Ejunkie vs Payhip: 0 recurring revenue safety (2026)

Ejunkie is a shopping cart for selling digital downloads, with monthly plans from $8 to $40. Payhip is a hosted platform with a free tier that takes 5% per sale and includes built-in courses.

Locked Out of Your Own Recurring Revenue

Here’s something most creators overlook when they compare E-junkie vs Payhip: what happens to your recurring revenue?

E-junkie doesn’t support subscriptions or memberships at all. If you want to sell a monthly membership or any recurring payment plan, you can’t do it on E-junkie. One-time sales only. No recurring billing of any kind.

Payhip does let you sell subscriptions. But there’s a catch. If you ever decide to leave Payhip, your recurring payments stay behind. Your customers keep getting billed, but you stop receiving the money. Even if you connected your own Stripe or PayPal account, the recurring billing stays inside Payhip.

So you’re stuck two ways. One platform can’t help you build recurring revenue at all. The other lets you build it, then holds it hostage the moment you try to leave.

Most sellers don’t think about this until they’re months deep into a platform. By then, they’ve built something they can’t walk away from without starting over. Every customer has to re-enter their payment details. Some will. Many won’t.

That’s the real risk behind this decision. Not features. Not pricing. Whether you can build recurring income and actually keep it.

What to Look for Before You Choose a Selling Platform

Before you pick any platform for selling your digital products, ask yourself:

• Do I keep my recurring payments if I leave?
• Are the fees transparent and predictable as my sales grow?
• Can I run upsells and downsells after a buyer completes a purchase?
• Will I get real human support when something breaks?

Not every platform passes all four. That’s the thinking behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and I’m including our limitations alongside the comparison). CartMango was built for independent sellers who want to own their revenue from day one. No recurring payment hostage. No platform fees. You get paid directly through Stripe or PayPal, with nothing taken from your sales.

CartMango is free until 2027. Zero monthly fees, zero commission. When you need help, you reach a real person. Average support response time is 2 hours and 16 minutes.

I’m not saying it’s the best E-junkie alternative or the only solution out there. But if those four criteria matter to you, it’s worth a look before you commit.

Ejunkie vs Payhip vs CartMango

Here’s how all three platforms stack up across every major feature for digital product sellers.

These are the links for each platform: E-junkie, Payhip, CartMango.

CartMango Is Not for Everyone. And That’s Fine.

CartMango was built for solo digital creators who sell ebooks, templates, courses, and coaching programs through their own online store. If that’s you, here’s what you get:

• Zero platform fees and zero monthly costs (free until 2027)
• You keep your recurring payments if you ever leave
• Full funnel support with upsells and downsells
• Buy now, pay later for your customers
• Protected download links with secure checkout and file delivery
• Free migration from your current platform

What CartMango doesn’t have yet:

• No learning management system for now (it’s on the roadmap)
• No affiliate management right now (coming soon)
• Fewer native connections at this point, though Make.com bridges the gap with 3,000+ apps

If you need a built-in LMS today, Payhip has one. If you want wide payment gateway coverage with Braintree or Authorize.net, E-junkie supports those. CartMango is still growing into those areas.

But if you want to start selling instantly with zero fees, keep your recurring revenue, and get personal human support, CartMango is worth a look.

E-junkie: The Basic Shopping Cart for Digital Sellers

E-junkie has been around since 2004. It’s one of the oldest cart platforms for selling digital downloads. You upload your file, set a fixed price, and embed buy now buttons on your website or blog. That’s the core of what E-junkie does.

What E-junkie offers

• Buy now buttons you can embed on any site
• Payment processing through PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, Razorpay, and more
• Support for international currencies
• Flexible coupons and discount codes
• Built-in affiliate management
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL) for your customers
• Protected file downloads for ebooks, pdf documents, software, and design assets
• Guest checkout with no login needed
• Email marketing connections: Mailchimp, AWeber, GetResponse, Constant Contact, Drip
• Zapier for connecting to thousands of additional apps

E-junkie pricing

• $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

You pay a flat monthly fee regardless of how many sales you make. No percentage taken from transactions.

