E-junkie is an embeddable shopping cart with a flat monthly fee and no website required. Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin with annual pricing tiers and a large extension library. Both sell digital products, but they work differently.
Forced to Pick: Too Basic or Too Much Work
If you want to sell digital downloads, you’ve probably looked at E-junkie. It’s simple to use and affordable. Copy and paste a buy button onto your website using HTML code, and you’re done.
But E-junkie can’t do subscriptions. No order bumps. No upsells and bundles. If you want customers to make additional purchases, there’s no built-in way to make that happen.
So you look at Easy Digital Downloads. It has subscriptions, order bumps, and a massive library of wordpress plugins.
Here’s the catch. EDD is a WordPress plugin. That means you need a WordPress site first. Hosting. A domain. SSL. A theme that doesn’t break when page loads get heavy. You’ll spend time managing updates, fixing plugin conflicts, and making sure your site stays secure.
You just wanted a place to sell pdf files and ebooks. Now you’re managing server infrastructure. E-junkie is too basic to grow with. EDD gives you the features you need, but the WordPress overhead pulls your time away from actually selling products.
A Way Out of the WordPress Overhead
What if you didn’t have to choose between too simple and too complicated?
That’s the idea behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and we include our limitations alongside the comparison). CartMango gives you subscriptions, order bumps, funnels, protected download links, and a smooth checkout, without requiring WordPress or self-hosting.
No server to manage. No plugins to keep updated. No hosting bill. CartMango is free until 2027, with 0 monthly fees and 0% commission. You pay via Stripe or PayPal processing fees only.
Support is founder-led and personal. No chatbots, no ticket queues. The average response time is 2 hours and 16 minutes. For creators looking to sell your digital products without WordPress overhead, it’s worth a look.
Ejunkie vs Easy Digital Downloads vs CartMango
Using this comparison chart, here’s how all three platforms stack up when you compare E-junkie vs Easy Digital Downloads:
| Feature | E-junkie | Easy Digital Downloads | CartMango |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your recurring payments gone if you leave the platform? | ⚠️ Not applicable. E-junkie does not support recurring or subscription billing | ✅ You keep recurring payments | ✅ You keep recurring payments |
| Totally free? (note: Stripe / PayPal fees are standard across all cart platforms) | ❌ $8/mo for up to 10 products (200 MB storage). $10/mo for up to 40 products (2 GB storage). $20/mo for up to 150 products (8 GB storage). $40/mo for unlimited products & storage. | ❌ Personal: $99.50/yr Extended: $199.50/yr Professional: $299.50/yr All Access: $499.50/yr | ✅ Yes, 0 monthly fees, 0% commission. All features included (free until 2027). |
| Learning management system (LMS) | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ Future |
| Funnels (upsells & downsells) AFTER customers paid for the main product | ❌ Does not support upsells / downsells | ✅ Professional plan & above ($299.50 – $499.50 / yr) | ✅ Yes |
| Customer support | Live chat 7 days a week (10am-6pm MST) & a community forum. Reviews consistently praise their support speed & friendliness. | No live chat but good customer support. Standard support for Personal & Extended plan ($99.50 – $199.50/yr). Premium support for Professional & AI Access plan ($299.50 – $499.50/yr). | Founder-led personal support, no chatbots, no live chat. Average response time is 2hr+. |
| Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support for your customers (boost your sales) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Order bumps to boost sales | ❌ No | ✅ | ✅ |
| Subscriptions (support trials & set up fees) | ❌ No | ✅ | ✅ |
| Flexible coupons & discounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Quick & smooth checkouts | ❌ No. It’s functional but outdated. | ✅ | ✅ |
| 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 |
| Integrations | ⚠️ Limited compared to modern platforms. PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, Razorpay, Instamojo, Paytm. Mailchimp, AWeber, GetResponse, Constant Contact, Drip, Google Analytics. Zapier: Connects to thousands of additional apps. | ✅ Large lineup of connections: Stripe, PayPal, Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Zapier (Extended plan $199.95/yr) Slack (Professional plan $299.50/yr) | ⚠️ Limited native connections, but its Make.com connector gives you access to 3,000+ apps. Current native connections: Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend, with more coming soon. |
| Affiliate management | ✅ | ❌ No | ❌ Coming soon |
| Best for | Creators who are content with basic payment processing and don’t need advanced growth tools (like subscriptions, order bumps, and funnels) to scale a business. | WordPress users who not only sell digital products like ebooks and software, but also offer physical merchandise. | Solo digital creators who don’t want their recurring revenue held hostage, plus instant setup, human support, and 0 platform fees (free until 2027). |
| Free migration | ❌ No free migration | ❌ No free migration | ✅ Free migration included |
These are the links for each platform: E-junkie, Easy Digital Downloads, CartMango.
