Payhip vs SendOwl
We give Payhip a 2.6 GPA and SendOwl a 2.4, out of 4.0. Payhip grades higher on the free plan. SendOwl grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Payhip
Store for downloads, courses and memberships, with a free plan
SendOwl
Checkout and delivery for downloads, licenses and subscriptions
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAPayhipGood | 2.4GPASendOwlFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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). | CLaunch stops at $10k of sales a year, less than a year of $1,000 a month, so it's Grow at $72.50 a month billed yearly, with no cut: $72.50. That's close to this category's dearest tenth. Stripe or PayPal fees come on top and aren't counted. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CNo free plan. There's a free trial with every feature but a limit on orders until support lifts it; the listing gives no length and doesn't say it needs a card. |
| Features | 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. | BDownloads, subscriptions, drip courses, license keys, streaming, PDF stamping and locking, upsells, cart recovery, affiliates and tax calculation, all on every plan. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the job. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's built to plug into your own site or Shopify, so there are carts, checkout templates and payment accounts to wire up first. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, with Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Square, Zapier, Mailchimp, Kit and WordPress, plus webhooks and an API. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | a free store for downloads, courses and coaching | adding digital delivery to a site you already run |
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: Payhip and SendOwl. How we grade
Price against what you get
Payhip starts at $29 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SendOwl starts at $0.83 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7.
SendOwl scores higher and starts $28.17 a month lower. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, 6 score higher than Payhip for less, and 2 score higher than SendOwl 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
- Payhip starts at $29 per month. SendOwl starts at $32.50 per month for up to $10k sales a year, billed annually ($39 monthly).
- Payhip has a free plan. SendOwl does not, though it has a free trial.
- Payhip also covers online courses.
At a glance
| Payhip | SendOwl | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month | $32.50 per month for up to $10k sales a year, billed annually ($39 monthly) |
| Free plan | Free Forever plan with all features, unlimited products and unlimited revenue; Payhip takes 5% of each sale on top of PayPal or Stripe fees. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | Free trial with all features but limits on orders until support lifts them; length not stated |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Payhip | SendOwl |
| Price read from | payhip.com | sendowl.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Payhip
- New sellers who want a free store and pay only when they sell
- Creators selling downloads, courses and coaching from one store
- Sellers who want EU, UK and US sales tax taken care of
SendOwl
- Sellers adding digital delivery to a site or Shopify store
- Software sellers who need license keys issued at checkout
- Creators who want every feature without a cut of each sale
Worth knowing
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.
SendOwl
- No free plan; plans are capped by orders and sales over the trailing 12 months, and going over moves you up a tier.
- Downloads past the monthly bandwidth allowance cost $1 per GB; the pricing page gives two different allowances for Launch and Grow.
- Stripe or PayPal processing fees come on top, and SendOwl acts as a technology provider rather than the merchant of record.
- Business plans, from $299 a month, are needed once yearly sales pass $100,000.
Key features
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.
SendOwl
- Checkout anywhere
- Payment links, an embeddable cart, a modal checkout, three checkout templates and custom fields, with custom CSS and JavaScript.
- Many digital product types
- Downloads, subscriptions, bundles, courses with drip content, software with license keys, streaming audio and video, pre-orders and tip jars.
- File protection
- PDF stamping with the buyer's details, PDF and Office document locking, download and time limits, and fraud filters.
- Sales tools on every plan
- Upsells and cross-sells, cart abandonment emails, an affiliate program, coupons, pay-what-you-want pricing and gifting.
- Integrations and API
- Stripe and PayPal, with Apple Pay and Klarna through Stripe; Shopify, WordPress, Notion and Linktree; Zapier, webhooks and an API.
- Tax and reporting
- Automatic sales tax and EU VAT calculation, tax reports by country, and reports on income, subscriptions, upsells and affiliates.
Plans
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.
SendOwl
Launch$32.50
per month for up to $10k sales a year, billed annually ($39 monthly)
Up to 5,000 orders a year, unlimited products and storage, and every feature. 10 GB of download bandwidth a month on the plan card (20 GB in the FAQ).
Grow$72.50
per month for up to $36k sales a year, billed annually ($87 monthly)
Up to 25,000 orders a year, with every feature. 20 GB of bandwidth a month on the plan card (30 GB in the FAQ).
Scale$132.50
per month for up to $100k sales a year, billed annually ($159 monthly)
Up to 50,000 orders a year and 50 GB of download bandwidth a month, with every feature.
Business$299
per month and up, for up to $200k in sales a year
Business plans for higher volumes, up to $5M+ in yearly revenue, with priority support.
Ways to pay less
Payhip
No public discounts listed.
SendOwl
- Annual discount
Two months free with yearly billing
SendOwl's pricing page gives two months free on yearly billing: Launch $32.50 a month instead of $39, Grow $72.50 instead of $87, Scale $132.50 instead of $159.
