Selling digital products is one of the best ways to build a successful business today. With digital products, you can minimize the initial costs associated with building your company, as there are no physical resources or materials to invest in. Yet, even with minimal setup fees, companies selling digital goods have the potential to make a huge profit.
As consumers spend more time on the internet, and entrepreneurs discover just how easy it can be to start their own venture online, the digital product market is rapidly growing. In fact, one kind of digital product, online learning (courses and webinars) is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21% between 2022 and 2027. This landscape will hit a value of over $1 trillion in the next five years.
So, where do you get started if you want to embrace your share of the digital product market?
Best Platforms to Sell Digital Products
There are so many platforms available for selling digital products today, it’s difficult to choose a single leader. That’s why we’ve picked a selection of options, each with their own unique benefits. Here are our top choices.
1. Podia
Best overall platform to sell digital products
Podia is a website committed to helping companies sell digital goods online. Through Podia, you can sell everything from professional courses to online learning opportunities, digital memberships and more. What’s more, you can access a host of features built to help you strengthen your relationships with your community, ensuring more repeat sales.
Key Features
With Podia, you get a comprehensive environment for selling creative work and content. You can host online courses with unlimited files and videos, sell one-off digital downloads like audiobooks and PDFs, or build your own digital community with memberships.
Podia even supports the creation of one-on-one webinar experiences or one-to-many courses using YouTube Live and Zoom. With the option to build your own custom website built-in, you can develop a brand that really speaks to your target audience. There’s even support for up to 22 currencies and 11 languages, so you can connect with anyone all over the world.
Integrations
Podia can integrate with Zapier, so it’s easy to link a number of existing apps like MailChimp, Google Sheets, and more. There’s also an integration with YouTube Live and Zoom.
Podia Pricing
You can get started on Podia with a free trial for 14 days. Pricing after the trial starts at $39 per month for the “Mover” package, or $79 per month for the “Shaker” package.
Pros
- Unlimited emails and analytics
- Communicate on live chat to your clients
- Free community to grow membership
- Earn passive income from video recordings and webinars
- Beginner-friendly user interface
- The platform receives regular updates with new features added
- Payouts are instant
- Extensive features at an affordable price point
Cons
- Customer support needs improving
- The pages have only recently been SEO-optimised
- Students won’t be able to filter products from the storefront page because the backend doesn’t allow you to categorize products
- Instructors won’t be able embed their courses on their own websites or pages because the platform doesn’t offer custom embed codes
Starting at
$0
Per Month
2. Sellfy
Best budget option
An affordable, popular, and easy-to-use solution for selling digital products online, Sellfy supports over 60,000 creators worldwide. The website is perfect for simple, scalable selling, without the need for any technical headaches. You can even embed Sellfy into your existing website.
Key Features
Sellfy gives users complete freedom over how they sell their digital products online. You can create your own store with Sellfy if you want to build a professional brand or embed the Sellfy cart into your existing website. If you choose to design your site with Sellfy, you’ll have a range of customization options, full access to unlimited bandwidth, and support for your own domain.
Sellfy is one of the more diverse options for digital product selling on the market today, with the option to sell just about any digital file you can imagine. You can upload and sell videos and films, digital art, tutorials, photography, online memberships, and more.
What’s more, Sellfy makes it easy to expand your earning potential with access to a range of built-in marketing tools, like email marketing, discount and coupon codes, and upselling opportunities. With excellent security, you get peace of mind too.
Integrations
Sellfy integrates with a host of existing tools, including Zapier, Google Analytics, Facebook Live Chat, Patreon, and more.
Sellfy Pricing
There’s a free package for Sellfy if you want to sell up to 10 products. For $19 per month, you can sell unlimited products, and access 2000 email credits. For $49 per month, you can remove the Sellfy branding, and for $99 per month you get priority support.
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3. Thinkific
Best for online courses
Thinkific is a tool for selling digital products which focuses heavily on the benefits of sharing your knowledge with the wider online community. With Thinkific, would-be business leaders can design custom courses with their own branding and content and sell them to students around the world. The environment is already home to more than 50,000 course creators.
Key Features
Thinkific is an online course-selling solution which supports businesses in creating, marketing, and selling their own online courses. The service is one of the most popular for online courses in the world, with access to an all-in-one platform where creators can create unlimited courses for as many students as they like.
