Gumroad vs Stan Store:
which should you actually use?
Gumroad costs nothing until you sell (10% plus $0.50 a sale) and files your sales tax for you. Stan Store takes no cut of the sale price but bills $29 or $99 a month, which at a $49 price point works out cheaper only above roughly $263 in monthly sales.
The short answer
It comes down to volume and tax.
Pick Gumroad if…
This is your first or second product, or you sell under roughly $263 a month at a $49 price point. Gumroad bills you nothing until money comes in, which is the right shape when the revenue is uneven or hypothetical. It also acts as the merchant of record. It collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST for you, which is worth real money and real hours if you sell into Europe. And if your files are large, its per-file ceiling is far higher than Stan’s.
Pick Stan Store if…
Your traffic already comes from an Instagram or TikTok bio and you clear more than $263 a month in sales. Stan takes no cut of the sale price on either plan, so past that line the $29 subscription is simply the cheaper shape, and the gap widens fast as you scale. It is also the better fit if you sell more than files: bookings, calls, courses and subscriptions all live behind the same link, and its higher plan adds email marketing, affiliates and upsells.
The trade is risk against margin. Gumroad only charges you when you earn; Stan charges you every month, including the months nothing sells.
Feature by feature
What you keep, and what you handle.
| Feature | Gumroad | Stan Store |
|---|---|---|
| Per-sale fee (entry tier) | 10% + $0.50 per direct sale | AdvantageNone. 0% platform fee |
| Lowest per-sale fee available | 10% + $0.50. No plan lowers it | Advantage0%, on either the $29 or $99 plan |
| Monthly costStan bills annually too, at a lower effective monthly rate. | Advantage$0 | $29 Creator or $99 Creator Pro |
| You keep on a $49 saleBoth after est. 2.9% + $0.30 card processing; Stan before its monthly plan. | $41.88 | Advantage$47.28 |
| Who is the merchant of record | AdvantageGumroad | You |
| PayoutsBoth hold funds for a period before releasing them, so check each platform’s current terms. | On Gumroad’s own schedule, above its stated minimum | To your Stripe or PayPal after a holding period |
| Storefront | A profile page plus a page per product | AdvantageA link-in-bio storefront at stan.store/yourname |
| File size limit | AdvantageMulti-gigabyte files on paid products | Lower per-file ceiling, so check before a large pack |
| Tax handlingWith Stan, registering and filing stay your responsibility. | AdvantageCollects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST for you, worldwide | Calculates and collects through your Stripe, in regions you registered in |
| Built-in discoveryThe 30% applies only to sales Discover sends you. | AdvantageDiscover marketplace. 30% on the sales it originates | None. You bring the traffic |
| Also sellsStan gates email marketing, affiliates and upsells to its higher plan. | Digital files, memberships, affiliate offers | AdvantageFiles, courses, bookings and calls, subscriptions, lead magnets |
| Builds the product for you | No, you upload a finished file | No, you upload a finished file |
| Best for | A finished file sold to an audience you already have | A creator funnel run off one bio link |
Verified August 2026 against each platform's own pricing and help pages. The $49 row assumes one direct sale, not a marketplace sale. Gumroad's published 10% + $0.50 excludes card processing, so its figure nets an estimated 2.9% + $0.30 out the same way Stan's does; if processing turns out to sit inside Gumroad's fee you would keep $43.60 instead. Stan's excludes its monthly plan. Both platforms change pricing, so check their sites before deciding.
Stan keeps more of a single sale because it takes no percentage at all. Gumroad keeps more of a slow month because it charges nothing for one. Almost every other row is a genuine split: Gumroad wins on tax, file size and discovery; Stan wins on rate, storefront and the range of things you can sell.
Where each one wins
Two products solving different problems.
Gumroad · cost
Gumroad: nothing to pay until something sells
There is no plan, no trial clock, and no bill in a month with no sales. You pay 10% plus $0.50 when a sale happens and nothing when one doesn’t, which is the honest shape for a first product or a seasonal one.
The rate never drops, but it also never arrives ahead of the revenue.
Gumroad · tax
Gumroad: it is the merchant, so it files the tax
Gumroad acts as the merchant of record and collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST on your behalf. You do not register in each jurisdiction, and EU and UK digital-goods VAT is handled without you touching it. That is a genuine advantage, not a rounding error.
