ThriveCart is a shopping cart platform with a one-time fee of $495. Gumroad charges 10% plus $0.50 per transaction with no monthly fees. The most important aspect to consider is: Do your subscriptions get canceled when leaving the platform.
The Recurring Revenue Trap
You spend months building a membership. Customers sign up, pay you every month, and you think you own that relationship. Then you decide to switch platforms.
With Gumroad, your recurring payments don’t continue. If you leave, those customers stay behind. You have to ask each one to re-subscribe somewhere else. Some will. Most won’t.
ThriveCart handles this differently. Your recurring payments connect directly to your Stripe or PayPal account. You own those customer relationships. If you leave ThriveCart, your customers keep paying you.
This matters more than most people realize when they first start selling. A monthly subscription at $29 doesn’t feel like much. But 100 customers paying $29 per month is $34,800 per year. That’s not revenue you want locked inside a platform you can’t leave.
Before you pick a place to sell, ask yourself: if I want to leave in two years, can I take my customers with me?
How to solve The Trap
When you’re looking to sell digital products, recurring payment ownership should be your first filter. Can you keep those customer relationships if you leave? If not, you’re building on rented land.
Beyond that, look at:
- Download protection. Will your files get pirated if someone shares a link? ThriveCart doesn’t protect downloads. Gumroad does. This matters if you sell ebooks, templates, or digital downloads.
- Customer support. Both ThriveCart and Gumroad have poor reputations here. Users report deleted feedback posts, ignored emails, and AI chatbots that don’t help.
- Transparent pricing. Know what you’ll pay at $1,000/month revenue vs $50,000/month. Some platforms get expensive fast.
CartMango meets all these criteria. You keep your recurring payments. Downloads are protected. Support comes from a real person, not a chatbot. And it’s free until 2027 with zero platform fees.
I’m not saying CartMango is the only option. But if these criteria matter to you, it could belong on your shortlist. Among the best places to sell digital products, it stands out for solo digital creators.
ThriveCart vs Gumroad vs CartMango
| Feature | ThriveCart | Gumroad | CartMango |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your recurring payments stay with you if you leave the platform? | ✅ You retain recurring payments | ❌ Recurring payments vanish if you leave | ✅ You retain recurring payments |
| Completely free? (note: Stripe / PayPal fees are standard across all cart platforms) | ❌ No, $495 for the standard plan. $295/yr additional for extra features. $195 additional for the LMS system. | ❌ 10% + $0.50 per transaction | ✅ Yes, 0 monthly fees, 0% commission. All features included (until 2027). |
| Learning management system (LMS) | ✅ Yes for an additional $195 | ❌ No | ❌ Future |
| Funnels (upsells & downsells) AFTER customers paid for the main product | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Handles upsells but lacks true conditional downsells (i.e. displaying a different offer only when customer declines the 1st upsell) | ✅ Yes |
| Customer support | Widespread user complaints of poor customer support & removed feedback posts in their official Facebook group | ❌ Poor customer support & AI chatbots. Removed feedback posts, ignored emails (source). | Founder-led personal support, no chatbots, no live chat. Average response time is 1hr+ |
| Buy now, pay later (BNPL) support for your customers (boost your sales) | ✅ | ❌ No real BNPL: Gumroad’s installment plans pay you over time, not upfront. So you risk missed payments if customers leave before completing what they owe. | ✅ |
| Order bumps to boost sales | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Subscriptions (support trials & set up fees) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dynamic coupons & discounts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Optimized & fast checkouts | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Customers need NOT log in before buying (quick checkout experience) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Direct, instant payout to your Stripe / PayPal (no withholding payments) | ✅ | ❌ 7-day hold, but many sellers experience much longer payout holds without clear explanation (source) | ✅ |
| If download links are shared by rogue customers, will they work? | ❌ Your downloads can be pirated since links are not protected | ✅ Links are protected | ✅ Links are protected |
| Integrations | ✅ Massive integration lineup: connects to top email, membership, fulfillment, analytics, webinars, payments, plus Zapier for thousands more apps. | ⚠️ Native integrations: Only Discord & Circle for instant community / membership access. For everything else, you’ll need Zapier. | ⚠️ Limited native integrations, but its Make.com integration gives you access to 3,000+ apps. Current native integrations: Kit, ActiveCampaign, Beehiiv, and BirdSend, with more coming soon. |
| Affiliate management | ⚠️ Yes for an additional $295/yr | ✅ | ❌ Coming soon |
| Best for | Creators who’d rather pay once upfront than pay monthly fees to access most features (not all), and can tolerate mediocre support. | Creators who want a fast, no-monthly-fee way to start selling and are willing to give up a huge 10% cut of revenue and live without advanced funnel tools or deep customization. | Solo digital creators who don’t want their recurring revenue held hostage, + instant setup, human support, and 0 platform fees (free until 2027). |
| Free migration | ❌ No free migration | ❌ No free migration | ✅ Free migration included |
These are the links for each platform: ThriveCart, Gumroad, CartMango.
