Payhip vs ThriveCart: losing what you built (2026)

Payhip is a simple e-commerce tool with per-sale fees or a monthly plan. ThriveCart charges a one-time fee starting at $495. Both let you sell digital products, but pricing, features, and what happens to your recurring revenue if you leave are very different.

Losing What You Built

You spend months building a membership. You create the content, set up the payments, nurture your customers. Then one day you decide to switch platforms.

With Payhip, your recurring payments disappear. Even if you connected your own Stripe or PayPal account, the recurring billing relationships stay with Payhip. You leave, they stop. All those customers you worked to acquire, all that predictable monthly income, gone.

ThriveCart handles this differently. When you leave ThriveCart, your recurring payments continue. The billing relationship lives in your Stripe or PayPal account, not locked inside ThriveCart’s system.

This is not a small detail. For creators who sell courses, coaching programs, or any recurring offer, this determines whether you truly own your business or just rent it.

Think about what recurring revenue means. It is income you can count on. It is what lets you plan ahead, hire help, take time off. When a platform holds that hostage, they hold your future hostage too.

Some creators discover this too late. They build something real, then realize they cannot leave without starting over. The platform becomes a cage rather than a tool.

If you are looking at ThriveCart vs Payhip, this should be the first question you ask: what happens to customers’ existing subscriptions if I leave?

What to Look for in a Selling Platform

First, recurring payment ownership. Can you take your paying customers with you if you leave? Or does the platform hold them hostage? This should be non-negotiable for anyone selling memberships or subscriptions.

Second, download protection. If someone shares your download link, can anyone access your files? Some platforms protect links so only paying customers can download. Others leave your products exposed to piracy.

Third, responsive customer service. When something breaks at 2am before a launch, who answers? Some platforms offer real human support. Others show a lack of support with long wait times, chatbots, or deleted feedback in their communities.

Fourth, transparent pricing. Watch for hidden fees, required add-ons, or percentage cuts that grow as your revenue grows. Some charge per sale while others have monthly fees.

We built CartMango to cover all the above points. You keep your recurring payments if you leave. Download links are protected. Support comes from actual humans with response times around 2 hours 16 minutes. And until 2027, there are zero platform fees.

Payhip vs ThriveCart vs CartMango

These are the links for each platform: Payhip, ThriveCart, CartMango.

CartMango Is Not Necessarily Better

CartMango works best for a specific type of seller. If that is not you, one of the other platforms might fit better.

CartMango is built for solo digital creators. People selling ebooks, templates, online courses, coaching, or graphic designs. Coaches and consultants who want a simple way to collect payments and deliver products directly to customers through their own online store.

What makes CartMango different: you own your customer relationships completely. No recurring payment hostage situations. No platform fees eating into your margins (at least until 2027). Protected downloads so your products cannot be pirated through shared links.

The founder handles support personally. No chatbots, no scripts, no account deletion issues like you might find elsewhere. When you have a problem, a real person responds, typically in around 2 hours.

But CartMango is not for everyone.

If you need a learning management system right now, CartMango does not have one yet. It is planned, but not available today. Like Payhip and ThriveCart, both offer course hosting if that is a requirement.

If you want to run an affiliate program immediately, CartMango’s affiliate management is still coming soon. Payhip includes it. ThriveCart charges extra but has it.

CartMango is for creators who prioritize ownership, simplicity, and human support over having every possible feature on day one. It is not trying to be an all-in-one platform with every bell and whistle.

Payhip: Simple Setup with Hidden Strings Attached

Payhip markets itself as the easy way to sell digital products. And for basic selling, it delivers on that promise. The interface is clean, setup takes minutes, and VAT handling happens automatically for selling internationally.

What Payhip offers

Payhip gives you a built-in storefront where you can upload and sell digital downloads, online courses, and memberships. You can also sell physical products alongside your digital goods if you sell physical and digital items. The platform includes:

• A course hosting system for selling educational content
• Order bumps to convert more sales at checkout
• Coupon codes and discount functionality
• Protected download links that prevent unauthorized sharing
• Integration with WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Calendly, Zoom, and email marketing tools through Zapier

The checkout experience is fast and customers do not need to create accounts to purchase. Payhip’s checkout pages are straightforward, though not as customizable as some marketing tools offer.

Payhip pricing structure

Payhip offers three tiers:

• Free plan: No monthly fee, but 5% transaction fees on every sale
• Plus plan: $29 per month plus 2% transaction fee
• Pro plan: $99 per month with 0% transaction fees

At lower revenue, the free plan looks attractive. But that 5% adds up. At $5,000 monthly revenue, you pay $250 in fees. The Pro plan at $99/mo becomes cheaper once you pass roughly $2,000 in monthly sales. When comparing vs Payhip based on pricing, these transaction fees matter at scale.

The limitations

The recurring payment issue is the biggest problem. If you leave Payhip, your subscription customers do not come with you. This locks you into the platform once you build any membership revenue.

Payhip also has limited marketing features. There are no post-purchase upsells and downsells. Once a customer buys, you cannot present additional offers in that purchase flow. This limits your revenue per customer and means you miss opportunities that a cart page with upsell functionality would capture.

Subscriptions only work with Stripe. If your customers prefer PayPal for recurring payments, they cannot subscribe through Payhip.

