10 Ecommerce Platforms for Digital Products

The best-known storefront isn't always the best place to sell digital products. Platforms built for physical goods treat shipping and inventory as the hard parts. Software, licenses and downloads raise different questions: who handles the tax, who issues license keys, how files reach the buyer, whether a failed renewal gets recovered and how much of checkout you control.

The first split is Merchant of Record versus payment processor. A processor moves the money. A Merchant of Record is the legal seller, so it collects, files and remits the VAT and sales tax for you. That decides whether you need a separate tax stack and manual reconciliation.

These 10 platforms fall into three groups:

• Creem, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, and Polar act as the legal seller and take on tax.
• Payhip, Gumroad, Sellfy, and Whop give you a hosted store, file delivery or an embedded checkout for downloads.
• Shopify and WooCommerce put digital files in a store you run yourself.

Creem, which we built for software and digital-product makers, is in the first group. At 3.9% + 40¢ a sale, it has the lowest rate of the four with no monthly fee.

Table of Contents

• The 10 best ecommerce platforms for digital products
  • 1. Creem
  • 2. Whop
  • 3. Paddle
  • 4. Lemon Squeezy
  • 5. Polar
  • 6. Payhip
  • 7. Gumroad
  • 8. Sellfy
  • 9. Shopify
  • 10. WooCommerce
• Ecommerce platforms for digital products compared: fees, tax, and billing
• Choose an ecommerce platform for digital products that matches your operating model
• Sell digital products worldwide with Creem
• FAQ

The 10 best ecommerce platforms for digital products

1. Creem: The lowest merchant-of-record rate with no monthly fee, plus built-in revenue splits

Creem fits SaaS, AI and software companies and sellers of digital products such as plugins and templates who sell worldwide and want payments, global tax, flexible billing and revenue sharing handled in one platform.

Creem becomes the legal seller when a buyer pays. Checkout collects the tax, Creem files and remits it, and invoices, fraud and chargebacks are handled there too. Building, delivering and supporting the product stay with you.

Paddle and Lemon Squeezy take on the same legal-seller duties. Creem does it for less, and it pays collaborators their share of each sale automatically, which neither of them does. License keys and file delivery come built in, as they do at Lemon Squeezy.

Billing and splits

If you sell an AI or SaaS product, your app sends usage events for Creem to bill per call or minute, or debits prepaid credits as customers use the product, so cash arrives before compute is spent.

Automatic splits pay collaborators or licensors their share of each sale, with the affiliate program alongside them. That replaces separate tools and payout spreadsheets. Pouya Saadeghi moved DaisyUI, the open-source UI component library, to Creem from Lemon Squeezy for exactly this: built-in revenue splits and lower fees.

Switching an existing store is covered too. Creem imports your current customers and subscriptions, and its team helps with the move on Discord.

Checkout runs on your own domain, styled with your logo, colours and theme. Creem files your tax worldwide.

Pricing

The base fee is 3.9% + $0.40 per successful transaction, with no setup fee or minimum volume. A $100 sale leaves $95.70 after that fee, including the merchant-of-record service. The same sale leaves $94.50 at Paddle or Lemon Squeezy (5% + 50¢). Polar's Pro tier charges less per sale, at 3.8% + 40¢, but adds $20 a month.

The gap widens when you sell subscriptions worldwide. Creem adds nothing for international cards or subscription renewals, while Lemon Squeezy adds 1.5% and 0.5%. A $100 international subscription payment leaves $95.70 with Creem and $92.50 with Lemon Squeezy, every month the customer renews.

Standard-plan splits and the affiliate program each add 2% before commissions are calculated.

When your SaaS or AI product starts selling worldwide, Creem files the tax on every sale, bills usage or credits as customers use the product, and pays your affiliates their commission from the same checkout. Start selling and set up your first product.

2. Whop: Global checkout with 100+ payment methods

Whop suits online sellers who want checkout on their own site, subscription billing, and global payouts run from one account.

Whop embeds its Checkout element through a React package or script tag, and a payment.succeeded webhook tells your system when to fulfill.

Recurring billing covers renewals, cancellations, upgrades, and downgrades.

When a renewal fails, Whop emails the customer to update their payment method and retries the charge over five days before canceling the subscription.

