Teachable vs Gumroad comes down to volume and product mix. Gumroad has no monthly fee and takes 10% plus $0.50 per direct sale, so it suits a first course or many small PDFs. Teachable Builder costs $89 a month with no platform fee, so on a $47 course it becomes cheaper than Gumroad from about 18 sales a month (prices checked October 2026).
In the Teachable vs Gumroad decision, pick Gumroad if you are testing a first course or selling many small PDFs, and pick Teachable once a course sells steadily enough to cover a monthly plan. Gumroad charges nothing monthly but takes 10% plus $0.50 per direct sale; Teachable Builder charges $89 a month and takes no platform fee, so the cheaper option flips as your sales grow.
Prices and fees checked October 2026 on Teachable's pricing page, Gumroad's pricing page, Teachable's plans article and Gumroad's fees help article. Card processing in the examples uses 2.9% plus $0.30 per US card as an assumed rate; your rate can differ.
This page is also our hub for selling online courses and memberships. The first half settles the Teachable or Gumroad question with real numbers; the second half covers memberships and links to every deeper guide we publish on courses. If you have not built the product yet, go up one level to how to create a digital product in 2026, and for every other storefront and marketplace see where to sell digital products in 2026.
Teachable vs Gumroad: the verdict
- You are testing a first course with no budget
- You sell many small PDFs or templates
- You want sales tax handled as merchant of record
- You want a chance at marketplace traffic via Discover
- A course sells steadily every month
- You want quizzes, certificates and student apps
- You want course affiliates without a per-sale cut
- You sell a handful of larger products, not dozens
Teachable vs Gumroad head to head (October 2026)
Monthly-billing prices unless marked. Both platforms change plans often, so treat the linked pricing pages as the source of truth.
| Gumroad | Teachable | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $0 | Starter $39, Builder $89, Growth $189 (yearly billing: $29, $69, $139) |
| Platform fee per sale | 10% + $0.50 direct; 30% via Discover | 7.5% on Starter; 0% on Builder and Growth with Teachable Payments |
| Card processing | Charged separately on direct sales; included in the 30% Discover fee | Teachable Payments processing on every plan |
| Product limit | None listed | 5 / 10 / 50 published products; memberships and bundles do not count |
| Affiliates | Available to every seller | Builder and above |
| Remove platform branding | Not a plan feature | Growth and above |
| Sales tax and VAT | Gumroad is merchant of record | U.S. sales tax, VAT and GST handling with Teachable Payments |
| Marketplace traffic | Discover marketplace | None; you bring the traffic |
| Best for | Testing a first course, many small PDFs | A course business with steady sales |
The table hides the one thing that decides most cases: Gumroad's cost grows with every sale, while Teachable's mostly does not. The next section puts numbers on that.
Teachable fees vs Gumroad: a $47 course at 50 sales a month
Take an illustrative course priced at $47 that sells 50 copies a month, so $2,350 in gross sales. These are example inputs, not a forecast. Here is what each option costs and what is left before tax, using the fees checked in October 2026 and an assumed 2.9% plus $0.30 per US card.
| Option | Plan per month | Platform fee per sale | Processing per sale | Total cost per month | Left from $2,350 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad (direct sales) | $0 | $5.20 | $1.66 | $343.15 | $2,006.85 |
| Teachable Starter | $39 | $3.53 | $1.66 | $298.40 | $2,051.60 |
| Teachable Builder (monthly) | $89 | $0 | $1.66 | $172.15 | $2,177.85 |
| Teachable Builder (yearly billing) | $69 | $0 | $1.66 | $152.15 | $2,197.85 |
Illustrative inputs: $47 price, 50 sales a month, 2.9% + $0.30 assumed card processing. Excludes tax, refunds and Gumroad Discover sales. Source: Teachable and Gumroad pricing pages, checked October 2026
Where it flips, for a $47 course: Gumroad's own fee is $5.20 a sale, so Teachable Builder's $89 is cheaper from 18 sales a month, and Starter beats Gumroad from 24. But Builder already overtakes Starter from 15 sales a month, so on a $47 course Starter is never the cheapest of the three: below 18 sales Gumroad costs least, above it Builder does. At a higher price the flip comes earlier: on a $197 course Gumroad's fee is $20.20 a sale, so Builder wins from 5 sales a month. Run your own price and volume before you decide.