You can design advanced course pricing options to suit your target audience, build memberships and educational bundles, and even set up assignments for your students. With extensive branding and customization options, it’s also easy to ensure your course matches your brand image. The drag-and-drop editor provides complete control over your aesthetic.
You can even use Thinkific to build an attractive, high-quality website where you can showcase your courses with themes custom-made with a focus on education. You’ll get access to an SSL certificate for peace of mind, a custom domain and URL, and you can even make your own certifications.
Integrations
Thinkific is an extremely flexible tool, capable of integrating with the various software solutions your company already uses, including Shopify, Mail Chimp, Stripe, and PayPal.
Thinkific Pricing
Thinkific offers a thirty-day free trial, so you can experiment with the features in-depth before signing up for any long-term costs. The basic package starts at $49 per month, and the Pro package is $99 per month with no transaction fees, and a 30-day money back guarantee.
Pros
- Platform supports live video, assignments, communities, and quizzes.
- Integration wide range of industry tools
- Allows users to track a range of metrics and KPIs
- Protects content and client data with encryption and 24/7 monitoring
- Teach live lessons, on-demand or ‘blended’ lessons
- Excellent customer service
- The App Developer Partnership program offers financial rewards
- Provides full access to HTML and CSS
- Supports over 30 languages
- No transaction charges
- Extensive 30-day free trial program
- Provides custom domain
Cons
- No integrated marketing tools – you’ll need to use third party solutions
- Removing custom branding is only available on the Pro + Growth package
- Single sign-on (SSO) is only on the highest tiers
- Doesn’t handle EU VAT
- Offers only phone support–no chat options
Starting at
$0
per month
4. SendOwl
Best for existing websites and blogs
If you already have a website or blog you’d like to monetize with access to digital goods, SendOwl could be the perfect solution for you. With this simple application, you can sell everything from software and photography, to audiobooks, eBooks, event tickets, and online courses. Together, SendOwl users have made almost 2 billion dollars.
Key Features
Created to support business owners from all backgrounds, SendOwl is a simple add-on solution for your existing website builder. This solution can connect with everything from Shopify to WordPress, to help you sell your digital products on your site. You can even sell through social media using payment links or access the SendOwl API.
The SendOwl ecosystem ensures customer get access to the digital products they buy quickly and securely, regardless of the forma.t You’ll also have access to a range of tools to increase sales, like 1-click upsells, cart abandonment emails, and affiliate marketing.
One of the biggest benefits of SendOwl is its approach to analytics and reporting, you can track all aspects of your digital product business to see what kind of items your customers are buying most. There’s even access to a range of affiliate program metrics.
SendOwl simplifies the art of selling products everywhere, from your email signatures to your social media posts.
Integrations
SendOwl integrates with all major ecommerce website builders, including WordPress (WooCommerce) and Shopify. There’s also API access.
SendOwl Pricing
The standard plans tarts at $15 or you can upgrade to the Premium plan for $24 per month. There’s a “basics” option for $9 per month, and a Business package at $39 per month.
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5. BigCommerce
Best for combination of digital & physical products
Why choose between selling digital and physical products when you can do both with the same simple software solution? BigCommerce is a scalable and reliable solution for selling all kinds of offerings online. The robust search engine for product discovery built into BigCommerce makes it ideal for large retail brands, and small sellers like the simple ease-of-use.
Key Features
BigCommerce is packed with all the tools companies need to get their venture up and running as quickly as possible. The built-in features include a website builder with a host of customization options so you can make your brand stand out. There’s also secure SSL built-in, and the option to choose your own site domain.
The feature-rich BigCommerce platform is secure, easy-to-use, and packed with tools to keep you as agile as possible. You can even access a range of tools to help your business grow, like powerful analytics and reporting, and integration-ready marketing tools.
BigCommerce supports all kinds of selling with a huge range of flexible pricing options so you can sell one-off digital products, memberships, or courses. The headless-ready environment also means you can utilize virtually any front-end environment.
Integrations
BigCommerce is a highly flexible environment for online selling with API access and integrations available for a host of leading tools like Instagram, Wish, Amazon, TikTok and more.
BigCommerce Pricing
Pricing options start with a free trial to get you started, followed by a premium plan of $29.95 per month. You can access more advanced packages depending on the number of capabilities you need, and your desire for premium support.