Direct sales have three tax options. "Whop collects and remits tax" calculates, collects, remits, and files in US states and territories, the EU, and the UK.

"Whop collects tax, I remit" applies tax at checkout wherever you have added registrations, across the US and 90+ countries, but leaves remittance and filing with you.

The third option leaves all tax work with you.

Pricing

Card payments start at 2.7% + $0.30 per successful domestic transaction, plus 1.5% for international cards and 1% when currency conversion applies.

Billing automation, payment orchestration, and tax add-ons apply only when enabled. Payment orchestration routes payments across multiple providers.

Payouts reach 200+ countries, and next-day ACH to a US bank account costs $2.50.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Whop supports 195 countries, 135+ currencies, and 100+ payment methods, with local-currency checkout and options such as Apple Pay.
• Pro: a self-serve billing portal handles card updates and cancellations.
• Con: the tax filing option covers US states and territories, the EU, and the UK.

The effective rate depends on configuration, so model the add-ons you would actually use.

Sellers outside the US, EU, and UK who want the platform to file their returns will find the Merchant of Record providers above a closer fit.

3. Paddle: An established merchant of record built around software subscriptions

Paddle suits established SaaS companies with steady subscription revenue that want the legal seller to also answer their customers' billing questions.

Paddle is the legal seller to your buyers. It collects and files sales tax and VAT in more than 100 jurisdictions, screens for fraud and fights bad-faith chargebacks. Stripe, by contrast, leaves you as the seller, as this comparison of Paddle and Stripe explains. Paddle also answers your customers' questions about payments, renewals and cancellations.

Pricing

Paddle charges 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, with no monthly fee, and high-volume businesses can negotiate custom pricing. A $100 sale leaves $94.50.

The fixed 50¢ hurts most on cheap products. A $9 template costs $0.95 in fees, about 10.6% of the price. Paddle asks sellers of products under $10 to contact it for bespoke pricing.

Pros and cons

• Pro: buyer billing support is included in the rate.
• Pro: a long track record with software subscription businesses.
• Con: no affiliate program or revenue splits on its feature list, so partner payouts need a separate tool.
• Con: the 5% + 50¢ rate weighs most on low-priced templates, plugins and courses.

I'd pick Paddle for an established SaaS company that values hands-on billing support over the lowest rate. For a SaaS or AI startup that is growing fast, the fee gap grows with revenue: at $50,000 a month, 5% + 50¢ costs over $550 more than 3.9% + 40¢, and affiliate payouts still need a separate tool.

4. Lemon Squeezy: Tax responsibility paired with software license issuance

Lemon Squeezy suits sellers of desktop apps, plugins and other downloadable software who need a license key issued with each purchase.

Lemon Squeezy is the legal seller, so it calculates, collects and pays sales tax and VAT on each order. Its license-key tools take manual key distribution off your plate. You control deactivation and re-issuance, so after a refund you can switch that key off rather than leave the license active.

Around the checkout, you get a hosted store on your own custom domain, subscriptions with free trials, coupon codes, bundles and upsells, and up to 21 payment methods including PayPal. Email marketing is built in and free up to 500 subscribers. Abandoned-cart and failed-payment emails win back sales you would otherwise lose.

Pricing

Lemon Squeezy charges 5% + 50¢ per transaction with no monthly fee. A $100 sale to a US card leaves $94.50.

Extra fees stack on top: +1.5% on international cards, +1.5% on PayPal and +0.5% on subscription payments. The fee is also charged on the tax-inclusive total. A $20 product bought from France with 20% VAT costs the buyer $24, and Lemon Squeezy takes $2.06, about 10.3% of your price.

Some features carry their own fee: +3% on affiliate-referred sales and +5% on payments recovered by abandoned-cart emails. Payouts go to your bank or PayPal twice a month, with 1% taken from each payout to a bank account outside the US.

Pros and cons

• Pro: license keys built in, with issuance, deactivation and re-issuance.
• Pro: a full hosted store with a custom domain, bundles, upsells and email marketing, so a small catalog needs no other tools.
• Pro: one-time and recurring pricing within the same product.
• Con: international, PayPal and subscription surcharges push the real rate well past 5% + 50¢ for sellers with buyers worldwide.
• Con: affiliates cost an extra 3% on every referred sale.
• Con: twice-monthly payouts can squeeze cash flow, and its roadmap is less certain since Stripe bought it, as this guide to Lemon Squeezy alternatives covers.

