14 Best Tools to Sell Digital Products

Last updated: July 2026

Turning a skill into a downloadable product sounds simple until you try to actually collect payment for it. Picking the right platform to sell digital products determines how much you keep after fees, how fast you get paid, and whether your storefront looks like a hobby project or a real business.

We reviewed the tools creators and small businesses actually use to sell ebooks, templates, presets, software, and online courses, and ranked them by pricing, features, and ease of setup. As we’ve covered at Canada Create, the platform choice matters less than most guides suggest, but it still shapes your margins over time.

Quick Comparison Table

Best For Matrix

• Just starting out with zero budget: Gumroad or Ko-fi
• Selling online courses at scale: Kajabi or Teachable
• Selling software or SaaS licenses: Lemon Squeezy
• Selling design assets to a built-in audience: Creative Market or Etsy
• Full control over branding and data: WooCommerce on your own WordPress hosting
• Running a broader ecommerce catalog alongside digital goods: Shopify

1. Gumroad

Gumroad remains the fastest way to sell digital downloads online without building a website first. You upload a file, set a price, and share a link. It handles VAT and sales tax automatically in most regions, which matters if you have Canadian and US buyers in the same launch.

Pros: No monthly fee, fast setup, built-in audience discovery.
Cons: Flat percentage fee eats into margin on higher volume.
Pricing: Free to join, roughly 10% per sale.
Best for: Solo creators testing a new digital download idea.

2. Payhip

Payhip is a lightweight storefront built specifically for ebooks, PDFs, and license keys. Its embeddable buy buttons work well if you already have a blog or landing page and just need checkout added.

Pros: Low fees on paid plans, EU VAT handling, coupon tools.
Cons: Design customization is limited compared to a full site builder.
Pricing: Free plan with 5% fee, paid plans drop the fee to 0%.
Best for: Sellers who want a simple digital product marketplace presence fast.

3. Podia

Podia bundles downloads, online courses, memberships, and email marketing into one dashboard. It suits creators who want to sell more than one type of product without stitching together three separate tools.

Pros: No transaction fees on paid plans, built-in email marketing.
Cons: No free forever plan.
Pricing: Paid plans start in the mid-double digits monthly.
Best for: Creators running courses and downloads side by side.

4. Teachable

Teachable focuses on structured course delivery: video lessons, quizzes, certificates, and student progress tracking. It’s a reasonable pick if your “digital product” is really a curriculum rather than a single file.

Pros: Strong course player experience, quiz and certificate tools.
Cons: Less suited to simple one-off downloads.
Pricing: Free plan available with transaction fees, paid plans reduce fees.
Best for: Anyone building a multi-module course.

5. Kajabi

Kajabi is the heavyweight option: courses, memberships, email marketing, landing pages, and a built-in CRM in one subscription. It’s priced for people who are already running a real business, not testing an idea.

Pros: All-in-one marketing and delivery stack.
Cons: Highest price point on this list.
Pricing: Paid plans only, no free tier.
Best for: Established coaches and educators scaling a knowledge business.

6. ThriveCart

ThriveCart is a checkout and funnel tool rather than a full hosting platform. Pair it with your own site or a course host to add bump offers, order forms, and affiliate tracking.

Pros: One-time license instead of a recurring fee, strong upsell tools.
Cons: Requires pairing with a delivery platform for file hosting.
Pricing: One-time payment.
Best for: Sellers optimizing a sales funnel around an existing product.

7. Sellfy

Sellfy combines digital downloads with print-on-demand merchandise, so creators can sell a design file and a printed version of it from the same storefront.

Pros: Print-on-demand integration, embeddable store widgets.
Cons: Smaller plugin ecosystem than Shopify or WooCommerce.
Pricing: Paid plans with no added transaction fee.
Best for: Artists and designers selling both digital and physical versions.

8. Lemon Squeezy

Lemon Squeezy operates as a merchant of record, meaning it handles global sales tax and VAT compliance on your behalf. That makes it a strong choice for anyone selling software licenses or SaaS subscriptions internationally.

Pros: Automatic tax compliance across regions, developer-friendly API.
Cons: Fee structure can be less predictable at high volume.
Pricing: Percentage plus fixed fee per transaction.
Best for: Software and SaaS sellers with a global customer base.

9. SendOwl

SendOwl is built to bolt digital delivery onto an existing site, whether that’s WordPress, Squarespace, or a custom build. It focuses on secure file delivery and license key generation rather than being a full storefront.

Pros: Works alongside almost any existing website.
Cons: Less useful as a standalone storefront.
Pricing: Paid plans based on order volume.
Best for: Adding secure downloads to a site you already run.

