← Creator Platform Fee Comparator
Platform comparison articles love listing headline rates. But "5%" and "10% + $0.50" can't be compared in the abstract — flat fees, monthly subscriptions and separate processing charges mean the ranking changes with your price and volume. So let's do the sum properly at one concrete, realistic scenario: a $20 digital product selling 50 times a month ($1,000/month gross), card processing at Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 where it's charged separately.
| Platform | Assumes | Cost/month | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ko-fi | Gold $12/mo (0% fee) + processing | $56.00 | 5.6% |
| Lemon Squeezy | 5% + $0.50 all-in | $75.00 | 7.5% |
| Payhip | Plus $29/mo (2%) + processing | $93.00 | 9.3% |
| Gumroad | 10% + $0.50 + processing | $169.00 | 16.9% |
Note what the calculation had to do to be fair: pick Ko-fi's and Payhip's best plan for this volume. On Ko-fi's free plan the same seller pays $94; Payhip's free plan costs $94 too. At $1,000/month, both subscriptions already pay for themselves — a seller who never checks stays on the free plan and quietly overpays.
Change the numbers and the table reshuffles. At 5 sales a month, Ko-fi Gold's $12 subscription stops being worth it and its free plan wins on price. At a $3 price point, the $0.50 flat fee makes Lemon Squeezy and Gumroad brutal (17%+ before percentages) while Payhip and Ko-fi charge percentages only. And Gumroad's 30% Discover rate is a different product entirely — you're paying for their marketplace traffic, which is either worthless or the whole point depending on whether you have an audience.
Lemon Squeezy and Gumroad are full merchants of record: legally they sell to your customer and deal with EU VAT, UK VAT and US sales tax. Payhip handles UK/EU digital VAT but not US sales tax; Ko-fi leaves tax entirely to you. If your buyers are international, the cheapest platform on paper can be the most expensive one in accountant hours — Ko-fi's win above is real, but it comes with homework attached. The honest comparison is fee gap vs what tax compliance costs you: for many small international sellers, Lemon Squeezy's extra $19/month over Ko-fi is the cheapest accountancy they'll ever buy.
Fees verified August 2026 from published pricing. Platform names are trademarks of their owners; we're not affiliated with any of them and there are no affiliate links here. Not financial or tax advice.