SendOwl vs SureCart: recurring revenue you don’t own (2026)

SendOwl is a hosted platform focused on digital products with a monthly fee based on your revenue. SureCart is a WordPress ecommerce plugin with a free plan that charges a 1.9% transaction fee on every sale.

Recurring Revenue You Don’t Actually Own

You set up a subscription product. Customers sign up. Revenue grows. Then you decide to move to a different cart platform.

That’s when you realize the recurring revenue you built isn’t yours to take.

Both SendOwl and SureCart manage recurring billing through their own systems. SendOwl connects to your Stripe or PayPal account, which sounds like full control. But the recurring billing logic runs through SendOwl’s infrastructure. If you cancel, those recurring charges stop. Your customers stay inside SendOwl’s system.

SureCart does the same thing from a different angle. It handles subscriptions on its own platform, not directly through your Stripe or PayPal. Your recurring customers are tied to SureCart. Leave, and those recurring payments stop coming.

This catches most digital creators off guard. You created the product. You found the audience. You convinced people to pay every month. But the platform sits between you and that revenue, and it won’t move when you do.

It’s not hidden in fine print. It’s just how these platforms are built. The subscription logic lives inside their system. When you leave, that logic stays behind.

For one-time digital product sales, this is less of an issue. Someone buys digital products like ebooks, gets the file, done. But if you sell digital subscriptions, memberships, or monthly access, and a real part of your income depends on those recurring payments, this is what keeps you locked in long after you’ve outgrown the platform.

If you’re looking to sell recurring products, this should be the first thing you check about any platform. Not the features. Not the pricing. Whether you can actually leave and keep the customers you already have.

A Way Out of the Recurring Revenue Lock-In

So what should you look for in a cart platform if recurring revenue matters to you?

Three things:

1. Your recurring payments go directly to your Stripe or PayPal. Not managed by the platform. Not routed through a middleman. Yours.
2. If you leave, your customers keep paying you. The subscription relationship lives in your payment processor, not the platform’s system.
3. Secure file delivery that doesn’t depend on staying. Your digital goods stay protected whether you’re on the platform or not.

Most of the best tools in this space check one or two of those boxes. Very few check all three.

That’s the approach behind CartMango (full disclosure: this post is published by CartMango, and we include our limitations alongside the comparison). CartMango was built by a creator who hit this exact wall with other platforms. You connect your Stripe or PayPal, and the payment processing happens directly in your account. If you ever leave, your recurring customers keep paying you. No hostage situation. Whether you’re selling a $10 template or a $200/month membership, you keep the customer relationship.

Setting up is fast. You can start selling in minutes, and the ease of use is built around solo creators who don’t want to spend weeks configuring a new tool. Support is founder-led, with an average response time of 2 hours and 16 minutes. No chatbots.

If you want to sell online courses, memberships, or any recurring digital product, the checkout is quick for both you and your buyers. No login required for customers. Direct payouts with no withholding.

CartMango is free until 2027. Zero monthly fees. Zero platform commission. Every feature included. It’s not the right way to sell for everyone, but if you’re an independent digital creator who cares about owning your customer relationships, it’s worth a look.

SendOwl vs SureCart vs CartMango

Here’s a side-by-side look at how these three platforms compare across every major feature.

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

CartMango Isn’t for Everyone. Here’s Who It’s Built For.

CartMango is built for a specific type of seller. If you’re a solo digital creator, coach, or consultant who wants to sell products and services without monthly platform fees, it fits. It’s designed for speed: you can be up and running the same day. If you need a full ecommerce platform with hundreds of native connections, it’s probably not the right match right now.

Here’s what CartMango does well:

• No recurring payment hostage. Your subscription customers pay directly through your Stripe or PayPal. If you leave, they stay with you.
• Zero platform fees. No monthly cost, no commission on sales. Free until 2027.
• Human support. Founder-led, 2 hours and 16 minutes average response. No chatbots.
• Free migration. If you’re coming from another platform, CartMango handles the transfer.
• Protected downloads. Your files are secured against unauthorized sharing.

Here’s what it doesn’t do yet:

• No LMS. If you need a learning management system for online courses, that’s on the roadmap but not available right now.
• Fewer native connections for now. Stripe, PayPal, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend are live. Make.com fills the gap with access to 3,000+ apps, but if you need direct connections to tools like Shopify or WooCommerce, CartMango is still growing there.
• Affiliate management is coming soon. Not available yet, but it’s in development.

