products, from eBooks and templates to software and online courses, remains one of the most accessible ways to build an online income: no inventory, no shipping, and margins that physical products cannot match.

The challenge is that the platform landscape has shifted significantly, with major pricing restructures at Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, and Kajabi, the removal of free plans at Teachable and Podia, and the arrival of AI-driven “agentic” sales channels that let customers buy your products directly through assistants like ChatGPT.

To help you choose the right solution, we have evaluated the most reputable platforms on the market and verified every price against each vendor's current published rates.

Key Takeaways

  • Payhipย is the best overall platform for selling digital products, combining a genuinely free plan, full features on every tier, and automatic tax handling.
  • Shopifyย is the best choice if you plan to mix digital and physical products, and its new Agentic plan can sell your catalog through AI assistants without a storefront.
  • Fee structure matters more than sticker price:ย percentage-based platforms (Gumroad, Payhip Free) are cheapest at low volume, while flat-fee subscriptions (Sellfy, Payhip Pro) win once sales become consistent.
  • If you sell to the EU or UK, prioritise a merchant of record platform (Payhip, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy) that handles VAT for you, or budget for tax tooling.

Our pick: Payhip ๐Ÿฅ‡

Payhip is our top recommendation for selling digital products. It is purpose-built for digital sellers, every plan (including the free plan) comes with the full feature set, and it acts as a merchant of record by calculating, collecting, and remitting sales taxes and VAT on eligible digital sales for you. For most creators, it offers the fastest and lowest-risk route from idea to first sale.

Notably, the best platforms for selling digital products can come in a variety of different forms. Some focus on specific types of digital products (such as online courses, templates, or apps). Others offer versatile ecommerce solutions to suit any kind of business.

There are even tools out there that can allow you to combine selling digital downloads and other resources with sales of physical products. Here are just some of the best solutions on the market to serve a range of business needs.

What are the Best Platforms for Selling Digital Products?

  1. Payhip
  2. Shopify
  3. Squarespace
  4. Teachable
  5. Podia
  6. Sellfy
  7. EDD
  8. Gumroad
  9. Lemon Squeezy
  10. SendOwl
  11. Wix
  12. Webflow
  13. Kajabi

Quick Comparison

PlatformStarting priceTransaction feesMerchant of record (handles VAT/sales tax)Best for
PayhipFree5% (free plan), 0% on ProYesBest overall for digital products
Shopify$5/month (Starter), $29/month billed annually (Basic)0% with Shopify PaymentsNoMixing digital and physical products
Squarespace$16 to $19/month billed annually (Basic)7% on digital goods (Basic), lower on higher tiersNoDesign-led creator sites
Wix$29/month billed annually (Core, minimum plan for selling)0%NoBeginner-friendly all-round websites
Teachable$29/month billed annually (Starter)7.5% on Starter, 0% on higher plansYes (via teachable:pay)Online courses and coaching
Podia$42/month billed annually (Mover)5% on Mover, 0% on higher plansNoCourses, downloads, and community in one
Easy Digital DownloadsFree core plugin; paid passes from around $99.50/year0%NoWordPress site owners
GumroadFree10% + $0.50 per sale (30% via Discover)YesCasual and first-time sellers
Lemon SqueezyFree5% + $0.50 per saleYesSoftware, SaaS, and license keys
SendOwlFrom around $18/monthSmall per-order fees on lower tiersNoAdding checkout to existing audiences
Sellfy$22/month billed yearly (Starter)0%NoFlat-fee selling with print on demand
Webflow$15/month billed annually (Basic site plan); ecommerce plans priced separatelyVaries by ecommerce planNoDesigners who want full control
Kajabi$143/month billed annually (Basic)Processing via Kajabi Payments; surcharges apply for third-party StripeNoHigh-ticket courses and coaching businesses

Pricing verified at the time of writing. Payment processing fees (typically around 2.9% + $0.30 per card transaction) apply on all platforms and are separate from the platform fees listed above unless noted. Always confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.

