Gumroad vs Polar
We give Gumroad and Polar the same GPA: 2.6 out of 4.0. Gumroad grades higher on features. Polar grades higher on value for money. 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.
Polar
Open-source billing and merchant of record for software sellers
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAGumroadGood | 2.6GPAPolarGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CStarter is free and keeps 5% + 50¢ a transaction, so $1,000 costs $50 plus 50¢ a sale, with no separate card fee listed since Polar is the merchant of record. Pro at $20 only pays off above about $1,379 a month. Non-US cards add 1.5%. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | AStarter costs nothing a month and includes every selling feature, with standard support. You pay 5% + 50¢ a sale instead, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | 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. | CSubscriptions, seats, usage meters and credits, plus files, license keys, GitHub repo invites and Discord roles delivered automatically. It does billing for software fully, but nothing in the listing covers a store page, email or affiliates. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's built for developers: the listing leads with an API, a Python SDK and webhooks, so expect some setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, with Stripe, GitHub, Discord and Slack, an API, a Python SDK and an MCP server for Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | a first digital product with no monthly bill | developers selling software and usage plans |
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: Gumroad and Polar. How we grade
Price against what you get
Gumroad has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Polar starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3.
Gumroad scores higher and starts $20 a month lower. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, none scores higher than Gumroad for less, and 6 score higher than Polar 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
- Gumroad is free. Polar starts at $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale.
- Only Gumroad lists iOS and Android apps.
- Polar is open source, according to its own site.
- Gumroad also covers email campaigns and affiliate tracking.
At a glance
| Gumroad | Polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale |
| Free plan | 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. | Starter is free with all selling features and standard support; Polar takes 5% + 50¢ of each transaction, plus 1.5% for non-US cards. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Gumroad, Inc. | Polar Software, Inc. |
| Price read from | gumroad.com | polar.sh |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Polar
- Developers selling software, licenses or SaaS subscriptions worldwide
- AI products that bill by tokens, credits or other usage
- Open-source maintainers granting paid access to repos or Discord
Worth knowing
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.
Polar
- Starter keeps 5% + 50¢ of each transaction, and non-US cards add 1.5%; the paid plans only lower that fee once sales are high enough.
- Each dispute costs $15 whatever the outcome, and Polar may suspend accounts whose chargeback rate gets too high.
- Payouts through Stripe cost $2 a month plus 0.25% + $0.25 per payout, and currency conversion adds 0.25% to 1%.
- Organizations created before May 27, 2026 keep an Early Member rate of 4% + 40¢ until they move to a paid plan.
Key features
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.
Polar
- Merchant of record
- Polar resells your product in over 100 markets and is responsible for payments, sales tax and VAT, fraud, refunds and chargebacks.
- Subscriptions and usage billing
- Subscriptions, seat-based and unit-based pricing, prepaid credits and metered usage from live event meters, combined on one invoice.
- Automated benefits
- Deliver file downloads up to 10GB each, license keys, private GitHub repository invites, Discord roles, feature flags or a shared Slack channel.
- Cost and margin insights
- Attach inference or other costs to usage events to see gross margin per customer beside revenue.
- Checkout options
- Custom checkout fields, discounts, free trials and tax-inclusive pricing, with a Python SDK, webhooks and an API for developers.
- Open source and MCP
- Polar's code is open source, and its MCP server lets Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT query customers and revenue or create products and refunds.
Plans
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.
Polar
Starter$0
All features to sell, standard support. Polar keeps 5% + 50¢ of each transaction, plus 1.5% for international cards.
Pro$20
per month
Fee drops to 3.8% + 40¢ a transaction, with prioritized support and preview access to new features. Pays off above about $1,379 a month in sales.
Growth$100
per month
Fee drops to 3.6% + 35¢ a transaction, with prioritized support. Pays off above about $5,634 a month in sales.
Scale$400
per month
Fee drops to 3.4% + 30¢ a transaction, with a shared Slack channel, P1 support and single sign-on.
Ways to pay less
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.
Polar
- Startups
Scale plan free for a year for AI startups
Polar's Startup Program gives early-stage AI startups the Scale plan free for twelve months, with its 3.4% + 30¢ fee, by application.
