E-junkie is a simple shopping cart with monthly plans from $8 to $40 that doesn’t support subscription billing. Gumroad charges 10% plus $0.50 per sale and supports subscriptions, but your recurring payments vanish if you leave.
Your Monthly Revenue Has an Expiration Date
You spend months building paying customers. Recurring revenue starts coming in. Then you realize the platform you chose either can’t handle subscriptions at all, or won’t let you keep them.
E-junkie does not support recurring billing. If you want customers paying you monthly, you need a different tool. No subscription feature, no trial option, no recurring payment setup.
Gumroad supports subscriptions. But those recurring payments live on Gumroad’s servers, not on your Stripe or PayPal. If you leave Gumroad, every recurring payment stops. Your customers are still willing to pay. The money just stops reaching you.
You’re stuck choosing between a platform that can’t build recurring revenue and one that builds it but keeps it locked away.
For any entrepreneur or creator selling a membership or a coaching program, this is the most expensive part of the Ejunkie vs Gumroad decision. Not the fees. Whether you actually get to keep the revenue you earned.
How to Pick a Cart That Protects Your Revenue
Before you pick any platform for selling digital products, ask: what happens to my recurring payments if I leave?
Here’s what else I’d look at:
- Protected downloads. If a customer shares your download link, does it still work? You want links that expire or are tied to the buyer.
- Responsive support. When something breaks during a launch, you need a real person answering.
- Clear payment options. No hidden fees. No surprise holds on your payouts.
- Instant payouts. Your money should go directly to your Stripe or PayPal, not sit in a holding queue.
That’s the approach behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and we include our limitations alongside the comparison). Recurring subscriptions connect securely to your Stripe and PayPal. If you leave CartMango, your customers keep paying you.
CartMango is free until 2027 with zero platform fees and zero commission. Founder-led personal support with an average response time of 2 hours 16 minutes. No chatbots.
E-junkie can’t do subscriptions at all. Gumroad holds recurring payments hostage. The rest of this Gumroad vs Ejunkie comparison breaks down every difference honestly, including where CartMango falls short.
E-junkie vs Gumroad vs CartMango
| Feature | E-junkie | Gumroad | CartMango |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your recurring payments gone if you leave the platform? | ⚠️ Not applicable. E-junkie does not support recurring or subscription billing | ❌ Recurring payments are lost when you leave | ✅ 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. | ❌ 10% + $0.50 per transaction | ✅ Yes, 0 monthly fees, 0% commission. All features included (until 2027). |
| Learning management system (LMS) | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ Future |
| Funnels (upsells & downsells) AFTER customers paid for the main product | ❌ Does not support upsells or downsells | ⚠️ Supports upsells but no true conditional downsells (i.e. showing a different offer only when the customer turns down the first upsell) | ✅ Yes |
| Customer support | Live chat 7 days a week (10am to 6pm MST) and a community forum. Reviews consistently praise their support speed and friendliness. | ❌ Weak customer support with AI chatbots. Has deleted feedback posts and ignored emails (source). | 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) | ✅ | ❌ No true BNPL: Gumroad’s installment plans pay you over time, not upfront. You risk missed payments if customers stop paying before finishing what they owe. | ✅ |
| 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) | ✅ | ❌ 7-day hold, and many sellers report even longer payout delays with no clear reason (source) | ✅ |
| If download links are shared by rogue customers, will they work? | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ 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. | ⚠️ Native connections: Only Discord & Circle for community / membership access. For everything else, you need Zapier. | ⚠️ Limited native connections for now, 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 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ Coming soon |
| Best for | Creators who are content with basic transaction processing and don’t need advanced growth tools (like subscriptions, order bumps, and funnels) required to scale a business. | Creators who want a fast, no-monthly-fee way to start selling and are willing to give up a large 10% cut of revenue and live without advanced funnel tools or deep customization. | 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, Gumroad, CartMango.
CartMango Is Not for Everyone. And That’s Fine.
CartMango is built for solo creators, coaches, and consultants selling digital products. You can customize your checkout, set up funnels, and allow customers to pay without creating an account.
Here’s what CartMango does well:
- Zero platform fees, zero commission (free until 2027).
- Your recurring subscriptions live on your Stripe / PayPal. They stay with you if you leave.
- Founder-led support. Average response: 2 hours 16 minutes. A real person reads your message.
- Upsells, downsells, order bumps, BNPL, protected downloads.
- Free migration from your current platform.
And here’s what CartMango doesn’t do right now:
- No learning management system yet. It’s on the roadmap.
- No affiliate management yet. Coming soon, but if you need it today, both E-junkie and Gumroad already offer it.
- Limited native connections for now. CartMango works with Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend. For everything else, Make.com opens up 3,000+ apps.
E-junkie: The Bare-Bones Cart for Simple Digital Sales
E-junkie has been selling digital products since 2005. Embed buy buttons on your WordPress site or any website, and E-junkie handles payment processing and file delivery. Not a customizable shopping cart builder. Just a cart layer that plugs into whatever site you already have.
What E-junkie offers
- Sell digital downloads (ebooks, pdf files, epub files, software, music)
- Sell physical products with shipping calculation
- Buy now, pay later support
- Flexible coupons and discount codes
- Protected download links with link expiration and file download limit controls
- Affiliate management built-in
- You can integrate with multiple payment gateways: PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, Razorpay
- Connects with Mailchimp, AWeber, GetResponse, Constant Contact, Drip, and Zapier
E-junkie does not host a storefront. You add buy buttons to your existing site or social media page. If search engine optimization matters to you, E-junkie doesn’t offer any SEO tools.
