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E-Commerce · head to head

Gumroad vs SamCart

Gumroad logo

Gumroad

E-Commerce

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
SamCart logo

SamCart

E-Commerce

The number one checkout platform

From
$79/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; SamCart no feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gumroad and SamCart actually diverge.

Attributes where Gumroad and SamCart differ
AttributeGumroadSamCart
Starting priceOn request$79/month
Pricing modeltransactionsubscription

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 Gumroad

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

Only in SamCart

Nothing recorded that Gumroad does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Gumroad

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

SamCart

  • Increasing average order value through automated order bumps and upsellsnot Gumroad
  • Recovering failed subscription payments with retry logic and dunning managementnot Gumroad
  • Generating sales pages, emails, and ads with AI from product descriptionsnot Gumroad
  • Sending cart abandonment recovery emails without customer re-entrynot Gumroad
  • Migrating existing customer bases from competing platforms without data lossnot Gumroad

Where each one falls short

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

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.

SamCart

  • No feature differentiation between CORE and PRO tiers, pricing tier based on expected transaction volume only
  • Transaction fees of 2.9% plus $0.30 apply to all plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Gumroad

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

SamCart

$79/month
  • CORE$79/month
    • All features included
  • PRO$199/month
    • All features included

Which should you pick?

Choose Gumroad if

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

Choose SamCart if

Nothing in the data separates SamCart from Gumroad on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

SamCart review

Questions people ask

Is Gumroad or SamCart better?
Neither clearly leads. Gumroad starts at On request and SamCart at $79/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gumroad or SamCart?
Gumroad starts at On request and SamCart at $79/month.
Does Gumroad or SamCart run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Gumroad best used for?
Gumroad is most often used for an individual creator selling ebooks, templates or presets without wanting to run any infrastructure, a developer selling a small software product that needs licence key issuance and delivery, a writer or educator running a paid membership or course for an existing audience, anyone selling digital goods internationally who does not want to register for vat across jurisdictions. Of those, an individual creator selling ebooks, templates or presets without wanting to run any infrastructure and a developer selling a small software product that needs licence key issuance and delivery are not what SamCart is typically brought in for.
What can Gumroad do that SamCart cannot?
Gumroad covers Digital product delivery, Memberships and subscriptions, Merchant of record, No monthly subscription.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

SamCart: How much does SamCart cost?

SamCart offers two subscription tiers: CORE at $79/month and PRO at $199/month. Both plans include all features with no restrictions between tiers.

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.

SamCart: What are SamCart's transaction fees?

SamCart charges a transaction fee of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on all payments processed through the platform.

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.

SamCart: Does SamCart offer a free trial?

Yes, SamCart offers a 7-day free trial available for both the CORE and PRO plans, allowing customers to test the platform before committing to a subscription.

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.

SamCart: Does SamCart offer migration services from other platforms?

Yes, SamCart offers done-for-you migration services for customers switching from Kajabi, ThriveCart, ClickFunnels, Shopify, and Teachable. Specific pricing for migration services is not listed on the main page.

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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