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Payhip vs Sellfy: Pricing Compared for Small Creators (2026)

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Payhip lets you sell for free with no revenue ceiling and takes a cut per sale. Sellfy charges a flat subscription with zero transaction fees, but only up to a set yearly sales cap.

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Why This Comparison Matters

A creator selling an ebook, a course, or a Lightroom preset pack for the first time hits the same wall fast: every digital-product platform prices itself differently, and the “cheapest” one depends entirely on how much you sell. Payhip and Sellfy are two of the more affordable options for solo creators, but they charge in opposite directions. Payhip’s free tier costs nothing upfront and takes 5% per sale; Sellfy has no transaction fee at all but locks you into a paid plan with an annual sales cap.

This article breaks down exactly what each platform charges at every tier, what happens when you exceed Sellfy’s sales cap, and which platform actually costs less depending on your monthly revenue. Both platforms have a real, defensible advantage. By the end, you will know which one fits your situation.

Payhip Overview

Payhip is a storefront platform built for creators selling ebooks, courses, memberships, software licenses, and print-on-demand goods, with every feature available on every plan, including the free one.

Key strengths:

  • Free plan has no feature restrictions and no revenue ceiling, only a 5% transaction fee
  • Built-in affiliate program on all plans, including free, letting you recruit promoters and set commission rates yourself
  • Automatic EU and UK VAT collection and remittance on digital sales, handled by the platform at no extra charge

Key weaknesses:

  • Every plan carries some transaction fee unless you pay for the $99/month Pro tier
  • No print-on-demand integration and thinner physical-product tooling than commerce-first platforms
  • Email marketing is not built in; you need a separate tool for newsletters and abandoned-cart flows

Pricing summary: Free plan at $0/month with a 5% transaction fee, Plus at $29/month with a 2% fee, and Pro at $99/month with 0% platform fee (standard Stripe/PayPal processing still applies on all tiers). Full breakdown in the pricing table below, sourced from Payhip’s official pricing page.

Sellfy Overview

Sellfy is an all-in-one storefront for digital products, print-on-demand merchandise, and subscriptions, aimed at creators who want a flat monthly cost with zero per-sale fees.

Key strengths:

  • No transaction fee on any paid plan, only standard Stripe/PayPal processing costs
  • Built-in print-on-demand catalog for merch (shirts, mugs, posters) alongside digital products, which Payhip does not offer
  • Email marketing credits included on every plan (2,000 to 50,000 sends a month depending on tier), so you are not paying for a separate email tool

Key weaknesses:

  • Every plan carries an annual sales cap ($10,000 on Starter, $50,000 on Business, $200,000 on Premium); revenue past the cap is charged a 2% fee unless you upgrade
  • No 100%-free plan, only a 14-day trial with no credit card required
  • No built-in affiliate program, so referral-driven creators need a third-party tool

Pricing summary: Starter at $29/month ($22/month billed annually), Business at $79/month ($59/month annually), and Premium at $159/month ($119/month annually). Details in the pricing table below, sourced from Sellfy’s official pricing page.

Head-to-Head: Pricing & Fees

Here’s the deal: the “cheaper” platform flips depending on your sales volume, not your preference.

Fee TypePayhipSellfy
Entry cost$0/mo (Free plan)$29/mo, or $22/mo billed yearly (Starter, 14-day trial first)
Mid tier$29/mo (Plus)$79/mo, or $59/mo billed yearly (Business)
Top tier$99/mo (Pro)$159/mo, or $119/mo billed yearly (Premium)
Transaction fee5% (Free), 2% (Plus), 0% (Pro)0% on all paid plans
Annual sales capNone on any plan$10k (Starter), $50k (Business), $200k (Premium)
Overage feeNot applicable2% on revenue past the plan’s cap
Payment processingStripe/PayPal fees apply separatelyStripe/PayPal fees apply separately

Pricing as of the publish date above. Fees and tier limits change; always confirm current rates on Payhip’s pricing page and Sellfy’s pricing page before committing.

The math in practice: a creator doing $2,000/month in sales on Payhip’s free plan pays $100 in platform fees that month and nothing otherwise. The same creator on Sellfy’s cheapest paid plan pays $29 flat, comfortably under the $10k/year cap, and keeps the rest. Below $2,000/month, Sellfy’s flat fee usually wins. Above roughly $600-700/month in sustained sales, Sellfy’s $29 flat rate starts beating Payhip’s 5% free-tier fee, but only Payhip lets you stay on a $0/month plan while you find out if the flat fee is worth paying yet.

