SamCart is an advanced checkout page platform with monthly fees ranging from $79 to $849/mo. Gumroad charges no monthly fee but takes 10% plus $0.50 from every transaction. Both cancel your customers’ existing subscriptions when you leave the platform.
Your Customsers Are Never Really Yours
Here’s something most online business owners don’t think about until it’s too late.
Both SamCart and Gumroad hold your recurring payments hostage. You spend months or years building a subscriber base. You create content, nurture relationships, handle support tickets. These are your customers. You earned them.
But try to leave either platform and watch what happens.
Your existing subscriptions don’t come with you. The billing relationship belongs to the ecommerce platform, not to you.
Think about what this means. You could have 500 paying subscribers at $50 per month. That’s $25,000 in monthly recurring revenue you built from scratch. Decide to switch platforms and you start over at zero.
You lose access to that revenue stream. All that work, gone.
This is the hidden cost nobody talks about when you compare Gumroad vs other platforms. Not the monthly fees. Not the transaction percentages. The real cost is your freedom to leave.
What should you look for in a checkout platform for selling digital products?
Start with this question: if you leave, do your paying subscribers come with you?
If the answer is no, you’re renting your online business. Every subscriber you add increases your dependency on that platform. The bigger you grow, the harder it becomes to leave.
CartMango was built on a different principle. Your customers are yours. Period. If you decide to leave CartMango tomorrow, your recurring billing stays intact. No hostage situation.
Beyond ownership, a few other things matter:
- Human support when things break (not AI chatbots)
- Direct payouts to your Stripe or PayPal
- No hidden fees eating into your margins
CartMango is a solution for creators who want simplicity. It’s free until 2027. No monthly fees. No transaction percentage. Founder-led support with real humans responding. And if you’re moving from another platform, migration is free.
SamCart vs Gumroad vs CartMango
| Feature | SamCart | Gumroad | CartMango |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do you lose recurring revenue when leaving? | ❌ Recurring revenue lost when you leave, even if you use your own Stripe / PayPal | ❌ Recurring revenue lost when you leave | ✅ You retain your recurring revenue |
| Completely free? (Stripe / PayPal fees apply to all platforms) | ❌ $79/mo up to $3,000/mo in sales. $219/mo up to $10,000/mo in sales. $849/mo up to $100,000/mo in sales. | ❌ 10% + $0.50 per sale | ✅ Yes, zero monthly fees, zero commission. Every feature included (until 2027). |
| Course hosting system (LMS) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ Future |
| Post-purchase funnels (upsells & downsells after the main purchase) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Has upsells but lacks true conditional downsells (showing alternate offers only when buyers decline the first upsell) | ✅ Yes |
| Customer service | $19/mo additional for live help: Mon-Fri, 9-5 CT | ❌ Weak customer service & AI bots. Removed feedback threads, unanswered emails (source). | Founder-run personal help, no bots, no live chat. Typical reply time is 1hr+ |
| Buy now, pay later (BNPL) for your buyers (increase your sales) | ✅ | ❌ No real BNPL: Gumroad’s payment plans pay you gradually, not upfront. You risk losing money if buyers quit before completing payments. | ✅ |
| Checkout bumps to increase sales | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Subscriptions (with trials & setup fees) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Flexible coupons & discounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Fast & smooth checkouts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Buyers can purchase without creating an account (fast checkout) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Instant, direct payout to your Stripe / PayPal (no held funds) | ✅ | ❌ 7-day hold, though many sellers experience much longer payout delays with no clear reason (source) | ✅ |
| Are shared download links protected from pirates? | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ Links are protected |
| Third-party connections | ✅ Connects directly to HighLevel, iContact, Shopify, Slack, Digital Access Pass, plus more. Links to thousands of additional apps through Zapier. | ⚠️ Built-in connections: Only Discord & Circle for instant community / membership access. Everything else requires Zapier. | ⚠️ Few native connections, but Make.com integration opens up 3,000+ apps. Current native connections: Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend, with more on the way. |
| Affiliate program management | ✅ Yes | ✅ | ❌ Coming soon |
| Ideal for | Wealthy creators comfortable paying high fees for a complete feature set, even if they only use part of it. | Creators wanting a quick, no-monthly-fee start who accept giving up 10% of revenue and living without advanced funnel features or deep customization. | Solo digital creators who refuse to let their recurring revenue be held hostage, plus instant setup, human support, and zero platform fees (free until 2027). |
| Free migration assistance | ❌ No free migration | ❌ No free migration | ✅ Free migration included |
These are the links for each platform: SamCart, Gumroad, CartMango.
CartMango Is Built for a Specific Kind of Creator
CartMango isn’t trying to be an all-in-one platform for everyone.
If you need a built-in LMS to host online courses, CartMango doesn’t have that yet. If affiliate management is critical for growing your business right now, that feature is still coming.
So who is CartMango actually for?
Solo digital creators. Coaches selling programs. Consultants packaging their expertise. People who sell products online and want to keep things simple.
The core promise is ownership. Your subscribers are yours. Your revenue goes directly to your Stripe or PayPal. No platform taking a cut of every sale. No monthly fees eating into your profit when sales are slow.
When something goes wrong, you talk to a real person. Not a chatbot. Not a ticket system that takes days to respond. The founder actually answers support requests, usually within an hour.
Is it the right fit for a large team running complex sales funnel operations across multiple products? Probably not.
But if you’re a solo creator who wants to sell digital products without giving up control of your customer relationships, this is what CartMango was built for.
SamCart: The Full-Featured Checkout Platform
SamCart positions itself as the premium e-commerce solution for serious creators. It comes with almost every feature you could want.
