Stripe vs Gumroad fees for selling a digital product
What a US creator keeps from one sale of 5 to 2,000 US dollars, computed from the fee Stripe publishes for a domestic online card payment and the fee Gumroad publishes for a direct sale.
The two rows do not buy the same thing, and the Gumroad row is partial.
- Stripe is priced here as a card processor: 2.9% + 0.30 US dollars for a domestic card entered online, at standard pricing.
- Gumroad publishes 10% + 0.50 US dollars per sale through your profile or a direct link. Gumroad says it has been merchant of record since January 1, 2025 and handles sales tax collection and remittance, so part of its fee pays for that.
- Gumroad (partial): whether a separate payment processing fee is added to the 10% + 0.50 could not be read on a Gumroad page on 2026-10-06, so no processing number is included and the real deduction may be higher than shown.
The short answer
At the published rates, the Gumroad fee is higher than the Stripe fee at every amount on this page: by 0.55 US dollars on a sale of 5, by 0.91 on 10, by 1.97 on 25, by 7.30 on 100, by 35.70 on 500 and by 142.20 on 2,000. On small prices the fixed fee per sale weighs most: both take a large share of a 5 US dollar sale. What the difference pays for is covered further down.
Worked examples at 100, 500 and 2,000 US dollars
| Provider and rate | Buyer pays | Fee | Effective % | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe online card payment, 2.9% + $0.30 | $100.00 | $3.20 | 3.20% | $96.80 |
| Gumroad direct sale, 10% + $0.50 (partial) | $100.00 | $10.50 | 10.50% | $89.50 |
| Stripe online card payment, 2.9% + $0.30 | $500.00 | $14.80 | 2.96% | $485.20 |
| Gumroad direct sale, 10% + $0.50 (partial) | $500.00 | $50.50 | 10.10% | $449.50 |
| Stripe online card payment, 2.9% + $0.30 | $2,000.00 | $58.30 | 2.92% | $1,941.70 |
| Gumroad direct sale, 10% + $0.50 (partial) | $2,000.00 | $200.50 | 10.03% | $1,799.50 |
Source: Pricing & Fees (stripe.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Pricing (gumroad.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Small prices: 5, 10 and 25 US dollars
Most digital products sell for far less than 100 US dollars. Each row below is one sale; the fixed fee is charged on every sale, so ten sales of 10 cost ten times the fee shown for one sale of 10, not the fee of one sale of 100.
| Provider and rate | Buyer pays | Fee | Effective % | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe online card payment, 2.9% + $0.30 | $5.00 | $0.45 | 9.00% | $4.55 |
| Gumroad direct sale, 10% + $0.50 (partial) | $5.00 | $1.00 | 20.00% | $4.00 |
| Stripe online card payment, 2.9% + $0.30 | $10.00 | $0.59 | 5.90% | $9.41 |
| Gumroad direct sale, 10% + $0.50 (partial) | $10.00 | $1.50 | 15.00% | $8.50 |
| Stripe online card payment, 2.9% + $0.30 | $25.00 | $1.03 | 4.12% | $23.97 |
| Gumroad direct sale, 10% + $0.50 (partial) | $25.00 | $3.00 | 12.00% | $22.00 |
Source: Pricing & Fees (stripe.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Pricing (gumroad.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
The other published rates
Gumroad publishes a second rate: 30% when the sale is to a new customer who finds you through its Discover marketplace, with no fixed fee. Stripe publishes a separate rate for ACH Direct Debit, a bank debit instead of a card: 0.8% with the fee capped at 5.00 US dollars.
| Provider and rate | Buyer pays | Fee | Effective % | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad Discover sale to a new customer, 30% | $100.00 | $30.00 | 30.00% | $70.00 |
| Gumroad Discover sale to a new customer, 30% | $500.00 | $150.00 | 30.00% | $350.00 |
| Gumroad Discover sale to a new customer, 30% | $2,000.00 | $600.00 | 30.00% | $1,400.00 |
| Stripe ACH Direct Debit, 0.8%, fee capped at $5.00 | $100.00 | $0.80 | 0.80% | $99.20 |
| Stripe ACH Direct Debit, 0.8%, fee capped at $5.00 | $500.00 | $4.00 | 0.80% | $496.00 |
| Stripe ACH Direct Debit, 0.8%, fee capped at $5.00 | $2,000.00 | $5.00 | 0.25% | $1,995.00 |
Source: Pricing (gumroad.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Pricing & Fees (stripe.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
What the difference pays for
- The Stripe figure is the price of processing one card payment. This comparison assumes you already have a way to sell and deliver the product; if you would have to pay for one, add its cost to the Stripe rows.
- Gumroad says it acts as merchant of record and handles sales tax collection and remittance. The Stripe rows include nothing for sales tax handling.
- A Discover sale costs 30% because Gumroad's marketplace brought the customer; a direct sale is a customer you brought yourself.
- Stripe publishes an extra 0.5% when the card number is keyed in by hand instead of being entered by the customer online.
Source: Pricing (gumroad.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Pricing & Fees (stripe.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Getting the money to your bank
Stripe lists an Instant Payout for US accounts at 1.5% with a minimum of 0.50 US dollars. No fee for a standard Stripe payout was read on its pricing page, and no payout fee is stated on Gumroad's pricing page, so neither is recorded here. Those are gaps in what was read, not statements that the payouts are free.
Source: Pricing & Fees (stripe.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
Source: Pricing (gumroad.com), fees last verified 2026-10-06
What this comparison leaves out
- Buyers outside the US and currency conversion. Stripe's published surcharges for them are part of the Pro page; Gumroad publishes none on the pages read.
- Taxes, chargebacks, refunds and custom pricing.
- Rounding: fees are rounded to the nearest cent here. A provider may round one cent differently.
Use the calculator for any other price, or to find what to charge to keep a target amount. Gumroad next to Patreon and Lemon Squeezy is on the Gumroad vs Patreon vs Ko-fi page, and the method is on the methodology page.