CartMango Is Built for Solo Creators Who Want to Keep What They Earn
CartMango isn’t trying to be everything for everyone. It’s built for a specific type of seller who wants to sell their digital products without platform fees.
If you’re a solo creator selling an online course, coaching program, or digital downloads, CartMango gives you what matters:
- Zero platform fees (free until 2027)
- You keep your recurring payments
- Protected downloads so your products can’t be pirated
- Real human support, not chatbots
You won’t find an LMS inside CartMango. That’s coming later. Affiliate management? Also on the roadmap. If you need those features right now, a platform like ThriveCart might fit better.
But if you want to sell digital products without handing over a percentage of every sale, CartMango makes sense. These tools to help you sell come with no strings attached.
I built CartMango because I got tired of watching small business owners lose money to platform fees. You can set up an online store and start selling your products in minutes. It’s for independent digital product sellers who want everything you need to sell without the overhead.
ThriveCart: One-Time Payment, Ongoing Tradeoffs
ThriveCart is known for one thing: you pay once and own it forever. In a world of monthly subscription fees, that’s appealing to many business owners.
What ThriveCart offers
- High-converting checkout pages with templates you can customize
- Full funnel support with upsells, downsells, and order bumps
- Subscription and payment plans with trials
- Direct payout to your Stripe or PayPal
- A massive integration lineup for email marketing, membership sites, webinars, and more
- Affiliate program management (for an extra $295/yr)
- Learning management system (for an extra $195)
- Sales page and landing page builders included
ThriveCart gives you conversion-focused tools designed to boost sales at checkout.
ThriveCart pricing structure
The base plan costs $495 one-time. Want affiliate management? Add $295 per year. Need the LMS to create and sell online courses? Add $195 one-time.
ThriveCart costs $690 upfront plus $295 per year ongoing for full access. ThriveCart isn’t as “one-time” as it first appears.
The limitations
ThriveCart has a reputation for poor customer support. Users report deleted feedback posts in the official Facebook group and slow response times.
Your digital downloads are not protected. If a customer shares their download link, anyone can access your files. For digital product sellers offering ebooks or templates, this is a real concern.
Best for
ThriveCart is an excellent choice if you have $495+ to invest upfront, want extensive integrations, and can live with limited support. ThriveCart is hands down good for creators who sell both digital and physical products and want lifetime access to core features without monthly fees.
This is the link for ThriveCart.
Gumroad: Easy to Start, Expensive to Stay
Gumroad makes it easy to start selling. You can have your first digital product listed in minutes. No upfront costs, no monthly fees. Just upload and sell. If you want to sell digital products online quickly, Gumroad removes the barriers.
What Gumroad offers
- Fast setup for selling digital products like ebooks, courses and digital art
- Built-in affiliate program at no extra cost
- Protected download links
- Order bumps and discount codes
- Subscription support with trials
- Basic integrations with Discord and Circle
You can use Gumroad to sell products directly to consumers without building a website to sell from scratch.
Gumroad pricing structure
Gumroad takes 10% of every sale plus $0.50 per transaction. At $5,000 per month in sales, you’re paying $500+ to Gumroad. At $10,000 per month, over $1,000. That 10% never goes away.
