Easy Digital Downloads vs Freemius (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Freemius grades higher than Easy Digital Downloads: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Easy Digital Downloads grades higher on platforms. Freemius grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Easy Digital Downloads
WordPress plugin for selling digital downloads from your own site
Freemius
Merchant of record, licensing and payments for software sellers
Which one is for you
Pick Easy Digital Downloads if
- Fits if you already run a WordPress site and want to sell files from it
- Works for plugin and theme makers who need license keys, on Professional at $599 a year
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to look after a WordPress site and its hosting, which isn't priced here
- Pricey if you budget on the first-year price, as passes renew at double, from $199 a year for Personal
- Tight if you stay on Lite or Personal: platform fees apply until Extended at $399 a year, 3% of Stripe sales on Lite
- Pricey if you want licensing, the API, a marketplace or a second site, which start on Professional at $599 a year
- Watch out: canceling a license ends support and updates, and you lose your locked-in price
Pick Freemius if
- Fits if you sell a WordPress plugin or other software and want licensing and tax handled
- Works for solo developers who prefer paying only when something sells
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you sell WordPress products, as 2.3% is added to 3.8% + 50¢ and gateway fees come on top
- Watch out: wire payouts may carry intermediate bank fees
- Skip it if you sell high volumes, as those sellers are sent to separate growth pricing not shown
- Not for you if you sell physical goods or run a general store, as it is built for software
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAEasy Digital DownloadsFair | 2.4GPAFreemiusFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CThe free Lite plugin adds a 3% fee to Stripe sales: $30 on $1,000, plus the cost of hosting WordPress, which isn't on record. Extended at $399 a year drops the fee. Software that's free only if you host it yourself counts as a C here. | C3.8% + 50¢ a transaction plus gateway fees, and another 2.3% for WordPress and templates. That is not below the 2.9% + $1 Digistore24 lists, so it lands in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | BLite is free on WordPress.org with unlimited products and transactions, so you can run a real store on it. Not an A: it needs a WordPress site on a paid host, and subscriptions and discount codes need a pass. | BNo setup or monthly fee, and you can set up products and licensing without paying until you make a sale. No trial is listed, because the fee only applies to sales. |
| Features | CStore, cart and checkout, then subscriptions, content restriction, license keys, a multi-vendor marketplace and cart recovery on paid passes. It needs a WordPress site to be useful, and much of it sits on Professional at $599 a year. | BMerchant of record, software licensing by plan and activation, subscriptions with recovery, a customer portal, affiliates and payouts by wire and other routes. The core job is covered. |
| Ease of use | DNo rating on record. You host it yourself: a WordPress site you run, or a WordPress.com business plan, plus yearly licence renewals to keep support and updates. | CNo store rating on record. Licensing means integrating its SDK into your product, so a developer has to do the work. |
| Platforms and integrations | BRuns in the browser inside WordPress, with Stripe, PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Zapier, Mailchimp and Elementor, and an API on Professional. No phone or desktop app is listed. | CWeb only. Payment and payout routes run through Stripe, PayPal, Wise and Payoneer, and nothing else is listed. |
| Best for | selling files from your own WordPress site | selling plugins, themes and software with licensing built in |
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: Easy Digital Downloads and Freemius. How we grade
Where they differ
- Freemius also covers affiliate tracking and merchant of record.
At a glance
| Easy Digital Downloads | Freemius | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $199 per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50 | Not published |
| Free plan | The Lite plugin is free on WordPress.org with unlimited products and transactions and Stripe and PayPal checkout; Stripe sales carry an extra 3% fee in the free version. | No setup or monthly fees: 3.8% + 50¢ per transaction plus gateway fees, with a further 2.3% for WordPress and templates. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Sandhills Development, LLC | Freemius |
| Price read from | easydigitaldownloads.com | freemius.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Easy Digital Downloads
- It needs a WordPress site you run yourself, or a WordPress.com business plan, which allows third-party plugins.
- First-year prices are introductory: passes renew at full price, from $199 a year for Personal.
- The free version and the Personal pass do not include no-platform-fees; EDD's blog puts the free version's Stripe fee at 3%.
- Licenses renew yearly; cancelling ends support and updates, and you lose your locked-in price.
Freemius
- Gateway fees are charged on top of the 3.8% + 50¢ rate.
- WordPress and templates carry an additional 2.3%.
- Wire payouts may incur intermediate bank fees, and high-volume sellers are directed to separate growth pricing.
Key features
Easy Digital Downloads
- Store on your own WordPress site
- Unlimited products, a cart and checkout inside WordPress, with full ownership of your store data and Elementor checkout templates.
- Payments
- Stripe, PayPal and Square in the free plugin, Apple Pay listed on every paid pass, and Authorize.net and 2Checkout from Extended up.
- Subscriptions and memberships
- Recurring payments with free trials and setup fees on paid passes, plus content restriction for members from Extended up.
- Software licensing
- Issue license keys and deliver updates for plugins, themes and other software, on Professional and All Access.
- Marketplace and commissions
- Run a multi-vendor marketplace and pay commissions to sellers, on Professional and All Access.
- Marketing tools
- Discount codes, abandoned cart recovery, cross-sells and upsells, AI product recommendations and syncing with Mailchimp, ConvertKit and others.
Freemius
- Merchant of record
- Freemius becomes the seller on record and manages sales tax and VAT, fraud protection, chargebacks and disputes.
- Software licensing
- Controls access by plan, feature and activation, with multi-site licenses and automatic updates.
- Subscriptions and recovery
- Recurring billing with renewal reminders, trials and failed-renewal recovery, plus cart abandonment emails at no extra fee.
- Customer portal and affiliates
- A self-serve portal for plan changes and payment updates, and an affiliate platform that lets customers earn by promoting your product.
- Payout options
- Earnings can be paid through wire, Wise, Payoneer or PayPal.
Plans
Easy Digital Downloads
Lite$0
Free plugin from WordPress.org that you run on your own WordPress site. EDD adds a 3% fee to each Stripe transaction in the free version.
Personal$199
per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50
1 site, subscriptions and free trials, discount codes, EU VAT, AI recommendations and cart recovery. Platform fees are not waived on this pass.
Extended$399
per year at renewal, after a first year for $199.50
1 site, no platform fees, Authorize.net and 2Checkout, multi-currency, content restriction, bundles, reviews and Zapier.
Professional$599
per year at renewal, after a first year for $299.50
2 sites, adds software licensing and API, a multi-vendor marketplace with commissions, shipping, post-purchase funnels and premium support.
All Access$999
per year at renewal, after a first year for $499.50
3 sites, every extension, including loyalty rewards, fraud prevention, advanced reports and bulk discount codes.
Freemius
Per transaction$0
No setup or monthly fee. Pay 3.8% + 50¢ per transaction plus gateway fees; WordPress and templates add 2.3%. Wire payouts are free.
Ways to pay less
Easy Digital Downloads
- Other savings
Half price in the first year
EDD's pricing page shows introductory first-year prices of half the regular rate, from $99.50 for Personal; renewals are at full price.
Freemius
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Easy Digital Downloads or Freemius?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Easy Digital Downloads starts at $199 per year at renewal, after a first year for $99.50, and Freemius publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Easy Digital Downloads or Freemius?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Easy Digital Downloads and Freemius have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.