Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover digital products & storefronts. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Gumroad | PublishDrive | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | From $13.99 |
| Pricing model | Free | Free plan, paid tiers |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Usage-based | Annual only |
| Free trial | Not stated | None |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | 10% of what you earn | None |
| Runs on | Not stated | Web |
| Covers | Digital Products & Storefronts, Monetization & Payments | Self-Publishing, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
Sell digital products with almost no setup
Gumroad is the fastest way to put a file behind a payment link. No store to build, no plan to choose, and a flat 10 percent on every sale. That rate is high once you are doing real volume, which is when people usually leave.
Our note
Start here, and do the arithmetic every quarter. The moment 10 percent is more than a competitor's monthly fee plus a lower rate, move. Until then nothing is simpler.
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Ebook distribution with no cut of royalties
PublishDrive charges a subscription and then takes nothing from sales, which inverts the usual aggregator deal and pays off the moment a book sells steadily. One upload reaches over 50 retailers and a library network most authors never get near. Plans are capped by title count, so a back catalogue costs more than a single book does.
Our note
Draft2Digital takes 10 percent and costs nothing up front, so it wins on a book that barely sells and loses on one that does. Work out your annual royalties before choosing: the crossover for the Starter plan is somewhere around $1,700 a year in sales.
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Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.