If you’re a content creator who uses Gumroad to sell your digital products, you must have noticed a change in pricing recently. While this may have annoyed a lot of content creators, all hope is not lost.
We know that this price hike has caused concern among many content creators, who are wondering how it will affect their sales and profitability.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Gumroad’s new pricing structure and what options you or other content creators have for minimizing the impact of the price increase on their business.
What is Gumroad
Gumroad is a platform that allows creators to sell their products directly to consumers. It offers a variety of tools and features to help creators manage and sell their products online, including the ability to create and customize landing pages, process payments, and track sales.
Gumroad supports a wide range of product types, including digital products such as e-books, music, software, and art, as well as physical products.
The platform also provides tools for creators to build their email lists, manage customer relationships, and analyze sales data. It is a subscription-based service that charges a small percentage of each sale as a fee.
It is a popular choice among independent creators and small businesses looking for an easy and cost-effective way to sell their products online.
Why Gumroad is Popular
There are several reasons why Gumroad is popular:
- Ease of use: Gumroad is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for anyone to sell their products or services online.
- Wide range of product types: Gumroad supports a wide range of product types, including digital products, physical products, subscriptions, and services. This makes it a versatile platform for sellers.
- Integration with social media: Gumroad allows users to easily share their products on social media platforms, helping them to reach a wider audience.
- Affiliate marketing program: Gumroad has a robust affiliate marketing program, allowing users to earn commissions by promoting other people’s products.
What Does The Price Hike Look Like?
Gumroad has recently announced that they will be increasing their fees to 10% for all creators. This change has reportedly been made because Gumroad believes their current pricing model is “too generous”.
If you use PayPal as a payment option, you may end up paying 15% per transaction. If you sell high ticket items, such as products or services priced at $1K or more, this change will result in an additional $150 fee per transaction.
Many have expressed their frustration with social platforms such as Twitter. Thomas Frank who sells notion templates on Gumroad, tweeted:
Well, many are upset, and we understand why. So how about we show you 7 alternatives to Gumroad that you can start using from today?
And you know what, thousands are people are using the alternatives for their day-to-day operations.
#7 Great Alternatives to Gumroad For Creators
For your convenience, we have distributed the solutions into two groups. One group consists of options for WordPress. The other group consists of options based on SaaS.
1. WordPress Solution
If you have a website for your business that runs on WordPress, then there are some really good options to choose from. Let us look at some of them:
WPSmartPay
WPSmartPay is a WordPress plugin that allows users to sell digital products and accept payment on their WordPress website. It features an extremely easy-to-use interface for creating and managing products, as well as multiple payment gateways to accept payments from customers.
WPSmartPay is a strong Gumroad competitor in terms of fulfilling individual content creators’ needs. It is lightning fast and extremely easy to set up and use.
The plugin also includes options for setting up discounts, subscriptions, and collecting donations through online forms. Overall, WPSmartPay helps make it easy for WordPress users to sell their digital products and accept payment online.
Features
Following are the top features that WPSmartPay has to offer:
- Unlimited products
- Unlimited payment forms
- Embedded and overlay forms
- Subscription and recurring billing
- Custom amounts
- Integrations with Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, RazorPay, Paddle, and more
- CRM integrations
- Regular product updates, plus new features
- Collect donations
- Event registration forms
- Member dashboard
Reasons for Choosing WPSmartPay
While WPSmartPay might seem like the newcomer in the block, you should not underestimate it in any sense. Following are some top reasons why you should choose WPSmartPay for selling digital products & accept payment with WordPress
- Ease of use: WPSmartPay is the fastest and lightest in this list to set up and start using. It is extremely user-friendly and allows you to easily set up your online store, add products, and accept payments within minutes.
- Seamless Payment Experience: You can give your customers a seamless payment experience without leaving your site, thanks to an easily navigable interface that integrates with other WordPress plugins.
- Different Payment Types: You can accept one-time or recurring subscription payments in minutes—all without setting up a shopping cart.
- Donations & Crowdfunds: You can collect donations and crowdfunds, as well as take service payments with customizable payment and subscription options.
- Customizable: You’ll be able to control the way your customers experience the transaction thanks to the plugin’s customizable payment features.
- Integrations: WPSmartPay integrates seamlessly with the maximum number of plugins including PayPal, Stripe, Paddle, Razorpay and many more. This gives your customers the flexibility to choose their preferred method of payment.
- Easy Management: WPSmartPay allows easy management regarding every aspect of monetizing your business on one convenient dashboard, from coupons to your customer database and file access control
- Great Reporting & Payment History: The built-in reporting platform helps you view records of your sales and payments, transaction history, and more—all displayed in clear, convenient chart-views.
Additionally, your customers can access real-time overviews of past payments and other profile information.
Pricing
- Essential : $99/year
- Business : $149/year
- Agency : $349/year
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It is designed to make it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to sell products and services online. It offers a range of features including product management, payment gateways, shipping options, and inventory management.