E-junkie pricing structure
- $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
All plans include the same features, differing only in product count and storage.
The limitations
No subscription or recurring billing. No order bumps. No upsell or downsell funnels. The checkout works but looks outdated, with no one-click purchase option. You’ll outgrow E-junkie fast if you need subscriptions or funnels.
Best for
Creators who need a straightforward way to sell downloads without recurring billing. If you upload a few products, set prices, and just want to collect payments, E-junkie does that at a low monthly cost.
This is the link for E-junkie.
Gumroad: Quick to Launch, Expensive as You Grow
Gumroad makes it easy to start selling digital products online. Create an account, upload your files, set a price, and share a link. No website needed. That ease of use is what draws creators in. It’s easy to use whether you’re a beginner or not.
What Gumroad offers
- Digital downloads (ebooks, music, software, templates, pdf and epub files)
- Physical products alongside digital ones
- Subscriptions with trials and setup fees
- Upsells (no true conditional downsells)
- Order bumps and coupon codes
- Affiliate management so others can spread the word about your products
- Protected download links
- Native connections with Discord and Circle; Zapier for the rest
- A dashboard to track sales and a creator profile page
Gumroad does not include email marketing tools. You’ll need a separate service like Mailchimp or Kit.
Gumroad pricing
Gumroad charges 10% of every sale plus $0.50 per transaction. No monthly fee, which attracts beginner sellers. But the percentage fee grows fast. At $5,000/mo in sales, you’d pay $550 in Gumroad fees. At $50,000/mo, that’s $5,500.
The limitations
Recurring payments vanish when you leave. Cancel your Gumroad account and every monthly payment stops. Gumroad controls the billing, not your Stripe or PayPal.
Customer support is weak. Reviews mention AI chatbots, deleted feedback, and ignored emails. Payouts are held for 7 days minimum, with some sellers reporting longer delays.
If conversion matters, the lack of true conditional downsells limits what you can do with funnels.
Best for
Creators who want the fastest path from idea to selling and are okay giving up 10% of every sale. If recurring revenue is not part of your business model and you want to sell for a fixed price, Gumroad gets you selling quickly.
This is the link for Gumroad.
Pricing Breakdown: What You Actually Pay
All three platforms use Stripe or PayPal for payment processing (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). The table below assumes a $50 average order value.
| Monthly Revenue | E-junkie Cost (per month) | Gumroad Cost (per month) | CartMango Cost (per month) | CartMango Savings vs E-junkie (per year) | CartMango Savings vs Gumroad (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 (20 orders) | $8 platform + $35 processing = $43 | $110 platform + $35 processing = $145 | $0 platform + $35 processing = $35 | $96/yr | $1,320/yr |
| $5,000 (100 orders) | $8 platform + $175 processing = $183 | $550 platform + $175 processing = $725 | $0 platform + $175 processing = $175 | $96/yr | $6,600/yr |
| $10,000 (200 orders) | $8 platform + $350 processing = $358 | $1,100 platform + $350 processing = $1,450 | $0 platform + $350 processing = $350 | $96/yr | $13,200/yr |
| $50,000 (1,000 orders) | $8 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,758 | $5,500 platform + $1,750 processing = $7,250 | $0 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $96/yr | $66,000/yr |
E-junkie’s $8/mo stays flat regardless of revenue, making it cost-effective compared to Gumroad. CartMango saves you $96/yr over E-junkie across all levels.
The real gap is Gumroad. At $5,000/mo, Gumroad takes $6,600/yr in platform fees. At $50,000/mo, that’s $66,000/yr. CartMango charges nothing.
Ejunkie vs Gumroad vs CartMango: Which One Fits Your Business?
These are the links for each platform: E-junkie, Gumroad, CartMango.
Choose E-junkie if:
- You want a low-cost shopping cart to sell on your website
- You don’t need subscriptions, order bumps, or funnels
- You want multiple payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, and more)
- You’re fine with a basic, no-frills checkout experience
- You need affiliate management today
Choose Gumroad if:
- You want to start selling immediately with zero technical setup
- You don’t depend on recurring revenue from customers
- You’re okay giving up 10% of every sale plus $0.50 per transaction
- You want a built-in affiliate program and a creator profile page
- Payout delays of 7+ days don’t bother you
Choose CartMango if:
- You’re a solo digital creator, coach, or consultant
- You want zero platform fees and zero commission
- Keeping your recurring payments when you leave is a priority
- You want personal, founder-led support instead of chatbots
- You want free migration from your current platform
Compared to other ecommerce platforms, the Ejunkie vs Gumroad comparison comes down to simplicity vs speed. E-junkie is cheaper long-term but missing modern features. Gumroad gets you selling fast but takes a big cut and holds your recurring revenue.
This breakdown should help you make an informed decision and determine which platform fits your specific needs. If you want to sell digital products with zero fees and full recurring payment ownership, CartMango lets you do that at no cost until 2027.
Related Reading
- Ejunkie vs Samcart: the case with the recurring revenue (2026)
- Ejunkie vs Payhip: 0 recurring revenue safety (2026)
- 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)
- Sellfy vs SureCart: your recurring payments at risk (2026)
- SendOwl vs SureCart: recurring revenue you don’t own (2026)
- SamCart vs SureCart: the recurring payment problem (2026)
- ThriveCart vs SureCart: who really owns your customers? (2026)
- Sellfy vs Easy Digital Downloads: the revenue hostage (2026)