Its Discover marketplace can also put you in front of buyers you never reached, at 30% on the sales it originates.
Stan · cost
Stan Store: no cut of the sale price
Both Stan plans take 0% platform fee. Past roughly $263 a month at a $49 price point, a fixed $29 simply costs less than a percentage of everything, and the difference compounds as volume grows.
The counterweight is timing: funds are released after a holding period before they settle to Stripe or PayPal.
Stan · surface
Stan Store: a storefront built for a bio link
Stan is designed around one link at stan.store/yourname, holding files, courses, bookings, calls, subscriptions and lead magnets in a single mobile-first page. If your audience lives on Instagram or TikTok, that is the surface that matches.
Its Creator Pro plan adds email broadcasts and flows, affiliates, upsells and order bumps, a marketing stack Gumroad does not try to be.
The honest breakeven
At a $49 price point Gumroad’s effective rate is about 11%, its 10% plus the $0.50 spread across a $49 sale. Divide Stan’s $29 plan by that and the two cost the same at about $263 in monthly sales; the $99 plan catches up at about $898. The line moves with your price (roughly $250 at $29 a product, roughly $276 at $99) but it sits lower than most people expect.
Illustrative arithmetic on published rates. Nothing here is a promise of sales volume.
A third option
Both assume the product already exists.
Gumroad and Stan Store are both good answers to the same question: where do I put a file I have already finished. If the file is finished, pick one of them on the arithmetic above. MKKT is aimed at the step before. It drafts the product itself, then sells it for 7% a sale with no monthly fee.
| Platform | You keep on a $49 sale | Per-sale fee | Monthly fee | Builds the product with you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad | $41.88 | 10% + $0.50 | $0 | No |
| Stan Store | $47.28 | No platform cut | $29 to $99 | No |
| MKKT | $43.85 | 7% flat | $0 | Yes, AI product studio |
Pricing verified August 2026. "You keep" assumes one $49 direct sale. Gumroad's published 10% + $0.50 excludes card processing, so all three figures subtract an estimated 2.9% + $0.30 the same way; if processing turns out to sit inside Gumroad's fee you would keep $43.60 instead. Stan's excludes its $29 to $99 monthly plan. Platforms change pricing, so check their sites for the latest.
- The product drafted with you, not just hosted
- 7% per sale, $0 a month
- One branded storefront holding your whole catalogue
- Files delivered the moment payment clears
Where MKKT is behind: it is newer and smaller than both, it is not a merchant of record the way Gumroad is, it has no marketplace to send you buyers, and product files cap at 100 MB. MKKT sets up your payment account from your email, with no bank details on day one; payments are processed by Whop, and you verify your identity with Whop once before your first withdrawal, so your balance sits with Whop until then.
FAQ
Questions, answered straight.
- Which is cheaper, Gumroad or Stan Store?
- It depends on your monthly volume. Gumroad has no monthly fee but takes 10% plus $0.50 on every direct sale, so at a $49 price point its fees pass Stan's $29 Creator plan at roughly $263 a month in sales. Below that line Gumroad is cheaper. Above it Stan costs less, though you pay the subscription in months you sell nothing.
- Can I move my products from Gumroad to Stan Store?
- Yes, but you move them by hand. Neither platform advertises a one-click migration, so you re-upload each file, rewrite each product page, and set the prices again. Your Gumroad customer list does not carry over as subscribers either. You export it from Gumroad and import it into your email tool. Existing Gumroad links keep working until you unpublish them.
- Does Gumroad or Stan Store handle sales tax and VAT for you?
- Gumroad does. It acts as the merchant of record and collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST on your behalf, so you do not register or file in each jurisdiction yourself. With Stan Store you stay the merchant. Stan can calculate and collect tax at checkout through your connected Stripe account, but only in regions you have registered in, and the filing remains yours.
- Is there an option that makes the digital product for me?
- Neither Gumroad nor Stan Store does. Both expect a finished file. MKKT is a third option built for the step before that: its product studio drafts the ebook, course or template pack itself, plus the sales copy and the page, from what you describe or upload. It charges 7% per sale and $0 a month. It is also newer, caps files at 100 MB, and is not a merchant of record.
Compare MKKT with more platforms
Or start from
what you already know.
Whichever platform you land on, the product still has to exist. MKKT drafts it with you, then sells it for 7% a sale.
Free to start · 7% per sale · no card required