Payhip is often the first platform a creator compares with Gumroad, because its free plan has no monthly charge and its paid plans are priced as a trade: pay more each month, pay less on each sale. That trade is easy to get wrong in either direction. This explainer sets out Payhip's fees as its own pricing page states them, works out where each plan becomes the cheaper one, and lists what to compare beyond the fee. Every figure is from Payhip's own pages, with the date each was read. For the side-by-side with other platforms see selling fees compared and Payhip alternatives.
A note on the source
Payhip's website blocks automated readers, so its pricing page was read from an archive copy captured on 9 November 2026, on 14 November 2026. The same page was read live on 5 November 2026 and showed the same figures, so the plans below are current as of that week. If you are reading this later, check payhip.com/pricing yourself; prices change.
Payhip's three plans, from its pricing page
Payhip's pricing page lists three plans, each described as including "All features", "Unlimited products" and "Unlimited revenue":
| Plan | Monthly | Transaction fee |
|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | $0 a month | + 5% transaction fee |
| Plus | $29 a month | + 2% transaction fee |
| Pro | $99 a month | No transaction fee |
Three statements from the page's FAQ complete the picture:
- On processor fees: "Yes, PayPal and Stripe will still charge at their standard rates once they complete a transaction. This applies for all plans." So Payhip's transaction fee sits on top of the processor's fee, on every plan including Pro.
- On features: "no feature-gating here! You'll get access to all of our amazing features ... even on our free plan."
- On tax: Payhip says it "automatically collects, reports and remits digital EU/UK VAT as well as US/Canadian sales tax on your behalf".
Annual billing is not shown on the page read, and the processor rates themselves are not printed there; they are Stripe's and PayPal's own.
The break-even points
Because the three plans have the same features, choosing between them is arithmetic. Let S be your monthly sales in dollars.
Free Forever vs Plus. Free costs 0.05 × S. Plus costs 29 + 0.02 × S. They are equal when 0.03 × S = 29, so S is about $967. Below roughly $1,000 a month in sales, Free Forever is cheaper; above it, Plus is.
Plus vs Pro. Plus costs 29 + 0.02 × S. Pro costs 99. They are equal when 0.02 × S = 70, so S is $3,500. Below $3,500 a month, Plus is cheaper; above it, Pro is.
Free Forever vs Pro. Equal when 0.05 × S = 99, so S is $1,980. A seller jumping straight from Free to Pro breaks even at about $2,000 a month, but at that level Plus would be cheaper than both.
So the sensible ladder is Free Forever to about $1,000 a month, Plus from there to $3,500, and Pro beyond. The processor's fee is the same on every rung and does not change the comparison.
Worked examples at three sales levels
All worked from the plan table above.
$500 a month in sales
- Free Forever: $25 in Payhip fees.
- Plus: $29 + $10 = $39.
- Pro: $99.
Free wins by a distance, which is why Payhip's free plan is where most sellers start.
$2,000 a month
- Free Forever: $100.
- Plus: $29 + $40 = $69.
- Pro: $99.
Plus is cheapest, saving $31 a month over Free.
$5,000 a month
- Free Forever: $250.
- Plus: $29 + $100 = $129.
- Pro: $99.
Pro is cheapest, and the gap to Free Forever is $151 a month, which is the cost of never revisiting the plan you started on.
Remember to add the processor's fee to each of these; it is the same on every plan, so it changes the totals but not the winner.
Per sale, at three prices
For a single sale on the Free Forever plan, Payhip's fee is simply 5%:
- $5 product: $0.25 to Payhip.
- $20 product: $1.00.
- $100 product: $5.00.
Compare that with the fee structures that carry a fixed amount per sale, such as Gumroad's 10% + $0.50 on direct sales (its pricing page read on 5 November 2026): at $5 the fixed part makes a large difference, at $100 the percentage does. The full comparison is in Gumroad fees explained and Gumroad vs Payhip.
What the plans include
Payhip's home page, read on 14 November 2026, describes selling digital downloads ("ebooks, software, design assets, templates, video, music and more"), online courses with quizzes, assignments, drip and certificates, physical products with inventory and order management, memberships, and coaching sold as one-to-one sessions. It also lists a store builder, a custom domain connected "for free", and an embed for an existing website.
Payhip's digital downloads page, read from an archive copy of 24 October 2026, adds software licence keys ("the generation, storage and issuing of keys"), PDF stamping, a download limit ("by default customers can only download each file 3 times"), a 5 GB per-file limit with no storage or bandwidth limits, an affiliate system, coupons and an embeddable checkout and cart. Its marketing-tools page, read on 5 November 2026, lists coupons, affiliates, cross-selling and upsells, referrals and customer reviews.
Because every plan has every feature, the comparison between plans is only ever about the fee. The comparison with other platforms is about what you need to sell.
Percentage fee or subscription: how to compare
Payhip's own ladder shows the general rule. A percentage fee is cheapest while sales are small, because a month with no sales costs nothing. A monthly fee is cheapest once sales are steady, because it stops growing. Work out your expected monthly sales, apply each platform's figures from its own pricing page, add the processor's fee where the platform does not include it, and compare totals rather than rates.
Then look past the fee. If you sell only downloads, a downloads platform is enough. If you also run courses, send email campaigns, build funnels, take bookings or sell physical goods beside the digital ones, a platform that holds all of it may cost less in total than several tools that each look cheap.
How Vonza is priced
Vonza is a subscription that includes an online store alongside courses, email, funnels, forms, scheduling and a link in bio; the plans and what each includes are on pricing, and every plan comes with a 14-day free trial. Buyers pay through your own connected Stripe or PayPal account, with PayPal for one-time payments, or Paystack for sales in Nigerian naira, so the processing is the processor's and the money lands in your own account. The store sells digital downloads, physical goods, services, bundles, gift cards, licence keys and links, with private expiring download links, 100 downloads per buyer by default and a download limit and access expiry you set. See sell digital products for the detail and Payhip alternatives for the head-to-head.
Where to start
Take last month's sales total and put it through the three plan formulas above; it tells you in a minute whether you are on the right Payhip plan. Then compare that cost with the platforms in selling fees compared, each priced from its own page on a stated date, and with our guide to the best platforms to sell digital products. For Etsy's fees in the same format, read Etsy fees for digital products.