I'd shortlist Lemon Squeezy for a developer selling downloadable software mostly to US buyers, where license keys and a ready-made store matter most. For a SaaS or AI company selling worldwide on subscriptions, the surcharges add up, and unusual billing rules or enterprise invoicing need more control than it gives you.

5. Polar: A specialist merchant of record for developer billing

Polar suits developers selling software who want subscriptions and license keys built in and expect enough monthly sales to justify a paid tier.

Polar becomes the legal seller when a customer buys your software, reselling it and handling the transaction taxes.

Pricing

Polar's pricing rewards volume. Starter is free at 5% + 50¢. Pro ($20 a month, 3.8% + 40¢), Growth ($100, 3.6% + 35¢) and Scale ($400, 3.4% + 30¢) trade a monthly fee for a lower rate. Polar puts the break-even for Pro at about $1,379 in monthly sales.

Two details raise the real cost. Non-US cards add 1.5% on every tier, and Polar's own worked example charges the fee on the total including VAT. On a $100 sale, Starter leaves $94.50 and Scale $96.30 before the monthly fee and those extras.

Pros and cons

• Pro: every rate is public, and lower rates don't need a sales call.
• Pro: subscriptions and license keys built in for developer products.
• Con: the free Starter tier costs as much per sale as the older merchants of record.
• Con: the 1.5% international card fee and the fee on VAT add up for sellers with mostly non-US buyers.

I'd pick Polar for a developer with steady volume above Pro's break-even who sells mostly to US buyers. A seller just starting out, or one with a global audience, pays more than the headline rate suggests.

6. Payhip: A storefront for mixed creator catalogs

Payhip works for creators combining downloads, courses, coaching, memberships and physical items in one storefront.

Payhip lets you sell a template pack alongside a course, offer coaching or a membership, and add physical items to the same store. You can set up the storefront without technical skills. Bundles, coupons and license keys for software come built in, with an API for basic automation.

Pricing

The Free plan takes 5% of each sale, Plus ($29 a month) takes 2%, and Pro ($99 a month) takes no platform fee. Payment processing comes on top on every plan. Payhip collects and remits EU and UK VAT, and reports other configured taxes back to you to handle.

Pros and cons

• Pro: one no-code store for downloads, courses, coaching and memberships.
• Pro: the platform fee drops to zero on Pro.
• Con: tax coverage is EU and UK VAT only, so US sales tax and other countries stay with you.
• Con: the Free plan's 5% is a steep cut until your volume justifies $29 or $99 a month.
• Con: the storefront is quick to set up but less flexible to design than a full website.

I'd choose Payhip for a creator selling a course with companion templates. For a seller with buyers across many tax regions, or a SaaS product that needs usage billing or proration, it leaves too much on your plate.

7. Gumroad: Creator selling with sales tax handled

Gumroad helps independent creators publishing ebooks, downloadable files, courses or memberships by hosting their product pages and selling to buyers on their behalf, handling VAT and sales tax.

Gumroad hosts your product pages, so there's no separate store to build. Since January 2025 it has been the merchant of record, collecting and remitting VAT and sales tax worldwide.

You can sell files, ebooks, courses, memberships and software license keys, offer pay-what-you-want pricing or preorders, and message your customers. Gumroad Discover, its marketplace, can bring in new buyers, though checkout and branding stay inside Gumroad's own pages.

Pricing

Sales through your profile or direct links cost 10% + 50¢, and sales that come through Discover cost 30%. There is no monthly fee. On a $100 direct sale, Gumroad keeps $10.50 and you keep $89.50.

As this analysis of Gumroad's fees explains, the percentage charge grows with your selling price and sales volume. That ongoing cut is the real cost of Gumroad's ease.

Pros and cons

• Pro: hosted pages and tax handled, so a finished product can go on sale the same day.
• Pro: Discover can reach buyers you don't have yet.
• Con: 10% + 50¢ is the highest direct rate on this list, and Discover sales cost 30%.
• Con: little control over branding and the checkout flow.

