Gumroad vs SureCart: the “catch” (2026)

Gumroad is a platform for selling digital products that charges 10% + $0.50 per sale. SureCart is a WordPress ecommerce plugin with a free plan (1.9% fee) or Pro at $179/yr. Both hold your recurring payments hostage.

Your Customers Keep Paying. You Stop Getting Paid.

Then you decide to switch platforms.

And the money stops. Both Gumroad and SureCart manage subscription billing on their own servers. Not on your Stripe. Not on your PayPal. The platform controls the billing cycle, and when you cancel your account, those recurring payments vanish.

It does not matter that you connected your own payment processor. The subscription lives on the platform’s infrastructure. You built that revenue over months, maybe years. But you do not own it.

Think about what that means. You could have 200 paying customers at $29 per month. That is $5,800 in monthly recurring revenue. Cancel your platform account, and every one of those payments stops.

For any business owner selling digital goods through a monthly subscription, this is the most expensive thing nobody warns you about. Not the transaction fee. Not the monthly fee. The real cost is that your recurring revenue disappears the moment you leave.

Most Gumroad vs SureCart comparisons focus on pricing and features. But the question that matters most is one most people skip: what happens to your paying customers when you want to leave?

How to Keep Your Recurring Revenue When You Switch

If recurring revenue matters to your ecommerce business, the first thing to check before picking any platform is: where do the subscriptions actually live?

Some platforms store recurring billing on your Stripe or PayPal account directly. Others manage it on their own servers. The difference is everything.

That is the approach behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and we include our limitations alongside the comparison). CartMango connects recurring subscriptions directly to your Stripe and PayPal account. If you ever leave CartMango, your customers keep paying you. The subscriptions stay on your payment processor.

Unlike Gumroad, CartMango charges zero transaction fees and zero monthly fees. All features included, free until 2027. And if you run into a problem, you get founder-led personal support with an average response time of 2 hours 16 minutes. No chatbots. No ticket queues where you wait days for a reply.

I am not saying CartMango is the right pick for everyone. But if you want to sell products and you want to actually own your recurring revenue, it is worth knowing this option exists. Especially when the two platforms you are comparing both lose your payments if you leave.

The rest of this post breaks down the Gumroad vs SureCart comparison honestly, including where CartMango falls short.

Gumroad vs SureCart vs CartMango

These are the links for each platform: Gumroad, SureCart, CartMango.

CartMango Is Not for Everyone, and That’s Fine

CartMango is built for solo creators and small teams that want to sell your digital products without losing their recurring revenue. If that describes you, it is a strong fit. If not, there are better options.

Here is what CartMango does well:

• Zero platform fees, zero transaction fees (free until 2027).
• Your recurring subscriptions live on your Stripe / PayPal. They stay with you.
• 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 is what CartMango does not do right now:

• No learning management system yet. If you sell an online course and need built-in course delivery, CartMango is not there yet. It is on the roadmap.
• No affiliate management yet. This is coming soon, but if you need an affiliate program today, Gumroad or SureCart both offer that.
• Limited native connections for now. CartMango works with Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend natively. For everything else, Make.com opens up 3,000+ apps. But if you need deep WordPress connections or LMS plugins, SureCart has more to offer right now.

CartMango is not trying to be the best ecommerce platform for every seller. It is for creators who want to sell simple digital products, keep their recurring revenue, and not worry about platform fees eating into profits.

If you need an LMS, deep WordPress connections, or a built-in affiliate program, Gumroad or SureCart might be better picks right now. CartMango is for those who want something simpler.

Gumroad: Quick Setup, Expensive to Stay

Gumroad is popular among creators because of how fast you can go from zero to selling. You create an account, upload digital products, set a price, and share a link. No website needed. No technical skills. Gumroad is a platform that allows creators to sell products directly to consumers without building anything from scratch.

Gumroad allows you to sell digital downloads, memberships, and sell physical products from the same dashboard. It also has a built-in affiliate program, so other people can promote your products and earn a commission per sale.

What Gumroad offers

• Digital downloads (ebooks, music, software, templates)
• Physical products alongside digital ones
• Subscriptions with trials and setup fees
• Upsells (but no true conditional downsells)
• Order bumps and coupon codes
• Affiliate management at no extra cost
• Protected download links
• Native connections with Discord and Circle; Zapier for everything else

Gumroad does not include email marketing or built-in marketing tools. You will need a separate email tool. There is no online store customization beyond basic settings.

Gumroad pricing

Gumroad’s pricing model is straightforward but expensive: 10% of every sale plus $0.50 per transaction. There is no monthly fee, which is why many sellers start here. But the fee structure hits hard as revenue grows.

Sell a $50 product and Gumroad keeps $5.50 per sale before Stripe or PayPal even takes their cut. At $1,000 per month in digital sales (20 orders at $50 average order value), Gumroad takes $110 in platform fees. At $5,000, that is $550. At $10,000, it is $1,100. The 10% never goes down.

The limitations

• Recurring payments gone if you leave. Your subscription revenue vanishes when you cancel.
• No true BNPL. Gumroad’s installment plans pay you over time, not upfront. If a customer bails, you lose that money.
• 7-day payout hold at minimum. Many sellers report longer delays with no clear explanation.
• Poor customer support. Users report AI chatbots, deleted feedback posts, and ignored emails.
• Very limited native connections. Only Discord and Circle. Everything else needs Zapier.
• No email marketing, no LMS, no conditional downsells.