The limitations

E-junkie does not support subscriptions or recurring billing. No order bumps. No upsells or downsells. The checkout interface is functional but feels outdated compared to modern platforms like Gumroad or Payhip. No learning management system if you plan to sell courses.

Best for

Sellers who need basic digital file delivery and don’t require growth tools like subscriptions, funnels, or order bumps.

This is the link for E-junkie.

Payhip: Quick to Launch, But Watch the Fees

Payhip is a hosted platform for selling digital products known for fast setup. You can launch your store in minutes. If you sell to customers across different countries, Payhip automatically deals with EU VAT so you don’t have to. It’s one of the simplest ways to get a storefront running.

What Payhip offers

• Built-in learning management system (LMS) for courses
• Order bumps to increase your average sale value
• Subscriptions and memberships (Stripe only, not using PayPal)
• Flexible coupons and discounts
• Modern, quick checkout experience
• Works with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, Shopify, Calendly, Zoom, and Zapier
• Built-in affiliate program

Payhip pricing

• Free: 5% taken from every transaction
• Plus: $29/mo + 2% per transaction
• Pro: $99/mo with 0% transaction fees

The free tier works when starting out. But that 5% adds up. At $5,000/mo in sales, you’re paying $250/mo in platform fees on the free plan alone. The conversion to a paid plan makes sense once your volume grows.

The limitations

Payhip holds your recurring payments hostage. If you leave, your subscription customers keep getting billed, but you stop receiving that money. Even when you use your own payment method through Stripe, this doesn’t change.

No upsells or downsells. You can’t promote additional products after a purchase. Payhip’s installment plans are not true BNPL (they pay you over time, not upfront). And subscriptions only work through Stripe. Customers who prefer PayPal can’t subscribe.

Best for

Creators who want an all-in-one solution with built-in courses and easy global VAT handling, and who can integrate it with their existing email marketing tools.

This is the link for Payhip.

Pricing Breakdown: What You Actually Pay

Here’s what each platform costs at different revenue levels. All calculations include Stripe/PayPal processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), assuming an average order of $50.

For E-junkie, I used the $8/mo plan (up to 10 products). For Payhip, I used the cheapest plan at each level: Plus ($29/mo + 2%) at $1,000/mo, and Pro ($99/mo, 0%) at $5,000/mo and above.

E-junkie’s cost difference vs CartMango is modest ($96/yr) because its base plan is only $8/mo. The bigger gap is with Payhip: on the Pro plan ($99/mo), you spend over $1,000 more per year than CartMango.

Ejunkie vs Payhip vs CartMango: Which Fits Your Business?

These are the links for each platform: E-junkie, Payhip, CartMango.

Choose E-junkie if you need a basic, affordable cart for selling digital files and don’t care about subscriptions or funnels. At $8/mo it supports major cards through Braintree and Authorize.net, has friendly live chat support, and includes built-in affiliate management.

Choose Payhip if you want built-in courses, easy VAT handling, and a quick way to launch your store. The free tier gets you started, and the Pro plan at $99/mo removes all transaction fees. If you don’t plan to leave and sell courses alongside digital downloads, Payhip fits.

Choose CartMango if you want to sell digital downloads with zero platform fees, keep your recurring revenue, and get full funnel support. CartMango is free until 2027 with personal, founder-led support averaging 2 hours and 16 minutes response time.

Here’s my honest take on the Payhip vs E-junkie decision: if recurring revenue matters to you, neither platform gives you what you need. E-junkie can’t do subscriptions. Payhip can, but holds your payments hostage.

If you just sell one-off products, E-junkie is cheaper at $8/mo. Payhip is better if you also want to sell courses. And if you want recurring income you actually own, CartMango is the alternative worth checking out.

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

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• Ejunkie vs Payhip: 0 recurring revenue safety (2026)
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• 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)
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• Sellfy vs Easy Digital Downloads: the revenue hostage (2026)