1. Payhip

payhip homepage

Payhip is one of the best ecommerce platforms for selling sell digital products online. It strikes an excellent balance between simplicity, affordability, and powerful built-in features. You can launch a fully branded online store for free, with no monthly fees or upfront costs. It is a platform that I always recommend for beginners and experienced sellers alike.

One of Payhip's biggest advantages is its pricing. You can launch a fully branded online store for free with no monthly fees or upfront costs. Every plan includes the same set of powerful features, so you don't lose functionality even if you're just getting started.

The platform is purpose-built for selling digital products. Whether you're selling ebooks, templates, software, music, online courses, memberships, subscriptions, coaching sessions, or even physical products, Payhip has the tools you need. You can bundle multiple products together, launch products with collaborators using automatic revenue splitting, and automatically deliver files to customers after purchase.

I also like how many features are specifically designed for digital creators. Download limits, PDF stamping will help protect your products from unauthorized sharing. Then you also get customizable checkout pages, coupons, affiliate marketing, cross-sells, and many other marketing tools to help you increase conversions and grow your sales. There are no storage or bandwidth limits, although individual files are limited to 5GB.

Another standout feature is how much administrative work Payhip removes. It automatically calculates, collects, and remits sales taxes for eligible digital product sales, including the US, Canada, the UK, and the EU. This will make it much easier for you to sell internationally while staying tax compliant.

Payhip also offers excellent payment flexibility. It integrates with multiple payment gateways, which gives your customers access to thousands of payment methods, including major debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfers, buy now pay later options, and many popular regional payment methods.

Pricing

The price is the main thing that most people love about Payhip. Every plan comes with the same features, even the free plan. The only difference is that on the free plan, you pay 5% transaction fees. The Plus plan reduces that to 2% for a $29 monthly fee, and the Pro plan removes the transaction fee entirely. Do keep in mind, though that on all plans, payment processor fees will still apply.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Comprehensive platform for selling all kinds of digital products
  • Free plan includes all features, unlimited revenue and products
  • PDF stamping, download limits, and custom license keys
  • Handles sales taxes and VAT for you
  • Can be used as a full storefront, or you can use the marketplace
  • Over 100 payment options

2. Shopify

Shopify Homepage

Shopify is one of the most popular and versatile ecommerce platforms available today. Designed to appeal to every kind of online business, the flexible solution allows you to sell just about anything online, from print-on-demand and dropshipping products to custom items and digital downloads.

You can use Shopify's tools to sell themes, photos, and eBooks, with apps like Digital Downloads (Shopify's own free app), Sky Pilot, or SendOwl handling automatic file delivery. There are also various subscription apps you can use for recurring sales of courses, webinars, and community memberships.

Shopify comes with everything you need to launch a business online: an easy-to-use site builder with plenty of themes, integrations with Google Ads and social media, built-in SEO tools, and a robust, secure checkout that accepts payments in multiple currencies.

The most interesting recent development for digital sellers is Shopify's push into AI-driven commerce. The new Agentic plan lets merchants sell their catalog directly through AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and the Shop app, with no traditional storefront required and pricing based on completed sales rather than a monthly fee. If you expect a growing share of buyers to discover products through AI assistants rather than search engines, Shopify is currently the best-positioned platform on this list.

Pricing

Shopify's lineup now includes six tiers. The Agentic plan is free monthly and sells through AI assistants only. The Starter plan at $5 per month adds checkout functionality to an existing site or social profile. Full store plans are Basic at $39 per month ($29 billed annually), Grow at $105 per month ($79 billed annually), and Advanced at $399 per month ($299 billed annually), with the enterprise-grade Shopify Plus starting at around $2,300 per month. Shopify regularly runs a promotional deal of $1 per month for your first months on standard plans; check the current offer on Shopify's pricing page.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Support for selling virtually any kind of digital products
  • Apps for subscriptions, memberships and course selling
  • Lots of stunning themes for creating your store
  • Integrated marketing and SEO tools
  • Easy-to-use backend environment
  • Excellent scalability

How to get Shopify for $1 per month for the first 3 months?

