What sells better on Etsy vs Gumroad?

Written for sellers choosing between marketplace and direct-sale platforms. Based on InsightRaider's analysis of 146,271 products.

Important context: InsightRaider tracks 146,271 Gumroad products with detailed revenue estimates. We don't scrape Etsy. The Gumroad data below is from our database; Etsy comparisons use publicly available fee structures and seller-reported benchmarks.

This means we can tell you exactly what sells on Gumroad and how much it earns. For Etsy, we compare fee structures, product-market fit, and general marketplace dynamics.

On a $100 sale: - Gumroad: $13.20 total (10% platform + 2.9% + $0.30) - Etsy: ~$9.95 (6.5% transaction + $0.20 listing + 3% + $0.25 processing)

Gumroad costs $3.25 more per $100 sale. At $1,000/month, that's $32.50/month or $390/year.

But Etsy has hidden costs: - Offsite Ads fee: 15% on any sale from Etsy's advertising (mandatory for sellers above $10K/year) - Listing fees: $0.20 per listing, every 4 months (adds up with large catalogs) - Currency conversion: 2.5% on international sales

Gumroad's 10% + processing is predictable. Etsy's layered structure creates surprise costs.

For a deeper look, see Which is better for digital products Gumroad or Etsy.

Each platform attracts different buyers with different intent.

Products that sell better on Etsy: - Printables, planners, and wall art (Etsy buyers search for physical-feeling products) - SVG files and craft patterns (crafting community lives on Etsy) - Canva templates and social media kits (DIY marketers browse Etsy) - Wedding templates and party supplies (event-driven searches)

Products that sell better on Gumroad: - Software tools and code ($65.8M on Gumroad — Software is the #1 category) - Online courses ($95.74 avg price, needs creator audience) - Notion templates (fastest-growing Gumroad niche) - Ebooks and educational content (Writing & Publishing: $15,750/product) - Music, sound design, and 3D assets (creator-to-creator sales)

Products that work on both: - Design assets (fonts, icons, UI kits) - Photography presets and LUTs - Business templates (spreadsheets, dashboards)

The top Gumroad categories above show where data-driven sellers should focus. Etsy doesn't publish equivalent category revenue data.

We break this down further in Profitable Niches 2026.

Etsy's advantage: built-in demand. Millions of buyers search Etsy daily. New sellers get organic traffic from day one. You don't need an audience, a blog, or an email list to make your first sale.

Gumroad's advantage: customer ownership. You get buyer emails, build direct relationships, and control your brand. 41% of Gumroad sales come from organic search, but most traffic comes from the seller's own marketing.

The math: - Etsy: higher traffic → more sales at lower margins → no customer data ownership - Gumroad: bring your own traffic → fewer sales at higher margins → full customer list

For context, sellers with email lists on Gumroad convert at 3.2% vs 1.9% for cold traffic. Once you own the customer relationship, each subsequent product launch gets easier.

The best strategy isn't Etsy OR Gumroad — it's both, with each serving its purpose:

Phase 1 (months 1-3): List discoverable products on Etsy. Printables, templates, design assets — products people search for. Focus on Etsy SEO (titles, tags, descriptions).

Phase 2 (months 3-6): Build email list from Etsy buyers. Include a link to a free Gumroad resource in every Etsy delivery. Capture emails for direct marketing.

Phase 3 (months 6+): Launch premium products on Gumroad. Courses, software, bundles priced at $30-$200. Email your list for each launch. Gumroad's 10% fee hurts less when you're earning $30-$200/sale vs $5-$15 on Etsy.

The Gumroad data supports this: sellers with 11+ products average 5,201 total sales vs 269 for single-product sellers. A dual-platform approach naturally builds a larger catalog.

If you want to see which Gumroad categories have the highest revenue per product, check what digital products sell best on Gumroad.