What Teachable charges extra for
Gumroad has one price for everyone; Teachable gates features by plan. The ones that matter for a course seller, from Teachable's pricing page (checked October 2026):
- Affiliate program: Builder and above. If affiliates are part of your launch plan, Starter is not an option.
- Product cap: 5, 10 or 50. Any published course, coaching offer or digital download counts as one product. Memberships, bundles and drafts do not.
- Branding removal: Growth and above. Starter and Builder schools keep Teachable branding.
- The 7.5% Starter fee includes tax. Teachable's plans article says the Starter fee applies to the total transaction value, including taxes.
Gumroad's trade-offs sit elsewhere. Its course player is simpler than Teachable's, and Discover sales cost 30%, so a seller who leans on Discover pays more per sale than the headline 10%. Our Gumroad selling guide covers setup, and what sells on Gumroad covers product types that do well there.
Teachable or Gumroad for PDFs?
For PDFs, Gumroad usually wins. A PDF shop tends to have many low-priced items, and Teachable's product cap counts each download. Ten workbooks would fill Builder's limit. Gumroad has no cap, and its fixed $0.50 per sale is the part to watch on cheap items: on a $5 PDF, Gumroad's fee is $1.00, or 20% of the price.
The exception is a PDF that belongs to a course. Teachable lets you sell a download alone or attach it to a course or coaching product, which keeps students and files in one place. If the workbook supports the course, put both on Teachable. If the PDFs are the business, use Gumroad or another storefront from our platform comparison.
Gumroad vs Teachable in 2026: how to decide in five minutes
- 1Write your price and a realistic monthly sales count
Use pre-sale or past numbers, not hopes.
- 2Work out Gumroad's fee per sale
10% of your price plus $0.50.
- 3Divide $89 by that fee
That is the monthly sales count where Teachable Builder starts to cost less.
- 4Check the feature gates
Need affiliates? Builder or higher. More than 10 products? Growth or Gumroad.
- 5Check tax handling
If you sell into many countries and want tax off your plate, Gumroad's merchant-of-record model is simpler.
If you are still choosing between more than two platforms, the full field is in our online course platforms comparison, which covers Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia and Whop with the same fee math.
Moving from Gumroad to Teachable when the numbers flip
Most course sellers who end up on Teachable start somewhere cheaper, and the move is where buyers get lost. Plan it like a small launch rather than a settings change.
- Pick a quiet week. Never switch during a launch or a sale; you want to watch checkout closely for the first few days.
- Export buyers first. Download your customer list and sales records from Gumroad before you change any links. Existing buyers need access on the new platform or a clear way to keep using the old one.
- Rebuild, then test with a real purchase. Upload the course, set the price, buy it yourself, check the welcome email and the first lesson, then refund yourself.
- Handle recurring buyers on their own. Subscriptions rarely move between platforms automatically. Ask both platforms what is possible before you cancel anything, and plan how members re-subscribe if they must.
- Update every link at once. Bio links, pinned posts, email footers and affiliate links. Keep the old product page live, pointing to the new one, until sales have moved.
Two mistakes come up again and again. The first is moving too early: if you sell a handful of copies a month, Teachable's plan costs more than Gumroad's fee, and the extra features rarely pay for themselves at that volume. The second is moving too late: once a $47 course sells several dozen copies a month, staying on a percentage fee hands over money every month for features you could have on a flat plan. Re-run the five-minute check above each quarter, and move when it says so.
Memberships: when recurring beats one-off
A membership sells ongoing access instead of a single course: a community, new lessons each month, live calls or templates that keep coming. It suits topics that change, where members want updates, and it suits creators who can keep shipping. It is a poor fit for a finished, stable course, where a one-time price is easier to sell and to deliver.