CartMango Isn’t for Everyone. And That’s Fine.
In the Ejunkie vs Easy Digital Downloads debate, CartMango is a third option. It’s built for solo digital creators who want to sell digital content like courses, ebooks, and templates without touching WordPress or paying a flat monthly fee.
If you need a full e-commerce solution with 100+ extensions or software licensing, EDD is probably the better fit right now. If you only sell one-time digital goods, E-junkie’s $8/mo plan works.
But if you want subscriptions, order bumps, funnels, and protected file download links from the start, CartMango covers that.
There’s no LMS yet (it’s on the roadmap). Native connections are still growing, though the Make.com connector opens up 3,000+ apps. Affiliate management is coming soon. No annual pricing tier that gates features. Just a cart that does what you need, with a real person behind support.
E-junkie: The Flat-Fee Cart for Simple Sellers
E-junkie has been around since the mid-2000s. It’s one of the oldest shopping cart system options for selling digital downloads. You get purchase buttons you can embed on any website or blog. If you have a link to sell, E-junkie handles the delivery of digital files and payment processing.
What E-junkie offers
- Embeddable add to cart and buy buttons for any site
- Digital and physical product delivery (including custom shipping rules for items that require shipping, with shipping and handling via USPS, including UPS)
- Affiliate management built in
- Flexible discount codes with maximum uses and settings for expiration
- Download limits and download link expiration to protect your files
- Guest checkout, no login required for the buyer’s experience
- Supports distributing your digital products like pdf files, ebooks, music, and file downloads for comics
- Payment processing via stripe or PayPal, plus Braintree, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, Razorpay
- Gift cards and flexible coupons for promotions
E-junkie pricing structure
E-junkie charges a flat monthly fee with no per transaction fees:
- $8/mo for up to 10 products (200 MB storage)
- $10/mo for up to 40 products (2 GB storage)
- $20/mo for up to 150 products (8 GB storage)
- $40/mo for unlimited products and storage
The fixed price model means you know exactly what you’ll pay each month.
The limitations
E-junkie can’t do subscriptions or recurring billing. No order bumps. No upsells or downsells. If you want customers to purchase on a recurring basis, this platform won’t support it.
The checkout is outdated. It works, but it doesn’t look modern. No LMS for courses. No funnels to help you make sales beyond the initial product listing.
Best for
Creators who want a cheap, simple way to sell digital downloads without recurring billing. If you sell ebooks, templates, music, or software as one-time purchases, E-junkie gets the job done at a flat rate. Unlike Gumroad, which charges per transaction, E-junkie’s flat fee keeps costs predictable no matter how many sales pages or products you run.
This is the link for E-junkie.
Easy Digital Downloads: The WordPress Extension for Digital Sellers
If you’re already running a WordPress site and you’re looking to sell digital products from it, Easy Digital Downloads is worth considering. EDD offers a free core version on WordPress.org alongside paid annual plans.
What EDD offers
- Full online store on your WordPress site for digital goods and physical merchandise
- Subscriptions with trials and setup fees (Extended plan and above)
- Order bumps to allow customers to add more at checkout
- Software licensing system for product bundles and digital tools (Professional plan+)
- Direct payout via Stripe or PayPal
- Protected download links so only authorized buyers can access files
- Large library of wordpress plugins and extensions for email marketing, reporting, and payment gateways
EDD pricing structure
EDD has multiple price points on an annual subscription:
- Personal: $99.50/yr (1 site, standard support)
- Extended: $199.50/yr (1 site, subscriptions included)
- Professional: $299.50/yr (2 sites, funnels, software licensing)
- All Access: $499.50/yr (3 sites, every extension)
On top of the plugin cost, you need WordPress hosting ($5-$30/mo), a domain ($10-15/yr), and SSL. These add up.
