Creator Unit Math · take-home math for digital sellers
What do you actually keep per sale?
Enter your price, the buyer's country and how they pay. See your net take-home on Gumroad, Payhip and Lemon Squeezy side by side — platform fee, payment processing and EU VAT broken out — so you know which storefront leaves you the most per sale.
How much do you actually keep selling a digital product?
On a $29 download you do not keep $29. As of 2026-06-14, a creator selling via their own link keeps roughly $25.60 on Gumroad (10% + $0.50, Merchant of Record), about $27.05 on Lemon Squeezy (5% + $0.50, Merchant of Record), and around $26.41 on Payhip Free (5% + Stripe US 2.9% + $0.30) for a US buyer with no EU VAT. The gap widens with EU VAT and volume: Merchant-of-Record platforms collect and remit the buyer's VAT for you, while on Payhip you are the merchant and pay processing plus your own VAT on top. Run your exact price below.
Official sources: Gumroad pricing · Payhip pricing · Lemon Squeezy pricing · EU VAT rates
Leaves you the most per sale · Lemon Squeezy
$27.05
per sale · of $29.00 — Spread of $1.45 per sale between the best and worst rankable option.
| Storefront | Platform fee | Processing | VAT (you remit) | Net per sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payhip ProYou are the merchant · $99/moNeeds a monthly volume to rank fairly (fixed fee) | $0.00 | $1.14 | — | $27.86 |
| Payhip PlusYou are the merchant · $29/moNeeds a monthly volume to rank fairly (fixed fee) | $0.58 | $1.14 | — | $27.28 |
| Lemon SqueezyBestMerchant of Record | $1.95 | VAT collected + remitted by the platform | — | $27.05 |
| Payhip FreeYou are the merchant | $1.45 | $1.14 | — | $26.41 |
| GumroadLowestMerchant of Record | $3.40 | VAT collected + remitted by the platform | — | $25.60 |
Break-even: when a paid Payhip tier beats Free
Payhip Plus ($29/mo, 2%) and Pro ($99/mo, 0%) only pay off above a sales volume. At $29.00 each:
- Payhip Plus saves $0.87/sale vs Free — breaks even at 34 sales/month.
- Payhip Pro saves $1.45/sale vs Free — breaks even at 69 sales/month.
Keep this comparison
Export your full payout comparison · $9 / €9
Download a PDF + CSV of this exact comparison — every storefront's net, the fee split, your annual cost difference and the switch break-even at your volume. One-time, no account.
Purchases handled by Lemon Squeezy (Merchant of Record).
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Estimate, not financial or tax advice
This tool is an estimate to help you compare storefronts. It is not financial, tax or accounting advice, and it is not an adviser. Fees, processing rates and VAT change and vary by country, card type and account; confirm the current numbers on each platform's pricing page and with a qualified professional before deciding.
How the math works
Merchant of Record vs you-are-the-merchant
Gumroad and Lemon Squeezy are Merchants of Record (MoR): the platform is the legal seller, so it collects and remits the buyer's VAT and bundles payment processing into its fee. Your take-home is simply price minus the platform fee — VAT does not come out of your pocket. Payhip is not a MoR in the general case: you are the merchant, you pay a payment processor (Stripe or PayPal) on top of Payhip's percentage, and if you are VAT-registered selling into the EU you remit the buyer-country VAT yourself.
How EU VAT is modelled
EU VAT on a digital product is charged at the buyer's country rate (EU floor 15%; 17%–27% nationally). On MoR platforms the buyer pays VAT on top and the platform remits it, so it never reduces your net. On Payhip, if you are VAT-registered and the price is VAT-inclusive, we take the buyer-country VAT out of the gross — so it is a real deduction. Toggle VAT-registered off to read the no-VAT row.
The fee figures
Gumroad 10% + $0.50 on direct sales (MoR); Payhip Free 5%, Plus $29/mo + 2%, Pro $99/mo + 0% (non-MoR); Lemon Squeezy 5% + $0.50 all-in (MoR). Processing on Payhip: Stripe US 2.9% + $0.30, EEA ~1.5% + €0.25; PayPal US 3.49% + $0.49, +1.5% cross-border. Gumroad's exact card-processing pass-through is not published, so we do not add a hard processing line for it — only a caveat. Lemon Squeezy may add small international/PayPal/FX surcharges on some transactions.
Ko-fi is also an option but its current rates could not be verified against an official source on 2026-06-14, so it is left out of the numbers — verify on ko-fi.com/pricing if you use it.
Frequently asked questions
- Why don't I keep the full price I set?
- Every storefront takes a platform fee, most sales carry payment processing, and EU buyers add VAT. On a $29 product the take-home lands roughly $25–$27 depending on the storefront and the buyer's country. This tool breaks out each piece so you can see exactly where the money goes.
- What is a Merchant of Record and why does it matter?
- A Merchant of Record (Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy) is the legal seller of your product. It collects and remits the buyer's VAT or sales tax for you and bundles payment processing into its fee — so VAT never comes out of your take-home and there is no separate processing line. On Payhip you are the merchant, so you handle VAT and pay a processor yourself.
- How is EU VAT handled here?
- VAT is charged at the buyer's country rate. On MoR platforms it is added on top and remitted by the platform, so your net is unaffected. On Payhip, if you are VAT-registered and selling VAT-inclusive into the EU, the buyer-country VAT is taken out of your gross — a real deduction. Turn off the VAT-registered toggle to see the no-VAT case.
- Where do the fee numbers come from?
- Each percentage and fixed fee is taken from the platform's own published pricing page and verified on 2026-06-14: Gumroad, Payhip and Lemon Squeezy for storefront fees; Stripe and PayPal for processing; the European Commission for VAT rates. The sources are linked above the calculator and in the methodology.
- Why is there a caveat on Gumroad and Lemon Squeezy?
- Gumroad's headline is 10% + $0.50, but its exact card-processing pass-through is not published as a single creator-facing rate, so we show a caveat instead of adding a hard processing line. Lemon Squeezy's 5% + $0.50 is all-in, but international card, PayPal or currency-conversion surcharges can apply on some transactions — flagged rather than guessed.
- When is Payhip Plus or Pro worth the monthly fee?
- Plus ($29/mo, 2%) and Pro ($99/mo, 0%) only beat Payhip Free once your volume is high enough that the lower percentage repays the monthly fee. The break-even section shows the exact monthly sales count at your price; below it, Free keeps you more.
- Is this tax or financial advice?
- No. It is an estimate to help you compare storefronts. Fees and tax rules change and vary by country and account type — confirm current numbers on each platform's pricing page and with a qualified professional before deciding.