SendOwl vs Sellfy: the recurring income handcuffs (2026)

SendOwl specializes in digital file protection with basic funnel tools, while Sellfy offers an all-in-one store with print on demand but no post-purchase upsells. Both platforms charge monthly fees and hold your recurring payments hostage if you leave.

The Recurring Income Handcuffs

You spent months, maybe years, building a base of paying customers. They trust you. They signed up for your membership or subscription because of your digital content. And now you want to switch platforms.

Here’s where it gets painful.

Both SendOwl and Sellfy keep your recurring payments tied to their systems. Leave either platform, and those customers you worked so hard to acquire? They don’t come with you. The recurring revenue stream you built stays behind.

Think about what that means for digital sellers. Every customer who subscribed through SendOwl or Sellfy is essentially rented, not owned. You did the marketing. You created the digital product. You handled the support emails. But the payment relationship belongs to the platform.

I’ve talked to digital creators who felt stuck for years because migrating meant asking every customer to re-subscribe somewhere else. Most won’t. You lose 60-80% of your recurring revenue in the transition.

This isn’t a minor inconvenience. It’s a fundamental problem with how these platforms are designed. Unlike SendOwl or Sellfy, some platforms let you keep what you’ve built.

How to Actually Own Your Revenue

So what should you look for when you’re looking to sell digital products online?

First: a platform for selling where recurring payments stay yours. If you decide to leave, your customers and their payment relationships come with you. No re-subscribing. No lost revenue.

Second, watch out for revenue caps. Both SendOwl and Sellfy limit how much you can earn on each paid plan. Hit the cap, and you’re forced to upgrade.

Third, look for transparent pricing without surprise hikes. SendOwl raised prices 3x to 10x in 2025, and hundreds of customers pushed back publicly. If you’re looking to start selling digital downloads, that kind of instability matters.

CartMango was built with these problems in mind.

• You keep your recurring payments if you ever leave.
• There are no revenue caps.
• And it’s completely free until 2027, with zero monthly fees and zero transaction fee.
• The founder responds personally, averaging 2 hours and 16 minutes response time. For solopreneurs and small teams, that kind of human support matters.

SendOwl vs Sellfy vs CartMango

Here’s our comparison chart showing how the three platforms compare across features like checkout, subscriptions and memberships, and payment processing that matter most for creators selling digital offers:

These are the links for each platform: SendOwl, Sellfy, CartMango.

CartMango Is Not For Everyone

CartMango isn’t trying to be everything for everyone. It’s built for solo digital creators, coaches, and consultants who want to sell digital goods without platform drama or technical headaches.

The core promise: your recurring revenue belongs to you. If you ever want to leave, your customers come with you. No re-subscribing required.

You get full funnel support. Upsells, downsells, and order bumps all work together. SendOwl doesn’t offer downsells and makes you choose between order bumps or upsells. Sellfy doesn’t offer upsells at all.

There are no revenue caps. You can create and sell different types of digital products like ebooks, online courses, and PDF downloads without hitting limits.

What CartMango doesn’t have: a learning management system (on the roadmap) and affiliate management (coming soon). If those are critical right now, look elsewhere.

But if you want to sell your digital products, memberships, and subscriptions without your recurring income being held hostage, CartMango handles that well.

SendOwl: File Protection Focus with Funnel Limitations

SendOwl is one of the older platforms in this space, around since 2010. It built its reputation on protecting digital files from unauthorized sharing. If you compare SendOwl to newer platforms, the focus on digital products like ebooks and PDF files is clear.

What SendOwl offers

SendOwl offers features for selling digital downloads:

• Protected download links that expire
• PDF stamping to discourage piracy
• Drip content delivery for online courses
• Subscription and membership support with trial periods
• Direct connections to Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign for email marketing
• Shopping cart functionality for your existing website
• Built-in affiliate program management

SendOwl pricing structure

SendOwl uses revenue-based tiers with no free plan:

• $39/mo for up to $833/mo in revenue
• $87/mo for up to $3,000/mo in revenue
• $159/mo for up to $8,333/mo in revenue

Hit the revenue cap, and you must upgrade. Like SendOwl, most ecommerce platforms for selling digital products charge transaction fees or monthly fees.

