Disclosure: We sell our own digital products on Gumroad, which we use as a reference point on this page, and on Payhip, which we compare here. Some of our free calculators and two of our paid spreadsheets are linked on this page, and we earn the sale price if you buy one. We have no partnership with systeme.io, Kit, Payhip or Gumroad, and none of them pays us for a link here.

If you’re selling your first ebook, template or mini-course, you probably don’t want a monthly bill yet. systeme.io, Kit and Payhip all let you sell for $0 a month. What differs is the cut each one takes per sale, how big your email list can get before you have to pay, and what else is included.

We compared the published pricing of all three on October 20, 2026, with Gumroad as a reference point. We left out limited-time promotions because they expire. Prices change, so check the linked pricing page before you decide.

The short version

  • Lowest cost per sale on a free plan: systeme.io’s free plan charges no transaction fee, so you pay only Stripe or PayPal processing. It also includes sales funnels, unlimited email sends and one course, but the free plan stops at 2,000 contacts.
  • Bigger email list, still $0 a month: Kit’s free plan covers up to 10,000 subscribers and lets you sell digital products and subscriptions for 3.5% + 30¢ per sale, card processing included.
  • A simple storefront with tax handled for you: Payhip’s free plan costs 5% per sale plus card processing. Payhip says it collects and remits EU/UK VAT and US/Canadian sales tax on digital sales.
  • For reference: Gumroad also has no monthly fee, but takes 10% + $0.50 per direct sale, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing.

Free plans at a glance

  systeme.io Free Kit Free Payhip Free Gumroad (reference)
Monthly price $0, no card needed $0 $0 $0
Platform cut per sale 0% 3.5% + 30¢, card processing included 5% 10% + $0.50 on direct sales
Card processing Stripe or PayPal, your own account (Stripe US: 2.9% + 30¢) Included in the 3.5% + 30¢ Stripe or PayPal at their standard rates 2.9% + $0.30 on top
Email list on the free plan 2,000 contacts, unlimited sends; 1 email campaign and 1 automation rule 10,000 subscribers, unlimited broadcasts; email sequences and visual automations need a paid plan Not compared here (check Payhip’s features page) Not compared here
Other free-plan limits 3 sales funnels, 1 course, 1 blog, 1 custom domain Unlimited forms and landing pages Same features on every plan; you upgrade only to cut the fee No plans or tiers
First paid step Startup $17/month (5,000 contacts, 10 funnels, 5 courses) Creator $39/month at 1,000 subscribers ($33 billed yearly) Plus $29/month, fee drops to 2% None

What a month really costs: a worked example

Assumptions: a $20 product sold to US buyers paying by card. Where you connect your own Stripe account (systeme.io, Payhip), processing is 2.9% + 30¢, or $0.88 per sale. Kit’s 3.5% + 30¢ already includes processing, and Gumroad’s 2.9% + $0.30 card processing is added on top of its fee. International cards and PayPal usually cost more where you pay Stripe or PayPal yourself.

Selling $500 a month (25 sales):

Option Platform fees Card processing Total a month Share of sales
systeme.io Free $0 2.9% × $500 + 25 × $0.30 = $22.00 $22.00 4.4%
Kit Free 3.5% × $500 + 25 × $0.30 = $25.00 Included $25.00 5.0%
Payhip Free 5% × $500 = $25.00 $22.00 $47.00 9.4%
Gumroad, direct sales 10% × $500 + 25 × $0.50 = $62.50 $22.00 $84.50 16.9%

Selling $3,000 a month (150 sales):

Option Platform fees Card processing Total a month Share of sales
systeme.io Free (under 2,000 contacts) $0 2.9% × $3,000 + 150 × $0.30 = $132.00 $132.00 4.4%
systeme.io Startup (2,000 to 5,000 contacts) $17.00 $132.00 $149.00 5.0%
Kit Free (under 10,000 subscribers) 3.5% × $3,000 + 150 × $0.30 = $150.00 Included $150.00 5.0%
Payhip Plus $29 + 2% × $3,000 = $89.00 $132.00 $221.00 7.4%
Payhip Free 5% × $3,000 = $150.00 $132.00 $282.00 9.4%
Gumroad, direct sales 10% × $3,000 + 150 × $0.50 = $375.00 $132.00 $507.00 16.9%

What this shows:

  • systeme.io Free is cheapest per sale because it adds nothing on top of processing. Against Kit Free the gap is 0.6% of sales: $3 a month at $500, $18 at $3,000.
  • Once your list passes 2,000 contacts, systeme.io’s $17 Startup plan only beats Kit Free when you sell more than about $2,833 a month (0.6% of sales covers the $17). Below that, Kit Free is cheaper and lets your list grow to 10,000 for free.
  • Payhip costs more per sale than either, but it’s a dedicated store that says it handles EU/UK VAT and US/Canadian sales tax for you. If you’d otherwise have to deal with that yourself, it can be worth the difference. Payhip Plus beats Payhip Free above about $967 a month (3% of sales covers the $29).
  • Gumroad costs the most at both sizes: $62.50 more than systeme.io Free at $500 a month and $375 more at $3,000.