Shopify has begun offering a special deal for sellers who sign up for a new Shopify plan. That deal?

Pay Shopify $1/month for the first 3 months of full access to the platform!

This offer is is now available on all standard plans: Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced.

3. Squarespace

squarespace homepage

Squarespaceย is one of the most popular website building platforms available today. Appealing to creators, it offers access toย highly professional templatesย designed to make your site look and feel incredible, alongside built-in tools for email marketing, SEO, appointment booking, and memberships.

For digital sellers specifically, Squarespace supports digital downloads, online courses, videos, and member areas, with sales analytics to track performance behind the scenes. It is a strong choice if design quality and brand presentation are your priorities.

Note that Squarespace completely restructured its plans in late 2025, replacing the old Personal, Business, and Commerce tiers with four new plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced.

Pricing

You can experiment with Squarespace for free using the 14-day trial. Paid plans start with Basic at around $16 to $19 per month billed annually, then Core at around $23 to $29, Plus at around $39 to $49, and Advanced at $99 per month billed annually. Crucially for this article, digital products carry their own transaction fee that decreases as you move up tiers: roughly 7% on Basic and 5% on Core, dropping further on the higher plans. If digital goods are your main revenue stream, factor that fee into the real cost of each tier.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Stunning and responsive templates for every industry
  • Free custom domain on annual plans
  • Integrations with social media and marketing tools
  • Options for selling subscriptions and downloads
  • Integrated booking tools for service-based businesses
  • Easy-to-use backend environment

4. Wix

Popular among all kinds of entrepreneurs, Wixย is an easy-to-use tool for creating virtually any kind of online store or website. You get a customizable drag-and-drop builder, an AI-powered site generation service, and tools for selling digital files, subscriptions, and services. Wix is built with SEO in mind and includes extras other platforms miss, such as scheduling software, portfolio builders, and logo creation tools.

Like Squarespace, Wix has overhauled its plan structure: the old Combo, Unlimited, and Business tiers were replaced with four plans (Light, Core, Business, and Business Elite), and you now need at least the Core plan to sell anything.

Pricing

Wix's paid plans billed annually are Light at $17 per month, Core at $29 per month, Business at $39 per month, and Business Elite at $159 per month, with monthly billing priced higher. There is also a free plan, but it does not allow selling. For digital product sellers, Core is the realistic entry point, and the Business plan adds automated sales tax calculations and stronger analytics.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Fantastic range of templates
  • Seamless integrations with leading tools
  • Secure range of payment options
  • Reviews, scheduling, and booking tools
  • Built-in marketing and branding
  • AI-driven creator tools

5. Teachable

Teachable Homepage

If you're interested in joining the online education landscape, Teachableย could be the perfect tool for selling your informative digital products. The platform comes withย everything you need to create and sell courses, coaching, and digital downloadsย online, including built-in payment processing, AI course-building tools, and automated tax handling on sales made through its payment system.

Teachable integrates with a huge range of tools, from Google Analytics to marketing solutions like Mailchimp and Kit, and includes referral and affiliate marketing features. Users get a custom domain, an integrated website builder with theme customization, and solid member management tools. You can sell virtually any kind of informational product, from podcasts and how-to guides to audio, spreadsheets, and ebooks.

One important change: Teachable no longer offers a free plan, so you'll be committing to a paid subscription (there is a 7-day free trial).

