Buy Me a Coffee vs Gumroad
We give Buy Me a Coffee and Gumroad the same GPA: 2.6 out of 4.0. Buy Me a Coffee grades higher on value for money. Gumroad grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABuy Me a CoffeeGood | 2.6GPAGumroadGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGraded against its alternatives, tip and membership pages. 5% of $1,000 is $50 a month, with Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.5% payout fee on top (not counted). The same as Ko-fi's 5% and half Patreon's 10%, with no plan that lowers it. | DNo monthly fee, but Gumroad keeps 10% + 50¢ of each direct sale: $100 on $1,000, plus 50¢ an order. Card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 comes on top and isn't counted. That's in this category's dearest tenth, though it does handle sales tax for you. |
| Free plan and trial | AEvery feature is free, including posts and emails to supporters, with no monthly fee and no cap. You pay 5% of each payment instead, and the value grade counts that. | ANothing to pay until you sell, with every feature, unlimited products and no cap a normal person would reach. The fee comes out of each sale instead, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | CGraded against its alternatives. One-tap support, monthly or yearly memberships, a shop for files, commissions and Zoom calls, posts, emails and stream alerts. It does that job fully, but it's a smaller kit than Patreon's, with no video hosting or podcasts in the listing. | BDownloads, memberships, courses, license keys, pay-what-you-want, email broadcasts and workflows, affiliates and a Discover marketplace. Physical goods aren't allowed, but that's outside this job, so nothing's missing from the core. |
| Ease of use | C4.4 from about 1,900 App Store ratings, just short of the 4.5 a B needs. Fans can pay without signing up, which helps. | CNo App Store rating on record. You build a profile store with a page editor and set up products on the web; the iPhone and Android apps only track sales and open purchases. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, Wise and Zoom, plus buttons, QR codes and stream alerts to point fans to your page. No desktop app, which an A needs. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Discord and Circle, plus a checkout you can embed on your own site. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | tips and memberships with no monthly bill | a first digital product with no monthly bill |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Buy Me a Coffee and Gumroad. How we grade
Price against what you get
Buy Me a Coffee has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Gumroad has no paid plan and scores 2.7.
Gumroad scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, none scores higher than Buy Me a Coffee for less, and none scores higher than Gumroad for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Buy Me a Coffee is free. Gumroad is free.
- Buy Me a Coffee also covers paid newsletters.
- Gumroad also covers email campaigns, affiliate tracking and merchant of record.
At a glance
| Buy Me a Coffee | Gumroad | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | No monthly fee and every feature included. Buy Me a Coffee keeps 5% of each transaction, and Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 plus 0.5% for payouts. | No monthly fee. Gumroad keeps 10% + $0.50 of each direct sale plus card processing (2.9% + $0.30), or a flat 30% on sales made through its Discover marketplace. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Buy Me a Coffee | Gumroad, Inc. |
| Price read from | help.buymeacoffee.com | gumroad.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Buy Me a Coffee
- Creators who want tips and memberships without a monthly bill
- Podcasters, writers and streamers asking fans for support
- Creators selling a few ebooks, commissions or calls
Gumroad
- Creators testing a first product who want no monthly bill
- Sellers who want sales tax and VAT handled for them
- Software makers who need license keys with each sale
Worth knowing
Buy Me a Coffee
- Each payment costs 5% plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 and 0.5% payout fee; international payments add 1% and subscription payments 0.5%.
- Payouts go straight to a bank account, but only for creators in the 44 countries Buy Me a Coffee supports.
- The help center describes one 5% platform fee for every creator, with no paid plan that lowers it.
Gumroad
- Gumroad keeps 10% + $0.50 of every direct sale plus 2.9% + $0.30 card processing; Discover marketplace sales cost a flat 30%.
- Physical goods are not allowed: Gumroad is for digital products, memberships and services only.
- Payouts go out by direct deposit or PayPal depending on the seller's country.
- The mobile apps track sales and open purchases, but accounts and products are set up on the web.
Key features
Buy Me a Coffee
- One-off support
- Fans pay in a couple of taps without signing up, pick how many coffees to buy and leave a message on the creator's page.
- Memberships
- Monthly or yearly membership tiers with exclusive posts and messages, email alerts for new posts and perks such as discounts.
- Shop
- Sell ebooks and other files, art commissions or one-to-one Zoom calls, with one-tap checkout and buyer ratings.
- Posts and emails
- Publish posts and email supporters from the same account, with no extra charge for publishing or sending.
- Creator tools
- Stream alerts, QR codes and buttons for websites point fans to the page.
- Payment methods
- Supporters pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App or other global methods, processed by Stripe and Wise.
Gumroad
- Profile store or embedded checkout
- Build a storefront with Gumroad's page editor on a custom domain, or embed its checkout and follow button on a site you already have.
- Memberships and subscriptions
- Charge monthly, quarterly, twice a year or yearly, or a fixed number of payments, with members keeping access to a content library while subscribed.
- Merchant of record
- Gumroad collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST on sales where it has an obligation, so sellers have no tax settings to manage.
- Software and file options
- License keys for software, several versions of one product (PDF, ePub or lossless audio), pay-what-you-want pricing and light DRM.
- Audience tools
- Import an email list, post updates, send email broadcasts and automated workflows, run an affiliate program and read sales analytics.
- Mobile apps
- iOS and Android apps show daily, monthly and all-time sales with push notifications, and let buyers open or download their purchases.
Plans
Buy Me a Coffee
Buy Me a Coffee$0
No monthly fee. A 5% platform fee per transaction, plus Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30; creators can choose to have supporters cover the card fee.
Gumroad
Direct sales$0
No subscription. The seller pays 10% + $0.50 of each sale through a profile or direct link, plus card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 or PayPal fees.
Discover marketplace$0
Sales to new customers who find you through Gumroad's Discover marketplace carry a flat 30% fee, which includes processing.
Ways to pay less
Buy Me a Coffee
No public discounts listed.
Gumroad
- Other savings
Lower fee above $20,000 in monthly sales
Once paid sales in a calendar month reach $20,000, new direct sales that month cost 5% + $0.50 instead of 10% + $0.50; it resets each month.
