Selling fees compared: what eight platforms charge to sell online
Every platform that helps you sell online takes something: a monthly plan, a share of each sale, a fixed amount per order, or a cap on how much you may sell before you must upgrade. This page sets out what Gumroad, Payhip, Sellfy, Lemon Squeezy, Etsy, Shopify, Podia and Squarespace state on their own pricing pages, read on 14 November 2026, and works out what each would cost at three sales levels.
Vendor pages read on 14 November 2026. Figures are quoted from each vendor’s own pricing or fees page; where a page did not state something, this page says so.
The short answer
The eight platforms charge in three different ways, and the cheapest one for you depends on how much you sell each month.
A share of every sale, no plan
Gumroad (10% + $0.50 per direct sale) and Lemon Squeezy (5% + 50¢) charge nothing monthly and act as merchant of record. Cheap to start; the dearest once sales grow.
A plan that buys the fee down
Payhip (5% on its free plan, 2% on Plus, 0% on Pro), Podia (5% on Mover, none above) and Squarespace (2% on Basic, none on Core or Advanced) let you trade a monthly price for a lower percentage.
A flat plan with a sales cap
Sellfy charges 0% but caps each plan at $10,000, $50,000 or $200,000 in sales a year; Shopify charges a plan price and, if you use a third-party payment provider, a transaction fee whose rate its pricing page does not publish. Etsy is a marketplace with no plan: $0.20 a listing, 6.5% a sale and more on top.
Three ways platforms charge you
The first model is a percentage of every sale with no monthly plan. You pay nothing until you sell something, which is why Gumroad and Lemon Squeezy are so often the first stop for a new creator. Both also act as merchant of record, taking on sales tax collection, and that service is part of what the percentage pays for. The catch is arithmetic: a share of sales grows with your sales, so the platform that cost you $55 in a quiet month costs $1,100 in a good one.
The second model is a monthly plan that lowers or removes the percentage. Payhip, Podia and Squarespace all publish a cheaper plan with a fee and a dearer plan without one. The break-even point is simply the difference in plan price divided by the fee: on Payhip, Plus costs $29 more than Free and saves 3 points of fee, so it pays for itself once you sell more than about $967 a month.
The third model is a flat plan with a cap. Sellfy charges no percentage at all but limits each plan to a yearly sales figure and says it may charge 2% on sales above the limit until you upgrade. Shopify charges a plan price and reserves a transaction fee for stores that use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments; the rate itself is not on the pricing page. Etsy is different again: a marketplace with no plan, where a listing fee, a transaction fee on the price plus shipping, and advertising fees on some orders stack up on every sale.
Gumroad fees
Gumroad has no monthly plan. Its pricing page states one flat fee on every sale made through your profile or a direct link, a higher one when a new customer finds you through its Discover marketplace, and that Gumroad is the merchant of record. Card processing is inside those figures; nothing is listed separately.
For a seller doing $2,000 a month in direct sales of $50 each, that is 10% of $2,000 plus $0.50 on 40 orders: $220 for the month.
- Plan
- $0 a month
- Platform fee
- “10% + $0.50 per transaction for all sales through your profile or direct links”; “30% per transaction when new customers find and buy from you through our discover marketplace”
- Processing
- Not listed separately; Gumroad states “We’re a Merchant of Record”
- Sales limit
- None stated
- Not on the page
- Any monthly plan or lower-fee tier
Source: gumroad.com(opens in a new tab), pricing read on 5 November 2026, features page on 14 November 2026. Evidence: checkout/gumroad-20261105.visible.txt, products/gumroad-features-20261114.visible.txt.
Payhip fees
Payhip publishes three plans that differ only in the transaction fee: every plan carries “All features”, “Unlimited products” and “Unlimited revenue”. The free plan adds 5% to each sale, Plus 2%, Pro nothing. Payment processing is separate: the page says “PayPal and Stripe will still charge at their standard rates”.
Because the plans are the same apart from the fee, the choice is pure arithmetic. Free is cheapest up to about $967 a month, Plus from there to $3,500, Pro above that.