Head-to-Head: Features

Both platforms cover the basics: file delivery, coupon codes, customer accounts, and Stripe/PayPal checkout. Where they diverge is in the tooling built around the storefront.

FeaturePayhipSellfy
Built-in affiliate programYes, all plansNo
Automatic EU/UK VAT handlingYes, all plansNot automated by the platform
Print-on-demand merchNoYes
Physical product salesYes, limited toolingYes
Membership/subscription tiersYes, basicYes
Email marketing credits includedNoYes, 2,000-50,000/mo by tier
Max digital file upload size5GB per file, per Payhip’s help center10GB-20GB by tier, per Sellfy’s help documentation

The single biggest feature gap: Sellfy bundles email marketing into every plan, while Payhip expects you to bring your own newsletter tool. If email is core to how you sell (launch sequences, abandoned-cart nudges), that alone can offset Sellfy’s higher sticker price.

Head-to-Head: Ease of Use

Both platforms are built for non-technical creators, so neither requires coding to launch a storefront.

Payhip’s setup is the faster of the two for a first product: create an account, upload a file, set a price, and the product page is live, with the free tier removing any reason to wait before starting. Sellfy’s onboarding walks you through store branding and product setup in a similar flow, but because there is no permanent free tier, you are inside a 14-day countdown from day one, which pushes some creators to make pricing and design decisions faster than they otherwise would.

Neither platform requires a developer, and both include hosted checkout pages that work on mobile without extra configuration.

Revenue Caps: The Hidden Cost as You Scale

This is the detail most comparisons skip, and it is the one that actually decides which platform costs less for a growing creator.

Payhip has no revenue ceiling on any plan. Sell $500 or $50,000 in a month on the free tier, and the only cost is the 5% (or 2%, on Plus) transaction fee, scaling linearly with sales.

Sellfy caps annual sales per tier. Starter tops out at $10,000/year, Business at $50,000/year, and Premium at $200,000/year. Cross the cap and Sellfy applies a 2% fee to everything above it until you upgrade to the next tier.

In practice: a creator who does $12,000 in a calendar year on Sellfy’s $22/month Starter plan (billed yearly, $264/year total) pays a 2% fee on the $2,000 over the cap, roughly $40, plus the $264 subscription, for about $304/year total. The same $12,000/year on Payhip’s Plus plan at $29/month ($348/year) plus a 2% transaction fee on the full $12,000 ($240) comes to about $588/year. Sellfy wins clearly at this volume, but the gap narrows or reverses at lower sales volumes where Payhip’s free tier has no subscription cost at all.

Who Should Choose Payhip?

  • You have not made a sale yet and do not want to commit to a monthly subscription before you know if the product sells
  • You sell to EU or UK customers and want VAT collected and remitted automatically without hiring an accountant
  • You want to run an affiliate program without paying for a separate affiliate platform
  • Your sales volume is irregular or seasonal, where a percentage-based fee tracks your actual revenue better than a flat cap

Who Should Choose Sellfy?

  • You already have consistent monthly sales above roughly $600-700 and want a predictable flat cost instead of a percentage cut
  • You sell print-on-demand merchandise alongside digital products and want both in one storefront
  • Email marketing is central to your launches and you would rather not pay for a separate tool like Mailchimp or ConvertKit
  • Your yearly revenue comfortably fits under a tier’s sales cap, so the cap itself is not a practical constraint

Migration Guide: Switching Between Payhip and Sellfy

  1. Export your product files and customer list. Both platforms let you download your uploaded files directly and export customer emails as a CSV from the dashboard.
  2. Re-upload products to the new platform. Recreate each listing, including images, description, and pricing. Neither platform offers a one-click import from the other.
  3. Reconnect Stripe or PayPal. Both use the same major processors, so you can typically link the same merchant account rather than opening a new one.
  4. Redirect old product links. If your product URLs are shared in emails, social bios, or older blog posts, set up redirects or update the links manually since neither platform preserves the other’s URL structure.
  5. Rebuild your affiliate program, if applicable. Payhip’s built-in affiliates do not transfer to Sellfy, since Sellfy has no native equivalent; you would need a third-party affiliate tool to replicate it.
  6. Test a live purchase before promoting the new store. Buy your own product with a real card to confirm delivery, receipts, and any connected email sequence fire correctly.

