MadeThis vs Gumroad: which is better for digital product sellers in 2025

I've sold digital products on both Gumroad and MadeThis. I started on Gumroad because it was the obvious choice — everyone talks about it, it's fast to set up, and it has a reputation as the go-to platform for indie creators.

After a year on Gumroad and now a year on MadeThis, I have a clear opinion. But I also think the "right" answer depends on where you are in your journey.

Here's my honest breakdown.

A Quick Note on How I'm Comparing These

I'm not being paid by either platform to write this. I have an affiliate relationship with MadeThis — meaning if you sign up through my link, I earn a commission. That's disclosed upfront because I think transparency matters more than it's convenient.

That said, I genuinely switched to MadeThis because it's better for my use case. If Gumroad were better, I'd still be on it.

Fees: Gumroad vs MadeThis

Gumroad charges a 10% transaction fee on the free plan. If you pay $10/month, that drops to 7%. If you pay $30/month, it drops to 5%.

So if you're selling a $27 product on Gumroad's free plan, you're paying $2.70 per sale in fees — before payment processing. On 100 sales per month, that's $270 going to Gumroad.

MadeThis has a free plan with a lower transaction fee than Gumroad's free tier. Their paid plans further reduce fees. The exact rates are on their site and worth checking, but the short version: you keep more of each sale on MadeThis.

Winner: MadeThis for higher-volume sellers. For very low volume (under 20 sales/month), the difference is minimal — just a few dollars.

Ease of Setup

Both platforms are genuinely easy to get started with. You can have a live product page on either within 30 minutes.

Gumroad has been around longer and has a slightly more established UI that some people find more comfortable. MadeThis is newer but I found the interface cleaner and more modern.

Winner: Tie. Both are beginner-friendly.

The AI Features

This is where the comparison gets decisively one-sided.

Gumroad has no meaningful AI features. It's a store-builder and checkout tool. What you see is what you get.

MadeThis was built around AI from the start. The AI co-founder inside MadeThis is genuinely different from what I expected. It knows your store, your products, your customers, and your revenue. It helps you:

• Identify which products to build next based on what's already selling
• Rewrite product descriptions for better conversion
• Plan pricing strategies and bundle offers
• Draft email sequences and marketing copy
• Understand why products aren't selling and what to do about it

I've also used MadeThis's automated outbound marketing tools to drive traffic to my store in the early months when I had no organic traffic. This is a feature Gumroad doesn't have at all.

Winner: MadeThis, and it's not close.

Customer Data and Email

On Gumroad, you get customer emails. That's good — it's something Etsy doesn't offer. But the email integration is basic.

MadeThis captures customer emails and integrates them into an actual CRM. You can segment customers, see purchase history, and run email campaigns. Combined with the AI co-founder, this enables the kind of customer lifecycle marketing that most solo creators never do because it's too complicated.

Winner: MadeThis for relationship building.

Customization

Gumroad product pages are clean but not very customizable. You get a standard layout with limited options for adjusting the look.

MadeThis gives you more control over your store appearance and product pages. Not unlimited customization (this is still a turnkey platform, not Shopify), but noticeably more flexibility.

Winner: MadeThis, though for most beginners this won't matter much initially.

Community and Ecosystem

Gumroad has been around for over a decade. There's a large community of creators, third-party resources, and tutorials.

MadeThis is newer. The community is smaller but growing, and the support from the platform itself is stronger.

Winner: Gumroad on ecosystem maturity. This matters if you rely heavily on community resources and third-party integrations.

My Recommendation by Stage

If you're brand new and want to make your first sale as fast as possible: Start with either. Both will work. The difference won't matter at 10 sales per month.

If you're past your first 20 sales and want to scale: Switch to MadeThis. The AI features, lower fees, and outbound marketing tools will compound meaningfully as your volume grows.

If you're building a long-term digital product business: MadeThis is the stronger foundation. You own more of the relationship with your customers, and the AI tools help you run the business instead of just hosting your products.

I switched to MadeThis after about a year on Gumroad and immediately felt the difference. If I were starting today, I'd go straight to MadeThis and skip the detour.

More detail in my full MadeThis review or the Gumroad vs MadeThis comparison page.