Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin that lets you sell digital products, with plans from $99.50 per year. Payhip is a standalone platform to sell digital downloads, with a free tier that takes 5% per sale.
The Revenue Ransom
Here’s something most people skip when comparing Easy Digital Download vs Payhip: what happens to your recurring payments if you leave?
If you sell subscriptions or memberships on Payhip and decide to move later, your recurring customers don’t come with you. Payhip controls those billing relationships. Even with your own Stripe or PayPal account connected, the recurring payment data stays with Payhip. You walk away, and that income stops.
You spent months building that customer base. And now, if you want to sell from a different platform, you have to ask every single one of them to re-enter their payment details. Some will. Most won’t.
Easy Digital Downloads doesn’t have this problem. With EDD, your recurring payments stay tied to your Stripe or PayPal account. If you leave, those billing relationships are yours.
That’s the gap between these two. And it’s the kind of thing you don’t think about until it’s too late.
What to Look for Before You Pick a Platform
Before you commit to any platform for selling digital products, ask yourself these questions:
- Do I keep my recurring payments if I leave?
- Are there hidden fees that grow as my digital product sales grow?
- Is my file delivery protected from unauthorized sharing?
- Will I get real human support when something breaks?
- Is the pricing transparent and predictable?
Not every platform passes all five. That’s the approach behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and I’m including our limitations alongside the comparison). CartMango was built for independent digital sellers who want to own their customer relationships from day one. No recurring payment hostage. No platform fees. You get paid directly via Stripe or PayPal, with no percentage taken from your sales.
CartMango is free until 2027, with zero monthly fees and zero commission. When you need help, you get a real person. Our average support response time is 2 hours and 16 minutes.
I’m not saying it’s the only option. But it checks all five boxes above.
Easy Digital Downloads vs Payhip vs CartMango
Now that you know the core Easy Digital Download vs Payhip differences, here’s how all three platforms compare across every major feature:
| Feature | Easy Digital Downloads | Payhip | CartMango |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your recurring payments gone if you leave the platform? | ✅ Your recurring payments stay with you | ❌ You lose recurring payments when you leave, even if you use your own Stripe / PayPal | ✅ Your recurring payments stay with you |
| TOTALLY free? (note: Stripe / PayPal fees are standard across all cart platforms) | ❌ Personal: $99.50/yr Extended: $199.50/yr Professional: $299.50/yr All Access: $499.50/yr | ❌ 5% per transaction (free tier). $29/mo + 2% (Plus tier). $99/mo (Pro tier). | ✅ Yes, zero monthly fees, zero commission. Every feature included (until 2027). |
| Learning management system (LMS) | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ Future |
| Funnels (upsells & downsells) AFTER customers paid for the main product | ✅ Professional tier and higher ($299.50 – $499.50/yr) | ❌ No support for upsells or downsells | ✅ Yes |
| Customer support | No live chat, but solid customer support. Standard help for Personal and Extended ($99.50 – $199.50/yr). Priority support for Professional and All Access ($299.50 – $499.50/yr). | Email support that gets good user reviews, though live chat is not offered. | Personal support from the founder, no chatbots or live chat. Average reply time is 2hr+ |
| Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support for your customers (boost your sales) | ✅ | ❌ Not real BNPL: Payhip’s installment plans send you money over time, not upfront. You take on the risk if customers stop paying before they finish. | ✅ |
| Order bumps to boost sales | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Subscriptions (support trials & set up fees) | ✅ | ⚠️ Subscriptions are limited to Stripe only, not PayPal. If your customers prefer PayPal, they cannot buy subscriptions. | ✅ |
| Flexible coupons & discounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Quick & smooth checkouts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Customers need NOT log in before buying (quick checkout experience) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Direct, instant payout to your Stripe / PayPal (no withholding payments) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| If download links are shared by rogue customers, will they work? | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ Links are protected |
| Integrations | ✅ Massive lineup: Stripe, PayPal, Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Zapier (Extended $199.95/yr), Slack (Professional $299.50/yr) | ✅ Connects with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Shopify, Calendly, Zoom, Bookvault, AdSense, chat, mailing lists, and Zapier. | ⚠️ Fewer native integrations for now, but Make.com opens up 3,000+ apps. Current native options: Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend, with more on the way. |
| Affiliate management | ❌ No | ✅ | ❌ Coming soon |
| Best for | WordPress users who sell digital products (ebooks, software) and also want to offer physical goods. | Creators who value simple global VAT handling and quick setup, but should watch for per-transaction fees that grow with your sales. | Solo digital creators who want to keep their recurring revenue, with instant setup, personal support, and zero platform fees (free until 2027). |
| Free migration | ❌ No free migration | ❌ No free migration | ✅ Free migration included |
These are the links for each platform: Easy Digital Downloads, Payhip, CartMango.
