Stan Store vs Gumroad: Which is Better in 2025?

Stan Store and Gumroad both promise an easy way to sell digital products online.

I’ve spent hours testing both tools—setting up products, navigating dashboards, playing with customisations, and even simulating real purchases.

If you’re a creator, coach, or influencer trying to monetise your audience, this review will show you which one’s right for you.

Quick Verdict

Stan Store – Best for content creators using TikTok and Instagram who need an all-in-one storefront that converts social traffic fast.

Gumroad – Best for indie sellers and developers with a catalogue of products and low-volume needs.

Stan Store is Best For:

• TikTokers, Reels creators, and IG coaches
• Selling 1:1 coaching, downloadable guides, courses
• Creators who want a simple funnel + link-in-bio setup

Gumroad is Best For:

• Indie hackers, coders, writers, artists
• Selling software, books, memberships, subscriptions
• Beginners who want no monthly fee and don’t mind paying per sale

Pricing: Flat Fee vs Per-Sale Cut

Pricing structure can make or break your profit margins—especially once sales start rolling in. That’s the first thing I noticed when testing both platforms.

Stan Store and Gumroad take radically different approaches here, and the impact is noticeable even at low volume.

Stan Store

Stan Store keeps it simple with two flat-rate tiers:

• $29/month (Creator): Access to the basics—digital product sales, email collection, calendar booking, and more.
• $99/month (Creator Pro): Adds upsells, affiliate management, and full funnel customisation.

There are no additional platform fees on sales, which means you keep what you earn—minus the usual Stripe processing (~2.9%).

Gumroad

Gumroad skips the monthly fee altogether, but charges a 10% cut on every sale. This is on top of payment processor fees (Stripe or PayPal), which adds up quickly:

• Sell a $20 ebook? You lose $2 to Gumroad and another $0.58+ to Stripe.
• Once you cross $500/month in revenue, the percentage fee becomes the expensive option.

You’re paying for flexibility, but not necessarily saving.

Side-by-Side Comparison:

The Winner: Stan Store

Gumroad is great for beginners who don’t want to commit to monthly costs. But once your sales grow—even modestly—Stan Store becomes the more cost-effective option.

That 10% fee adds up quickly, and with Stan, it’s easy to forecast your monthly expenses without worrying about revenue-based takeaways.

Selling Features: Funnels vs Listings

Both platforms let you list and sell digital products, but they serve different goals.

Stan Store leans into the sales funnel model, while Gumroad is more of a storefront for digital goods. When I put them to the test, the difference was clear.

Stan Store

Stan acts like a mini funnel embedded in your bio.

Every product can include upsells, calendar booking, and lead magnets. The user flow felt intentional—designed to maximise conversions.

Here’s what stood out:

• Booking integration: Connects to Calendly for coaching or consultations.
• Upsell paths: Easy to set up, available on Creator Pro.
• Lead magnets: Gate a free product to collect emails.
• Instant access: One-click file delivery and product unlocking.

Gumroad

Uploading products on Gumroad was quick. You set a price, add a description, and you’re done. But there’s less depth beyond the basics.

It supports:

• Single downloads
• Subscription billing
• Software licensing
• Pay-what-you-want pricing

These work fine—but there are no upsells, no automation triggers, and no funnel logic.

Feature Comparison:

The Winner: Stan Store

Stan gives creators more tools to boost their average order value and grow their list.

Gumroad is fine if you’re only selling static files, but it’s limited when it comes to increasing lifetime customer value or guiding a customer journey.

Read more: Stan Store vs Shopify

Templates & Design: Clean vs Minimal

Design flexibility isn’t the top priority on either platform—but how your store looks still affects how it performs.

I built demo storefronts on both and paid attention to branding, layout, and mobile optimisation.

Stan Store

Stan Store gives you just enough flexibility to look professional. You won’t find full theme libraries, but you can customise:

• Header banner
• Brand colours and typography
• Product images and embedded videos
• Mobile-first layout

Everything is optimised for a clean, distraction-free experience—especially important for traffic coming from mobile.

Gumroad

Gumroad offers a very stripped-back interface.

Your profile photo, product thumbnails, and description make up the bulk of your store. It’s simple, but doesn’t allow for much personalisation.

Custom domains are supported, and you can add social links, but:

• There’s no visual theme selection.
• No brand identity elements beyond basic text and colours.