Want to check your own numbers? Our seller fee comparison calculator and PayPal and Stripe fee calculator work out the per-sale cuts at your own price.

Who each one is best for

systeme.io is best for sellers who want a sales page, checkout, email list and a small course in one place, with the lowest per-sale cost, while their list is under 2,000 contacts. Its pricing page also lists your own affiliate program for your products on the free plan.

Kit is best for creators whose main asset is a newsletter and who want to sell a few products to it. The 10,000-subscriber free plan is far bigger than the other free plans, and selling is built in. See our Kit vs beehiiv vs MailerLite comparison for the paid plans.

Payhip is best for people who want a simple storefront for downloads, courses or memberships, and want sales tax collected and remitted for them. See our Gumroad alternatives guide for how its paid plans compare.

The honest downsides

systeme.io

  • The free plan allows only 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign (an automated email series), so running separate series, such as a welcome series and a launch series, will likely mean upgrading to the $17 plan.
  • 2,000 contacts is the smallest list limit of the three free plans.
  • The free plan includes 1 course. The pricing page’s FAQ lists a 500-student limit on the free plan, while its list of what all plans include says unlimited students, so check the current plan grid if you plan to sell a course.
  • It’s an all-in-one tool: if you already use a separate email tool or store, you’ll be paying for overlap once you upgrade.

Kit

  • Every sale costs 3.5% + 30¢ on every plan, so the cut grows with your revenue.
  • Email sequences and visual automations are paid features.

Payhip (where we also sell some of our products)

  • 5% per sale on the free plan is the highest platform cut of the three.
  • You still pay Stripe or PayPal processing on top.

Gumroad (where our own products are sold)

  • 10% + $0.50 per direct sale, plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing, makes it the most expensive option here at every sales level in our examples.

How to choose in two minutes

  1. Your list is under 2,000 people and you want the lowest cost per sale: systeme.io Free.
  2. Your list is (or will soon be) 2,000 to 10,000 people and you mostly send a newsletter: Kit Free.
  3. You want a store that handles sales tax and don’t need an email tool from the same company: Payhip Free, then Plus above about $967 a month.
  4. Not sure yet: start on a free plan, since none of them charge a monthly fee until you upgrade.
  5. Before you commit, read the current pricing page. The numbers above were correct on October 20, 2026.

Sources

All checked 2026-10-20 on each company’s official page.

  • systeme.io pricing (Free: 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course, 1 blog, 1 affiliate program, 1 custom domain, unlimited emails, 1 automation rule, 1 email campaign, 500 students, no credit card, never expires; Startup $17, Webinar $47, Unlimited $97 a month; 0% transaction fees on all plans; Stripe or PayPal at no extra cost; page “last updated April 2026”): https://systeme.io/pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Kit pricing (free Newsletter plan up to 10,000 subscribers; Creator $33 a month billed yearly, $390 a year, at 1,000 subscribers; 3.5% + 30c on digital products and subscriptions, inclusive of card processing, on all plans): https://kit.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Kit help, “The Kit Free plan” (up to 10,000 subscribers, unlimited forms, landing pages and broadcasts, digital products and subscriptions; visual automations and email sequences on paid plans): https://help.kit.com/en/articles/16627071-the-kit-free-plan (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Kit help, “Sell digital products with Kit” (3.5% + $0.30 per USD transaction, available on every plan including Free): https://help.kit.com/en/articles/4199324-sell-digital-products-with-kit-overview-and-faqs (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Payhip pricing (Free $0 + 5%, Plus $29 + 2%, Pro $99 + 0%; all features on every plan; PayPal/Stripe fees extra at their standard rates; EU/UK VAT and US/Canadian sales tax handling): https://payhip.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Gumroad pricing (10% + $0.50 on direct sales, no monthly fee): https://gumroad.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Gumroad help, “Gumroad’s fees” (fee excludes credit card processing of 2.9% + $0.30): https://gumroad.com/help/article/66-gumroads-fees (checked 2026-10-20)
  • Stripe US card rate 2.9% + 30¢: https://stripe.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-20)

Worked examples use US card rates. International cards cost more on most platforms.

Free tools for sellers

Spreadsheets from us

  • Seller Fee Formulas for Google Sheets ($9, on Payhip): custom functions such as STRIPEFEE, PAYPALFEE and GUMROADFEE, plus BREAKEVENPRICE, which finds the price you need for a target profit under any percentage-plus-fixed fee (for example Kit’s 3.5% + 30¢ or Payhip’s 5%). (Our product.)
  • Gumroad Seller Finance Tracker (pay what you want from $9): imports your Gumroad sales CSV and splits gross sales, Gumroad fees, card processing and refunds into a profit and loss sheet with a tax set-aside. (Our product.)

Disclosure: Seller Fee Formulas for Google Sheets and the Gumroad Seller Finance Tracker are our own paid products, and we earn the sale price if you buy one.