Payhip vs Etsy is a question of who brings the buyers. Etsy charges more per sale but puts your listings in front of marketplace shoppers. Payhip charges 5% or less and gives you your own store, but you bring the traffic. Many sellers run both, keeping them separate to respect Etsy's off-platform rules.
Payhip vs Etsy comes down to who brings the buyers: Etsy charges more per sale but gives you a marketplace full of shoppers searching for products, while Payhip charges 5% or less and gives you your own store, but you have to bring the traffic. Think of Etsy as renting search traffic and Payhip as owning the shop. Which wins depends on whether you already have an audience.
Checked October 2026 against Payhip pricing, Payhip's page on sales tax and VAT, Etsy's fees and taxes help page, how Offsite Ads work, and Etsy's off-platform transactions policy.
Payhip and Etsy are two of many options. For the full list, from Gumroad to your own website, see our guide to where to sell digital products.
Payhip vs Etsy: head to head
| Payhip | Etsy | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your own store and checkout | A marketplace with its own buyers |
| Who brings traffic | You do | Etsy search, plus you |
| Monthly cost | $0, $29 or $99 by plan | No required subscription |
| Per-sale platform fee | 5%, 2% or 0% by plan | 6.5% transaction fee + $0.20 listing fee |
| Payment processing | PayPal or Stripe standard rates | 3% + $0.25 (US, Etsy Payments) |
| Advertising fee | None | 15% or 12% on Offsite Ads sales, capped at $100 |
| Tax handling | Handles EU/UK VAT and US/Canada sales tax | Collects sales tax and VAT in many regions |
| Customer data | Your customer list and emails | Limited; buyers belong to the marketplace |
| Branding | Your store, your design | Etsy shop layout |
The rows that matter most are traffic and customer data. Etsy's higher fees pay for access to buyers; Payhip's lower fees assume you already have them. And on Payhip, the customer list is yours to email; on Etsy, buyers belong to the marketplace.
Etsy vs Payhip for digital products: what a $10 sale costs
Using published rates for a US seller and a US buyer paying by card, here is roughly what each route takes from a $10 digital download, before sales tax. Payhip's figures assume Stripe's standard US card rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents; PayPal's rates differ.
| Route | How it adds up | Fee on $10 |
|---|---|---|
| Etsy, organic sale | $0.20 + $0.65 + $0.55 | About $1.40 |
| Etsy, Offsite Ads sale (15%) | $1.40 + $1.50 | About $2.90 |
| Payhip Free | $0.50 + Stripe $0.59 | About $1.09 |
| Payhip Plus | $0.20 + Stripe $0.59, plus $29/month | About $0.79 per sale |
| Payhip Pro | Stripe $0.59, plus $99/month | About $0.59 per sale |
Source: Etsy and Payhip pricing pages, checked October 2026
Per sale, the gap looks small on a $10 product. It grows with volume and with Offsite Ads. Etsy says Offsite Ads charge 15% on attributed orders, or a discounted 12% for shops that have made $10,000 or more in any 365-day period, capped at $100 per order. Shops over that threshold are required to participate for the lifetime of the shop, while smaller shops can opt out.
Payhip's paid plans only make sense once fees saved exceed the subscription. At 3% saved per sale, the $29 Plus plan pays for itself at roughly $967 in monthly sales; the $99 Pro plan, at 5% saved, at roughly $1,980. Run your own numbers with our platform break-even calculator, which compares Etsy, Payhip and other platforms at your price and volume.
Renting traffic vs owning the shop
- Buyers already searching for products
- Your listing competes in Etsy search
- Higher fees per sale
- Etsy rules decide what you can say and link
- Buyers belong to the marketplace
- No built-in marketplace traffic
- You send buyers from social, email, blog
- Lower fees per sale
- Your store, your design, your links
- You keep the customer list
Neither model is better in general. A new seller with no following can make first sales on Etsy faster, because shoppers are already there. A creator with an engaged audience on Instagram, Pinterest or email pays Etsy for traffic they do not need. To see where your margin goes on Etsy, read our breakdown of Etsy digital product profit margins.