Pros
- Leading eCommerce platform for SMBs and larger businesses
- Provides to upload unlimited number of products
- Very customizable themes
- 24/7 customer support
- Seamless store management tools
- Excellent marketing integrations and module
- No transaction fees
- Sell on multiple platforms, like Amazon, Instagram, eBay and Facebook
- Flexible and scalable design, perfect for growing businesses
- Lots of multivariate testing and reporting options
- Nice templates and customization options
- Advanced features like abandoned cart recovery are available
Cons
- A bit expensive for those just starting out
- Themes for customization can be costly
- Abandoned cart functionality requires additional payment
- Can have a higher learning curve than some alternatives
- Becomes increasingly expensive for high-volume selling.
Starting at
$39
Per Month
6. Squarespace
Best for beautiful templates
Popular among artists and designers, Squarespace is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms for building creative digital experiences. Best-known for its stunning templates and professional UX, Squarespace offers a complete drag-and-drop environment where people without coding experience can create some of the most attractive sites on the market.
Key Features
With simplicity at its core, Squarespace ensures every would-be business owner can create the perfect site without any prior knowledge or coding expertise. There are tons of great templates to choose form, as well as various color palettes and designer fonts to suit different needs.
Once you’ve created a stunning website, Squarespace ensures you can sell anything you choose, from booking services, to eBooks, and downloads. You can even integrate third-party extensions to help you reach a wider audience.
Squarespace can handle everything from digital subscriptions to one-time downloads, and it comes with features to help you market your business too. The all-in-one environment supports lead nurturing through email campaigns, and links to social media.
You can even sell digital and physical products at the same time with Squarespace, and access useful features like discount codes, and built-in tax compliance tools at the same time.
Integrations
Squarespace can integrate with a variety of tools from Afterpay for buy-now-pay-later offerings, to Gmail, Mailchimp, Google Sheets, and more.
Squarespace Pricing
A personal website with Squarespace will cost $12 per month, but you’ll need at least the Business package to sell digital products at $19 per month. There are also two commerce packages, for $26 and $40 per month.
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7. PayHip
Best for ease of use
PayHip is an e-commerce solution designed to make selling digital products and services as simple as possible. PayHip specializes in supporting brands who want to sell eBooks, software, design assets, courses, and other digital downloads online, with more than 130,000 sellers around the globe. Though the service may have some limitations in terms of customization, it’s very easy to use.
Key Features
If you want a simple and flexible way to start selling digital products online, it doesn’t get much more straightforward than PayHip. One of the most suer-friendly platforms around, PayHip teaches you how to sell a wide range of eBooks, presents, and printables on the web.
You can set pricing for digital memberships or one-time payments, build your own sales funnel with PayHip’s help, or simply embed your PayHip shopping cart into your existing blog, website, or social media strategy. The checkout experience is highly responsive, to suit the mobile age, and it allows you to add discounts and coupons to products.
PayHip even gives creators various tools to increase their sales, including promotional campaign guidance, affiliate programs, and more. You can add PDF stamping to your content to reduce the risk of illegal sharing and set up free trials for services.
Integrations
PayHip integrates with Zapier, so you can connect the service to a range of other tools, including Discord, ActiveCampaign, and many others.
PayHip Pricing
There’s a free forever plan if you’re willing to pay a 5% transaction fee on all of your purchases. Alternatively, you can pay $29 per month to reduce the fee to 2%, or $99 per month to remove the transaction fee entirely.
Pros
- Platform is free to start
- Minimalist design is easy to navigate and use
- PDF stamps are available for copywright protection
- Let users create affiliate systems
Cons
- Limited design features for product and checkout pages
Starting at
$0
Per Month
8. MemberPress
Best all-in-one WordPress plugin for digital product sales
Ideal if you have an existing WordPress website you want to monetize with membership access, MemberPress is a plugin for the WP environment. The solution enables WordPress users to expand the functionality of their WordPress site to include a course creator, content dripping, members-only dashboard, and subscription billing.
Key Features
MemberPress is a dedicated WordPress application responsible for helping thousands of professionals sell over $1 billion in memberships. The solution simply connects with your existing WordPress site, so it’s extremely easy to start monetizing your content. You can set up different access levels for your customers, and sell a range of digital goods, subscriptions, and VIP accounts. MemberPress even integrates with WooCommerce, so you can align digital and physical selling.
