Gumroad takes 10% + $0.50 on direct sales and 30% when a new customer buys through Discover. That sounds simple, but the fixed $0.50 fee changes the effective rate a lot on low-priced products.
Most Gumroad fee articles are written by checkout competitors, so the math often ends with a pitch. What I Pocket does not sell a checkout platform. This guide is written from a calculator-first point of view: state the assumptions, show the numbers, and let you decide.
Gumroad's published fees
Gumroad's public pricing page lists two main fees: 10% + $0.50 per transaction for sales through your profile or direct links, and 30% per transaction when new customers find and buy through the Discover marketplace. Gumroad also says it does not charge a monthly fee.
The same pricing page says Gumroad became a Merchant of Record on January 1, 2025, which means Gumroad handles global sales tax collection and remittance for supported sales. That tax role matters, because the cheapest platform fee is not always the cheapest operational setup.
Sources: Gumroad pricing and Gumroad fee help.
How the fixed $0.50 changes the effective rate
A percentage fee scales cleanly with price. A fixed fee does not. On a $10 product, $0.50 is already 5% of the sale before the 10% platform fee is added. On a $99 product, the same $0.50 is about half a percent.
Assumption: Direct sale, platform fee only (10% + $0.50). Payment processing is not included in this table.
| Product price | Platform fee | You keep | Effective platform rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $1.50 | $8.50 | 15.0% |
| $29 | $3.40 | $25.60 | 11.7% |
| $49 | $5.40 | $43.60 | 11.0% |
| $99 | $10.40 | $88.60 | 10.5% |
platform_fee = price * 0.10 + 0.50
you_keep = price - platform_fee
effective_rate = platform_fee / price * 100The takeaway is not that low-priced products are bad. It is that low-priced products need enough volume, bundles, or upsells to absorb fixed transaction costs.
Try your own price in the Platform Take-Home Calculator.
The Discover marketplace fee
Gumroad's Discover marketplace fee is 30% per transaction. For a $29 product, that means the Discover platform fee is $8.70 instead of the $3.40 direct-sale fee.
Assumption: $29 product, platform fee only. This section only compares the two rates shown on Gumroad's pricing page.
| Sale type | Fee | You keep | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct | $3.40 | $25.60 | 11.7% |
| Discover | $8.70 | $20.30 | 30.0% |
That higher fee can still make sense if Discover brings a buyer you would not have reached otherwise. Just do not compare a Discover sale to a direct sale as if they had the same fee structure.
Payment processing is a separate cost
The cleanest way to avoid fee confusion is to separate platform fees from payment processing. Platform fees are what the commerce platform publishes. Payment processing depends on provider, country, card type, payment method, and whether the platform bundles processing into its published fee.
For a standard US domestic online card payment, Stripe lists 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction. On a $29 sale, that is an estimated $1.14 processing fee.
Assumption: Direct sale, US domestic card, Stripe standard online card estimate (2.9% + $0.30).
| Layer | Fee | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Gumroad platform fee | $3.40 | $29 * 10% + $0.50 |
| Stripe-style processing estimate | $1.14 | $29 * 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Estimated total | $4.54 | |
| You keep, estimated | $24.46 | |
| Estimated all-in rate | 15.7% |
The Platform Take-Home Calculator shows platform fees as published by each platform. Processing fees can vary, so use the Stripe Fee Calculator to estimate that layer separately.
Estimate Stripe processing for 100 sales at $29.
Source: Stripe pricing.
How Gumroad compares to other platforms
Here is the same scenario across several creator platforms: a $29 digital product with 100 monthly sales, or $2,900 in gross revenue. The Etsy row assumes 1 active listing for the same digital product, with Etsy's automatic renewal on sale enabled.