Payhip or Etsy for printables?
Printables, planners and templates are among the most searched digital products on Etsy, which is why many sellers start there. The trade-off is competition: you are listed next to many similar products, often at low prices. On Payhip, nobody browses past your product to a competitor's, but nobody finds it unless you send them.
Our printables business guide covers product choice and pricing, and our Etsy digital products guide covers listings, SEO and shop setup in detail.
Payhip and Etsy comparison: the hybrid setup that respects Etsy rules
Running both is common, but Etsy's policies shape how. Etsy's off-platform transactions policy prohibits instructing members to pay outside Etsy checkout, sharing contact information to complete a sale off Etsy, offering off-platform discounts or other incentives to buy elsewhere, and using QR codes to direct members off Etsy. Its fees policy adds that a transaction started on Etsy may not be completed off Etsy.
- 1Treat them as separate channels
Etsy for marketplace shoppers, Payhip for your own audience.
- 2Keep Etsy listings, messages and files Etsy-only
No links, codes or QR codes pointing buyers to your store.
- 3Send your own traffic to Payhip
Bio link, email list, Pinterest pins and blog posts.
- 4Build your list from your own channels
A free product on Payhip can grow your email list.
- 5Review fees quarterly
Check whether a Payhip paid plan now pays for itself.
Read Etsy's current policies yourself before setting this up, as they change and are enforced by Etsy. Our guide to Etsy shop policies for digital downloads covers the policies buyers see in your shop.
Tax and VAT handling
Payhip says it handles digital EU and UK VAT and US and Canadian sales tax, and for EU and UK digital sales it acts as your reseller and takes responsibility for that VAT. Etsy collects and remits sales tax and VAT in many regions as a marketplace. In both cases you still report your own income. If you sell digital products as a growing side business, it is worth a conversation with an accountant.
When each wins
- Etsy wins when you have no audience, your product is something people search for by name, and you are willing to pay higher fees for discovery.
- Payhip wins when you already have traffic, want lower fees, want your own branding, and want a customer list you can email.
- Both win when you can keep the channels separate and want discovery and ownership at once.
For the full system to create, price and launch digital products across channels, our Digital Products program walks through it step by step.
Payhip vs Etsy: FAQ
Is Payhip or Etsy better for selling digital products?
Etsy is better when you need buyers to find you, because it is a marketplace with its own search. Payhip is better when you bring your own traffic from social media, email or a blog, because its fees are lower and the store is yours. Many sellers use both: Etsy for discovery and Payhip for their own audience.
What are Etsy fees on a digital download?
Etsy lists a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee and, with Etsy Payments, a payment processing fee of 3% plus $0.25 in the US (it varies by bank country). Sales attributed to Offsite Ads add a 15% fee, or 12% for shops that have made $10,000 or more in a 365-day period, capped at $100 per order. Checked October 2026.
What are Payhip fees?
Payhip has three plans with the same features: Free at $0 per month with a 5% transaction fee, Plus at $29 per month with a 2% fee, and Pro at $99 per month with no Payhip transaction fee. PayPal and Stripe still charge their standard processing rates on every plan, according to Payhip's pricing page. Checked October 2026.
Can I link my Etsy buyers to my Payhip store?
Be careful. Etsy's off-platform transactions policy prohibits instructing members to buy outside Etsy checkout, sharing contact details to complete a sale off Etsy, offering off-platform discounts, and using QR codes to direct buyers off Etsy. Keep your Etsy shop and your own store separate, and drive your own audience to Payhip from your own channels.
Does Payhip handle VAT for digital products?
Payhip says it handles digital EU and UK VAT and US and Canadian sales tax. For digital products sold to EU and UK customers, it says it acts as your reseller and takes responsibility for that VAT. Etsy also collects and remits sales tax and VAT in many places. You remain responsible for your own income tax.
Should I sell printables on Payhip or Etsy?
If you have no audience yet, Etsy search is the faster way to reach printable buyers, at a higher cost per sale. If you already have followers or an email list, Payhip keeps more of each sale and lets you build a customer list you control. Printables sellers often start on Etsy and add Payhip as their audience grows.
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