Furthermore, it also allows for customization through the use of extensions and themes. WooCommerce is a popular choice for online stores due to its simplicity and flexibility.
Features
Following are the top features that WooCommerce has to offer:
- Product management
- Payment gateways
- Shipping options
- Inventory management
- Product reviews
- Coupon codes
- Taxes
- Order tracking
- Mobile-optimized
- Extensive plugin library
Reasons for Choosing WooCommerce
There are many reasons for choosing WooCommerce as a business owner, including:
- Integration with other tools: WooCommerce can be integrated with other tools and platforms, such as WordPress, Google Analytics, and social media, making it easy to manage multiple aspects of a business in one place.
- Cost-effective: WooCommerce is an open-source platform, which means it is free to use. This makes it an affordable option for small businesses looking to start an online store.
- Wide range of payment options: WooCommerce supports a wide range of payment options, including credit card, PayPal, and other gateways, making it easy for customers to make purchases from anywhere in the world.
- Advanced features: WooCommerce offers advanced features such as inventory management, customer accounts, and email marketing, making it a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes.
Pricing
While WooCommerce is completely free, their money making model is interesting. WooCommerce makes money by selling numerous useful platform add-ons and plugin extensions.
Easy Digital Downloads
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is a WordPress plugin that allows users to easily sell digital products on their WordPress website. It provides a user-friendly interface for creating and managing product listings, as well as features for handling payments, tracking sales, and generating reports.
EDD is popular among small business owners, freelancers, and bloggers who want to sell ebooks, software, music, and other digital products online. It is a standard Gumroad competitor in the WordPress space.
It is a powerful and reliable platform for selling digital goods, and is well-regarded for its ease of use and extensive customization options.
Features
Following are the top features that EDD has to offer:
- Complete shopping cart
- Highly customizable and clean checkout
- Payment flexibility
- Complete customer management
- Detailed eCommerce reports
- Secure file protection
- Discount codes
- Works with any theme
Reasons for Choosing EDD
If you are looking for ways to sell something online from your website, EDD can be a great choice for the following reasons:
- Simplifies the process of selling digital products: EDD provides an easy-to-use platform for online sellers to manage their digital product sales. It allows sellers to create and publish products, track sales, and handle customer transactions all in one place.
- Supports a variety of download methods: EDD supports a range of download methods, including file downloads, email delivery, and automatic updates, making it easy for sellers to distribute their products to customers.
- Has a range of customization options: EDD provides a range of customization options, including the ability to customize product pages, checkout pages, and email templates, allowing sellers to create a unique and branded experience for their customers.
- Integrates with popular WordPress plugins: EDD integrates with popular WordPress plugins such as Gravity Forms and WPForms, allowing sellers to easily create custom forms and gather customer information.
Pricing
- Personal: 99.50/year
- Extended: 199.50/year
- Professional: 299.50/year
- All Access Pass: 499.50/year
SureCart
Surecart is a powerful and user-friendly WordPress plugin that allows businesses of all sizes to easily sell their products and services online. With an intuitive interface and a range of features designed to streamline the ecommerce process, Surecart makes it easy to grow your business and reach more customers.
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your online sales to the next level, Surecart is the perfect tool to help you succeed.
With support for a wide range of payment gateways, customizable shipping options, and the ability to track sales and customer data, Surecart is a must-have for any business looking to thrive in the digital age.
Features
Some of the key features of Surecart include:
- Ecommerce essentials
- Customizable product pages
- Multiple payment gateways
- Shipping options
- Order tracking
- Inventory management
- Customer data
Reasons for Choosing SureCart
There are several reasons to choose Surecart as your ecommerce platform:
- Flexibility: SureCart is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor your store to fit your specific needs. Whether you want to sell physical or digital products, or offer a variety of shipping options, Surecart has you covered.
- Payment gateway support: The plugin integrates with a wide range of payment gateways, so you can accept payments from customers all over the world.
- Advanced features: The tool includes advanced features such as the ability to track sales data, customer information, and inventory levels, making it easy to manage your business and make informed decisions.
- Scalability: SureCart is designed to grow with your business, so you can easily add new products, features, and functionality as your business grows.
Pricing
- Free: 0/year
- Startup: 99/year
- Business: 199/year
- Pro: 399/year
2. SaaS
Now, not all websites run on WordPress, do they? If you do not have a website that runs on WordPress and want to explore any SaaS-based options, we recommend you take a look at the following two.
Lemon Squeezy
Lemon Squeezy provides a range of services to help online businesses manage their payments, subscriptions, global tax compliance, fraud prevention, and more. They offer a range of tools and services designed to help businesses streamline their payment processes and ensure that they are compliant with relevant regulations and laws.
This includes support for multiple currencies, integration with PayPal, and tools for failed payment recovery. It also provides comprehensive fraud prevention services, including advanced security measures and analytics to help businesses identify and prevent fraudulent transactions.
