What you actually keep when you sell a digital product on Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Payhip, Ko-fi, Etsy or Gumroad. One sale to a US buyer paying by card, fees rounded to the cent. Monthly plans are subtracted from the monthly total. The rates come from each vendor's pricing page, with the date we last read it.
At $10.00 and 20 sales a month, the most you keep is $188.20/month with Stripe Payment Links (standard (no platform)). Selling the same through your own Gumroad link keeps $158.20, a gap of $30.00 a month.
Cheapest is not the same as best: the cheapest options make you the seller of record for tax, and only Etsy and Gumroad Discover bring buyers to you.
| Where you sell | Fees / sale | Keep / sale | Keep / month | Who handles tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stripe Payment Links standard (no platform) checked 2026-10-15 · source | $0.59 5.9% | $9.41 | $188.20 | Seller (you). Stripe Tax Basic can calculate/collect for 0.5% where you are registered; it does not register or file. |
Lemon Squeezy standard checked 2026-10-15 · source | $1.00 10% | $9.00 | $180.00 | Lemon Squeezy, worldwide. |
Payhip Free (5%) checked 2026-10-25 · source | $1.09 10.9% | $8.91 | $178.20 | Payhip for EU and UK VAT on digital goods; elsewhere (incl. US sales tax) it can collect but you file and pay. |
Ko-fi Free/Standard shop (5%) checked 2026-09-25 · source | $1.09 10.9% | $8.91 | $178.20 | Seller (you). Payments go to your own Stripe or PayPal. |
Ko-fi Gold ($12/mo, 0%) checked 2026-09-25 · source | $0.59 5.9% | $9.41 | $176.20 after $12/mo plan | Seller (you). Payments go to your own Stripe or PayPal. |
Etsy US seller checked 2026-10-25 · source | $1.40 14% | $8.60 | $172.00 | Etsy, wherever marketplaces are required to collect. |
Gumroad Direct (your profile or links) checked 2026-10-15 · source | $2.09 20.9% | $7.91 | $158.20 | Gumroad, worldwide (since 2025-01-01). |
Payhip Plus ($29/mo, 2%) checked 2026-10-25 · source | $0.79 7.9% | $9.21 | $155.20 after $29/mo plan | Payhip for EU and UK VAT on digital goods; elsewhere (incl. US sales tax) it can collect but you file and pay. |
Gumroad Discover marketplace sale checked 2026-10-15 · source | $3.00 30% | $7.00 | $140.00 | Gumroad, worldwide. |
Payhip Pro ($99/mo, 0%) checked 2026-10-25 · source | $0.59 5.9% | $9.41 | $89.20 after $99/mo plan | Payhip for EU and UK VAT on digital goods; elsewhere (incl. US sales tax) it can collect but you file and pay. |
Not included: international-card and currency surcharges, PayPal, sales tax or VAT, Etsy Offsite Ads, refunds and chargebacks. Gumroad Discover only applies when its marketplace brings the buyer. Not tax or financial advice; vendor pricing changes, so check the source link before you rely on a figure.
Try a $1 or $2 price above. The 30¢ to 50¢ flat part of each fee eats a much larger share of a cheap product than the percentage does. Our own 50¢ sale lost 62% to card fees. The full write-up, with every rule and where it came from, is in where to sell digital products: fees compared.
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Building an agent that needs these numbers? The same table is available as JSON at /for-agents (platform-fees, $0.01 per call via x402). Want to see how this site sells? Every sale we have made is on the ledger.