Payhip vs Sellfy: which one
should you actually use?
Payhip’s free plan costs nothing and takes 5% of each sale; Sellfy takes no cut at all but starts at $29 a month. Below roughly $580 in monthly sales Payhip is cheaper, above it Sellfy is, and Payhip’s other edge is that it collects and files EU, UK, US and Canadian tax for you.
The short answer
It comes down to volume, and tax.
Pick Payhip if you are starting from zero
The Free Forever plan costs $0 a month and takes 5% per sale, so nothing leaves your pocket until something sells. At $500 a month in sales that 5% is about $25, less than Sellfy’s cheapest plan, which would have billed you $29 in the same month whether you sold anything or not. Payhip also acts as the reseller for digital EU and UK VAT and as a marketplace facilitator for US and Canadian sales tax, so those filings are not yours to make.
Pick Sellfy if you are already selling steadily
Above about $580 a month in salesthe $29 Starter plan costs less than Payhip’s 5%, and every Sellfy plan takes 0% per sale, so the rate never grows with your revenue. Sellfy also sells print-on-demand merchandise, subscriptions and email marketing from the same store, which matters if the catalogue is not only files. Watch the annual sales caps: Starter is limited to $10,000 a year, and the plan above it is $79 a month.
Feature by feature
Where the two actually differ.
| Feature | Payhip | Sellfy |
|---|---|---|
| Per-sale fee (entry tier) | 5% on the Free Forever plan | Advantage on this row. 0%, but there is no free plan |
| Lowest per-sale fee, and what it costs | 0%, on the $99 a month Pro plan | Advantage on this row. 0%, on every plan, from $29 a month |
| Sellfy plans cap annual sales at $10k, $50k and $200k; Payhip publishes no revenue cap | ||
| Monthly cost | Advantage on this row. $0, $29 or $99 | $29, $79 or $159 |
| Sellfy runs a 14-day free trial, not a free plan; billed annually its prices are about 25% lower | ||
| You keep on a $49 sale | $44.83 on the free plan | Advantage on this row. $47.28 |
| Before any monthly plan, with card processing estimated at 2.9% + $0.30 | ||
| Merchant of record | Advantage on this row. Payhip, for EU/UK VAT and US/Canada sales tax | You are. Sellfy states it is not |
| Payouts | Even. Your own PayPal or Stripe, deposited per sale | Even. Your own PayPal or Stripe, deposited per sale |
| Storefront | Even. Hosted store page, optional custom domain | Even. Hosted customisable store, optional custom domain |
| Product hosting limits | Up to 5 GB per uploaded file | 10 GB storage on Starter, 20 GB on Premium |
| Published differently. A per-file cap versus a storage allowance | ||
| Tax handling | Advantage on this row. Collects and files EU/UK VAT and US/Canada sales tax | Applies EU VAT rates, gives you a VAT MOSS report |
| Marketplace / built-in discovery | Advantage on this row. Yes. Payhip runs a public marketplace | No marketplace; you bring the traffic |
| Builds the product for you | Even. No | Even. No |
| Best for | A first product, and hands-off tax filing | Steady sellers who also want merch and email |
Both platforms' figures were checked on their own pricing and help pages, August 2026. Sellfy prices shown are monthly billing; billed annually they are about 25% lower. "You keep" assumes a single $49 digital sale, excludes any monthly plan, and shows card processing separately (estimated at 2.9% + $0.30) because both platforms settle through your own Stripe or PayPal. A green dot marks the platform with the advantage on that row; a grey dot means neither has one. Platforms change pricing and features, so check their sites for the latest.
On a single sale Sellfy nets more, because it takes no platform cut at all. That advantage only survives once the monthly plan is paid for, which is the whole argument between these two, and it resolves at a number you can compute.
Where each one wins
Two good tools, built on different bets.
Cost to start
Payhip: nothing until something sells
Payhip’s free plan has no expiry and no product limit. Its own pricing page lists unlimited products and unlimited revenue on every tier, including the free one. You pay 5% when a sale happens and nothing when one doesn’t.
Sellfy has a 14-day trial, but selling requires an active plan. For an untested product, that is a bill arriving before any evidence that the product works.
Tax
Payhip: the filing is theirs, not yours
For digital sales into the EU and UK, Payhip acts as the reseller and reports and pays the VAT itself. In the US and Canada it operates as a marketplace facilitator, so it collects and remits sales tax there too. Outside those regions it helps you collect, and remittance stays with you.
Sellfy is explicit that you are the merchant of record. It calculates EU VAT and hands you a VAT MOSS report, but the registration and the return are yours.