The limitations
The biggest limitation is the WordPress requirement. You need a self-hosted WordPress site, which means managing hosting, updates, security, and backups. If a WordPress update breaks your site while you’re running a sale, that’s on you.
No affiliate management. No live chat support. If you need to issue refunds or customize your store beyond the basics, additional configurations is required through extensions.
Best for
WordPress users who want to sell art, sell digital products like ebooks, software, and courses, or physical merchandise. If you’re comfortable managing WordPress and want customization using a variety of extensions, EDD is a strong option. And ensuring your products reach only paying customers, EDD’s protected links and expiration settings help with that.
This is the link for Easy Digital Downloads.
What You’ll Actually Pay: E-junkie vs EDD vs CartMango
Here’s a pricing simulation assuming an average order value of $50 and including UPS and standard Stripe/PayPal processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction):
| Monthly Revenue | E-junkie Cost (per month) | EDD Cost (per month) | CartMango Cost (per month) | CartMango Savings vs E-junkie (per year) | CartMango Savings vs EDD (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 (20 orders) | $8 platform + $35 processing = $43 | $8.29 platform + $35 processing = $43.29 | $0 platform + $35 processing = $35 | $96/yr | $99.50/yr |
| $5,000 (100 orders) | $8 platform + $175 processing = $183 | $8.29 platform + $175 processing = $183.29 | $0 platform + $175 processing = $175 | $96/yr | $99.50/yr |
| $10,000 (200 orders) | $8 platform + $350 processing = $358 | $8.29 platform + $350 processing = $358.29 | $0 platform + $350 processing = $350 | $96/yr | $99.50/yr |
| $50,000 (1,000 orders) | $8 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,758 | $8.29 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,758.29 | $0 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $96/yr | $99.50/yr |
E-junkie costs $8/mo ($96/yr). EDD’s cheapest plan is $99.50/yr ($8.29/mo). CartMango is $0/mo platform fees.
EDD’s $99.50/yr Personal plan doesn’t include subscriptions. If you need subscriptions, you jump to $199.50/yr (Extended), which doubles your CartMango savings. The real cost gap widens as you need more features, because EDD charges more for each pricing tier.
EDD also requires WordPress hosting ($60-$360/yr additional), not included above. E-junkie and CartMango don’t need hosting. When you factor in Easy Digital Downloads vs Ejunkie hosting costs, the price comparison shifts.
Ejunkie vs Easy Digital Downloads vs CartMango: Which One Fits?
These are the links for each platform: E-junkie, Easy Digital Downloads, CartMango.
To help you make the best choice, here’s a quick guide.
Choose E-junkie if you want to sell simple one-time digital products at the lowest cost. You don’t need subscriptions, funnels, or order bumps. You want a platform for selling files with embeddable purchase buttons, copy-paste setup, and no WordPress requirement. E-junkie starts at $8/mo with zero transaction fees.
Choose Easy Digital Downloads if you already run a WordPress site and want a full-featured online store. You need subscriptions, and you’re comfortable managing WordPress updates and hosting. EDD starts at $99.50/yr, but plan on $199.50/yr if you need subscriptions.
Choose CartMango if you want subscriptions, order bumps, funnels, and protected downloads without managing WordPress or paying monthly platform fees. CartMango is free until 2027. You pay only payment processor fees via stripe or PayPal. If you want customers to download their purchased files from a protected, modern platform, CartMango is the move.
Still not sure? You can easily create a free CartMango account, no credit card required. Reach out via messenger or WhatsApp with questions. Each website using a different cart will feel different, so pick the one that fits and get started today.
Related Reading
- Ejunkie vs SureCart: No Subscriptions vs No Ownership (2026)
- Ejunkie vs Easy Digital Downloads: too simple or complex (2026)
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- Ejunkie vs ThriveCart: budget cart or big upfront bet? (2026)
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- Ejunkie vs Gumroad: no subscriptions vs no ownership (2026)
- Gumroad vs SureCart: the “catch” (2026)
- Payhip vs SureCart: the hidden catch nobody talks about (2026)