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E-Commerce · head to head

3dcart vs Gumroad

3dcart logo

3dcart

E-Commerce

All-in-one ecommerce platform for online retailers

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Gumroad logo

Gumroad

E-Commerce

Hosted storefront for selling digital products, memberships and courses on a per sale fee

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 3dcart limited scalability compared to enterprise e-commerce platforms; Gumroad the fee is a flat percentage of every sale with no monthly plan to cap it, so a product that succeeds pays proportionally more forever, and past a certain monthly revenue a self-hosted cart plus a payment processor costs a fraction of it.
  • They diverge on capability: 3dcart covers Store builder, Gumroad covers Digital product delivery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 3dcart and Gumroad actually diverge.

Attributes where 3dcart and Gumroad differ
Attribute3dcartGumroad
Starting price$19/monthOn request
Pricing modelUnknowntransaction
Founded1997Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 3dcart

  • Store builder
  • Unlimited products
  • Shopping cart
  • Payment processing
  • Inventory management
  • Email marketing
  • SEO optimization
  • Mobile responsive

Only in Gumroad

  • Digital product delivery
  • Memberships and subscriptions
  • Merchant of record
  • No monthly subscription
  • Discover marketplace
  • Hosted checkout
  • Licence keys
  • Email to customers

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

3dcart

  • Building multi-channel stores across Facebook, eBay, Amazon in parallelnot Gumroad
  • Recovering abandoned shopping carts with automated email sequencesnot Gumroad
  • Calculating real-time shipping costs and integrating carrier APIsnot Gumroad
  • Protecting payment processing with VISA PCI certificationnot Gumroad

Gumroad

  • An individual creator selling ebooks, templates or presets without wanting to run any infrastructurenot 3dcart
  • A developer selling a small software product that needs licence key issuance and deliverynot 3dcart
  • A writer or educator running a paid membership or course for an existing audiencenot 3dcart
  • Anyone selling digital goods internationally who does not want to register for VAT across jurisdictionsnot 3dcart

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

3dcart

  • Limited scalability compared to enterprise e-commerce platforms
  • Payment processing tied to Shift4 Payments after acquisition
  • Fewer advanced marketing and analytics features than competitors

Gumroad

  • The fee is a flat percentage of every sale with no monthly plan to cap it, so a product that succeeds pays proportionally more forever, and past a certain monthly revenue a self-hosted cart plus a payment processor costs a fraction of it.
  • Sales that come through the Discover marketplace carry a substantially higher cut, so marketplace-sourced revenue is materially less profitable than direct revenue and the two need tracking separately to know what the channel is really worth.
  • The storefront is a Gumroad-hosted page with limited layout and branding control, so the customer experience is recognisably Gumroad's rather than yours, and there is no template language to extend it.
  • Stored payment methods cannot be transferred to another platform, so migrating an active membership requires every subscriber to re-enter their card, and the churn that causes is the real exit cost rather than any contract term.
  • Acting as merchant of record means Gumroad, not you, is the party in the customer's bank statement and in the tax records, which simplifies compliance but weakens the direct customer relationship and limits what you can do with the transaction data.

Pricing, plan by plan

3dcart

$19/month
  • Starter$19/month
    • Unlimited products
    • Basic templates
    • Email support

Gumroad

On request
  • Direct Sales$undefined/mo
  • Marketplace Discovery$undefined/mo

Which should you pick?

Choose 3dcart if

  • You need store builder.
  • You also want unlimited products.

Choose Gumroad if

  • You need digital product delivery.
  • You also want memberships and subscriptions.

Questions people ask

Is 3dcart or Gumroad better?
Neither clearly leads. 3dcart starts at $19/month and Gumroad at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 3dcart or Gumroad?
3dcart starts at $19/month and Gumroad at On request.
Does 3dcart or Gumroad run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is 3dcart best used for?
3dcart is most often used for building multi-channel stores across facebook, ebay, amazon in parallel, recovering abandoned shopping carts with automated email sequences, calculating real-time shipping costs and integrating carrier apis, protecting payment processing with visa pci certification. Of those, building multi-channel stores across facebook, ebay, amazon in parallel and recovering abandoned shopping carts with automated email sequences are not what Gumroad is typically brought in for.
What can 3dcart do that Gumroad cannot?
3dcart covers Store builder, Unlimited products, Shopping cart, Payment processing. Gumroad covers Digital product delivery, Memberships and subscriptions, Merchant of record, No monthly subscription.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

3dcart: What is the starting price for 3dcart?

3dcart (now Shift4Shop) starts at $19/month with no setup fees, transaction fees, or hidden fees.

Source
Gumroad: How does Gumroad charge?

A flat percentage of each sale rather than a monthly subscription, with a higher rate on sales it sources through Discover. Check the current pricing page for whether payment processing is included in or added to that percentage.

3dcart: Does 3dcart include hosting?

Yes. 3dcart includes web hosting, domain support, and built-in website building tools with no separate hosting costs.

Source
Gumroad: When does it stop making financial sense?

When your monthly revenue times the percentage exceeds what a hosted cart subscription plus standard processing would cost. That crossover arrives earlier than most sellers expect.

3dcart: What happened to 3dcart?

Shift4 Payments acquired 3dcart in November 2020. The platform is now operated under the name Shift4Shop but maintains the same core functionality and pricing.

Source
Gumroad: Does it handle VAT on digital goods?

Yes. It acts as merchant of record and takes on calculating and remitting VAT and sales tax on digital sales, which is the main reason solo creators selling internationally choose it.

3dcart: Does 3dcart offer free templates?

Yes. 3dcart provides dozens of professionally designed, industry-specific templates that are mobile-friendly, SEO optimized, and highly customizable.

Source
Gumroad: Can I move my subscribers elsewhere later?

You can export customer records, but not stored payment methods. Every active subscriber has to re-enter a card on the new platform, and some will not.

3dcart: What payment methods does 3dcart support?

3dcart integrates with multiple payment gateways including Shift4 Payments, Stripe, PayPal, and other major payment processors.

Source
Gumroad: Can I sell physical products?

It is built for digital goods. Inventory, shipping and fulfilment are not what it is designed around, so a physical catalogue belongs on a store platform.

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