The limitations

SendOwl only supports one upsell per product. No downsells exist. If you enable order bumps, upsells get disabled.

In 2025, SendOwl raised prices dramatically. Some users saw increases of 3x to 10x. Hundreds of customers complained publicly.

The recurring payment issue remains: leave SendOwl, lose your subscription customers.

Best for

Creators who prioritize file protection and don’t need post-purchase funnels. If you sell standalone digital files and want strong piracy protection, SendOwl delivers. Just know the funnel limitations.

This is the link for SendOwl.

Sellfy: All-in-One Store Without Post-Purchase Funnels

Sellfy positions itself as an all-in-one platform that allows you to sell digital and physical products from one storefront.

The ecommerce platform supports digital products, physical products, subscriptions, and print on demand merchandise. If you want an online store focused on digital products with some physical goods, Sellfy vs SendOwl often comes down to this all-in-one approach.

What Sellfy offers

Sellfy allows you to sell digital products with these built-in features:

• Built-in storefront with customization options and product page templates
• Print on demand integration (no inventory needed)
• Subscription support for recurring products
• Protected download links for digital goods
• Embedded cart for your existing website
• Direct payouts to your payment gateway

Sellfy pricing structure

Sellfy uses revenue-based pricing with no free plan:

• $29/mo for up to $833/mo in revenue (Starter)
• $79/mo for up to $4,166/mo in revenue (Business)
• $159/mo for up to $16,666/mo in revenue (Premium)

The caps are higher than SendOwl, which helps if you’re growing quickly. Sellfy is one of the more affordable options when you look at revenue limits.

The limitations

Sellfy has no upsells. No downsells. If post-purchase funnels matter to your business model, Sellfy won’t work.

Subscription trials and setup fees aren’t supported. Order bumps exist only on Business and Premium plans.

BNPL options are limited to PayPal Pay Later. The platform supports both digital and physical products but the built-in marketing features are limited compared to dedicated marketing tools.

Full migration is only on the Premium plan. And like SendOwl: leave the platform, lose your recurring customers.

Best for

Creators who want a simple all-in-one store with print on demand built in. If you’re selling digital downloads, merch, and subscriptions without needing funnels, Sellfy keeps things straightforward. The user interface is simple and you can start selling quickly.

This is the link for Sellfy.

What You’ll Actually Pay: A Side-by-Side Cost Breakdown

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

At $50,000/month revenue, SendOwl’s highest tier caps out at $8,333 monthly revenue. You’d need custom pricing.

CartMango has no revenue caps and no platform fees until 2027. If you’re looking to sell and want to keep more of what you earn, the savings add up.

SendOwl vs Sellfy vs CartMango: Which Matches Your Business?

These are the links for each platform: SendOwl, Sellfy, CartMango.

Choose SendOwl if:

• File protection against piracy is your top priority for digital files
• You sell standalone digital downloads without complex funnels
• You’re okay with one upsell and no downsells
• You want to integrate with many popular ecommerce and email tools

Choose Sellfy if:

• You want an all-in-one platform with built-in print on demand
• Post-purchase upsells and downsells aren’t important
• You prefer a simple storefront over funnel building
• You want to add your products to a ready-made online store quickly

Choose CartMango if:

• Keeping your recurring payments active if you ever leave is non-negotiable
• You want full funnel support with upsells, downsells, and order bumps together
• Zero platform fees matter (free until 2027)
• You prefer human support over chatbots

For a Sellfy or SendOwl alternative that lets you actually own your customer relationships, CartMango can be an option. The platform you pick depends on what you’re willing to trade off. If recurring revenue ownership matters to you, CartMango is the only one of these three that lets you keep it.

Related Reading

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• SendOwl vs Sellfy: the recurring income handcuffs (2026)
• SamCart vs Sellfy: the customer cash hostage (2026)
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