10. Etsy

Etsy’s marketplace traffic is the real draw here. Templates, printables, and craft patterns can find buyers without any marketing spend, though fees and competition are both real considerations. Etsy publishes its current seller fee schedule directly, which is worth checking before listing.

Pros: Built-in shopper traffic, trusted checkout experience.
Cons: Listing and transaction fees add up, crowded categories.
Pricing: Small listing fee plus transaction and payment fees.
Best for: Templates, printables, and craft-adjacent digital goods. Canada Create readers running a handmade brand alongside digital products should also see our marketplace strategy guide.

11. Creative Market

Creative Market caters to designers selling fonts, graphics, templates, and mockups to other creative professionals. The audience is narrower than Etsy but more targeted for design-specific products.

Pros: Design-savvy buyer base, curated marketplace feel.
Cons: Revenue share reduces take-home per sale.
Pricing: Free to list, revenue share on sales.
Best for: Font, graphic, and template designers.

12. Shopify

Shopify is built for ecommerce first, but digital product apps let you sell downloads alongside physical inventory. It’s overkill for a single ebook, but a strong fit if digital goods are one part of a bigger catalog.

Pros: Massive app ecosystem, scales into a full store.
Cons: Monthly cost even before adding digital product apps.
Pricing: Paid plans only.
Best for: Sellers already running or planning a broader ecommerce catalog. See our full Shopify vs WooCommerce cost breakdown for Canadian sellers.

13. WooCommerce

WooCommerce turns a self-hosted WordPress site into a full ecommerce platform, including digital product delivery, without any per-sale platform fee beyond your payment processor. It’s the most control-heavy option on this list.

Pros: No marketplace fees, full ownership of design and data.
Cons: Requires managing your own WordPress hosting and updates.
Pricing: Free plugin, hosting and extensions cost extra.
Best for: Businesses wanting a platform for digital creators that they fully own. Compare it directly against Shopify in our WooCommerce vs Shopify guide.

14. Ko-fi

Ko-fi started as a tipping tool for creators and has grown into a lightweight shop for digital downloads, commissions, and memberships. It charges 0% platform fees on shop sales, which is rare on this list.

Pros: No platform fee on shop items, low barrier to entry.
Cons: Fewer advanced marketing tools than dedicated course platforms.
Pricing: Free, optional paid membership for extra features.
Best for: Creators with an existing social following who want a fast, low-fee shop.

[IMAGE: comparison chart of digital product selling platforms ranked by fees and features, related to best platforms to sell digital products]

How We Chose These Tools

We compared each digital product marketplace and standalone platform on four factors: transaction and subscription fees, ease of setup for a non-technical seller, payout speed and currency support, and whether the tool actually delivers files and licenses reliably at scale. Canada Create readers frequently ask whether CAD settlement matters, and for sellers doing meaningful volume it does, since currency conversion fees compound over a year of sales. For sellers weighing tax obligations on digital sales in Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency’s GST/HST guidance is the authoritative starting point.

If you’re weighing whether to build a dedicated storefront yourself rather than lean on a third-party platform, a Toronto-based team like the one behind our e-commerce web design services in Toronto can help scope a custom build that keeps more margin in-house long term.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best platform to sell digital products for beginners?

Gumroad and Payhip are the easiest starting points because they require no website and let you list a product in minutes. As Canada Create often tells new creators, start simple and switch platforms later once volume justifies the move.

How do I sell ebooks online without giving up too much in fees?

Platforms like Payhip and ThriveCart keep fees low or flat, especially on paid tiers, compared to marketplaces like Etsy that charge listing and transaction fees on every sale.

Is WooCommerce better than Shopify for selling digital downloads?

WooCommerce avoids per-sale platform fees since it runs on your own WordPress hosting, while Shopify offers a more polished all-in-one experience with ongoing monthly costs. The right pick depends on how much technical setup you want to manage yourself.

Can Canadian sellers get paid in CAD on these platforms?

Most major platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce with Canadian payment gateways, and Payhip, support CAD payouts, though some smaller platforms default to USD and apply a conversion fee.

Do I need a full ecommerce platform to sell one digital product?

No. A single-product seller is usually better served by Gumroad, Payhip, or Ko-fi, which avoid the monthly overhead of a full storefront builder until sales volume justifies it.

Related Resources

• The Digital Product Launch Playbook for Canadian B2B Companies
• How Do You Know If Your Expertise Can Become a Digital Product?
• Canadian DTC and Handmade Brand Marketplace Strategy for 2026