Gumroad sells products.
We build businesses.
Gumroad is genuinely great at one thing: selling a $7 PDF or a $27 ebook with a clean checkout. We're not here to trash it. But the moment you want courses with drip, a community, real email automation, a CRM, multi-step funnels, and an affiliate program — you've outgrown the storefront. You need a platform.
10% sounds small.
Until it isn't.
Gumroad charges 10% per sale, plus payment processing on top (2.9% + $0.30 for cards, 3.49% for PayPal). For new accounts, that 10% is the standing rate; some grandfathered creators are still on older tiers. Below is what that costs at a few revenue levels, compared to Simplero's flat platform fee with 0% transaction fees.
| Monthly revenue | Gumroad fees (10%) | Simplero Starter ($59) | Net difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $100/mo · $1,200/yr | $59/mo · $708/yr | $492 saved/yr |
| $5,000 | $500/mo · $6,000/yr | $59/mo · $708/yr | $5,292 saved/yr |
| $10,000 | $1,000/mo · $12,000/yr | $59/mo · $708/yr | $11,292 saved/yr |
| $25,000 | $2,500/mo · $30,000/yr | $149/mo · $1,788/yr | $28,212 saved/yr |
Payment processing (~2.9% + $0.30) exists on both platforms and isn't counted above. Numbers reflect Gumroad's published 10% rate for new creators as of 2026; older accounts may be grandfathered on lower rates. Source: gumroad.com/pricing.
A storefront, not a business platform.
Gumroad's checkout is genuinely excellent. Their marketplace reach is real. But once you want to actually run a business — drip a course, build a community, send a behavioral email sequence, manage affiliates — you'll be stitching together four or five more tools.
No real course platform.
Gumroad delivers files. There's no drip schedule, no quizzes, no certificates, no completion tracking, no proper student experience. If you sell a course, your students get a download link.
No community. No automation. No CRM.
The email tool is basic broadcast. There's no behavior-triggered automation, no segmentation engine, no community space, no CRM. Plan to add ConvertKit, Discord, and Notion to compensate.
No affiliate program at scale.
Gumroad supports affiliate links, but not the kind of program you'd run for a real launch — no tiers, no payout management, no leaderboard, no performance reporting at a level that matters when affiliates are driving meaningful revenue.
What Gumroad creators actually say.
"Gumroad is quietly taking half of my earnings as 'Application Fee.' I had no idea the cut was this deep until I added it all up."
"Gumroad fees are insane. 10% on everything, forever."
"It's fine for a $5 PDF. The moment you want to do anything more — drip a course, run a launch, manage affiliates — you hit a wall."
"10% + $0.50 per transaction adds up fast at any real volume."
"I love how easy Gumroad is to start. I just don't love that as I grew, the platform didn't grow with me. The fees got loud."
"What's the best platform to sell digital products without losing a big chunk to fees?"
"Gumroad is great for selling. Not for building anything resembling a business around what you sell."
Gumroad vs Simplero.Whole platform vs whole platform.
Gumroad is a checkout. Simplero is the operating system you'd build behind that checkout if you stayed long enough.
| Gumroad | Simplero | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly platform fee | $0 | $59 / $149 / $249 |
| Transaction fees | 10% + $0.50 per sale | 0% on every plan |
| Contacts / email | Basic broadcast email | 500 / 1K / 5K + full email engine |
| Courses with drip | — file delivery only | Full LMS, drip, quizzes, certificates |
| Community | — | Native community spaces |
| CRM | — | Built-in |
| Automations | — basic email only | Behavioral, multi-trigger |
| Affiliate program | Basic affiliate links | Full program with tiers, payouts, reporting |
| Video hosting | Limited | Included, unlimited |
| Custom domains | Limited | Full custom domain support |
| Founder access | — | Calvin still answers emails |
| Years in business | 12 (founded 2012) | 17 (founded 2009) |
| Funding model | VC-backed; layoffs in 2022 | Bootstrapped, profitable, independent |
Three things 10% can't buy back.
0% vs 10%. Forever.
Gumroad takes 10% of every dollar you make, every month, in perpetuity. Simplero charges a flat platform fee and takes nothing from your sales. The math compounds.
A storefront vs a business platform.
Gumroad is one tool — checkout. Simplero is courses, community, email, automation, CRM, funnels, and affiliates in one place. One platform, one login, one source of truth.
Founder access.
Calvin still personally answers customer emails. Paid concierge tier opens a direct line to product leadership. Try that on Gumroad.
Calm, capable, actually here.
"I scored 12 platforms on a spreadsheet. Simplero won. The software is intuitive. The support team is amazing. The founder really cares."
"My income tripled, quadrupled in the last six years."
"I ended up paying my annual plan for Simplero in what I was paying for one month of all my subscriptions."
"There are no chatbot-gates you have to get through to get support from an actual human."
Flat, predictable, 0% on every plan.
Three tiers, billed by contacts. We don't bill for unsubscribed or bounced contacts. We haven't raised prices in years.
Stop paying 10% to grow.
Gumroad is genuinely good at what it does. If you're selling a $7 PDF to your audience, stay on Gumroad. If you're building a business, you'll outgrow it. When you do, we're here — with a working email engine, a real LMS, a community, automations, a CRM, and 17 years of staying boring on purpose.
Make it simplero™
