best platform to sell ebooks in 2025 — madethis vs the rest

If you've written an ebook and want to sell it, you have more platform options than ever. That's both good and confusing.

I've sold ebooks on four different platforms over the past two years: Gumroad, Etsy, Payhip, and MadeThis. Here's my honest breakdown of each, and the one I use today.

What to Look for in an Ebook Platform

Before the comparison, here's what actually matters:

Checkout quality. A clean, fast, mobile-friendly checkout increases conversion. A clunky checkout loses sales you already earned.

Automatic delivery. When someone buys, the file should go to them instantly. You should never be manually emailing PDFs.

Fee structure. This affects your take-home on every sale. Transaction fees, monthly fees, and payment processing fees all add up differently across platforms.

Product page control. Can you write a real description? Add images? Craft a page that actually sells the ebook?

Traffic source. Does the platform bring you buyers, or are you fully responsible for your own traffic?

The Platforms, Compared

Gumroad

Gumroad is the most well-known among independent creators and has been around the longest.

Pros:

• Very easy to set up
• Clean checkout experience
• No monthly fee on the free tier
• Gumroad Discover gives some organic exposure

Cons:

• Transaction fees are significant (10% on the free plan)
• Product pages are minimal — limited space for detailed descriptions
• Analytics are basic
• No AI tools or business guidance built in

My experience: Good starting point. I made my first ebook sales here. Eventually felt limited by the product page constraints and fee structure as volume grew.

Etsy

Etsy is a marketplace with real built-in traffic — which is its main appeal.

Pros:

• Existing search traffic (buyers are already there)
• Good for certain ebook niches (health, finance, productivity)
• Trusted checkout experience

Cons:

• Listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processing fees stack up
• You don't own the customer relationship — Etsy does
• Ebooks are one category among many; competing with physical goods for search results
• Account can be suspended with limited recourse

My experience: Sold some ebooks here early on. The fees ate into margins more than expected. Also felt uncomfortable not owning my customer list.

Payhip

Less well-known but worth mentioning as a Gumroad alternative.

Pros:

• Free plan with 5% transaction fee
• Better product page customization than Gumroad
• Affiliate program built in

Cons:

• Less brand recognition (buyers less familiar with the platform)
• No AI tools or built-in business guidance
• Smaller creator community

My experience: Solid but unremarkable. Does the job, but nothing made me want to build my primary business here.

MadeThis

MadeThis is what I use now.

Pros:

• Clean, mobile-optimized product pages
• Automatic ebook delivery
• AI co-founder built in — helps with product positioning, descriptions, pricing, and growth strategy
• Free to start
• No traffic dependency — you own your store and your customer relationships

Cons:

• No built-in marketplace (you drive your own traffic)
• Product page customization is functional but not highly flexible
• Less name recognition with buyers compared to Etsy or Gumroad

My experience: I moved here after about 8 months on other platforms. The product pages convert better. The AI co-founder has been useful for thinking through product positioning and writing descriptions that actually sell. The lack of a built-in marketplace is a real trade-off — but since I was building SEO traffic anyway, it wasn't a problem for me.

Which Platform Is Best?

It depends on where you are:

If you have no audience and want some built-in traffic: start with Etsy while building your own presence.

If you want the simplest possible setup to test a product: Gumroad is fine for getting started quickly.

If you're building a real digital product business and want a platform that grows with you: MadeThis is what I'd choose. The AI tools, cleaner pages, and lower long-term fees make it the better fit for a business you're building seriously.

Practical Takeaway

The platform matters less than having a good product and a way for people to find it. But it's not irrelevant — a clunky checkout or a confusing product page will cost you conversions.

My recommendation: start on the platform that gets you live fastest (that's usually MadeThis or Gumroad), prove the product sells, then optimize from there.

Browse my ebooks and digital products at /products, or read more about how I use MadeThis to run my business at /copilot.