- Plans
- Free Forever $0 a month; Plus $29 a month; Pro $99 a month. Annual prices: not published on Payhip’s pricing page
- Platform fee
- “+5% transaction fee” on Free Forever; “+2% transaction fee” on Plus; “No transaction fee” on Pro
- Processing
- “Yes, PayPal and Stripe will still charge at their standard rates”
- Sales limit
- “Unlimited revenue” on every plan
- Not on the page
- Annual billing; the live page blocks automated reads, so the figures come from a Wayback Machine capture of 9 November 2026 that matches the read of 5 November 2026
Source: payhip.com(opens in a new tab), Wayback capture of 9 November 2026, read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/payhip-pricing-wayback-20261109.visible.txt.
Sellfy fees
Sellfy charges no percentage: “Transaction fees 0%”, “No transaction fees, no hidden costs.” Instead each plan carries a cap on sales a year, and the pricing page says that “If you go over, Sellfy may charge 2% on the sales above the limit until you upgrade”. You cover PayPal’s or Stripe’s processing fees yourself.
The cap is the figure to watch. Starter covers $10,000 a year, which is about $833 a month; a seller doing $2,000 a month needs Business, and one doing $10,000 a month needs Premium.
- Plans
- Starter $29 a month ($22 on yearly billing); Business $79 ($59 yearly); Premium $159 ($119 yearly)
- Platform fee
- “Transaction fees 0%”; “If you go over, Sellfy may charge 2% on the sales above the limit until you upgrade”
- Processing
- “you will need to cover payment processing fees of PayPal or Stripe”
- Sales limit
- “Up to $10,000 in sales per year” on Starter; “Up to $50,000” on Business; “Up to $200,000” on Premium
- Not on the page
- A free plan (there is a 14-day trial); the store theme count
Source: sellfy.com(opens in a new tab), read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/sellfy-pricing-20261114.visible.txt.
Lemon Squeezy fees
Lemon Squeezy follows Gumroad’s model at half the percentage: no monthly price, “5% + 50¢” on each sale, and it is “your merchant of record”, taking on tax collection and payment. The page adds that “Some payments may be subject to additional fees” without listing them.
At $2,000 a month in $50 orders that is $100 in percentage plus $20 in fixed fees: $120, against Gumroad’s $220 for the same sales.
- Plan
- “$0 / m”; “It’s free to start — no trial, no contract, no risk.”
- Platform fee
- “5% + 50¢”; “* Some payments may be subject to additional fees”
- Processing
- Not listed separately; “Lemon Squeezy is your merchant of record”
- Sales limit
- None stated
- Not on the page
- What the additional fees are; the page says both “21 payment methods” and “16 different payment methods”
Source: lemonsqueezy.com(opens in a new tab), read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/lemonsqueezy-pricing-20261114.visible.txt.
Etsy fees for digital products
Etsy is a marketplace, so there is no plan to buy; the fees sit on every listing and every sale. Its fees policy states a listing fee of $0.20 for each item you list, with listings expiring after four months, and a transaction fee of 6.5% of the price you display plus what you charge for shipping and gift wrapping. Offsite Ads add 15% on attributed orders for shops under $10,000 in trailing sales (optional) and 12% at or above it (mandatory), capped at $100 an order.
Payment processing is charged on top and “vary based on the location of your bank account”; the US rate is not on the pages read. The policy also names a possible one-time set-up fee, a 2.5% currency conversion fee, a regulatory operating fee in some countries, and digital VAT that Etsy collects on automatic downloads.
- Plan
- None (marketplace); “you may be required to pay a one-time set-up fee”, amount not stated
- Listing fee
- “a listing fee of $0.20 USD for each item that you list”; “Etsy.com listings expire after four months”; “$0.20 per each additional quantity”
- Transaction fee
- “a transaction fee of 6.5% of the price you display for each listing plus the amount you charge for shipping and gift wrapping”
- Offsite Ads
- 15% on attributed orders under $10,000 in trailing 365-day sales (opt-out allowed); 12% at or above (mandatory); “will not exceed $100 USD” per order
- Processing
- “Payment processing fees vary based on the location of your bank account”; US rate not on the pages read
Source: etsy.com(opens in a new tab), fees policy from a Wayback capture of 9 November 2026 and the help centre, read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/etsy-fees-wayback-20261109.visible.txt, products/etsy-help-fees-20261114.visible.txt.
Shopify fees explained
Shopify’s pricing page lists Basic at $25 a month ($19 on yearly billing), Grow at $65 ($49), Advanced at $399 ($299) and Plus from $2,300, with “Try 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months”. On fees it says only that “Third-party transaction fees may apply when you use a third-party payment provider (instead of Shopify Payments). The rate depends on your plan.” The rate itself is not published on the page, and neither are card processing rates.