Pricing

Teachable's plans are Starter at $39 per month ($29 billed annually) with a 7.5% transaction feeBuilder at $89 per month ($69 billed annually) with no transaction fees, and Growth at $189 per month ($139 billed annually), with higher custom tiers above that. If you're selling anything beyond trivial volume, the Builder plan quickly pays for itself by removing the Starter fee.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Unlimited student accounts for every plan
  • Excellent marketing and sales tools
  • Solutions for selling every kind of digital product
  • Built-in payment processing for various currencies
  • Integrations with leading business tools
  • Easy course creation tools

6. Podia

Podia Homepage

Podiaย is another leading solution for business owners planning to sell courses, digital downloads, and online learning tools. The platform has evolved into a full creator storefront, bundling a website builder, email marketing, and community features alongside multiple sales options: one-off downloads, subscriptions, coaching, and bundles.

Podia's intuitive builder requires no coding knowledge, payment processing is built in, and you can create your own blog to boost your search presence. Its built-in email marketing is a genuine advantage for solo creators, since it can eliminate the need for a separate email platform entirely.

Like Teachable, Podia has retired its free plan, replacing it with a 30-day free trial on paid plans.

Pricing

Podia's pricing starts with the Mover plan at $42 per month billed annually, which carries a 5% transaction fee. The Shaker plan (around $75 to $89 per month depending on billing) removes transaction fees and adds affiliate marketing and third-party code access, and the top Earthquaker tier runs $150 per month billed annually. As with Teachable, the fee math means consistent sellers should skip the entry plan.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Fantastic membership and community tools
  • Plenty of options for branding your online presence
  • Built-in marketing and sales tools
  • CRM and CMS technology included
  • Support for multiple payment methods
  • Excellent customer service

7. Easy Digital Downloads

Easy-Digital-Downloads-Homepage

Probably one of the better-known solutions for selling digital products on WordPress, Easy Digital Downloadsย (EDD) is a plugin thatย transforms your existing blog or website into a digital sales machine, with built-in payment processing, content protection, and powerful reporting tools.

With EDD, you can sell everything from recurring subscriptions to PDF documents, fonts, and software with license keys. EDD is a verified Stripe partner, supports PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay, and integrates with leading tools like Dropbox, OptinMonster, and Kit. You can also create custom discount codes and offers to increase sales. The big appeal: you keep full ownership of your store and pay zero platform transaction fees.

Pricing

The core EDD plugin is free, which is the cheapest possible way to start selling digital products on a WordPress site you already run. Paid passes unlock extensions and are billed annually, currently listed from around $99.50 per year for the Personal Pass up to around $499.50 per year for the All Access Pass, which includes everything (software licensing, recurring payments, marketplace tools, and more). Remember to budget for hosting on top, since EDD runs on your own WordPress installation.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Unlimited transactions and products on all plans
  • Integrated marketing and sales tools
  • Powerful reporting and analytics
  • Multiple payment methods to choose from
  • Integrations with leading business tools

8. Gumroad

If you're looking for a simple solution for online selling with zero upfront cost, Gumroad remains a popular choice. The straightforward platform includes a flexible page editor, custom domain options, social media integrations, and support for memberships, subscriptions, license keys, and multiple product versions, plus lightweight DRM to protect your work.

Gumroad also acts as a merchant of record, automatically collecting and managing VAT and sales tax on your behalf, and its Discover marketplace can put your products in front of buyers you didn't bring yourself, something almost no other platform on this list offers.

Pricing

Gumroad charges no monthly subscription. Instead, you pay 10% plus $0.50 on every direct sale, with card processing fees (around 2.9% plus $0.30) charged separately on top, so the real all-in cost lands around 13% per sale. Sales that come through the Discover marketplace are charged a flat 30%, which does include processing. This model is unbeatable when you're starting out and selling sporadically, but it becomes expensive quickly: once you're consistently selling more than a few hundred dollars per month, a flat-fee platform like Sellfy or Payhip Pro will usually cost you less.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Extremely easy to use for beginners
  • Options for selling downloads, memberships and subscriptions
  • Various payment types and currencies
  • Automated VAT calculation
  • Tools for protecting your assets
  • Integrations with leading platforms

9. Lemon Squeezy

Lemon-Squeezy-Homepage

Lemon Squeezy has become one of the most talked-about platforms for selling software, SaaS subscriptions, and digital downloads, and it earns its place on this list for one main reason:ย it acts as your merchant of record. That means Lemon Squeezy is the legal seller on every transaction andย handles global sales tax and VAT registration, collection, and remittance entirely for you.

