Where to Sell Digital Products in 2026: Gumroad, Etsy, Patreon or Your Own Store?

Profitvana Editorial Team · Updated November 9, 2026

Digital products have no shipping, so the fee is the whole cost, and the choices differ by what they do about sales tax and discovery. Gumroad takes 10% + $0.50 plus 2.9% + 30¢ processing (about $4.54, or 15.7%, on $29) and handles tax as merchant of record; Etsy takes its usual 10.5% and brings search traffic; Patreon takes 10% plus processing on recurring memberships; a Shopify or Stripe checkout costs 3% but leaves tax and traffic to you.

What you receive on each platform: $29 download, no shipping

Computed from each platform’s verified fee schedule in our registry, on the same sale, ranked by what lands in your account after fees and the label. Costs the schedule does not carry (optional promotion, returns, your time) are in the notes and the text below.

#	Platform	Fees	Label you pay	You receive	Schedule used
1	Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 on your own site; you handle tax, delivery and traffic	$1.143.9% of price	—	$27.86	2.9% + $0.30
2	Shopify 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic plus $39/month and a digital-delivery app Before a $39/month subscription	$1.143.9% of price	—	$27.86	2.9% + $0.30
3	Etsy $0.20 + 6.5% + 3% + $0.25; Etsy collects sales tax; +15% on Offsite Ads orders	$3.2111.1% of price	—	$25.80	$0.20 + 6.5% + 3% + $0.25
4	Patreon 10% platform fee for new creators + 2.9% + $0.30; recurring memberships	$4.0413.9% of price	—	$24.96	10% + 2.9% + $0.30
5	Gumroad 10% + $0.50 + 2.9% + $0.30 on direct sales; 30% via Discover; merchant of record	$4.5415.7% of price	—	$24.46	10% + $0.50 + 2.9% + $0.30

Gumroad: the simplest, and merchant of record

Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 on sales through your own links plus 2.9% + 30¢ card processing, about $4.54 on a $29 product, and 30% all-in on sales that come through its Discover marketplace. Since January 2025 Gumroad is the merchant of record: it collects and remits sales tax and VAT worldwide, which for a solo creator selling into the EU is worth more than the fee difference against a raw Stripe checkout. Once paid sales in a month pass $20,000, further direct sales that month drop to 5% + $0.50.

Etsy for discovery, Patreon for recurring

Etsy's digital-download category costs the same as its physical one, about $3.18 on $29 ($0.20 + 6.5% + 3% + $0.25), and Etsy collects US sales tax and EU VAT on digital goods. What it adds is search: a planner template or a sewing pattern finds buyers on Etsy without any marketing. What it costs is the 15% Offsite Ads fee on orders Etsy advertised and the 12% mandatory rate above $10,000 in sales. Patreon's 10% platform fee for new creators plus 2.9% + 30¢ processing suits content sold as a membership rather than a file, where the recurring revenue justifies the rate.

Your own checkout: cheapest per sale, dearest to run

A Stripe Payment Link or a Shopify store with a digital-delivery app costs 2.9% + 30¢ per sale, about $1.14 on $29, the lowest line in the table. Everything else becomes your job: delivering the file, refunds, EU VAT registration (or a tax service at 0.5% through Stripe Tax), chargebacks at $15 each, and above all finding the buyer. Creators with an audience of their own, a newsletter or a course business at volume save thousands a year this way; creators selling a few files a week do not.

Verdict

Starting out, selling internationally, no audience yet: Gumroad; the merchant-of-record service earns its fee.
Templates, patterns, planners that people search for: Etsy, priced for Offsite Ads.
Memberships and ongoing content: Patreon.
Established audience, high volume: your own Stripe or Shopify checkout plus a tax service.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Gumroad take from a $29 sale?

About $4.54 on a direct sale: the 10% + $0.50 platform fee ($3.40) plus 2.9% + $0.30 processing ($1.14). A sale through Gumroad Discover costs a flat 30% ($8.70).

Does Etsy handle VAT on digital downloads?

Yes. Etsy collects and remits US sales tax and EU/UK VAT on digital items sold through Etsy, so the seller does not register. Gumroad does the same as merchant of record; a Stripe or Shopify checkout does not.

How this page is computed

The table runs one realistic basket for this category through the fee schedule of each platform as held in our registry, where every schedule carries the official page it was read from and the date it was last checked; category-specific rates (eBay’s sneakers, electronics, clothing, books and guitars rates, StockX and Whatnot tiers, Grailed’s price bands) are applied where they change the result. Platforms not yet in the registry are discussed but not ranked. Rates move: the change log records each change and this table recomputes with it.