The 10 Best Platforms to Sell Digital Products in 2026 (Compared)

So you have created a digital product and you are ready to start selling. The next big question is: where? The platform you choose can make or break your business. Pick the wrong one and you will spend months fighting an uphill battle. Pick the right one and sales can start flowing almost immediately.

The problem is that there are dozens of options, and each one works better for certain types of products and sellers. This guide compares the 10 most popular platforms for selling digital products in 2026, with honest breakdowns of fees, traffic potential, ease of use, and the types of sellers who will benefit most from each one.

Quick Comparison: All 10 Platforms at a Glance

Before we dive into the details, here is a side by side look at every platform covered in this guide. Use this table to get a feel for which ones match your needs, then read the full breakdown below.

Etsy: The Marketplace Giant

Etsy remains the number one marketplace for digital product sellers, especially those selling printables, templates, planners, and digital wall art. The biggest advantage is built in traffic. Millions of buyers visit Etsy every single day already looking to purchase, which means you do not need to drive your own traffic from scratch.

The fees add up though. You are looking at 6.5% transaction fees plus a $0.20 listing fee for each product. If you run Etsy ads (which many sellers do), that is an additional cost on top. For low priced products under $5, these fees eat into your margins pretty heavily. But for products priced between $10 and $30, the math still works out well because Etsy is sending you customers you would never find on your own.

The biggest downside of Etsy is that you do not own the customer relationship. Etsy controls the platform, the algorithm, and the communication with buyers. If Etsy changes its algorithm tomorrow, your sales could drop overnight. Many smart sellers use Etsy as a starting point to validate their products and gain initial traction, then gradually build their own store to reduce dependency on any single platform.

Gumroad: Simple and Creator Friendly

Gumroad has built a loyal following among independent creators, especially those selling ebooks, courses, memberships, and software. The platform is dead simple to set up. You can have a product listed and ready to sell in under 10 minutes. There are no monthly fees on the free plan, but Gumroad takes a flat 10% cut of every sale.

That 10% fee is the main sticking point for many sellers. Once you start doing any real volume, that percentage adds up fast. On $5,000 in monthly sales, you are giving up $500 to Gumroad. Compare that to platforms with flat monthly fees where you keep everything after payment processing, and the math starts to look less attractive as you scale.

Where Gumroad really shines is for creators who already have an audience. If you have a newsletter, a YouTube channel, or a social media following, Gumroad gives you the fastest path from "I made something" to "people can buy it." It is not the platform for discovery though. Almost nobody browses Gumroad looking for products to buy the way they browse Etsy.

Shopify: The Full Ecommerce Powerhouse

Shopify is the gold standard for building a full ecommerce store, and it works just as well for digital products as it does for physical ones. You get complete control over your branding, your customer experience, and your data. The app ecosystem is massive, which means you can add almost any feature you need.

The trade off is cost and complexity. Shopify starts at $39 per month, and by the time you add the apps you actually need (email marketing, digital delivery, upsells, analytics), your monthly bill can easily reach $100 or more. For a brand new seller testing their first product idea, that is a lot of overhead before you have made your first sale.

Shopify makes the most sense for sellers who are already generating consistent revenue and want to build a real brand around their products. If you are still in the "figuring out what sells" phase, starting with a simpler and more affordable platform will let you experiment without the financial pressure.

Payhip, Sellfy, and Stan Store: The Mid Range Options

These three platforms occupy similar territory. They are all simpler than Shopify, more feature rich than Gumroad, and designed specifically for creators selling digital products. Each has its own flavor.

Payhip offers a generous free plan with a 5% transaction fee, which drops to 0% on paid plans. It supports digital downloads, courses, memberships, and even physical products. Stan Store has become popular with social media creators because it doubles as a link in bio page, making it easy to sell directly from Instagram or TikTok. Sellfy keeps things straightforward with flat monthly pricing and zero transaction fees.

The common thread with all three is that they provide no built in traffic. You need to bring your own customers through content marketing, social media, email lists, or paid ads. They are tools for selling, not for being discovered.

Creative Market and Amazon KDP: Niche Specific Powerhouses

Creative Market is the go to marketplace for design assets. If you create fonts, themes, templates, graphics, or other design resources, this is where your buyers are. The platform has strong built in traffic from designers, marketers, and businesses looking for professional assets. The catch is a steep 50% commission on every sale.

Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) dominates the ebook and low content book space. The traffic is unmatched since Amazon is the largest online retailer in the world. Royalty rates range from 35% to 70% depending on pricing and distribution choices. For authors and ebook creators, KDP is often the first platform they try, and many build their entire business around it.

So Which Platform Should You Actually Choose?

The honest answer is that it depends on where you are in your journey and what you are selling. Here is a simple framework to help you decide:

If you are brand new and testing your first product: Start with Etsy or Gumroad. Both have free entry points and let you validate your idea without a big financial commitment. Etsy is better if you want the platform to bring you customers. Gumroad is better if you already have an audience.

If you are making consistent sales and ready to scale: Move to your own store. Platforms like Storelib, Shopify, or Sellfy give you more control, better margins, and the ability to build a real brand. The monthly cost is justified once you have proven product market fit.

If you sell design assets: Creative Market is worth the commission because the traffic quality is so high. Pair it with your own store for direct sales at full margin.

If you sell courses: Teachable or Payhip both handle course delivery well. Choose based on whether you prefer percentage fees or flat monthly pricing.

The smartest digital product sellers do not rely on a single platform. They use marketplaces for discovery and their own store for maximum profit. It is not either/or. It is both.

Building Your Own Store: Why It Matters Long Term

No matter which platform you start on, every serious digital product seller eventually needs their own store. Marketplaces are incredible for getting your first sales, but they come with built in limitations. You cannot fully control your branding. You cannot build a real email list. You cannot create the kind of customer experience that turns one time buyers into repeat customers.

Your own store is where the real margins live. No marketplace commissions eating into every sale. Full ownership of customer data and relationships. The ability to run promotions, bundles, and upsells exactly the way you want. It takes more effort to drive traffic to your own store, but the payoff compounds over time as you build an audience that buys from you directly.

If you are looking for a platform that makes it easy to set up your own digital product store without the complexity and cost of Shopify, Storelib is worth checking out. It is built specifically for creators and small businesses who want a clean, professional storefront with everything you need to sell digital and physical products, all without the bloat.

The platform landscape for digital products is more crowded than ever, which is actually good news for sellers. More options mean you can find the exact fit for your product type, budget, and growth stage. Stop overthinking which platform is "the best" and just pick one that makes sense for where you are right now. You can always switch or expand later. The most important thing is to start selling.