Shopify’s help centre confirms that stores on Shopify Payments pay no third-party transaction fee. A Starter plan is mentioned on shopify.com/starter only as “$1/month”, so its standard price is not published on the pages read; this page cites the pricing page alone.
- Plans
- Basic $25 a month ($19 yearly); Grow $65 ($49); Advanced $399 ($299); Plus “from $2,300 /mo”. Starter: standard price not published on the pages read
- Platform fee
- “Third-party transaction fees may apply when you use a third-party payment provider (instead of Shopify Payments). The rate depends on your plan.” The rate is not on the pricing page
- Processing
- Shopify Payments card rates not on the pricing page; no third-party transaction fee “for orders that are processed through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, and Shop Pay Installments”
- Sales limit
- None stated; “Sell unlimited products” appears as a plan-table row
- Not on the page
- The third-party transaction fee rate per plan; card rates; Starter’s standard price
Source: shopify.com(opens in a new tab), read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/shopify-pricing-20261114.visible.txt, products/shopify-help-transaction-fees-20261114.visible.txt, products/shopify-starter-20261114.visible.txt.
Podia fees
Podia’s pricing page rendered in its “Billed yearly” state, so the prices here are per month on annual billing: Mover $42 ($504 billed annually), Shaker $84 ($1,008) and Earthquaker $150 ($1,800). The page says “On the Mover plan, we charge a 5% transaction fee. There are no Podia fees on the Shaker or Earthquaker plans.” Processing is the processor’s: “2.9% + 30¢ … charged by the processor and are not associated with Podia”.
The fee-free step is Shaker, $42 a month more than Mover. Five percent of sales reaches $42 at $840 a month, so above that Shaker is the cheaper plan.
- Plans
- Mover $42 a month ($504 billed annually); Shaker $84 ($1,008); Earthquaker $150 ($1,800). Monthly-billing prices: not published in the state read
- Platform fee
- “On the Mover plan, we charge a 5% transaction fee. There are no Podia fees on the Shaker or Earthquaker plans.”
- Processing
- “2.9% + 30¢ … charged by the processor and are not associated with Podia”
- Limits
- 50 products on Mover, 150 on Shaker, unlimited on Earthquaker; email subscribers 100 / 500 / 1,000
- Not on the page
- Monthly-billing prices (the toggle rendered yearly only)
Source: podia.com(opens in a new tab), read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/podia-pricing-20261114.visible.txt.
Squarespace fees
Squarespace sells website plans that include commerce. Its pricing page lists Basic at $19 a month ($12 on annual billing), Core at $27 ($17) and Advanced at $36 ($25), with “Free for 14 days”. Basic carries a “2% online store transaction fee”; Core and Advanced carry “No fees on online store transactions”, and Advanced adds “No fees on digital content and memberships transactions”.
At $19 plus 2%, Basic costs more than Core’s $27 as soon as you sell more than $400 a month, so for a working store Core is the cheaper plan at every level in the table below.
- Plans
- Basic $19 a month ($12 annual); Core $27 ($17); Advanced $36 ($25)
- Platform fee
- “2% online store transaction fee” on Basic; “No fees on online store transactions” on Core and Advanced; “No fees on digital content and memberships transactions” on Advanced
- Processing
- Not stated on the pricing page
- Sales limit
- None stated
- Not on the page
- Card processing rates; whether Core’s “no fees” line covers digital content (only Advanced says so)
Source: squarespace.com(opens in a new tab), read on 14 November 2026. Evidence: products/squarespace-pricing-20261114.visible.txt.
What you pay at $500, $2,000 and $10,000 a month
Platform charges only, on the cheapest plan that covers the volume, counting $50 orders. Card processing, which every platform passes on in some form, is left out of every cell.