Payhip’s installment plans are not true buy-now-pay-later. The payment plans pay you over time as the customer pays. If they stop paying halfway through, you absorb that loss.

Best for

Payhip works for creators who want simple setup, automatic VAT handling, and do not rely on recurring revenue. If you sell digital downloads and want minimal complexity, Payhip can work. Just understand the strings attached before you build your business there.

This is the link for Payhip.

ThriveCart: One-Time Fee, Ongoing Frustrations

ThriveCart’s main selling point is the lifetime access pricing model. Pay once, use forever. No monthly fees eating into your profits. For creators tired of subscription fatigue, this sounds appealing. ThriveCart shines best when you need advanced features for complex sales funnels.

What ThriveCart offers

ThriveCart is a full-featured shopping cart platform. You get:

• Recurring payment portability (you keep subscriptions if you leave)
• Post-purchase upsells and downsells to increase revenue per customer
• True BNPL support where you get paid upfront
• Order bumps at checkout
• Subscription management with trials and setup fees
• High-converting checkout pages with template options
• Third-party integrations with email platforms, membership sites, webinar tools, and payment processors

The platform handles complex sales funnels well. If you want to build sophisticated purchase flows with multiple offers and advanced automation, ThriveCart has the tools. You can even add landing pages to your marketing campaigns.

ThriveCart pricing structure

ThriveCart uses a one-time payment model:

• Standard: $495 one-time (lifetime access)
• Pro upgrade: $295 per year for advanced features
• Learn (LMS): Additional $195 for course hosting

The base price gets you in the door, but many features require the Pro upgrade or Learn add-on. A fully-featured ThriveCart setup costs $495 upfront plus $295 annually, plus $195 if you want to host courses. Some users switching from ThriveCart to Payhip cite cost concerns, though the lifetime model appeals to others.

The limitations

Download links are not protected. If a customer shares their download link, anyone can access your files. This piracy risk is a real concern for digital product sellers, especially those selling high-value ebooks or graphic designs.

Customer support is a documented problem. Search online for unbiased reviews and you find numerous complaints about slow responses, unhelpful answers, and deleted criticism in ThriveCart’s official Facebook group. When users post negative feedback, it reportedly gets removed rather than addressed. Some reviews from real users mention occasional technical issues going unresolved for weeks.

The affiliate management system costs an extra $295 per year. The LMS costs extra too. These add-ons push the true cost higher than the headline $495 suggests.

No free migration assistance. You handle the switch yourself.

Best for

ThriveCart fits creators who want lifetime access pricing, need sophisticated upsell funnels, and can tolerate the support issues. If download protection is not critical for your products and you prefer paying once over monthly fees, ThriveCart might work. It handles multiple currency options and works well for digital product sales at scale.

This is the link for ThriveCart.

The Numbers: What You’ll Actually Pay

Let’s compare actual costs at different revenue levels. All calculations include Stripe/PayPal processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) and assume a $50 average order value.

Notes: Payhip uses Pro plan ($99/mo) since it becomes cheapest above $2,000/mo revenue. ThriveCart cost amortized assumes $495 base over 12 months ($41/mo) without Pro upgrade. CartMango has zero platform fees until 2027.

At $50,000 monthly revenue, CartMango saves you $1,188 per year compared to Payhip and $492 per year compared to ThriveCart. Over multiple years, these savings compound. The difference becomes more noticeable when you factor in what each platform charges to optimize your checkout flow with add-ons.

Payhip vs ThriveCart vs CartMango: Making Your Choice

These are the links for each platform: Payhip, ThriveCart, CartMango.

Choose Payhip if:

• You want the simplest possible setup
• Automatic VAT handling matters for selling internationally
• You sell one-time digital downloads, not recurring memberships
• You do not need post-purchase upsells or downsells
• You accept that leaving means losing your subscription customers

Choose ThriveCart if:

• You prefer paying once rather than monthly fees for lifetime access
• You need sophisticated upsell and downsell funnels
• Download protection is not critical for your products
• You can tolerate occasional technical issues and support delays
• You have budget for the upfront cost plus add-ons
• You want something closer to an all-in-one solution with third-party integrations

Choose CartMango if:

• You refuse to let any platform hold your recurring revenue hostage
• Protected downloads matter for your digital product business
• You want responsive customer service from real humans
• Zero platform fees until 2027 appeals to you
• You can wait for LMS and affiliate features coming soon
• Your technical needs are straightforward

The best platform depends on your specific situation. If recurring revenue ownership matters, that eliminates Payhip. If download protection matters, that eliminates ThriveCart. If you need an LMS today, that eliminates CartMango.

For solo digital creators who value ownership and simplicity, CartMango offers something the others do not: complete control over your customer relationships with no platform fees taking a cut of every sale. You can share your products on social media pages and drive traffic without worrying about per-sale fees eating into margins.

Whatever you choose, make the decision based on what matters most for your business long-term, not just what looks good on a landing page today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I migrate from ThriveCart to Payhip or vice versa? Yes, but neither platform offers free migration assistance. You will need to manually recreate your products and checkout pages. CartMango includes complimentary migration if you switch there.

Which platform is best for one-click upsells? ThriveCart and CartMango both have 1-click upsells and downsells functionality. Payhip does not support any kind of post-purchase upsells.

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