I'd pick Gumroad for a creator with an audience who wants to start selling today with tax handled. For a software business with growing revenue, a 10% cut on every sale is hard to justify.

8. Sellfy: A hosted storefront for digital downloads

Sellfy serves creators selling files who want a ready-made online store with built-in marketing.

Sellfy gives you a storefront where buyers can purchase your downloads, with coupon codes, customer reviews and email marketing. You can list a template pack or plugin in the store.

Pricing

Sellfy charges a monthly subscription with no transaction fees, but each plan caps your sales: $10,000, $50,000 or $200,000 a year. Stripe or PayPal processing comes on top, typically 2.9% + 30¢. Passing your cap means an upgrade. VAT and tax settings help with collection, but filing stays with you.

Pros and cons

• Pro: no platform cut on sales within your plan's limit.
• Pro: store editor, themes and email marketing in one place.
• Con: you remain the seller, so tax registration and filing are your job.
• Con: sales caps force plan upgrades as you grow.

I'd pick Sellfy for a creator who wants a hosted download store with marketing tools and is comfortable handling tax. Sellers with buyers worldwide will feel the tax work quickly.

9. Shopify: Storefront control with app and tax responsibilities

Shopify makes sense for sellers with downloads and shipped goods in one catalog who want control over their store’s design and can handle delivery apps and sales-tax administration.

Shopify gives you a branded store with themes, analytics, marketing tools and sales channels, and it sells downloads, software licenses and shipped goods from one catalog. The legal-seller work on digital orders stays with you.

Files go out through Shopify's Digital Downloads app, which attaches files or links to products, sends access links once an order is paid and limits access. Licensing, subscriptions, file protection and B2B features come from third-party apps, each with its own subscription.

Shopify Tax calculates transaction taxes and can file them if you set up automated filing, but registering and staying compliant remain your job.

Pricing

Shopify Basic costs €36 a month, or €27 billed yearly, with prices varying by country. At Basic's standard card rate of 2.1% + €0.30, a €100 sale leaves €97.60 before the subscription and any apps. Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds 2% on Basic, on top of that provider's fees.

Pros and cons

• Pro: full control over store design, with one catalog for digital and physical products.
• Pro: a large app ecosystem for licensing, subscriptions and file protection.
• Con: you remain the seller, so tax registration and filing are your job.
• Con: the monthly plan plus paid apps add fixed costs before any sale.

I'd pick Shopify for a mixed digital-and-physical catalog where storefront control is worth managing apps and tax. For a software team that wants tax, licensing and revenue splits handled in one place, it's the wrong tool.

10. WooCommerce: Free WordPress commerce with separately priced features

WooCommerce is for sellers who want to run their store on WordPress, customize it and choose which paid features to add.

WooCommerce is free, open-source commerce software for WordPress. Downloadable products come built in, with protected file links, download limits and link expiry. Extensions add subscriptions, licensing, memberships and anti-piracy tools, and your content, SEO and store live on one site you own.

You take on the running of it: hosting, security, updates, backups and plugin compatibility. WooCommerce isn't a merchant of record, so tax registration and filing stay with you unless you add a service for them. WooPayments lets you collect payments, manage disputes and track recurring revenue from the store dashboard.

Pricing

The core software costs nothing and takes no share of your revenue. You pay for hosting, your payment gateway's processing fees and any paid extensions you add.

Pros and cons

• Pro: no platform fee and full control over your site and data.
• Pro: download limits and expiring links built into the core.
• Con: hosting, security and updates are your job.
• Con: you remain the seller, so tax is your job, and paid extensions add up.

I'd choose WooCommerce for a seller who already runs a WordPress site and has the technical help to maintain it. A solo maker who wants tax and maintenance off their plate will spend more time on the store than on the product.

Ecommerce platforms for digital products compared: fees, tax, and billing

A merchant-of-record fee includes legal-seller tax responsibility alongside payment processing. Stripe Tax automates calculating and capturing tax, but you stay the seller and register, file and remit yourself. That difference matters as much as the percentage charged on each sale.

Payhip’s platform percentage sits on top of processor fees. WooCommerce’s free core excludes hosting, added features and payment processing. Neither figure represents the complete cost of taking a payment.

