Envato Market vs Payhip (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Payhip: it is second in our ranking of tools for selling digital products, and it grades higher too, 2.6 against 1.6.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Payhip grades higher on the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Envato Market
Marketplace for website themes, templates, code and creative files
Paid
Payhip
Store for downloads, courses and memberships, with a free plan
Free plan · from $29/mo
Which one is for you
Pick Envato Market if
- Fits if you want a ready-made theme or template for a single site
- Works for developers who resell work and need to know exactly which license applies
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: a Regular License allows one end product, and a product users pay for needs the Extended License
- Skip it if you want many downloads for a flat fee, as that is Envato Elements, a separate product
- Watch out: standard licenses do not allow reuse inside stock items or templates you sell on
- Not for you if you are selling and need fee figures first, as author fees and payout terms could not be read
Pick Payhip if
- Fits if you want a free store and only pay when something sells
- Works for sellers of courses, coaching and downloads who want EU, UK and US sales tax handled
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to email your buyers from the same place, as there are no campaigns
- Pricey if you sell a lot, since only Pro at $99 a month removes Payhip's fee
- Watch out: PayPal or Stripe fees come on top of the 5% or 2%, and no yearly price is on record
- Watch out: its help center says sellers with a physical presence in a US state may still have to file a zero-dollar return there
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app, as only the web is listed
How we grade them
| 1.6GPAEnvato MarketWeak | 2.6GPAPayhipGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPer-item prices with no price on record that we could compare. Whether a theme is a bargain depends on the license, since a product end users pay for needs the dearer Extended License. | CPlus at $29 a month plus its 2% fee ($20 on $1,000) comes to $49, a dollar under the free plan's 5% ($50). Pro at $99 drops the fee but costs more at this size. No yearly price is on record, and PayPal or Stripe fees come on top (not counted). |
| Free plan and trial | FNothing on record is free: buying a theme or template costs money, and there is no trial. The unlimited-download subscription is a separate product, Envato Elements. | AFree Forever has every feature, unlimited products and unlimited revenue, with no cap you'd reach. Payhip takes 5% of each sale instead, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | CA wide catalogue, Regular and Extended licenses, author rankings and collections, and a Market API. It is a store, so the job stops at the sale, and author fees and payout terms could not be read. | CDownloads, courses, coaching, memberships, physical products and bundles, plus coupons, affiliates and PDF stamping. The gap the listing names is email: there are no built-in campaigns, so buyers sync to ConvertKit or another service. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Browsing and buying is plain, but picking the right license and fitting a theme to your own site is on you. | CNo App Store rating on record. Every plan has every feature, so there's nothing to unlock, but you still set up the store, your products and a PayPal or Stripe account. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb only. Items are made for WordPress, Shopify, WooCommerce, Elementor, Webflow and Figma, which is compatibility rather than a connection, and there is a Market API. | BWeb, with Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Zoom, Calendly and ConvertKit, plus buy buttons for WordPress, Squarespace, Wix and Shopify sites. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | one-off buys of website themes and templates | a free store for downloads, courses and coaching |
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: Envato Market and Payhip. How we grade
Where they differ
- Envato Market also covers templates.
- Payhip also covers online courses and affiliate tracking.
In commonWebOnline storeDigital downloads
At a glance
| Envato Market | Payhip | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $29 per month |
| Free plan | None | Free Forever plan with all features, unlimited products and unlimited revenue; Payhip takes 5% of each sale on top of PayPal or Stripe fees. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Envato Pty Ltd | Payhip |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | payhip.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Envato Market
- Author fees, commission rates and payout terms could not be read: Envato's author help pages block automated reading, so none are listed here.
- A Regular License allows one end product, and a product that end users pay for needs the more expensive Extended License.
- Standard licenses do not allow an item to be reused inside stock items or templates sold on to others.
- The unlimited-download subscription is a separate product, Envato Elements, and is not part of this marketplace's pricing.
Payhip
- The free plan takes 5% of each sale and Plus takes 2%, on top of PayPal or Stripe fees; only Pro at $99 a month removes Payhip's fee.
- Payhip has no built-in email campaigns: a newsletter block collects followers for export, and buyers sync to a separate email service.
- Payments go through the seller's own PayPal, Stripe or regional gateway account, such as Square, Razorpay or Paystack.
- Sellers with a physical presence in a US state may still have to file a zero-dollar sales tax return there, Payhip's help center says.
Key features
Envato Market
- Wide item catalog
- Browse themes and templates for WordPress, HTML, Shopify, Webflow, Figma and more, plus code, video, audio, graphics, photos and 3D files.
- Per-item pricing
- Each item has its own price, shown in US dollars and excluding tax and handling fees. Individual authors set the prices.
- Regular and Extended licenses
- A Regular License covers one end product that is free to its users; an Extended License is needed when end users must pay to use the product.
- Author rankings and collections
- Buyers can follow authors, see top authors and top new files, and save items to public collections.
- Market API
- Envato publishes a Market API for working with the marketplace programmatically.
- Affiliate program
- The site links to an affiliate program for people who recommend items to others.
Payhip
- Many product types
- Digital downloads with variants, online courses, coaching with Calendly or Zoom scheduling, memberships, physical products and bundles.
- Sales tax handled
- Payhip collects and remits EU and UK VAT on digital sales and, from July 1, 2026, US sales tax as a marketplace facilitator, at no extra charge.
- Marketing tools
- Coupons, running sales, cross-selling, upgrade discounts, a referral system, customer reviews and an affiliate program.
- Store or embedded buttons
- A hosted store on a custom domain, or buy buttons added to WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly or Shopify sites.
- File protection
- Download limits, set to 5 by default, and PDF stamping that prints the buyer's email and purchase date on every page.
- Mailing list sync
- Buyers are added to lists in ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, AWeber, Drip, Flodesk, Klaviyo and other email services after a purchase.
Plans
Envato Market
Pricing could not be confirmed. See themeforest.net.
Payhip
Free Forever$0
All features, unlimited products and revenue. Payhip takes a 5% transaction fee on each sale; PayPal and Stripe charge their own fees too.
Plus$29
per month
The same features as Free Forever, with Payhip's transaction fee cut from 5% to 2% of each sale.
Pro$99
per month
The same features with no transaction fee from Payhip; only PayPal or Stripe processing fees apply.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Envato Market or Payhip?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Envato Market has no price we could confirm, and Payhip starts at $29 per month.
Which has a free plan, Envato Market or Payhip?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Payhip has a free plan. Envato Market does not.
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.