CartMango Is Not for Everyone. And That’s the Point.
CartMango was built for one specific group: solo digital creators who want to create an online store for digital products like ebooks, templates, and coaching programs. If that’s you, it’s worth a look. If not, keep reading about EDD and Payhip below.
What CartMango gives you right now:
- Zero platform fees and zero monthly cost (free until 2027)
- You keep your recurring payments if you ever leave
- Funnels with upsells and downsells included at no extra cost
- Buy now, pay later for your customers
- Protected download links with secure file delivery
- Free migration from your current platform
What CartMango doesn’t have yet:
- No learning management system to offer online courses (it’s on the roadmap)
- No affiliate management for now (coming soon)
- Fewer native integrations right now, though Make.com connects you to 3,000+ apps
If you’re a WordPress power user who needs a deep plugin library, EDD is probably the better fit. If you need a built-in LMS today, Payhip has one. CartMango is still growing into those areas.
Easy Digital Downloads: The WordPress Plugin Built for Digital Sellers
Easy Digital Downloads is one of the most established WordPress plugins that allows you to sell digital products from your own site. If you have an existing website on WordPress, EDD works as a shopping cart plugin that lives inside your dashboard.
What Easy Digital Downloads offers
Easy Digital Downloads offers a wide set of features for selling physical and digital products:
- License key delivery for software products
- Full subscription support with trials and setup fees
- Buy now, pay later (BNPL) for your customers
- Order bumps and funnels (upsells/downsells on Professional plan and above)
- Flexible coupons and the ability to create discount codes
- Protected download links to prevent unauthorized sharing
- Email marketing integrations with Mailchimp, Kit, and ActiveCampaign
- Guest checkout, no account creation needed
- Direct payout to your Stripe or PayPal account
- Works alongside WooCommerce and other plugins
Easy Digital Downloads pricing
- Personal: $99.50/yr (core features, standard support)
- Extended: $199.50/yr (adds Zapier and more integrations)
- Professional: $299.50/yr (adds funnels, priority support)
- All Access: $499.50/yr (everything, including Slack integration)
The limitations
EDD runs on WordPress. That means you also need hosting, a domain, and SSL. Compared to platforms like Gumroad or Payhip where you just sign up and sell online, EDD requires more setup on your end.
No learning management system. No affiliate management. The best extensions and add-ons (funnels, Zapier, premium support) sit behind the $299.50/yr+ plans.
Best for
WordPress users who want to sell physical products alongside digital ones and need a plugin that integrates with their existing setup. If you need the ability to sell every type of digital products from your WordPress site, EDD handles it well.
This is the link for Easy Digital Downloads.
Payhip: Easy Setup, But Read the Fine Print
Payhip is a user-friendly ecommerce platform. No WordPress needed. You sign up, upload your digital files, and sell your products from a clean storefront. The setup is fast.