The main membership platforms, checked October 2026 on each official pricing or help page: Skool and its payments FAQ, Circle's transaction fees and pricing, Patreon's standard fee and fees overview, Whop pricing, Stan Store pricing and Podia pricing.
| Platform | Monthly price | Fee on member payments | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skool | Hobby $9; Pro $99 | Hobby 10% + $0.30; Pro 2.9% + $0.30 (3.9% + $0.30 above $900) | A community with a classroom inside |
| Circle | Professional from $89 (yearly billing) | 2% on Professional, 1% on Business, plus Stripe | Branded community with courses and events |
| Patreon | $0 | 10% for creators who launched after Aug 4, 2025, plus processing | Creator memberships built on regular posts |
| Whop | $0 | 2.7% + $0.30 per domestic card; add-ons optional | Paid access sold to your own audience |
| Stan Store | Creator $29; Creator Pro $99 | No Stan fee; processor fees apply | Selling from a social bio |
| Podia | Mover $42, Shaker $84 (yearly billing) | 5% on Mover; none on Shaker; processor 2.9% + 30¢ | Courses, downloads and community in one |
Disclosure: we use Whop for checkout at iimagined.ai, and it is listed on the same terms as the others. Whop's optional add-ons (billing tools, orchestration, tax collection) raise the per-payment rate when enabled. For a deeper look at three of these side by side, read Skool vs Whop vs Teachable.
Courses: the guides in this hub
- Building the course: how to create and sell an online course covers outlining, recording and hosting, and the course blueprint covers structure and lesson design.
- Choosing a platform: online course platforms compared and Skool vs Whop vs Teachable.
- Pricing it: digital product pricing strategy.
- Launching it: the digital product launch checklist.
Start here: the path through this hub
- 01Pick the format
Course, membership or both, using the matrix above.
- 02Build version one
Follow the course creation guide; keep it short and complete.
- 03Choose the platform
Start on Gumroad or a free plan; move to Teachable or a membership platform when the numbers flip.
- 04Price and launch
Price with fees included, then run the launch checklist.
Our Digital Products program covers this path end to end, from offer design to the evergreen funnel, and it is included in All Access with the other three programs.
Teachable vs Gumroad: FAQ
Is Teachable or Gumroad better for selling an online course?
Gumroad is better for a first course you are testing, because it has no monthly fee and handles sales tax as merchant of record. Teachable is better once the course sells steadily, because its Builder plan takes no platform fee and adds course tools such as an affiliate program, student apps and quizzes. On a $47 course, Teachable Builder costs less than Gumroad from about 18 sales a month, checked October 2026.
What are Teachable fees compared with Gumroad fees?
Gumroad charges 10% plus $0.50 per direct sale with no monthly fee, and 30% on sales through its Discover marketplace; card processing on direct sales is separate. Teachable charges $39 a month plus a 7.5% transaction fee on Starter, or $89 a month with no transaction fee on Builder, with Teachable Payments processing on top. Prices checked October 2026 on each pricing page.
Can I sell PDFs on Teachable?
Yes. Teachable sells digital downloads such as PDFs alongside courses and coaching. Each published download counts as one product toward your plan limit, which is 5 on Starter, 10 on Builder and 50 on Growth, checked October 2026. Memberships and bundles do not count toward the limit. If you mainly sell many small PDFs, that cap is the reason Gumroad usually fits better.
Does Teachable charge extra for affiliates or a custom domain?
Teachable's pricing page lists the affiliate program on Builder and higher, so Starter users cannot run course affiliates. Removing Teachable branding needs Growth. A custom domain is listed among the plan features. On Gumroad there is no plan tier: affiliates and custom domains are available to every seller under the same per-sale fee. Checked October 2026.
Who handles sales tax on Teachable and Gumroad?
Gumroad acts as merchant of record for all sales, so it collects and remits sales tax and VAT for you. Teachable lists U.S. sales tax, global VAT and GST handling when you use Teachable Payments. On Teachable Starter, the 7.5% fee applies to the total transaction value including taxes. Income tax on your profit is yours on either platform.
What is the best platform for a paid membership?
It depends on what members get. For a community with courses inside it, Skool or Circle are built for that. For a recurring creator membership with posts, Patreon fits. For paid access sold from your own audience with low card fees, Whop works. Gumroad and Teachable both sell memberships too, which keeps everything in one place if you already sell courses there.
Selling a course or membership? Build the whole system.
All Access includes the Digital Products program, covering offer design, pricing, platforms, launches and evergreen sales, plus the other three programs, live coaching and the private community in one subscription.
Run the platform math for free
Compare net per sale across platforms with our free break-even calculator, and join the free Telegram channel for platform fee changes as they happen.