The MemberPress environment is intuitive and easy to use, with tons of options for business leaders. For instance, you can sell digital downloads individually, or set up a subscription strategy with paywalls and content dripping for different kinds of customers.
MemberPress makes it simply to build communities, and delight your customers with a seamless, and secure payment gateway. You can also access useful insight sand analytics to give you a behind-the-scenes view of which content your customers consume the most.
Integrations
MemberPress is a plugin built specifically for the WordPress marketplace, with access to WooCommerce integration built-in.
MemberPress Pricing
Pricing starts at $179 per month for the basic package. The second package is $299 per month, and the most expensive is the Pro package at $399 per year.
9. Gumroad
Best for beginners
Powerful and simple, Gumroad is an online selling platform designed to help anyone make their first $1 online. You can experiment with a range of different selling options on Gumroad, from one-off downloads to subscription memberships. If you don’t have an existing website, you can create a page on the Gumroad site, or you can add the functionality to your existing blog.
Key Features
Ideal if you’re getting started with online selling for the first time, Gumroad is a software solution designed for new content creators, from educators, to podcasters, to artists. The solution comes with access to a range of tools which allow you to build your own brandable presence online, complete with payment integration so you can except fees.
You can take a range of payment types, including monthly recurring membership payments. However, there will be a transaction fee to consider. You can also allow your customers to pay for larger purchases over time if you want to make your products seem more affordable.
Gumroad can help you out with calculating VAT on your behalf, and it allows you to accept a variety of different currencies from a global audience. There’s also access to discount codes and vouchers for when you need help getting that crucial conversion.
Integrations
Gumroad can integrate with various crucial tools, including Printful, Zapier, ConvertKit, Book launch, and IFTTT.
Gumroad Pricing
You can start with Gumroad for free, but you’ll be paying 9% on all of your earnings up to your first $1000. The more you earn the less you pay in your Gumroad fees. For instance, if you earn $1 million or more, you only pay 2.9%. All transactions also have a 30c flat rate.
10. DPD
Best for digital publishing
If you’re a fan of written content and want to make money on downloadable eBooks, software, and other professional content, you’ll love Digital Product Delivery (DPD). This easy-to-use ecosystem allows professionals to sell a host of different items, from professional eBooks to downloadable themes and software solutions.
Key Features
DPD is one of the easier ways to get started with digital selling in the current marketplace. All you do is upload your files to the platform, and DPD will provide you with cart checkout buttons for each item you want to sell. You can then put those buttons wherever you choose, whether it’s on social media, an existing website, or a blog.
Because DPD is responsible for hosting your files, you can avoid the stress of dealing with product delivery and backups yourself. When customers buy your products, DPD handles the hard parts so you can focus on building your business.
DPD also accepts a wide range of different payment methods, including PayPal and Stripe. Plus, you can use the same simple ecosystem to manage multiple online stores and businesses from a central location. The technology even comes with features like digital stamping, and key codes for digital software and downloads.
Integrations
Integrations are available for leading tools like AWeber, Mailchimp, GetResponse, Zapier, Campaign Monitor, and Google Analytics.
DPD Pricing
Because DPD essentially hosts and distributes your products for you, the amount you pay will depend on how much storage you need. You can get around 1GB a month for $10 per month.
11. Easy Digital Downloads
Best MemberPress alternative for WordPress
Easy Digital Downloads is an all-in-one plugin for selling digital products on WordPress. You can use this ecosystem to sell everything from WordPress plugins to PDF files, and eBooks. There are already countless major companies, including Spybot and WPForms using the environment today. If you already have a WordPress site, this is the obvious solution for you.
Trusted by companies around the world, Easy Digital Downloads makes it simple to start monetizing your WordPress blog or website. You can access a range of flexible payment options, like Google Pay, Apple Pay, Stripe, and PayPal. There are custom discount codes to help convert your customers, and shopping cart customization options.
You can even use EDD to create customer account pages where people can log in and keep track of their memberships and file downloads. With access to extensive reporting and analytics, it’s easy to keep track of your relationships with your audience.
Integrations
Easy Digital Downloads is designed for WordPress, but it also offers access to a REST API, and a range of third-party integrations with PayPal, Stripe, Zapier, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Stripe and others.
