// free tool · 7 platforms · 13 fee variants
Platform Fee Comparison
One price in, thirteen payouts out. Every platform's every fee variant on the same sale, sorted by what reaches your account — because "we charge 5%" and "you keep 91%" are different sentences.
Quick answer
On a $29 digital product in 2026, net payout ranges from $27.86 (raw Stripe) to $20.30 (Gumroad Discover). Lemon Squeezy lands at $27.05, Payhip free at $26.41, Etsy at $25.79, and Gumroad direct at $24.46. Lower fees buy fewer services — the cheap end handles payments only.
Comparison table
| Platform · sale type | Total fees | Effective rate | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| StripeUS domestic card | −$1.14 | 3.9% | $27.86 |
| PayhipPro plan ($99/mo) | −$1.14 | 3.9% | $27.86 |
| Ko-fiShop sale — Ko-fi Gold ($8/mo) | −$1.14 | 3.9% | $27.86 |
| PayPalPayPal Checkout — US commercial | −$1.50 | 5.2% | $27.50 |
| PayhipPlus plan ($29/mo) | −$1.72 | 5.9% | $27.28 |
| StripeInternational card + currency conversion | −$1.87 | 6.5% | $27.13 |
| PayPalInternational buyer | −$1.94 | 6.7% | $27.06 |
| Lemon SqueezyStandard sale | −$1.95 | 6.7% | $27.05 |
| Lemon SqueezyInternational card or PayPal | −$2.39 | 8.2% | $26.61 |
| PayhipFree Forever plan | −$2.59 | 8.9% | $26.41 |
| Ko-fiShop sale — free tier | −$2.59 | 8.9% | $26.41 |
| Etsy (digital downloads)US seller — standard sale | −$3.21 | 11.1% | $25.79 |
| GumroadDirect sale — your own audience | −$4.54 | 15.7% | $24.46 |
| Etsy (digital downloads)Sale attributed to Offsite Ads (15%) | −$7.56 | 26.1% | $21.44 |
| GumroadGumroad Discover — marketplace traffic | −$8.70 | 30.0% | $20.30 |
Sorted by net payout, best first. Monthly subscriptions (Payhip Plus/Pro, Ko-fi Gold) are not in the per-sale math. Every fee table verified 2026-06-10 against official pricing pages — details on each platform's own calculator page.
// how to read it
The ranking barely moves. Your decision should.
Run any price through the table and the order stays nearly constant: processors at the top, merchants of record in the middle, marketplace-attributed sales at the bottom. That is not an accident — each tier charges for a bigger job. Stripe and PayPal move money. Lemon Squeezy, Payhip, and Gumroad direct also run your checkout and remit your VAT. Etsy and Gumroad Discover also bring the customer.
So the real question is never "who charges least" — it is "which of those jobs am I genuinely doing myself?" A seller with an email list and a VAT accountant should pocket the processor tier's margin. A seller with neither is not overpaying at 11% on Etsy; they are buying customer acquisition and tax compliance at a price no agency would match. The expensive mistake on this whole page is paying a marketplace rate for a buyer you already owned.
Price moves the picture one way: fixed fees. At $119 every platform's fixed cents disappear into rounding. At $4.99 they are the bill — Etsy's effective rate doubles, PayPal's micro pricing starts beating its own standard rate, and sub-dollar products lose money on half the table. If you sell cheap, the fixed column in each calculator's breakdown is the number to stare at.
// go deeper
One calculator per platform, with the fine print
Each page itemizes its platform's variants, covers the costs that do not fit a table (disputes, holds, conversion spreads, plan break-evens), and prints its own fee-verification date.
Gumroad →
2 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
Stripe →
2 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
PayPal →
2 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
Lemon Squeezy →
2 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
Payhip →
3 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
Etsy (digital downloads) →
2 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
Ko-fi →
2 fee variants · verified 2026-06-10
// common questions
Platform fees — common questions
- Which platform has the lowest fees for selling digital products in 2026?
- On pure per-sale fees, raw Stripe (2.9% + $0.30) wins at every price point, followed by PayPal (3.49% + $0.49) and Lemon Squeezy (5% + $0.50 all-inclusive). On a $29 product the spread runs from $27.86 on Stripe down to $20.30 on Gumroad Discover. But the cheap end leaves checkout, delivery, and tax entirely to you.
- Why compare fees per variant instead of one number per platform?
- Because the variant moves the answer more than the platform. Gumroad is 10% + fees on direct sales but a flat 30% via Discover. Etsy adds 15% only when Offsite Ads claims the sale. Payhip runs 5%, 2%, or 0% depending on plan. A single headline number per platform would be marketing, not math.
- Are monthly subscription costs included in the table?
- No — the table is strictly per-sale. Payhip Plus ($29/mo), Payhip Pro ($99/mo), and Ko-fi Gold ($8/mo) buy lower percentages with a fixed monthly cost. Their break-evens are worked out on the Payhip and Ko-fi calculator pages: $967, $3,500 (over Plus), and $160 in monthly sales respectively.
- Cheapest is not always best, so how do I actually choose?
- Price the jobs you are outsourcing. Marketplaces (Etsy, Gumroad Discover) charge most and supply buyers. Merchants of record (Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad direct, Payhip) handle global VAT. Processors (Stripe, PayPal) just move money. Match the fee tier to the job you genuinely cannot or will not do yourself.
- How were these fee tables verified?
- Each platform config was checked on 2026-06-10 against the official pricing page — gumroad.com/pricing, stripe.com/pricing, paypal.com business fees, lemonsqueezy.com/pricing, payhip.com/pricing, etsy.com/legal/fees, and ko-fi.com/gold. Each per-platform calculator page prints its own verification date and source link.
- What is not in this comparison?
- Costs that vary per seller: currency conversion spreads, dispute and chargeback fees, payout timing, refund fee retention, and subscription plan costs. The per-platform pages cover those in their FAQ sections. Where they matter to you, they can outweigh a point of headline fee.
// whichever platform wins
The platform takes its cut either way. Make the product worth it.
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