Lemon Squeezy vs SamCart
We give Lemon Squeezy a 2.8 GPA and SamCart a 2.4, out of 4.0. Lemon Squeezy grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Lemon Squeezy
Merchant of record checkout for software, subscriptions and downloads
SamCart
Checkout and sales page builder with courses and an AI assistant
How we grade them
| 2.8GPALemon SqueezyGood | 2.4GPASamCartFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo monthly fee. Each order costs 5% + 50¢, which covers card fees and sales tax, so $1,000 of sales costs $50 plus 50¢ an order. Buyers abroad add 1.5%, PayPal 1.5% and subscriptions 0.5%. That's above this category's dearer quarter, short of its dearest tenth. | CCore billed yearly is $79 a month less 25%: $59.25. SamCart takes no cut beyond SamPay's 2.9% + 30 cents card rate (not counted), though tax collection adds 0.5%, $5 on $1,000. That's above this category's dearer quarter, short of its dearest tenth. |
| Free plan and trial | ASelling is free to start with every ecommerce feature, and you only pay as orders come in. Email marketing is free up to 500 subscribers too, then $10 a month at 1,000. | CNo free plan. There's a 7-day free trial on every plan, a week and no more, and the listing doesn't say it needs a card. |
| Features | BMerchant of record, subscriptions with usage billing, license keys, signed download links, a store on your own domain, affiliates, upsells, cart recovery and email marketing. It covers the whole job. | BCheckout with wallets and buy now pay later, sales and link-in-bio pages, a courses app with a members area, subscriptions with a customer portal and an AI assistant. The whole job is covered; upsells, A/B tests and affiliates wait for Pro. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a web dashboard where you set up products, checkouts and a store before your first sale, with nothing in the listing to say it's quicker than that. | CNo App Store rating on record. The AI assistant drafts copy and pages, which helps, but you're still building pages, checkouts and a members area before you sell. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Zapier, ConvertKit, Mailchimp, WordPress and Laravel, checkout overlays for any site and a public API. No phone or desktop app is listed. | BWeb, with PayPal, Stripe Link, Zapier, Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager. The API needs Pro, and no phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | selling software and subscriptions worldwide | checkouts and sales pages with AI help |
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: Lemon Squeezy and SamCart. How we grade
Price against what you get
Lemon Squeezy starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SamCart starts at $79 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Lemon Squeezy starts $69 a month lower. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, 2 score higher than Lemon Squeezy for less, and 2 score higher than SamCart 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
- Lemon Squeezy starts at $10 per month for email marketing to 1,000 subscribers. SamCart starts at $79 per month.
- Lemon Squeezy has a free plan. SamCart does not, though it has a free trial.
- Lemon Squeezy also covers email campaigns, online store and merchant of record.
- SamCart also covers online courses and a/B testing.
At a glance
| Lemon Squeezy | SamCart | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $10 per month for email marketing to 1,000 subscribers | $79 per month |
| Free plan | Selling is free to start with every ecommerce feature included; Lemon Squeezy keeps 5% + 50¢ of each order. Email marketing is free up to 500 subscribers. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial on every plan |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Link, LLC (formerly Lemon Squeezy LLC) | SamCart Inc. |
| Price read from | lemonsqueezy.com | samcart.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Lemon Squeezy
- Software makers selling licenses or subscriptions worldwide
- Sellers who want sales tax and VAT filed for them
- Creators who want no monthly fee until they make sales
SamCart
- Course and ebook sellers who want checkout, pages and hosting together
- Marketers who rely on upsells, order bumps and A/B tests
- Creators who want AI to draft sales pages and products
Worth knowing
Lemon Squeezy
- Stripe's 2026 update admits slower support and fewer updates while the team builds Stripe Managed Payments, and plans a migration path for users.
- Each order costs 5% + 50¢, plus 1.5% for buyers outside the US, 1.5% for PayPal and 0.5% for subscription payments.
- Recovered abandoned carts add 5% and affiliate referrals add 3% to the fee; payouts to non-US banks cost 1% each.
- Products priced under $10 and high-volume sellers are asked to contact sales for custom pricing.
SamCart
- No free plan, only a 7-day trial; Core starts at $79 a month, with 25% off for yearly billing.
- SamPay charges 2.9% + 30 cents a sale on both plans, and tax collection adds 0.5% on Core or 0.35% on Pro.
- Upsells, order bumps, A/B testing, affiliates, the API and third-party processors all need Pro at $199 a month.
- Core includes one team seat and Pro ten; more seats and marketplaces need the custom Done For You plan.
Key features
Lemon Squeezy
- Merchant of record
- Lemon Squeezy is the seller on each order: it calculates, collects, files and pays sales tax and VAT, and takes on the tax liability.
- Subscriptions and usage billing
- Weekly, monthly or yearly plans with upgrades, downgrades, free trials, PayPal subscriptions, usage-based billing and a customer portal.
- License keys and secure files
- License keys are issued after each sale and can be deactivated or reissued; download links are signed and throttled.
- Checkout anywhere
- Hosted checkout links, an overlay checkout for any website, or a store on a custom domain, taking cards, PayPal and payments in many currencies.
- Email marketing
- Broadcasts, signup forms, segments that update from purchase behavior and email reports, free up to 500 subscribers.
- Affiliates and recovery
- A built-in affiliate program, discount codes, bundles and upsells, plus abandoned cart emails and failed payment recovery.
SamCart
- Checkout pages
- Mobile-first checkouts with stored cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo and buy now pay later through Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm.
- Pages and link-in-bio
- Sales pages, microsites, link-in-bio pages and opt-in pages on your own domain, built with AI help and no code.
- Courses and members area
- A courses app with a built-in members area and video hosting, so courses can be sold and delivered without another platform.
- AI assistant
- Writes sales copy and designs ebooks, courses, lead magnets, social posts and ads. Core has limited AI use; Pro is unlimited.
- Upsells, tests and affiliates on Pro
- One-click upsells, order bumps and upgrades, A/B tests of pages and prices, an affiliate center and failed-payment recovery.
- Subscriptions and customer portal
- Memberships, recurring plans and payment plans, with a portal where customers update cards and manage their own subscriptions.
Plans
Lemon Squeezy
Ecommerce$0
No monthly charge. The seller pays 5% + 50¢ of each order, covering card fees and tax, plus 1.5% abroad, 1.5% on PayPal and 0.5% on subscriptions.
Email marketing$10
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed monthly
Free up to 500 subscribers. The price rises with the list: $24 a month at 3,000 subscribers and $60 a month at 10,000.
SamCart
Core$79
per month
Unlimited pages, products and checkouts, AI assistant with limited use, courses app, cart abandonment, integrations and 1 team seat.
Pro$199
per month
Adds one-click upsells, order bumps, A/B testing, Subscription Saver, the Affiliate Center, advanced reports, API, other processors and 10 seats.
Done For YouCustom
Sold through a call: white glove setup, a dedicated account manager, priority support, multiple marketplaces and the lowest processing rates.
Ways to pay less
Lemon Squeezy
- Annual discount
Two months free on yearly email marketing
Lemon Squeezy prices yearly email marketing at ten times the monthly rate: $100 a year instead of $10 a month at 1,000 subscribers.
SamCart
- Annual discount
25% off with yearly billing
SamCart's pricing page offers yearly billing at 25% off the monthly prices of $79 for Core and $199 for Pro.