Overall, it is a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to improve their payment and subscription management processes and ensure compliance with global regulations.
Features
Following are the top features that Lemon Squeezy has to offer:
- Sales Tracking
- Custom Domain
- Payment Processing
- White Labeling
- Marketing Automation
- Discount Management
- Live Chat
- Tax Management
- Multi Currency
- Product Configurator
- Saved Cards
Reasons for Choosing Lemon Squeezy
As an online business owner, Lemon Squeezy can come in handy for multiple reasons. Let us look at some:
- Secure: Lemon Squeezy uses industry-leading security measures to protect your business and your customers’ personal and financial information.
- Customizable: It offers a range of customization options, so you can tailor the platform to fit your business’s specific needs and branding.
- Automated invoicing: The invoicing feature allows you to easily create and send invoices to your customers, helping you streamline your payment collection process.
- Mobile-friendly: The platform is mobile-responsive, so you can manage your payments and invoices on-the-go from your smartphone or tablet.
Pricing
For ecommerce 5%+50¢ in each transaction
ConvertKit Commerce
ConvertKit is mainly an email marketing and automation tool designed specifically for creators, such as bloggers, writers, artists, and entrepreneurs. It allows creators to easily manage their email lists, create and send newsletters and automated email sequences, and track the success of their campaigns.
Additionally creators can monetize their content by offering courses, products, and services to their subscribers, and can even integrate with various payment gateways to facilitate sales.
Overall, ConvertKit helps creators build and grow their online businesses, providing them with the tools and resources they need to earn a living online.
Features
CovertKit can be a good choice for people who are looking for sites like Gunroad.
Following are the top features that ConvertiKit has to offer:
- Sell Digital Products
- Promote using Sales Funnels and Drip Campaigns
- Donation/Tips
- Intuitive User Dashboard
- Multiple Integrations
- Reporting/Analytics
- Event Triggered Actions
- Auto-Responders
- CAN SPAM Compliance
Reasons for Choosing ConvertKit Commerce
Though it is an email marketing and automation tool, there are some solid reasons for which you can use it as a medium of selling content online. Here are a few:
- Ease of use: ConvertKit is designed specifically for online content creators, making it easy to set up and use. It has a straightforward interface and a variety of features to help you sell and deliver your content.
- Automation: The software allows you to automate many of the tasks associated with selling content, such as sending emails to subscribers and delivering digital products. This saves you time and allows you to focus on creating new content.
- Integration: It integrates with a variety of platforms and tools, including payment processors, email marketing software, and social media platforms. This makes it easy to manage your entire sales and marketing process from one place.
- Excellent customer support: The company has a dedicated customer support team that is available to help you with any issues you may encounter. They also offer a variety of resources and training materials to help you get the most out of their platform.
Pricing
There are three pricing plans:
- Free: $0/month
- Creator: $9/month
- Creator Pro/ $25/month
Podia
Podia is a software as a service (SaaS) platform that allows users to create and sell digital products, such as online courses, memberships, and downloads, as well as host communities. The platform provides a range of features to help users build their own customizable online storefronts and manage their products and customers.
With Podia, users can easily create and upload digital products, including video courses, e-books, and audio files. They can also use the platform to create and manage membership programs, sell physical products, and offer subscriptions.
There is also a collection of tools for marketing and selling products, such as email marketing integrations, coupon codes, and affiliate programs.
Features
- Digital product creation and management
- Customizable storefronts
- Marketing and sales tools
- Customer relationship management
- Community building features
- Payment processing
- Security and reliability
Reasons for Choosing Podia
There are several reasons why someone might choose to use Podia for selling digital products:
- Customizable Storefronts: Podia allows users to create their own customizable storefronts, which can be branded to match their personal or business style. This allows users to create a professional-looking online presence that reflects their brand.
- Comprehensive Product Management: It offers a range of tools for managing digital products, including the ability to create and upload products, set prices, and offer discounts. Users can also create and manage membership programs and subscriptions, and sell physical products.
- Marketing and Sales Tools: Podia offers a range of marketing and sales tools to help users promote and sell their products. This includes email marketing integrations, coupon codes, and affiliate programs.
- Community Building Features: In addition to selling products, users can use Podia to build and host communities around their products or interests. This includes features for creating discussion forums, hosting live events, and offering customer support.
Pricing
There are three pricing plans:
- Free: $0/month
- Mover: $33/month
- Shaker: $75/month
- Earthquaker: $166/month
Wrapping Up
So to sum up the entire article, you should get,
WPSmartPay: Best choice for small businesses and content creators. Fastest & Lightest to set up.
WooCommerce: More suitable for complex online business operations
EDD: Popular choice within the WordPress community for digital products
Lemon Sqeezy: Great choice for software companies
ConvertKit: Popular choice for individual e-book and album creators
We hope the article will guide you to make the right choice. Should you pivot from using Gumroad, do let us know in the comments which one you finally choose.