After testing several e-commerce platforms, we found that Payhip is the best platform for selling digital products. It’s simple, affordable, and built for creators who want to focus on making great content—not managing complicated tech. In this Payhip review, we’ll share why we switched, the key features that helped us grow, and how you can use Payhip to sell ebooks, courses, memberships, and more.
Our Journey to Finding Payhip
When we first decided to sell our digital products online, we were overwhelmed by the options. Shopify seemed too expensive for a beginner. Gumroad had recently made some changes that concerned us. We have our Printful designs through WooCommerce, but it required too much technical knowledge to set up.
We needed something simple, affordable, and powerful enough to grow with our business. That’s when we discovered Payhip, and we haven’t looked back since.
What Makes Payhip Stand Out
1. Simple and Intuitive Interface
The first thing that struck us about Payhip was how incredibly easy it is to use. Within minutes of signing up, we had uploaded our first digital product and were ready to make sales. The dashboard is clean, uncluttered, and everything is exactly where you’d expect it to be. No confusing menus, no hidden settings, just straightforward functionality.
2. Transparent and Fair Pricing
Payhip offers a free plan that charges 5% per transaction, which is perfect for testing the waters. As your business grows, you can upgrade to paid plans that reduce or eliminate transaction fees. We started on the free plan and upgraded once we were making consistent sales. Unlike other platforms that charge monthly fees regardless of whether you make sales, Payhip’s pricing model feels fair and sustainable for creators at any stage.
3. Built-In Marketing Tools
One of our favourite features is the built-in marketing capabilities. Payhip includes:
Email Marketing: We can build our email list directly through Payhip and send newsletters to our customers without needing a separate email service provider. This alone saves us money and simplifies our workflow.
Discount Codes: Creating promotional campaigns is effortless. We can set up percentage discounts, fixed amount discounts, or even buy-one-get-one offers with just a few clicks.
Affiliate Programme: Payhip’s built-in affiliate system lets us recruit affiliates who promote our products for a commission. This helps us reach new audiences much faster than if we did it on our own.
Upsells and Cross-sells: The platform automatically suggests related products to customers during checkout, which has significantly increased our average order value.
EU VAT Handling
This feature alone can save you countless headaches. If you sell to customers in the European Union, you must handle VAT compliance, which can be incredibly complex. Payhip automatically calculates, collects, and remits VAT on your behalf. You don’t have to worry about registering in multiple countries or filing complicated tax returns.
Multiple Product Types
Payhip supports various digital products, including:
- PDF documents and ebooks
- Software and apps
- Music and audio files
- Video courses and tutorials
- Design assets and templates
- Membership subscriptions
- Physical products (yes, you can sell physical goods too!)
- Licenses and digital keys
This versatility means we can expand our product line without switching platforms.
Key Features That Make Selling Easy
Secure File Delivery
Payhip hosts all our digital files securely and delivers them to customers automatically after purchase. Files are protected with unique download links that expire, preventing unauthorized sharing. We can also limit the number of times a file can be downloaded.
Customizable Storefront
While Payhip provides a ready-made storefront, we can customize it to match our brand. We can add our logo, choose colours, write custom descriptions, and even add a custom domain. Our store looks professional without requiring any design skills.
Embeddable Buy Buttons
We don’t have to send customers to a separate store. Payhip lets us embed buy buttons directly on our website, blog, or social media. Customers can complete their purchase without ever leaving our site, which has improved our conversion rates dramatically.
Mobile Optimization
Everything on Payhip is mobile-responsive by default. With most of our customers shopping on their phones, this feature is essential. The checkout process is smooth and fast on any device.
Detailed Analytics
The analytics dashboard gives us insights into our sales, traffic sources, conversion rates, and customer behaviour. We can see which products are performing best, where my customers are coming from, and which marketing campaigns are working.
How to Start Selling on Payhip
Getting started is remarkably straightforward. Here’s how we did it:
Step 1: Sign Up – Create a free account. No credit card required to start.
Step 2: Add Your Product – Click “Add Product” and choose your product type. Upload your file (if it’s a digital product), write a compelling description, and set your price. You can add product images, preview files, and customize the thank-you page.
Step 3: Set Up Payment – Connect your PayPal or Stripe account to receive payments. Payhip integrates with both seamlessly. You can offer multiple payment methods to customers, including credit cards and PayPal.
Step 4: Configure Settings – Set your currency, add tax information if needed, and customize your email notifications. Payhip’s setup wizard walks you through everything.
Step 5: Launch and Promote Once your product is live, you’ll get a direct link to share. You can embed buy buttons on your website, share links on social media, or use Payhip’s storefront to showcase all your products.
Prefer to have someone set up your store for you? We can help.
Features That Exceeded Our Expectations
License Key Generation
For our software products, Payhip automatically generates and delivers unique license keys to customers. This automation has saved us hours of manual work.
Pay What You Want Pricing
We will be experimenting with this feature for one of our products, allowing customers to choose their price above a minimum. We will share the outcome in a subsequent post.
Member-Only Content
The membership feature lets you offer subscription-based content. Subscribers get automatic access to all new releases in their membership tier, creating recurring revenue for your business.
Integrations
Another one of our favourite Payhip features is its integrations. Payhip integrates with tools we already use, including WordPress (for our website), MailerLite (for email marketing), and Google Analytics (for deeper insights).
Customer Support
Whenever we have questions, Payhip’s support team is responsive and helpful. They offer live chat, email support, and a comprehensive knowledge base. As small business owners, knowing help is available when we need it gives us peace of mind.
Who Should Use Payhip?
Payhip is ideal for:
- Content creators selling ebooks, courses, or digital downloads
- Musicians and artists selling their work
- Software developers offering apps or tools
- Coaches and consultants selling digital resources
- Anyone who wants a simple, affordable way to sell online
It’s particularly well-suited for solopreneurs and small businesses who need a professional platform without the complexity or cost of enterprise solutions.
Potential Drawbacks to Consider
No platform is perfect, and Payhip has a few limitations worth mentioning:
The free plan’s 5% transaction fee can add up if you’re making significant sales, though the paid plans address this. However, some other platforms cost more.
The customization options, while adequate, aren’t as extensive as building a completely custom store.
However, for most creators selling digital products, these limitations are minor compared to the benefits.
Final Thoughts
Choosing Payhip for our digital product store was one of the best business decisions we made. It struck the perfect balance between simplicity and functionality, allowing us to launch quickly while providing room to grow.
The platform handles the technical complexities of selling online, from payment processing to file delivery to tax compliance, so we can focus on creating valuable products for our customers. The fair pricing model means we’re not paying hefty monthly fees before we’ve even made a sale.
If you’re a creator looking to monetize your digital products without getting bogged down in technology, we recommend giving Payhip a try. Ready to start your digital product store? Try Payhip’s free plan today.
Have you used Payhip for your digital products? If you haven’t, would you consider using it? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!