Table A assumption: Platform-published fees only. Separate payment processing is not included where a platform says the processor is separate.
| Platform | Platform fee formula | Monthly platform fee | You keep | Effective platform rate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad direct | 10% + $0.50/sale | $340.00 | $2,560.00 | 11.7% | MoR; see processing note below |
| Payhip Free | 5% | $145.00 | $2,755.00 | 5.0% | Processor not included |
| Payhip Plus | 2% + $29/mo | $87.00 | $2,813.00 | 3.0% | Processor not included |
| Payhip Pro | $99/mo + 0% | $99.00 | $2,801.00 | 3.4% | Processor not included |
| Lemon Squeezy | 5% + $0.50/sale | $195.00 | $2,705.00 | 6.7% | MoR, includes processing |
| Ko-fi Shop | 5% | $145.00 | $2,755.00 | 5.0% | Processor not included |
| Etsy US digital | $0.20 listing + auto-renew, 6.5% + 3% + $0.25/sale | $320.70 | $2,579.30 | 11.1% | 1 active listing, auto-renew on; processing included in 3% layer |
gross = 29 * 100 = 2900
gumroad = 2900 * 0.10 + 100 * 0.50 = 340.00
payhip_free = 2900 * 0.05 = 145.00
payhip_plus = 2900 * 0.02 + 29 = 87.00
lemon_squeezy = 2900 * 0.05 + 100 * 0.50 = 195.00
etsy = (1 + 100) * 0.20 + 2900 * 0.065 + 2900 * 0.03 + 100 * 0.25 = 320.70Table B assumption: Adds a Stripe-style US domestic card processing estimate (2.9% + $0.30) where processing is separate. Gumroad's help docs state that direct/profile fees do not include credit card processing or PayPal fees, while Discover's 30% fee includes processing. Lemon Squeezy bundles processing into its published fee, and Etsy's processing fee is already modeled in Table A.
| Platform | Platform fee | + Processing estimate | Estimated all-in fee | You keep | Estimated all-in rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad direct (with Stripe-style processing estimate) | $340.00 | $114.10 | $454.10 | $2,445.90 | 15.7% |
| Payhip Free | $145.00 | $114.10 | $259.10 | $2,640.90 | 8.9% |
| Payhip Plus | $87.00 | $114.10 | $201.10 | $2,698.90 | 6.9% |
| Payhip Pro | $99.00 | $114.10 | $213.10 | $2,686.90 | 7.3% |
| Lemon Squeezy | $195.00 | Bundled | $195.00 | $2,705.00 | 6.7% |
| Ko-fi Shop | $145.00 | $114.10 | $259.10 | $2,640.90 | 8.9% |
| Etsy US digital | $320.70 | Already modeled | $320.70 | $2,579.30 | 11.1% |
stripe_processing = 100 * (29 * 0.029 + 0.30) = 114.10
gumroad_all_in_if_separate = 340.00 + 114.10 = 454.10
payhip_free_all_in = 145.00 + 114.10 = 259.10
payhip_plus_all_in = 87.00 + 114.10 = 201.10
kofi_all_in = 145.00 + 114.10 = 259.10This guide separates Gumroad's published platform fee from a Stripe-style processing estimate. If you are reconciling real payout reports, use your actual payout export rather than a generic estimate.
Sources: Gumroad pricing, Stripe pricing, Lemon Squeezy pricing, Lemon Squeezy fee details, Payhip pricing, Ko-fi fee help, and Etsy selling fees.
See your own platform comparison.
For a full three-way comparison with Lemon Squeezy and Payhip, see Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy vs Payhip.
When Gumroad still makes sense
Fee tables are useful, but platform choice is not only a fee contest. Gumroad still has a clear case for creators who want no monthly fee, simple setup, tax handling through a Merchant of Record model, and access to a marketplace that can create demand beyond their own audience.
If you sell less than $500 per month, the difference between platforms may be under $30 in many scenarios. At that stage, the simpler tool can be the better business decision, even if it is not the lowest-fee row in a spreadsheet.
As sales grow, the fee gap matters more. That is when it is worth comparing Gumroad against Payhip plans, Lemon Squeezy, Ko-fi Shop, Etsy, or a direct Stripe setup with your own tax and delivery workflow.
Run your own numbers
Use the Platform Take-Home Calculator to compare platform fees, the Stripe Fee Calculator to estimate processing costs, and the Profit Margin Calculator to see your final profit margin after every cost layer.
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