Realistic timeframe for a creator with under 20 products: half a day to a full day, most of it spent re-uploading files and rewriting product descriptions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper overall, Payhip or Sellfy?

It depends on sales volume. Below roughly $600-700 in monthly sales, Payhip’s free plan with its 5% fee usually costs less because there is no subscription. Above that, Sellfy’s flat monthly fee with zero transaction cost tends to win, as long as you stay under your tier’s annual sales cap.

Does Payhip charge a transaction fee?

Yes, on the Free (5%) and Plus (2%) plans. The Pro plan, at $99/month, removes the platform transaction fee entirely, though standard Stripe or PayPal processing fees still apply on every tier.

Does Sellfy charge a transaction fee?

No, Sellfy does not charge a platform transaction fee on any paid plan. Standard Stripe/PayPal processing fees still apply, and revenue beyond your plan’s annual sales cap is charged a 2% fee until you upgrade.

Is there a sales cap on Sellfy’s plans?

Yes. Starter caps at $10,000/year, Business at $50,000/year, and Premium at $200,000/year. Sales beyond the cap are charged an extra 2% fee unless you move to a higher tier.

Can I sell an unlimited amount on Payhip?

Yes, no plan on Payhip has a revenue ceiling. You pay the applicable transaction fee percentage on every sale regardless of total volume.

Which platform is better for beginners with no budget?

Payhip, because its Free plan has no monthly cost and no feature restrictions, so you can list your first product and start selling before deciding whether a paid plan is worth it.

Does Payhip handle EU VAT for me?

Yes, Payhip automatically collects and remits EU and UK VAT on digital product sales to customers in those regions, on every plan, at no extra charge.

Can I sell courses and memberships on Sellfy?

Sellfy supports subscription-based digital products, which can be structured as memberships, but it does not have a dedicated course-building interface with drip content the way education-first platforms do.

How long does migration take between Payhip and Sellfy?

For a creator with under 20 products, expect roughly half a day to a full day, since neither platform offers a direct one-click import from the other and product listings must be recreated manually.

Does Sellfy or Payhip have better email marketing tools?

Sellfy, because it includes email marketing credits (2,000 to 50,000 sends a month depending on tier) directly in the platform. Payhip has no built-in email marketing tool, so you would need a separate service.

Can you use both Payhip and Sellfy at the same time?

Yes, nothing prevents running both simultaneously, though most creators consolidate to one to avoid managing duplicate inventories, customer lists, and checkout flows.

What happens to your store and files if you cancel your Payhip or Sellfy plan?

On Payhip, downgrading to the Free plan keeps your store live with the 5% transaction fee reapplied; fully closing the account removes public access to your storefront. On Sellfy, letting a paid subscription lapse after the trial suspends the storefront until you resubscribe. Always export your product files and customer list before cancelling either.

Are there hidden fees on either platform?

Both are transparent about their listed fees, but neither absorbs standard payment processor costs (roughly 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction on Stripe/PayPal), which are separate from the platform’s own pricing and apply on both Payhip and Sellfy.

The Bottom Line

Payhip and Sellfy solve the same problem with opposite pricing logic: Payhip scales its cost with your revenue through a percentage fee and never caps how much you can sell, while Sellfy charges a flat subscription and caps how much you can sell before an overage fee kicks in. Neither is a strawman version of the other; each wins clearly in a specific volume range.

If you are pre-revenue or your sales are inconsistent month to month, start with Payhip’s free plan. There is no cost until you make a sale, and no commitment if the product does not sell. If you already have predictable monthly sales in the hundreds of dollars and want print-on-demand or built-in email marketing, Sellfy’s flat pricing will likely cost less and do more.

Compare more digital-product platforms to see how Payhip and Sellfy stack up against Podia, Gumroad, and other creator storefronts before you commit.

More Platform Comparisons for Digital Sellers

Payhip and Sellfy are two options in a much wider field. If neither is a clean fit, these head-to-head breakdowns cover how each one stacks up against other creator and store platforms:

Sellfy against other platforms:

Payhip and other creator-focused platforms:

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About This Research

CartCompare Editorial Team is an independent e-commerce platform research group that evaluates store builders, marketplaces, and digital-product platforms against a fixed framework of pricing, core features, ease of use, and audience fit.

This article is based on direct review of Payhip’s and Sellfy’s official pricing and help-center pages, cross-referenced for consistency, rather than third-party estimates or vendor-supplied summaries.

Content reviewed and updated: 2026-08-29

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