The rate
Sellfy: 0% per sale on every plan
Sellfy takes no cut of any sale on any tier, so your marginal cost per order is only card processing. On Payhip, 0% exists too, but only on the $99 a month Pro plan, where the free plan’s 5% has to be bought down.
The catch is the annual sales caps: $10,000 on Starter, $50,000 on Business, $200,000 on Premium, with an overage charge above them. Check the current terms before you plan around a cap.
The catalogue
Sellfy: merch and email in the same store
Every Sellfy plan includes print-on-demand merchandise, subscriptions and email marketing alongside digital downloads. If your audience buys a hoodie as readily as a PDF, that is one store instead of two.
Payhip covers digital products, memberships and a mailing list, and it runs a public marketplace where buyers can find listings, a discovery channel Sellfy does not offer.
The honest breakeven
About $580 a month is where it flips.
A $29 plan and a 5% fee cost the same when 5% of your sales equals $29. That is $580 in monthly sales(29 ÷ 0.05). Below that line Payhip’s free plan is cheaper; above it, Sellfy’s Starter plan is.
Two things bend it. Billed annually, Sellfy costs about 25% less, which moves the crossover down to roughly $435 a month. And Starter caps at $10,000 of sales a year (about $833 a month) after which you are on the $79 Business plan and the crossover moves up to about $1,580 a month. So the cheaper platform can switch twice on the way up.
A third option
Both assume the product already exists.
Payhip and Sellfy are good at the same job: taking a finished file and putting a checkout in front of it. Neither helps you make the file. If the reason you have not launched is that the ebook, course, or template pack is still an idea, that is the gap MKKT fills. Its product studio drafts the product itself, plus the sales copy and the store page, from what you describe or upload.
| Platform | You keep on a $49 sale | Per-sale fee | Monthly fee | Builds the product with you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payhip | $44.83 | 5% (free plan) | $0 to $99 | No |
| Sellfy | $47.28 | No platform cut | $29+ | No |
| MKKT | $43.85 | 7% flat | $0 | Yes, AI product studio |
Payhip and Sellfy pricing checked August 2026. "You keep" assumes a single $49 digital sale and excludes any monthly plan. All three settle through a payment processor, so card processing (estimated at 2.9% + $0.30) is shown separately rather than all-in. Payhip's figure is its free plan; its $29 and $99 plans lower the per-sale rate. Sellfy's plans start at $29 a month. Platforms change pricing, so check their sites for the latest.
- 7% per sale, $0 a month
- One branded storefront on your own link
- Instant file delivery, no buyer account needed
- The same rate at every volume, no tiers
The honest limits: MKKT is newer than both, product files cap at 100 MB each, it sells digital products only (no print-on-demand) and it is not a merchant of record, so unlike Payhip the VAT and sales-tax filings stay yours. Payouts work differently too: MKKT sets up your payment account from your email address, with no bank details on day one, and you verify your identity once before your first withdrawal, a check that gates withdrawal rather than selling.
FAQ
Questions, answered straight.
- Which is cheaper, Payhip or Sellfy?
- It depends on your monthly volume. Payhip's free plan costs nothing and takes 5% of each sale; Sellfy takes no platform cut but starts at $29 a month. Below roughly $580 a month in sales, 5% costs less than a $29 plan. Above that Sellfy is cheaper, until Starter's $10,000 annual sales cap moves you to the $79 plan.
- Can I move my products from Payhip to Sellfy?
- Yes. The files are yours on both platforms, so you download them from Payhip and upload them to a Sellfy store. What does not move is your links: every product URL changes, so update your bio, your emails, and any embeds. Keep the old store live until the new one is taking payments, and check each platform’s file limits before you upload.
- Does Payhip or Sellfy handle EU VAT?
- Payhip does more of it. Payhip acts as the reseller for digital EU and UK VAT, and as a marketplace facilitator for US and Canadian sales tax, so it collects and files those for you. Sellfy applies EU VAT rates at checkout and gives you a VAT MOSS report, but states plainly that you are the merchant of record, so the filing stays yours.
- What if I have not made the product yet?
- Both Payhip and Sellfy assume you already have a finished file to upload. MKKT is a third option that drafts the product itself (an ebook, course, guide, or template pack) plus the sales copy and the store page, from what you describe or upload. It charges 7% per sale and no monthly fee. It is newer than both, product files cap at 100 MB, and it is not a merchant of record.
Compare MKKT with more platforms
Or start from
what you know.
If the product is still an idea, MKKT drafts it with you and sells it for 7% a sale.
Free to start · 7% per sale · no card required