The platform is particularly strong for technical products: software license key generation and validation, usage-based and subscription billing, and clean checkout overlays you can embed anywhere. Since being acquired by Stripe, it has continued to operate as a standalone product, with checkout infrastructure backed by Stripe's payment stack.

Pricing

There is no monthly subscription. Lemon Squeezy charges 5% plus $0.50 per transaction, which includes payment processing. That makes it materially cheaper than Gumroad per sale while offering the same hands-off tax compliance, though additional fees apply for things like PayPal payments and subscription billing. Confirm the current fee schedule on the Lemon Squeezy site before committing.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Merchant of record with global tax compliance handled
  • Excellent license key and subscription tooling for software sellers
  • Simple per-sale pricing with processing included

10. SendOwl

SendOwl Homepage

Another platform designed for creators, SendOwl focuses on doing one thing well: a clean, fast checkout and delivery system you can attach to any existing website, blog, or social audience. It supports all kinds of digital products, including eBooks, audiobooks, software, memberships, and online courses, and delivers files quickly and securely after every purchase.

Marketing features include one-click upsells, cart abandonment emails, and affiliate marketing, and built-in analytics help you find new ways to enhance your revenue. SendOwl is a strong fit if you already have traffic and simply need selling infrastructure rather than a full website builder.

Pricing

SendOwl has restructured its pricing more than once recently, so treat published third-party numbers with caution and confirm on sendowl.com. At the time of writing, plans start at around $18 per month with a small per-order fee, with higher tiers reducing per-order costs and raising storage limits. All plans integrate with Stripe and PayPal.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Integrations with a range of online platforms and tools
  • Options for multiple sales strategies
  • Custom branding and marketing tools
  • Analytics and metrics
  • Upsell and subscription tools
  • Excellent security

11. Sellfy

sellfy homepage

Perfect for beginners, Sellfyย offers a hassle-free way for creators to sell all kinds of products online. You can sell digital products like ebooks, videos, and music alongside branded merchandise via built-in print on demand, all from the same storefront. Thousands of artists use the platform to sell videos, comic books, and music content.

Business owners can create a storefront in minutes, sell digital products as one-off purchases or subscriptions, translate the store into any language, and customize the checkout. Built-in marketing features like email, discount codes, and upselling help you grow without extra apps.

Pricing

Sellfy charges zero transaction fees on every plan, which is its core pitch against percentage-based rivals like Gumroad. The Starter plan begins at $22 per month billed yearly ($29 billed monthly) with a cap of $10,000 in sales per year, with higher tiers (Business and Premium, up to $159 per month) raising the sales cap and adding features like product migration and priority support.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Cart abandonment and product upselling tools
  • Drag-and-drop website builder
  • Integrated sales and marketing tools
  • Exceptional ease of use for beginners
  • Embed options to take your website and sales anywhere

12. Webflow

Webflow Homepage

One of the more flexible solutions on this list, Webflow allows users to control HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a visual canvas, going far beyond standard templates. You can build, launch, and update professional websites without developer support, and the ecommerce features let you sell virtually any kind of product, including members-only content and digital goods, with strong SEO controls throughout.

Webflow simplified its plan structure in 2026, folding its old CMS and Business site plans into a single Premium plan, so older pricing guides no longer apply.