CartMango is for independent sellers who want simplicity. You sell your digital downloads, keep 100% of the revenue (minus standard Stripe/PayPal fees), and own every customer relationship from day one. If that matches what you need, it works. If you need more, one of the other options in this SendOwl vs SureCart comparison might fit better.

SendOwl: The Hosted Platform for Digital File Delivery

SendOwl is one of the older platforms in the digital product space. It’s fully hosted, so you don’t need WordPress or any existing website or blog to use it. You sign up, upload your products, and SendOwl gives you checkout links and an online store. If you care about secure file delivery and don’t need complex funnels, SendOwl offers a straightforward platform for selling digital products.

What SendOwl offers

• Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support
• Subscriptions with trial and setup fee support
• Protected download links (files can’t be shared freely)
• One upsell per product (no downsells)
• Flexible coupons and discounts
• Guest checkout (no account required for buyers)
• Direct payout to your Stripe or PayPal
• Affiliate program built in

SendOwl integrates with Shopify and Square for sellers who use those storefronts. You can use Shopify as your main store and SendOwl as the delivery layer, which is how many Shopify app users find it. For email, SendOwl connects to Mailchimp, Kit, and ActiveCampaign. Zapier, Make, and Pabbly add more connections if you need them.

SendOwl pricing

SendOwl uses revenue-based pricing. The more you earn, the more you pay:

• $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

There’s no free tier. Every level is a paid plan with a revenue cap. If your sales grow past the cap, you move to the next tier. And if you earn over $8,333/mo, you’ll need to contact SendOwl directly since that’s where their published pricing ends.

The limitations

The biggest limitation is funnels. You get one upsell per product, and you can’t run it alongside an order bump. It’s one or the other. No downsells at all.

In 2025, SendOwl also made headlines for a large price increase. Hundreds of customers pushed back when plans went up 3x to 10x. If you’re comparing platforms like SendOwl, this history matters.

SendOwl doesn’t offer a way to host online courses with a built-in learning management system. You’d need a separate tool for that. And there’s no built-in email marketing or other marketing tools included, so if you need an email marketing tool to manage your email list, you’ll connect one through SendOwl’s available connections.

Best for

SendOwl is built for creators who care about protecting their digital files and don’t need advanced features like multi-step funnels. If you want to sell digital downloads like ebooks, templates, or audio files and want reliable download protection with a simple setup, it handles that well. It’s not a full ecommerce platform, but it does digital file delivery better than most.

This is the link for SendOwl.

SureCart: The WordPress Ecommerce Plugin Without the Bloat

SureCart is a WordPress plugin that positions itself as a lighter alternative to WooCommerce. If you already have a WordPress site and want to sell digital and physical products without WooCommerce’s overhead, SureCart lets you sell from a single plugin.

Unlike SendOwl, SureCart requires a self-hosted WordPress installation. You install it on your existing website or blog, and it handles checkout, payments, and delivery from there.

What SureCart offers

• Full funnels with upsells and downsells
• Order bumps (can run alongside upsells, unlike SendOwl)
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support
• Subscriptions with trials and setup fees
• Flexible coupons and discounts
• Guest checkout (no login required)
• Direct payout to your Stripe or PayPal
• Protected download links
• Affiliate management
• Multiple payment gateways: Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Paystack, Razorpay

SureCart supports both digital and physical products. If you sell physical and digital products from the same store, you manage both from one dashboard. It also works for agencies running multiple stores through the higher Pro tiers.

SureCart pricing

SureCart has a free option and paid tiers:

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

The free plan works if you’re just getting started, but once your sales increase, the 1.9% cut adds up. At $1,000/mo in sales, that’s $19/mo going to SureCart. The Pro plan at $179/yr ($14.92/mo) becomes cheaper as soon as you pass roughly $785/mo in revenue.

The limitations

SureCart requires WordPress. If you don’t have a WordPress site or don’t want to manage hosting, it’s not an option for you. It’s not a fully hosted platform like SendOwl.