The Winner: Stan Store

Stan wins by offering a bit more branding and layout control.

You can make your store feel like an extension of your brand—something Gumroad lacks without serious custom CSS.

Marketing Tools: Basic vs Built-In Funnels

Most creators don’t just want to sell once—they want to build an audience and drive repeat purchases. This is where Stan Store truly stands out.

Stan Store

Stan Store includes basic but powerful marketing tools built right into the dashboard. Without installing any apps or writing code, I was able to:

• Capture emails via lead magnets
• Connect ConvertKit and Mailchimp
• Track user behaviour inside the dashboard
• Create product bundles with upsells

The platform also lets you offer “freebies” in exchange for an email address, which I tested with a free checklist. The result? 100+ new subscribers from a single TikTok post.

Gumroad

Gumroad’s email tools are solid—but basic:

• You can send updates to past customers.
• Broadcasts are available, but limited.
• No segmentation or tags.
• No lead magnet delivery or native list-building funnels.

There’s no way to automate follow-ups or trigger sequences unless you connect to external tools via Zapier.

The Winner: Stan Store

Stan is built for creators who market through content and need email to drive future offers.

Gumroad is more of a transaction tool, whereas Stan supports the full customer lifecycle.

Ease of Use: Stan Store Wins on Speed

Both platforms are user-friendly, but Stan Store’s guided setup makes it faster to launch and grow. I timed the entire product creation and launch process—and Stan shaved off minutes.

Stan Store

From the moment you sign up, you get a guided checklist:

• Upload a product
• Add an upsell
• Connect Stripe
• Launch your store

It also nudges you toward lead capture, bookings, and affiliate options.

I didn’t need tutorials or external help. It felt intuitive and clean, with mobile-friendly previews throughout.

Gumroad

Gumroad is simple, but has zero guidance. If you’ve never used an ecommerce tool before, you’re on your own. The UI hasn’t changed much in years—it works, but feels outdated.

You’ll need to:

• Manually organise your links
• Guess what to do next
• Dig through help docs for anything advanced

The Winner: Stan Store

Stan Store offers a more modern, intuitive experience—especially for creators who aren’t tech-savvy.

Gumroad gets the job done but lacks polish and support during setup.

Support & Docs: Close Call

When something breaks or doesn’t make sense, fast support matters. I tested both platforms with small support queries and compared response times, tone, and resources.

Stan Store

• Email Support: Quick—response in ~12 hours.
• Live Chat: Only on Pro plan, but fast and helpful.
• Help Center: Covers basics well, including setup guides and best practices.

Gumroad

• Email Only: Took 2 days to get a response.
• Help Docs: Detailed, but mostly focused on self-service.
• No Live Chat or Direct Support Channels

Gumroad’s team was polite and knowledgeable, but the delay could frustrate creators in launch mode.

The Winner: Stan Store (barely)

Gumroad’s support is functional, but slow. Stan’s responsiveness, especially on the Pro plan, puts it slightly ahead.

SEO, Integrations & Platform Growth

Whether you’re building organic traffic or automating tasks, integrations and SEO features matter more than people realise. Here’s what I found when diving into both.

Stan Store

• SEO-friendly links (yourdomain.com/offer-name)
• Integrated with:
  • Stripe
  • ConvertKit
  • Calendly
  • Google Analytics
  • Zapier
• Social-first design works great for traffic from Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube bios.

Gumroad

• SEO-optimised product pages
• Public discovery feed (can bring new buyers)
• Zapier support available, but limited first-party integrations
• Supports custom domains

Gumroad may give you exposure on its platform, but it lacks flexibility beyond that.

The Winner: Draw

Stan Store is better if you’re driving traffic from content or short-form video.

Gumroad’s internal marketplace is a passive bonus, especially for niche creators without a big following.

Final Verdict: Which Should You Choose?

If you’re a creator, influencer, or coach trying to make money from your audience, Stan Store is hands-down the better choice.

It’s built for fast-selling from TikTok, offers better conversion tools, and becomes cheaper at scale.

If you’re an indie dev or just selling a $9 ebook every now and then, Gumroad is solid, especially if you don’t want to commit to a monthly fee.

TL;DR – My Recommendation:

• Start with Gumroad if you’re just testing the waters.
• Upgrade to Stan Store once you’re posting content, growing your list, and want to sell more than just one-off files.