Pricing

There is a free Starter plan with a webflow.io domain for building and testing. Paid site plans are Basic at $15 per month billed annually (custom domain, no CMS) and Premium at $25 per month billed annually (full CMS with generous limits), plus custom Enterprise pricing. To actually sell products with a cart and checkout, you'll need one of Webflow's separate Ecommerce plans, which are priced above the standard site plans; check current ecommerce tiers on Webflow's pricing page. Workspace seats for team members are billed separately.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Excellent tools for both non-coders and developers
  • Automated workflows for sales and marketing
  • Collaboration features to unify teams
  • Support and resources for every business
  • Fast and secure selling options

13. Kajabi

kajabi homepage

Built for content creators, Kajabiย is anย all-in-one solutionย for selling courses, podcasts, memberships, coaching programs, and communities. You can design courses on the platform with outlines and AI-driven tools, build full sales funnels, run email and social campaigns, and even launch your own branded mobile app for customers. In-depth analytics and a massive help center round out the package.

Kajabi restructured its pricing in January 2026, its first major change in nearly a decade: plans became more expensive, and a surcharge system was introduced for creators who process payments through their own Stripe account rather than Kajabi Payments. If you're evaluating Kajabi based on older reviews, re-check the numbers.

Pricing

Kajabi's Basic plan starts at $179 per month ($143 billed annually) with a 5-product limit, the Growth plan runs $199 per month billed annually, and the Pro plan is $499 per month ($399 billed annually). There are no platform transaction fees when using Kajabi Payments, though standard processing rates and some per-transaction surcharges apply depending on setup. Every plan includes unlimited marketing emails, landing pages, and funnels. It's a significant investment best suited to businesses already generating consistent revenue.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Excellent range of options for digital content
  • App creation tools for mobile users
  • Unlimited marketing emails and landing pages on all plans
  • Built-in tools for sales and marketing
  • Customizable shopping cart
  • Tutorials and guidance for every user

Selling Digital Products Through AI Assistants

The newest sales channel for digital products doesn't involve a website at all. AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot can now complete purchases on behalf of shoppers, and platforms are racing to plug sellers into that flow. Shopify's Agentic plan is the clearest example: it exposes your product catalog to AI assistants and the Shop app, with no storefront required and fees charged per completed sale rather than as a monthly subscription.

For digital product sellers, this matters in two ways. First, it's a genuinely new acquisition channel that doesn't depend on SEO or paid ads. Second, it changes how your product information needs to be written: clear, structured product descriptions, transparent pricing, and machine-readable details all improve your odds of being surfaced when someone asks an assistant for “a good Notion template for freelancers” or “an ebook on sourdough baking.” Even if you don't adopt an agentic sales channel today, it's worth choosing a platform that is actively building toward this, and right now that shortlist is led by Shopify.

How to Choose the Best Platform for Selling Digital Products

There are countless platforms that let you go beyond selling on marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy. All of the options above support digital product sales, and most include built-in marketing tools. To narrow the list, work through four questions.

1. What are you selling? Courses and coaching point you toward Teachable, Podia, or Kajabi. Software and license keys point toward Lemon Squeezy, EDD, or Payhip. Mixed digital and physical catalogs point toward Shopify or Sellfy. General downloads (ebooks, templates, audio) work almost anywhere, which makes price and tax handling the deciding factors.

2. Do you want the platform to handle taxes? This is the most underrated decision on this list. Merchant of record platforms (Payhip, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, and Teachable via its payment system) calculate, collect, and remit VAT and sales tax for you. On Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, EDD, and the rest, you are the merchant of record, which means EU VAT on digital goods, UK VAT, and US state sales tax obligations are yours to manage. If you're a solo creator selling internationally, a merchant of record platform removes an entire category of administrative risk.

3. Flat fee or percentage? Percentage-based platforms (Gumroad, Payhip's free plan) cost nothing when you sell nothing, which is ideal at the start. Flat-fee platforms (Sellfy, Payhip Pro, most website builders) win once sales become consistent, because your costs stop scaling with revenue. As a rough rule, once you're clearing a few hundred dollars per month in steady sales, run the numbers on switching to a flat fee.