The limitations
The big one: if you leave Gumroad, your recurring payments stay behind. You can’t take your customers with you. This is the subscription hostage problem.
Gumroad also holds payouts for 7 days minimum. Some sellers report much longer holds without explanation.
Customer support relies heavily on AI chatbots. Users report ignored emails and deleted feedback. Like Gumroad for the quick setup, but know what you’re getting into.
Best for
Gumroad works for creators who want to start selling quickly, don’t plan to build significant recurring revenue, and can accept the 10% fee as a cost of convenience. It’s among the best platforms to sell digital products if you’re just testing an idea.
This is the link for Gumroad.
What You’ll Actually Pay: A Side-by-Side Breakdown
Let’s compare actual costs assuming a $50 average order value. I’m including Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30) for all platforms and amortizing ThriveCart’s $495 fee over 12 months.
| Monthly Revenue | ThriveCart Cost (per month) | Gumroad Cost (per month) | CartMango Cost (per month) | CartMango SAVINGS (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 (20 orders) | $41 platform + $35 processing = $76 | $100 + $10 + $35 processing = $145 | $0 + $35 processing = $35 | $492 vs ThriveCart, $1,320 vs Gumroad |
| $5,000 (100 orders) | $41 platform + $175 processing = $216 | $500 + $50 + $175 processing = $725 | $0 + $175 processing = $175 | $492 vs ThriveCart, $6,600 vs Gumroad |
| $10,000 (200 orders) | $41 platform + $350 processing = $391 | $1,000 + $100 + $350 processing = $1,450 | $0 + $350 processing = $350 | $492 vs ThriveCart, $13,200 vs Gumroad |
| $50,000 (1000 orders) | $41 platform + $1,750 processing = $1,791 | $5,000 + $500 + $1,750 processing = $7,250 | $0 + $1,750 processing = $1,750 | $492 vs ThriveCart, $66,000 vs Gumroad |
The numbers tell the story. Gumroad’s 10% fee becomes painful fast. ThriveCart costs less than Gumroad at every revenue level, but you’re still paying platform fees. CartMango eliminates platform fees entirely.
ThriveCart vs Gumroad vs CartMango: Which Fits Your Situation?
These are the links for each platform: ThriveCart, Gumroad, CartMango.
Choose ThriveCart if:
- You have $495+ to invest upfront
- You need extensive integrations for your online business
- You want a course platform with LMS capabilities (add $195)
- You can tolerate potential support issues
- You sell digital and physical products and want an all-in-one platform
Choose Gumroad if:
- You want to start selling immediately with zero upfront cost
- You’re testing your first digital product and aren’t sure it will sell
- You don’t plan to build significant recurring revenue
- The 10% fee doesn’t bother you at your current sales volume
- You use Gumroad primarily for one-time sales, not subscriptions
Choose CartMango if:
- You want to sell your digital products without platform fees
- You plan to sell subscriptions and want to keep those customers if you ever leave
- Protected downloads matter to you
- You prefer human support over chatbots
- You’re a solo entrepreneur or small team selling courses and digital products
There’s no single best platform to sell digital products. The right choice depends on where you are in your digital product business and what tradeoffs you’re willing to accept.
If you’re just starting out, Gumroad lets you test the waters. If you have capital and want tools like ThriveCart, pay once and own it. If you want to sell digital products directly to consumers without giving up a cut of every sale, CartMango is worth a look.
Related Reading
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- Where to Buy Digital Products to Resell: 6 Top Places in 2026 (+ a glaring problem)
- SamCart vs Gumroad: who actually owns your customers? (2026)
- Is Gumroad Safe in 2026? Uncovering the Hidden Pros and Cons
- Payhip vs Podia: The Recurring Income Hostage (2026)
- Payhip vs SamCart: The Recurring Revenue Handcuffs (2026)
- SamCart vs ClickFunnels: The Recurring Revenue Hostage (2026)
- SendOwl vs ThriveCart: Which has a hidden trap in 2026?
- SendOwl vs SamCart: The Recurring Revenue Jail (2026)
- ThriveCart vs ClickFunnels: When more features hurt (2026)