Native connections are more limited. SureCart works natively with LearnDash, LifterLMS, TutorLMS, SureMembers, and BuddyBoss. For anything else, you’ll need OttoKit or Zapier. There’s no direct connection to email tools like Mailchimp or Kit, which SendOwl does offer. If you need a suite of tools for basic email marketing and automation, you’ll piece that together separately.

Support is email and ticket only, no live chat. Free plan users get 24-48hr weekday responses. Pro users get priority support. Reviews generally praise the support quality when you do get a response.

And like SendOwl, SureCart holds your recurring payments hostage. If you leave, your subscription customers don’t come with you.

Best for

SureCart fits WordPress users who want an ecommerce plugin that handles selling physical products, digital items, courses, and subscriptions without WooCommerce’s weight. If you don’t use WordPress, alternatives like Gumroad and Payhip exist, though Gumroad charges a percentage on every sale and Gumroad takes that cut regardless of plan. Payhip also works well for non-WordPress sellers and Payhip offers a free tier with 5%, dropping to 0% on Pro.

If you need a WordPress solution with funnels and order bumps, SureCart is a strong option.

This is the link for SureCart.

Pricing Simulation: SendOwl vs SureCart vs CartMango

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

For SendOwl, we use the cheapest plan that covers each revenue level. For SureCart, the Pro plan ($179/yr) is cheaper than the free plan’s 1.9% fee at all four revenue levels, so we use Pro throughout.

*SendOwl’s published pricing caps at $8,333/mo revenue. At $10,000/mo and above, you exceed their highest published tier and may need to contact them for custom pricing.

The pattern is clear. SendOwl’s revenue-based monthly fee grows with your income, costing you $1,044 to $1,908 per year more than CartMango. SureCart Pro is a flat $179/yr regardless of how much you earn, so CartMango saves you exactly that amount every year.

Both SendOwl and SureCart charge recurring fees. CartMango charges nothing. The savings add up the longer you stay: over three years at $5,000/mo revenue, you’d save $5,724 vs SendOwl and $537 vs SureCart in platform fees alone.

SendOwl vs SureCart vs CartMango: Which Fits Your Business?

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

All three platforms give you the option to sell digital products and each allows you to sell in a different way. The right choice depends on your priorities, your tech setup, and how much recurring revenue matters to your business.

Choose SendOwl if:

You want a fully hosted platform for digital file delivery with strong download protection. You don’t need full funnels beyond a single upsell. Revenue-based pricing starting at $39/mo works for your budget, and you might already use Shopify and want a delivery tool that connects to your store.

Choose SureCart if:

You run a WordPress site and want a plugin that handles digital and physical products, subscriptions, funnels, and order bumps without WooCommerce. You don’t mind the 1.9% fee on the free plan or $179/yr for Pro. If you’re an agency with multiple stores, the higher Pro tiers cover that. Easy Digital Downloads is another WordPress option if you only sell digital products.

Choose CartMango if:

You’re a solo digital creator and your top priority is keeping your recurring revenue. You don’t want a monthly fee or per-sale commission. You want founder-led human support (average 2hr 16min response) and a setup you can finish in minutes. You’re OK with fewer native connections for now, knowing the platform is still adding more. CartMango is free until 2027 with every feature included.

Here’s the bottom line on this SendOwl vs SureCart comparison: both are solid options for selling, but both hold your recurring payments hostage. If you leave either platform, your subscription customers don’t come with you.

CartMango is the only option in this comparison where your recurring customers stay yours if you ever decide to move. If recurring revenue makes up a real part of your income, that single difference might be the only one that matters.

The good news: you don’t have to pick blindly. SendOwl doesn’t offer a free tier, but SureCart’s free plan lets you test the platform (with the 1.9% fee). CartMango is completely free until 2027, so you can try it with zero risk. Testing a few products on each platform before committing is the best way to figure out which one fits your business.

Related Reading

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• SamCart vs SureCart: the recurring payment problem (2026)
• ThriveCart vs SureCart: who really owns your customers? (2026)
• Sellfy vs Easy Digital Downloads: the revenue hostage (2026)
• SendOwl vs Easy Digital Downloads: the revenue prison (2026)
• SamCart vs Easy Digital Downloads: the revenue trap (2026)
• Easy Digital Downloads vs Payhip: the revenue ransom (2026 )
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