Can you sell digital products on Etsy and Gumroad?
Etsy drives 4x more traffic, Gumroad keeps 8.5% more per sale. Real earnings data from 152K products across both platforms.
Etsy vs Gumroad Fees: What You Actually Keep
- Gumroad costs $3.25 more per $100 sale — $390/year extra at $1K/month revenue
- Etsy offers 3-4x more organic traffic but Gumroad sellers own customer data entirely
- Best strategy: list on Etsy for discovery, sell on Gumroad for margin — use both platforms
- Etsy's 15% offsite ads fee is a hidden cost; Gumroad's 10% + processing is more predictable
Written for sellers choosing between marketplace and direct-sale platforms. Based on InsightRaider's analysis of 146,271 products.
On a $100 sale, Gumroad takes $13.20 (10% platform + 2.9% + $0.30). Etsy takes roughly $9.95 (6.5% transaction + $0.20/listing listing + 3% + $0.25).
Gumroad costs $3.25 more per $100 sale. On $1,000/month revenue, that's $32.50/month or $390/year in extra fees.
But the fee gap narrows on lower-priced products. On a $10 sale: Gumroad takes $1.62 (16.2%), Etsy takes $1.30 (13%). The percentage difference grows as prices shrink.
Average Seller Earnings: Etsy vs Gumroad
From our analysis of 146,271 Gumroad products:
- Median Gumroad product: 28 sales at $13 median price → ~$364 lifetime - Average Gumroad product: 272 sales at $49.18 avg price → $15,910 lifetime
Etsy's marketplace advantage shows in traffic volume — sellers report 3-4x more organic visits than Gumroad. But Gumroad sellers keep a larger share per sale and own their customer data entirely.
The categories matter too. Software Development dominates Gumroad at $65.8M, while Etsy's digital category skews toward printables, planners, and design assets.
For a deeper look, see Which is better for digital products Gumroad or Etsy.
Etsy Traffic vs Gumroad Margins: The Real Trade-off
Etsy's built-in audience is its biggest advantage. Millions of buyers search Etsy daily — you're tapping into existing demand. On Gumroad, you bring your own traffic.
Gumroad's margin advantage: no listing fees, no offsite ads surcharge, no subscription tiers. You pay 10% + processing only when you sell.
The data-driven approach:
- New sellers with no audience: start on Etsy for discovery, use the traffic to build an email list - Creators with existing audience (blog, YouTube, social): Gumroad keeps more per sale and you own the customer relationship - High-volume sellers ($5K+/mo): the fee difference compounds — run the math for your specific price point
We break this down further in What are the pros and cons of Gumroad vs Etsy.
Dual-Platform Strategy: When to Use Both
Selling on both Etsy and Gumroad simultaneously works when done strategically:
On Etsy: list discoverable products (templates, printables, design assets) that match what Etsy shoppers search for. Optimize titles and tags for Etsy SEO.
On Gumroad: sell directly to your audience — courses, software, premium bundles. Use your website, email list, and social media to drive traffic.
The email list bridge: every Etsy sale should capture an email (via packaging inserts or follow-up). Every email subscriber gets directed to your Gumroad store for higher-margin products.
Products that work best on each:
- Etsy: printables, planners, Canva templates, SVG files, craft patterns - Gumroad: courses, software, ebooks, Notion templates, code snippets, music - Both: design assets, fonts, presets (list on Etsy for discovery, sell on Gumroad for margin)
Related: How To Sell Digital Products Gumroad.
Choosing the Right Platform by Product Type
Match your product to the platform where buyers already search for it:
| Platform | Platform Fee | Processing | Cost on $100 Sale | Monthly Plan | Payout | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad | 10% | 2.9% + $0.30 | $13.20 | $0 | Weekly | Digital products, simplicity |
| Whop | 3% | 2.9% + $0.30 | $6.20 | $0 | Instant | Communities, memberships |
| Systeme.io | 0% | Included | $0 | $27–$97 | Weekly | Funnels, email, all-in-one |
| Payhip | 5% | 2.9% + $0.30 | $8.20 | $0 | Instant | E-books, courses |
| Lemonsqueezy | 5% + 50¢ | Included | $5.50 | $0 | Weekly | Software, SaaS licenses |
Bottom line: Etsy wins on traffic and discoverability. Gumroad wins on margins, customer ownership, and flexibility. The best strategy depends on whether you have an existing audience or need to build one.
If you're deciding where to start, check what digital products sell best on Gumroad for category-level revenue data.
- Gumroad Official Pricing — Current fee structure
- Sahil Lavingia, "Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company" — Gumroad founder on platform economics
- Gumroad Creator Blog — Official creator resources
How we analyzed this
- Sample size: 146,271 public Gumroad products tracked across 18 categories, covering $206M in estimated lifetime revenue.
- Revenue estimation: sales count × listed price. Validated against 30+ creators who shared actual numbers (±15–20% margin of error).
- Data window: 2024-01 to . Refreshed monthly.
- Exclusions:inactive products (no sales in 90 days), spam/test products (< 1 review or price = $0).
Limitations
- Revenue figures are estimates, not reported sales. Creators may use unlisted links or off-platform fulfillment that don’t appear in public data.
- Our dataset covers activeproducts only. Creators who quietly stopped selling don’t skew medians upward here, so real-world failure rates may be higher than reported.
- Category medians can vary ±15% depending on sampling period and seasonality. Always treat single data points as directional, not absolute.
Cite this
InsightRaider. (2026). Can you sell digital products on Etsy and Gumroad?. insightraider.com. Retrieved April 21, 2026. https://insightraider.com/en/answers/can-you-sell-digital-products-on-etsy-and-gumroad
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