Easy Digital Downloads Pricing
The personal pass starts at $99 per year. After that, there are packages for $199 per year, $299 per year, and $499 per year depending on the functionality you need.
Platforms to Sell Digital Products Buyers Guide
Need some extra help deciding which digital product sales tools to use? Here are some insights into selling digital products online.
What are digital products?
There are countless digital products you can sell online. Anything your customers can download or access without having to take a physical delivery can often fall into the category of “digital product”. Options include:
- eBooks
- Whitepapers
- Recipes
- Templates
- Themes
- Plugins
- Software
- Songs or beats
- Podcast episodes
- Gated content
- Courses or webinars
- Documentaries
- Stock video
- Movies you have the rights to
- Fonts
- Wallpapers or design
- Apps
- Games
- Browser extensions
- Online event tickets
- Certifications
- Guides
What is a platform to sell digital products?
A platform for selling digital products is essentially an eCommerce platform which allows you to host digital products online, deliver them to your customers, and except payments. There are various different options out there, from marketplaces which allow you to list your digital products alongside other content creators, to site building tools.
Most platforms for selling digital products will offer a range of payment methods, so you can sell one-off digital downloads, subscriptions, or memberships. You’ll also have access to a range of automated delivery options, so you can send your content to customers as soon as they make their purchase.
What to look for in the best platforms to sell digital products?
The ideal platform for selling digital products for your needs will depend on a range of factors, including what you want to sell. Some solutions are better-suited for selling online educational experiences, while others are perfect for one-time downloads. Some of the points you’ll need to think about include:
- Compatibility: The ability to host and sell a wide range of digital product options will give you more freedom when it come to deciding what kind of content you want to sell.
- Store customization: You want to make your store stand out from the crowd with branding and various theme choices. Some of the best eCommerce platforms for selling digital products come with drag-and-drop builders to help you create the ultimate website.
- Affiliate program support: Affiliate program support can be an excellent tool when you want to increase the number of customers accessing your digital content. Look for a provider that allows you to connect with an affiliate community.
- Transaction fees and pricing: You need your digital product solution to match your budget. Think about how much you can afford to pay not just on monthly fees, but also transaction costs when customers make a purchase.
- Security: Being able to keep your digital files safe is crucial. Make sure there’s a backup system in place to protect your uploads. It can also be helpful to access things like digital watermarks to prevent people from sharing your content illegally.
Platforms to Sell Digital Products FAQ
Q: How to create digital products: Where do you get started?
Creating your own digital products can be as simple as recording a video with educational information or writing an eBook. How you create your product and what kind of tools you use will depend on what kind of content you want to distribute. If you’re creating a webinar or course, you may need to leverage special tools for the creation of quizzes and assignments.
Q: How to sell digital products?
To sell digital products online, you’ll need access to a digital product platform, which offers a range of payment options. Ideally, you’ll need something which allows you to not only sell digital products as a one-off purchase, but also sell memberships and subscriptions with recurring invoices.
Q: What is the best way to sell digital products?
Once you’ve found the right platform for creating and hosting your digital products, you’ll need to commit to advertising whatever you have to sell. Social media marketing and lead nurturing with email marketing campaigns can be a great way to convert more customers. You can also consider getting involved with affiliate marketing campaigns.
Q: Where can you sell my digital products?
You can either sell your digital product son an existing marketplace, or your own website. While a marketplace will give you access to a pre-existing audience, your own website gives you more control over things like branding and SEO.
Finishing Thoughts
Selling digital products is much easier today than it used to be, thanks to the wide range of digital product sales platforms available on the modern market. Of course, the right platform for you will depend on the kind of products you want to sell.
Podia is great for selling everything from one-time digital downloads to comprehensive memberships. You can even use the Podia platform to run an affiliate marketing campaign. Thinkific is a fantastic choice if you want to build a name for yourself as a provider of online courses and build a community of committed students.
Alternatively, if you want a convenient way to sell both digital products and print-on-demand products in the same ecosystem, you might want to consider a platform like Sellfy.
Want to Learn More?
Still not sure which platform will best meet your needs? Check out some of our more in-depth reviews and comparisons before picking your platform to sell digital products:
- Picks: Best Online Course Platforms
- Picks: Best eCommerce Platforms
- Comparisons: Thinkific vs. Teachable