What SamCart offers
SamCart offers features like:
- Built-in learning management system for hosting online courses
- Full funnel support with conditional upsells and downsells
- Buy now, pay later payment options for your customers
- A/B split testing on checkout pages
- Order bump offers at checkout
- Native CRM integration with HighLevel, Shopify, iContact, Slack
- Thousands more apps through Zapier
- Affiliate management built in
- Email marketing integrations
The feature list is impressive. SamCart allows you to easily test different checkout page designs to improve conversion rates.
SamCart’s pricing structure
This is where it gets expensive:
- Launch plan: $79/mo (up to $3,000/mo revenue)
- Grow plan: $219/mo (up to $10,000/mo revenue)
- Scale plan: $849/mo (up to $100,000/mo revenue)
Live customer support costs an additional $19/mo. That’s right, you pay extra just to talk to a human during business hours. SamCart gives you a 7 day trial to test things out.
The limitations
The subscription hostage problem applies here. Leave your SamCart account, lose your subscribers. Even with your own Stripe connected.
The pricing tiers have revenue caps. Hit $3,001 in monthly revenue on the Launch plan and you’re forced to upgrade to $219/mo. The platform gets more expensive as you succeed.
For upselling and cross-sell features, SamCart works well. But the checkout experience comes at a premium price.
Best for
SamCart works well for established creators with consistent revenue who want every possible feature in one place. If you’re making $10,000+ monthly and the fees don’t hurt, the feature set is hard to beat. Good for selling digital and physical products together.
This is the link for SamCart.
Gumroad: The No-Monthly-Fee Option
Gumroad vs SamCart comes down to a simple tradeoff: no monthly fees versus a percentage cut on every sale.
What Gumroad offers
- Fast, user-friendly setup to sell digital downloads in minutes
- Order bumps at checkout process
- Affiliate management
- Basic upsells (no conditional downsells)
- Subscriptions and membership support
- Protected download links
- Discord and Circle integrations
The platform is simple. Create a product, set a price, share your link. That simplicity is the main appeal for those who want to sell products quickly.
Gumroad pricing structure
Instead of monthly fees, Gumroad takes 10% plus $0.50 from every transaction.
Sell a $50 product and Gumroad keeps $5.50. On top of that, you pay Stripe or PayPal processing fees.
No monthly fee sounds good until you do the math. At $5,000/mo in sales, you’re paying $525 to Gumroad. At $10,000/mo, that’s $1,050. The conversion from visitor to buyer better be high to justify those fees.
The limitations
Customer support is a known pain point. Users report AI chatbots instead of humans, deleted feedback posts, and emails that go unanswered.
Payouts have a 7-day hold. Many sellers report much longer delays with no explanation. Hard to manage refund situations when you don’t control the timing.
No true buy now, pay later. Gumroad’s installment plans pay you over time as the customer pays, not upfront. If the customer stops paying, you lose that revenue.
Limited native integrations. Beyond Discord and Circle, you need Zapier for everything else. No direct CRM connections.
Limited template customization for your online store. Deep branding changes are difficult.
Best for
Gumroad fits creators who want zero monthly fees and can accept the 10% transaction cut. Good for selling digital products like ebooks, testing product ideas, or low-volume sellers where the percentage fee stays manageable. Works for digital downloads but less ideal for physical items.
This is the link for Gumroad.
What You Actually Pay: A Pricing Breakdown
Let’s compare real costs at different revenue levels. All calculations include Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction) assuming $50 average order value.
| Monthly Revenue | SamCart Cost (per month) | Gumroad Cost (per month) | CartMango Cost (per month) | CartMango SAVINGS (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000/mo (20 orders) | $79 + $35 processing = $114 | $105 + $35 processing = $140 | $0 + $35 processing = $35 | $948 vs SamCart, $1,260 vs Gumroad |
| $5,000/mo (100 orders) | $79 + $175 processing = $254 | $525 + $175 processing = $700 | $0 + $175 processing = $175 | $948 vs SamCart, $6,300 vs Gumroad |
| $10,000/mo (200 orders) | $219 + $350 processing = $569 | $1,050 + $350 processing = $1,400 | $0 + $350 processing = $350 | $2,628 vs SamCart, $12,600 vs Gumroad |
| $50,000/mo (1000 orders) | $849 + $1,750 processing = $2,599 | $5,250 + $1,750 processing = $7,000 | $0 + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $10,188 vs SamCart, $63,000 vs Gumroad |
The gap widens as your revenue grows. Gumroad’s 10% fee becomes painful at scale. These savings matter when you’re building an email list and trying to boost sales.
Which Platform Fits Your Business?
These are the links for each platform: SamCart, Gumroad, CartMango.
Choose SamCart if:
- You need a built-in LMS for course hosting
- You want every checkout feature available including marketing tools
- You’re making enough revenue that $79-$849/mo doesn’t significantly impact your margins
- Split testing and advanced sales page funnels are critical to your business
Choose Gumroad if:
- You want zero monthly commitment
- You’re just starting your ecommerce journey or testing product ideas
- Your sales volume is low enough that 10% feels acceptable
- You don’t need advanced funnel features or fast customer support
Choose CartMango if:
- You want to keep your recurring payments if you ever leave
- Zero platform fees matter to you (free until 2027)
- You prefer human support over chatbots
- You’re a solo creator selling digital products who values simplicity and ownership
The best platform depends on where you are in your business. SamCart gives you every feature at a premium price. Gumroad lets you start free but takes a growing cut as you scale. CartMango offers zero fees and actual ownership of your customer relationships.
Pick based on what matters most to your business right now.
Related Reading
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- Is Gumroad Safe in 2026? Uncovering the Hidden Pros and Cons
- Payhip vs Podia: The Recurring Income Hostage (2026)
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