On score, Ticket Tailor comes out on top: no subscription and no percentage commission, just a small flat fee per paid ticket, with free-entry tickets at no cost. It's built for selling event tickets, though, not digital products. If you sell downloads, courses or software, compare Payhip (free to start, 5% per sale on the free plan and 0% on Pro), Lemon Squeezy (5% + 50¢ per sale, with global tax handled for you) and SamCart (high-converting checkouts and one-click upsells for a flat monthly price with a 0% platform fee).
The right pick really turns on your fee math. Flat-rate carts (SamCart, SendOwl, PayKickstart, Stan Store) charge a fixed monthly price and take 0% of sales, so they win at higher volume. Merchant-of-record platforms (Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, FastSpring) charge ~5-6% per sale but handle global tax and VAT for you, ideal for software when compliance matters more than margin.
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Best overall fit for a typical checkout tools buyer. Here's why, and when something else wins.
Low-cost event ticketing that charges a small flat per-ticket fee with no commission on revenue.
Why it fits: Highest TryToolFit score in this category (4.3 of 5). Best for: Organizers with an existing audience.
| Tool | Score | From | Free | Txn fee | Best for | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | ~$0.65 per paid ticket (no % commission) | Organizers with an existing audience | Visit | |
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | 5% (Free); 2% (Plus); 0% (Pro) | Creators selling downloads or simple courses | Visit Payhip (affiliate link, opens in a new tab) | |
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | 5% + 50¢ per sale (merchant of record) | SaaS and software sellers wanting tax handled | Visit | |
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | ~5.9% + 95¢ per sale (merchant of record) | Software and SaaS companies selling worldwide | Visit | |
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | 5% + 50¢ per sale (merchant of record) | SaaS companies selling globally | Visit | |
| | $25 | No | 0% platform fee (only Stripe/PayPal processing) | Instagram/TikTok creators selling from a bio link | Visit | |
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | 2.7% + $0.30 card processing | Creators selling gated Discord/Telegram communities | Visit | |
| | $22 | No | 0% | Creators selling downloads and simple courses | Visit | |
| | $47 | No | 0% platform fee (only Stripe/PayPal processing) | Creators wanting to own their cart outright | Visit | |
| | $59 | No | 0% platform fee (only Stripe/PayPal processing) | Course and digital-product sellers optimizing conversion | Visit | |
| | $42 | No | 5% (Mover); 0% on Shaker and up | Solo creators and teams of one | Visit | |
| | $32.5 | No | 0% (flat monthly plans, no revenue share) | Sellers of ebooks, files and license-key software | Visit | |
| | $99 | No | 0% (flat monthly plans, no revenue share) | Subscription and SaaS-style digital sellers | Visit | |
| | Free Lowest | ✓ | 10% + $0.50 per direct sale (plus processing) | Indie creators selling ebooks, templates, and lightweight courses | Visit |
Score is our composite of independent user ratings, value, and feature breadth (how we score). Prices are entry-tier estimates; verify current pricing on each site.
Most plans here are flat-rate, so the monthly price stays the same as you scale. Here's the comparison:
These plans are flat-rate, but sales fees aren't. Drag your monthly sales to see the real cost, cheapest first.
Sell courses, downloads and memberships free. Pay only a small fee per sale.
Merchant-of-record checkout that handles global tax and VAT for digital products.
Enterprise merchant of record for selling software and SaaS globally.
All-in-one merchant of record for SaaS billing, tax and global payments.
Link-in-bio storefront for creators to sell digital products and bookings.
All-in-one platform to sell digital products, memberships, and gated communities
Launch a storefront for digital products, courses and subscriptions in minutes.
Checkout cart with upsells, bump offers and affiliate management, now sold as a monthly subscription that bundles ThriveCart Academy.
Conversion-focused checkout pages with 1-click upsells and zero platform fees.
Simple all-in-one for solo creators: courses, downloads, email, and community.
Simple flat-rate checkout for digital downloads with no revenue cut.
Subscription-and-affiliate checkout platform with no revenue share.
Sell digital products and courses with no monthly fee. Pay per sale.
We email when pricing changes or a better option appears. One useful email, no spam.
Gumroad is free until it isn't. SendOwl costs $390/yr and takes 0%. The exact revenue where flat beats percentage, and why it's lower than you think.
SamCart costs $708/yr and takes 0% of sales. We work out the exact revenue where that beats Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad and ThriveCart, and where it doesn't.
The best checkout for digital products in 2026, with honest fee math: SamCart's 0% cart vs merchant-of-record tools like Lemon Squeezy and Paddle.
Creator platform fees, compared honestly: the real per-sale math at $2k and $10k/mo across Gumroad, Substack, Teachable and 0%-fee tools.
Flat-fee carts like SamCart, SendOwl and PayKickstart charge a fixed monthly price and take 0% of your sales; you handle your own sales tax. Merchant-of-record platforms like Lemon Squeezy, Paddle and FastSpring charge ~5-6% per sale but become the legal seller, remitting global VAT and sales tax on your behalf.
No. The per-sale fees here are platform/MoR fees only. Standard payment processing (typically 2.9% + 30¢ via Stripe or PayPal) is charged separately, except on merchant-of-record platforms where processing is bundled into their single fee.
Not by default any more. ThriveCart now leads with monthly plans (Standard at $47/mo, Pro+ at $87/mo, with a 30-day free trial and 0% fees on sales). A lifetime option is still offered, but without a published price, and the former $495 one-time license is no longer the headline offer.
Flat-rate carts win as you scale because their cost doesn't grow with revenue. At a few thousand sales a month, SamCart or ThriveCart's 0% platform fee beats Gumroad's 10% or Lemon Squeezy's 5% + 50¢, which keep climbing with every sale.
When volume is low or unpredictable, or when you'd otherwise pay an accountant to handle international tax. Pay-per-sale tools like Lemon Squeezy and Gumroad cost nothing until you make a sale, and merchant-of-record platforms remove tax compliance entirely.