| Platform | $500 a month | $2,000 a month | $10,000 a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vonza | Your payment provider’s fee plus a Vonza platform fee that depends on your plan; see pricing | ||
| Gumroad | $55 | $220 | $1,100 |
| Payhip | $25 (Free Forever) | $69 (Plus) | $99 (Pro) |
| Sellfy | $29 (Starter) | $79 (Business) | $159 (Premium) |
| Lemon Squeezy | $30 | $120 | $600 |
| Etsy | $32.50 | $130 | $650 |
| Shopify | $25 (Basic, monthly billing) + a transaction fee rate the page does not publish | $25 (Basic, monthly billing) + a transaction fee rate the page does not publish | $25 (Basic, monthly billing) + a transaction fee rate the page does not publish |
| Podia | $67 (Mover, annual billing) | $84 (Shaker, annual billing) | $84 (Shaker, annual billing) |
| Squarespace | $27 (Core, monthly billing) | $27 (Core, monthly billing) | $27 (Core, monthly billing) |
How the table is worked out
Each cell is the plan price per month, plus the platform’s percentage of the month’s sales, plus any fixed fee per sale multiplied by the number of orders, assuming an average order of $50 (so 10 orders at $500 a month, 40 at $2,000 and 200 at $10,000). Where a platform has several plans, the cheapest plan that covers the volume is used and named in the cell; Sellfy’s plans are capped by yearly sales, so the cap is divided by twelve.
Podia’s figures are the per-month prices on annual billing, the only state its page rendered. Shopify’s cell shows the plan price alone, because the pricing page does not publish the third-party transaction fee rate. Etsy’s cell counts the 6.5% transaction fee only; the listing, advertising and processing fees it leaves out are listed under the table. Vonza’s row is not computed: its platform fee depends on your plan, and the pricing page has it.
The arithmetic, cell by cell
- Gumroad
- $500: 10% of $500 = $50 + $0.50 × 10 orders = $5 = $55
- $2,000: 10% of $2,000 = $200 + $0.50 × 40 orders = $20 = $220
- $10,000: 10% of $10,000 = $1,000 + $0.50 × 200 orders = $100 = $1,100
Left out: The 30% Discover fee on new customers from the marketplace.
- Payhip
- $500: 5% of $500 = $25 = $25
- $2,000: $29 plan + 2% of $2,000 = $40 = $69
- $10,000: $99 plan = $99
Left out: PayPal’s and Stripe’s processing fees.
- Sellfy
- $500: $29 plan = $29
- $2,000: $79 plan = $79
- $10,000: $159 plan = $159
Left out: PayPal’s or Stripe’s processing fees; the 2% Sellfy may charge above a plan’s cap.
- Lemon Squeezy
- $500: 5% of $500 = $25 + $0.50 × 10 orders = $5 = $30
- $2,000: 5% of $2,000 = $100 + $0.50 × 40 orders = $20 = $120
- $10,000: 5% of $10,000 = $500 + $0.50 × 200 orders = $100 = $600
Left out: The “additional fees” the page mentions without listing.
- Etsy
- $500: 6.5% of $500 = $32.50 = $32.50
- $2,000: 6.5% of $2,000 = $130 = $130
- $10,000: 6.5% of $10,000 = $650 = $650
Left out: The $0.20 listing fee per item every four months (it depends on how many listings you keep), Offsite Ads on attributed orders, processing, and currency conversion.
- Shopify
- $500: $25 plan; the transaction fee rate is not on the page
- $2,000: $25 plan; the transaction fee rate is not on the page
- $10,000: $25 plan; the transaction fee rate is not on the page
Left out: The third-party transaction fee and card rates, neither published on the pricing page; on Shopify Payments the transaction fee does not apply.
- Podia
- $500: $42 plan + 5% of $500 = $25 = $67
- $2,000: $84 plan = $84
- $10,000: $84 plan = $84
Left out: The processor’s 2.9% + 30¢; monthly-billing prices, which did not render.
- Squarespace
- $500: $27 plan = $27
- $2,000: $27 plan = $27
- $10,000: $27 plan = $27
Left out: Card processing, not stated on the pricing page.
Where Vonza fits
Vonza is the platform publishing this comparison, so here is how it charges, in the same terms. Buyers pay through your own connected payment account: Stripe (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Klarna), PayPal for one-time payments, or Paystack for sales in Nigerian naira. Your provider charges its own processing fee on each payment, as it would anywhere. On top of that Vonza charges a platform fee per transaction that depends on your plan; the pricing page sets it out, and this page does not repeat a figure that your plan decides.
What the plan buys is the rest of the business in one account: an online store for seven kinds of product (digital downloads, physical goods, services, bundles, gift cards, licence keys and links), the checkout with order bumps and one-click offers, courses, memberships, a community, email and SMS, scheduling and a CRM. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