4. Do you already have a website or audience? If you run a WordPress site, EDD keeps everything under your roof with no platform fees. If you have an audience on social media or an existing site, a checkout layer like SendOwl, Payhip, or Shopify Starter may be all you need. If you're starting from zero, an all-in-one builder (Shopify, Squarespace, Wix) or a hosted storefront (Payhip, Sellfy, Podia) gets you live fastest.

๐Ÿ’ก Fee math example: On $1,000 of monthly sales, Gumroad's cut is roughly $105 plus separate card processing, while Sellfy Starter costs a flat $22 to $29 plus processing, and Payhip Pro removes platform fees entirely for its fixed monthly price. The cheapest platform at $50 per month in sales is rarely the cheapest at $1,000 per month.

How We Evaluated These Platforms

CriteriaWhat we looked at
Digital product supportFile delivery, download protection, licensing, subscriptions, and course tooling
Pricing and feesCurrent published plan prices, transaction fees, and total cost at different sales volumes
Tax complianceWhether the platform acts as merchant of record and automates VAT and sales tax
Marketing toolsCoupons, affiliates, email, upsells, cart recovery, and SEO controls
Ease of useSetup speed, learning curve, and how much technical work is required
ScalabilityHow costs and capabilities change as sales grow, including AI and agentic commerce readiness

Final Verdict

For most people selling digital products, Payhip is the best starting point: it's free to launch, every feature is included on every plan, and it handles tax compliance that would otherwise fall on you. Shopify is the best pick if you're building a broader brand that mixes digital and physical products or want early access to AI assistant sales channels, Lemon Squeezy is the standout for software and SaaS, and Teachable or Kajabi make sense when courses and coaching are the core of your business. Most of these platforms offer free plans or trials, so test your shortlist with a real product before committing.

FAQ

What is the cheapest way to start selling digital products?

Payhip's free plan and Gumroad both cost nothing upfront and only charge when you make a sale (5% and 10% + $0.50 respectively, plus payment processing). If you already run a WordPress site, the free Easy Digital Downloads plugin is even cheaper long term because there are no platform transaction fees at all.

What is a merchant of record, and why does it matter?

A merchant of record is the legal seller on a transaction, responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax and VAT. Platforms like Payhip, Gumroad, and Lemon Squeezy act as merchant of record for you, which means you can sell digital products to the EU, UK, and US without registering for tax in each jurisdiction. On website builders like Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace, those obligations remain yours.

Can I sell digital products through ChatGPT or other AI assistants?

Yes, this is now possible through agentic commerce integrations. Shopify's Agentic plan connects your product catalog to AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, plus the Shop app, allowing purchases to complete inside the assistant with no traditional storefront. Expect more platforms to add similar channels over time.

Which platform is best for selling online courses?

Teachable and Podia are the strongest dedicated options for most creators, with Teachable edging ahead on tax automation and Podia on bundled email marketing. Kajabi is the premium choice when you need full marketing funnels, communities, and a branded mobile app, and its higher price reflects that.

Do these platforms charge transaction fees?

It varies widely. Sellfy, Wix, and EDD charge 0% platform fees. Payhip charges 5% on its free plan (0% on Pro), Teachable charges 7.5% on Starter only, Podia charges 5% on Mover only, Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 on every sale, and Squarespace applies a separate digital goods fee on its lower tiers. Standard card processing fees (around 2.9% + $0.30) apply everywhere on top of platform fees unless the platform states otherwise.

Should I choose a flat monthly fee or pay per sale?

Pay-per-sale models are best when you're starting out or selling sporadically, because you pay nothing in quiet months. Flat monthly fees win once your sales are consistent, since your platform cost stops growing with your revenue. Many sellers start on Gumroad or Payhip's free plan and switch to a flat-fee plan once monthly sales become predictable.

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter is an experienced content creator, news reporter, and blogger specializing in marketing, business development, and technology. Her expertise covers everything from artificial intelligence to email marketing software and extended reality devices. When sheโ€™s not writing, Rebekah spends most of her time reading, exploring the great outdoors, and gaming.

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