Best for

Creators who want a fast, no-monthly-fee way to start selling digital products and can accept the 10% cut. Good for testing product ideas or low-volume sellers. Less ideal for anyone building serious recurring revenue or looking for a gumroad alternative with better support and lower transaction costs.

This is the link for Gumroad.

SureCart: The WordPress Ecommerce Plugin Without the Bloat

SureCart is a powerful wordpress plugin built as a lighter alternative to WooCommerce. If you already have a WordPress site and want to add an ecommerce store without the overhead that WooCommerce often brings, SureCart fills that gap.

WooCommerce is an open-source platform with massive flexibility, but it is known for being heavy on resources and hard to manage. SureCart gives you full control over your checkout while keeping things lean. Your product pages, your design, and your content all live on your WordPress site. The commerce layer (subscriptions, payments, customer data) runs on SureCart’s cloud servers.

What SureCart offers

• Digital downloads, physical products, subscriptions, donations
• Upsells and downsells (full funnel support)
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support
• Multiple payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Paystack, Razorpay
• Order bumps at checkout
• Full subscription support with trials and setup fees
• Affiliate management
• Pro plans let you manage multiple stores (good for agencies)
• Native connections: LearnDash, LifterLMS, TutorLMS, SureMembers, BuddyBoss

Unlike Gumroad, SureCart is a wordpress plugin, meaning you need a self-hosted WordPress website to use it to sell digital and physical products. It is not a hosted platform. You cannot sign up and start selling without a WordPress setup.

SureCart pricing

SureCart pricing includes a free tier:

• Launch (Free): $0/mo with a 1.9% transaction fee on every sale
• Pro (1 store): $179/yr
• Pro (5 stores): $249/yr
• Pro (unlimited stores): $399/yr

Pro plans remove the 1.9% transaction fee. Even on the free plan, you get most features, but that 1.9% fee adds up. At $5,000/mo in revenue, you pay $95/mo in transaction fees on the free plan versus $14.92/mo on Pro ($179/yr). Pro pays for itself above roughly $785/mo.

The limitations

• Requires a self-hosted WordPress site. If you do not already use WordPress, SureCart is not an option without setting one up first.
• Recurring payments vanish if you leave. SureCart manages subscriptions on their servers, not your Stripe/PayPal.
• No free migration. You handle the move yourself.
• Commerce depends on SureCart’s cloud. If their servers go down, your cart stops working.
• 1.9% transaction fee on the free plan.
• Email template customization requires HTML knowledge, which limits non-technical sellers.

Best for

WordPress users who want to sell digital products and subscriptions without WooCommerce bloat. Strong pick for agencies managing multiple stores. Not a fit if you want a fully hosted solution or if you do not already have a WordPress site.

This is the link for SureCart.

What You’ll Actually Pay: A Pricing Breakdown

Here is what each platform costs at four revenue levels. All calculations include standard Stripe/PayPal processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction), assuming a $50 average order value. For SureCart, I used the Pro 1-store plan ($179/yr = $14.92/mo) since it is cheaper than the free plan above roughly $785/mo in revenue.

Gumroad’s 10% fee is the most expensive pricing model in this comparison. At $5,000/mo in revenue, Gumroad’s platform fees alone cost $550/mo, or $6,600 per year more than CartMango. At $50,000/mo, the gap is $66,000 per year.

SureCart is much cheaper than Gumroad at every revenue level. The Pro plan is a flat $179/yr regardless of how much you sell. CartMango saves you that $179 per year since it charges nothing.

But the bigger question is not price. It is what happens to your recurring revenue when you leave. Both Gumroad and SureCart hold your subscription payments hostage. CartMango does not.

SureCart vs Gumroad vs CartMango: Which Fits Your Business?

These are the links for each platform: Gumroad, SureCart, CartMango.

If you are looking for the best gumroad alternatives in 2026, here is how to decide. Among the best alternatives to gumroad, both SureCart and CartMango offer different strengths, and the right pick depends on how you work and what you sell.

Choose Gumroad if:

• You want a fast, no-monthly-fee way to start selling digital products online. Gumroad is a platform for selling digital products that removes the setup barrier.
• You can accept the 10% + $0.50 per sale fee structure.
• You do not need conditional downsells, BNPL, or fast customer support.
• You sell mostly one-time digital downloads and do not depend heavily on recurring revenue.

Choose SureCart if:

• You already have a WordPress site and want a modern ecommerce platform as a wordpress plugin without the WooCommerce overhead.
• You need full funnel support: upsells, downsells, BNPL.
• You want connections with WordPress LMS plugins like LearnDash or TutorLMS.
• SureCart pricing works for your budget, and you are comfortable with the paid plans or the 1.9% fee on the free tier.

Choose CartMango if:

• You want to sell digital products without platform fees and without your recurring revenue disappearing if you switch.
• You want to start selling digital products fast without needing WordPress or building a full website.
• You want human support from a real person when something breaks.
• You can live without an LMS, affiliate management, and deep WordPress connections for now.

CartMango is a platform for selling digital products with zero fees. It is not the right pick if you need an LMS or deep WordPress connections today. But if you want to sell your digital products, keep your recurring revenue, and pay nothing in platform fees, it is worth a look.

Sellers who depend on recurring revenue should pay close attention to what happens when they leave a platform. That is where the real cost lives.

No ecommerce platform is perfect. Pick the one that fits how you work today, and make sure you understand where your subscription payments live before you commit.

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