On a $100 sale, the published merchant-of-record base fees leave $95.70 with Creem, $94.50 with Paddle or Lemon Squeezy, and $89.50 with Gumroad on a direct sale, while Creem’s standard-plan splits and affiliates each add 2% before commissions. Those amounts compare base fees only, before taxes, partner commissions and any additional payment charges.

Choose an ecommerce platform for digital products that matches your operating model

I’d rank the responsibilities by the time they consume and the risk they leave with you. Being the legal seller carries transaction-tax obligations even when checkout works perfectly. Next, check whether the platform supports your billing, licensing and delivery requirements, then decide how much storefront setup and customization you want to manage.

Creem, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy and Polar take over as the legal seller. Among them, Creem charges the lowest rate with no monthly fee and builds in revenue splits and affiliates. Paddle adds billing support for your buyers, Lemon Squeezy a hosted store, and Polar lower rates for a monthly fee.

Gumroad combines a creator storefront with being the merchant of record. Payhip provides a hosted store for downloads and courses. Whop embeds checkout on your own site and has three tax options, from collection and filing in US states and territories, the EU, and the UK to leaving all tax work with you.

Shopify puts delivery and subscriptions behind apps, and you remain the legal seller on standalone digital orders. WooCommerce gives you a custom WordPress store while leaving hosting and added features to you. Those are choices about how much of the selling setup you will operate yourself.

Billing needs a separate decision. A fixed recurring membership, such as Gumroad’s, charges differently from a product priced by the number of seats or units consumed.

Before choosing, work through these requirements:

• Legal-seller status determines who handles transaction-tax registration, filing and remittance.
• Buyers need suitable payment methods and a checkout that fits your sales flow.
• Recurring charges must match your pricing, whether customers pay a fixed amount, per seat or for consumption.
• Licensed software needs a way to issue keys and activate purchases.
• File delivery should include the access controls your downloads require.
• Storefront ownership brings integration choices, including the apps and connections you will maintain.
• Affiliate commissions and revenue splits need their own fee calculation, beyond the base transaction charge.
• Total cost includes international and subscription surcharges, payout fees, paid apps and the work of moving products and customers later.

When international tax liability, consumption-based charges and partner payouts all matter, compare handling them together with the systems and integrations you would otherwise maintain. A product page or file-delivery tool covers only part of that requirement.

Keep the candidates that remove your biggest exposure without giving up the checkout, billing or storefront choices you rely on.

Sell digital products worldwide with Creem

Start with the job that creates the most work or risk. A hosted storefront fits straightforward download sales, while a self-managed store fits when storefront control matters most. When selling worldwide leaves you responsible for international transaction taxes, choose a platform that takes over as the legal seller.

Creem combines that merchant-of-record responsibility with flexible billing and partner payments. Tax calculation, collection, filing and remittance move there, along with invoice issuance, fraud screening and chargeback handling. You still build, deliver and support the product.

The same platform connects the other parts of each sale:

• Subscriptions, seat pricing, usage charges and credit wallets let your billing follow what customers buy and consume.
• Checkout runs on your own domain with your logo, colours and theme, keeping payment under your brand.
• Automatic splits send partners and licensors their share, while affiliates receive commissions through the same platform.

You pay 3.9% + $0.40 USD on each successful transaction for payment processing, merchant-of-record tax compliance, invoicing and dispute handling. Standard-plan revenue splits and affiliate transactions each cost an additional 2%, deducted before calculating partner commissions.

If you run a SaaS or AI product that sells worldwide, Creem files the tax on every sale, bills usage or credits as customers use the product, and pays affiliates and partners their share from the same checkout, with no payout spreadsheet to keep. Start selling to add a product and share its checkout.

FAQ

What is a merchant of record, and do I need one to sell digital products?

No, you can sell without a merchant of record, but you remain the legal seller and arrange payment processing, tax registration, collection, filing and remittance. A merchant of record sells to buyers on your behalf and handles transaction taxes. Stripe’s regular processing leaves you as the seller, while Stripe Managed Payments takes on that role and transaction taxes.

Can I sell digital products for free?

Yes, you can avoid paying a platform upfront, but every sale still carries a per-sale fee or a processor’s fee. WooCommerce charges no platform fee, but you still pay for payment processing and remain responsible for transaction taxes.