What Payhip offers
Payhip offers a solid set of tools to help you sell products online:
- Built-in learning management system (LMS) for courses
- Order bumps, coupons, and discount codes
- You can embed Payhip into your existing website on WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, or Shopify
- Global VAT handling built in
- Guest checkout and direct Stripe/PayPal payout
- Protected download links that deliver files to customers after purchase
Payhip also offers affiliate management, which can help you sell digital products through referral partners. Payhip allows you to sell memberships, coaching sessions, and digital product bundles from one dashboard.
Payhip pricing
Payhip provides a generous free plan at $0/mo, but it takes 5% from every sale. The paid plans:
- Plus: $29/mo + 2% transaction fee from every sale
- Pro: $99/mo with 0% transaction fees
At $1,000/mo in sales, the free plan costs you $50/mo in fees. The Plus plan is cheaper at that point ($49/mo). Once you pass $3,500/mo, the Pro plan at $99/mo wins. If you use Payhip at scale, those fees add up.
The limitations
The biggest one: if you leave Payhip, your recurring payments don’t follow you. Even with your own Stripe/PayPal connected. For anyone with a membership or subscription product, that’s a hard trade-off.
No upsells or downsells. No true buy now, pay later. Subscriptions only work through Stripe, so PayPal customers can’t subscribe. And Payhip’s installment plans aren’t real BNPL: they pay you over time instead of upfront.
Best for
Creators who want a quick-to-launch storefront with built-in LMS and affiliate tools, and who don’t rely heavily on subscription revenue.
This is the link for Payhip.
Pricing Breakdown: What You’ll Actually Spend Each Month
All three platforms use Stripe or PayPal for payment processing (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). The difference is platform fees. Here’s what you’d pay at different revenue levels, assuming a $50 average order:
| Monthly Revenue | EDD Cost (per month) | Payhip Cost (per month) | CartMango Cost (per month) | CartMango Savings vs EDD (per year) | CartMango Savings vs Payhip (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 (20 orders) | $8.29 platform + $35 processing = $43 | $49 platform + $35 processing = $84 | $0 platform + $35 processing = $35 | $99.50/yr | $588/yr |
| $5,000 (100 orders) | $8.29 platform + $175 processing = $183 | $99 platform + $175 processing = $274 | $0 platform + $175 processing = $175 | $99.50/yr | $1,188/yr |
| $10,000 (200 orders) | $8.29 platform + $350 processing = $358 | $99 platform + $350 processing = $449 | $0 platform + $350 processing = $350 | $99.50/yr | $1,188/yr |
| $50,000 (1,000 orders) | $8.29 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,758 | $99 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,849 | $0 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $99.50/yr | $1,188/yr |
EDD’s flat $99.50/yr fee means CartMango saves you exactly $99.50/yr at every level. The real gap is with Payhip: $588/yr at $1,000/mo in sales, jumping to $1,188/yr at $5,000/mo and above. The Pro plan does reduce your transaction fees to 0%, but you still pay $99/mo.
For Payhip at $1,000/mo, I used the Plus plan ($29/mo + 2%) since it’s cheaper than the free plan (5%) at that level.
Easy Digital Download vs Payhip vs CartMango: Which One Fits?
These are the links for each platform: Easy Digital Downloads, Payhip, CartMango.
Choose Easy Digital Downloads if:
- You already run a WordPress site and want to sell from it
- You need a deep plugin library with lots of integrations
- You sell both physical products and digital ones
- You’re comfortable paying $99.50/yr and up for the marketing tools and features you need
Choose Payhip if:
- You want the fastest possible setup with no technical skills needed
- You need a built-in LMS for online courses
- You want built-in affiliate management
- You’re OK with the fee structure and don’t depend heavily on recurring revenue
Choose CartMango if:
- You’re a solo digital creator looking to sell digital products online with zero platform fees
- You need to own your recurring payments, no hostage risk
- You value personal, human support and a quick SEO-friendly checkout
- You want funnels and BNPL included at no extra cost
All three give you the tools you need to sell digital products directly to your audience. EDD starts at $99.50/yr, Payhip has a free plan (5% per sale), and CartMango is free until 2027 with no fees at all.
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