In the digital age, selling digital products has become a lucrative opportunity for creators and entrepreneurs. With a multitude of best selling platforms available, choosing the right place where to sell digital products can significantly impact your success. This article explores the best platforms to sell digital products, including:
Whether you’re an artist, writer, musician, or software developer, finding the best places to sell digital products is essential to showcase your talent and reach a global audience. Start reading and discover the top contenders in the digital marketplace and take your digital product sales to new heights.
10+ Best Platforms to Sell Digital Products
There is an abundance of top eCommerce platforms catering to both merchants and creators of digital products. With the best digital products to sell, the right tools, and the marketplace, starting an online business becomes a seamless process, allowing you to sell your products according to your preferences. By choosing the best places to sell digital downloads, you can attract more cash flow to your business.
Here are 10 best platforms to sell digital products:
#1. Etsy
Is selling on Etsy worth it when it comes to digital products? Absolutely! Etsy is the best eCommerce platform for digital products. It caters to a niche audience of creative enthusiasts, making it the best place to showcase and sell unique digital creations. Some of the popular digital products to sell on Etsy are artwork, printables, downloadable photos, and patterns.
If you want to know about uploading your piece of art whether it is a design or photo, check this guide on how to sell digital download photos on Etsy for more details.
With its global reach and user-friendly interface, Etsy offers digital product creators an opportunity to connect with a receptive audience and access customers worldwide.
Pros
- Targeted creative enthusiasts
- Global customer base
- User-friendly platform
- Built-in marketing tools such as Etsy Ads and Shop Stats and Insights
Cons
- High competition
- Fees may impact profits
Cost to Sell
- Listing fees: $0.20 per item
- Transaction fees: 6.5% on sales
This is just the fixed fees you need to pay when selling on Etsy. Learn more about other possible fees by reading our article about how much it costs to sell on Etsy.
Verdict
Etsy is one of the best platforms to sell digital products related to art like printables, and patterns. So if you search for a place to sell templates online and any other types of art-related digital products, you can benefit from this marketplaceโs large potential customers worldwide.
#2. Creative Market
If you are hunting for a place to sell digital products for free, Creative Market is a choice. It is a specialized marketplace for digital design assets, offering the best platform for selling digital products like fonts, graphics, templates, and themes. More than 10,000+ artists actively participate in the Creative Market, where they share and sell their unique and beautiful work. This is one of the best platforms to sell digital products that allows anyone to become a seller, but they must undergo a thorough approval process.
Sellers on this platform benefit from exposure to hundreds of thousands of monthly visitors seeking various items like unique photography, graphics, templates, and content management system themes.
Pros
- Over 9 million customers on the digital marketplace
- Integrated storefront for a seamless selling experience
- Built-in tools for sales and traffic analytics
- Secure payment processing
Cons
- Intense competition
- Transaction fees impact earnings
Cost to sell
- Listing Fee: Free to list products on the platform
- Transaction Fee: 40% of each sale, with the seller receiving 50% of the sale price.
Verdict
Creative Market is the best website to sell digital products such as fonts, graphics, and design templates. It benefits designers and creators by providing exposure to a niche audience and a platform to monetize their creative assets. Sellers can showcase their design expertise and access a community of design enthusiasts, making it an excellent choice for design-focused digital products.
#3. Payhip
Payhip is an all-in-one eCommerce platform allowing creators to sell various digital products, from ebooks to online courses. This best platform to sell digital products provides powerful marketing tools, such as affiliate systems and email marketing, to boost sales. Creators can customize their storefront and checkout for a seamless, on-brand customer experience.
Pros
- Versatile platform for various digital products
- Robust built-in marketing tools
- Customization options for branding such as personalized store URLs, logo and banner uploads, customizable color schemes.
- Online course builder included
Cons
- Transaction fees on Free and Plus plans
- Highest tier plan at $99/month for no transaction fees
Cost to sell
- Free plan: $0/month + 5% transaction fee
- Plus plan: $29/month + 2% transaction fee
- Pro plan: $99/month with 0% transaction fees
Verdict
Payhip is popular for selling digital downloads and online courses, benefiting creators who value marketing features and branding options. This is an excellent choice for beginners looking to explore digital products, memberships, or courses, especially if you already have an established audience base.
#4. Thinkific
Thinkific is another all-in-one platform, but itโs for creating and selling online courses, making it an ideal choice for educators and creators looking to monetize their expertise. With a robust course builder and customizable web themes, it offers a seamless and feature-rich learning experience for students. This best platform to sell digital products also enables building and monetizing learning communities, enhancing student engagement and interaction.
Pros
- Create and sell online courses easily
- Build and monetize learning communities
- Provide flexible plans with scalable features
- Offer built-in marketing tools for promotions
Cons
- Some advanced features available at higher plan levels
- Course oriented focus
Cost to sell
- Free plan available with limited courses
- Basic plan: $36/month
- Start plan: $74/month
- Grow plan: $149/month
Verdict
Thinkific is popular for educators and creators selling online courses and memberships. Its user-friendly course builder with multimedia capabilities allows the creation of engaging lessons. The platform’s scalable plans ensure that it can accommodate your business growth as you create and sell multiple courses with ease.
#5. Sellfy
Sellfy is considered as one of the best platforms to sell digital products with a simple and easy-to-use platform for selling digital products. It offers smart tools for enhanced sales and social media promotion. The platform also boasts a diverse community of 32,000+ creative artists selling a wide range of products. The most popular items sold on Sellfy include eBooks, comic books, video and music content, and design items.
Pros
- Quick and easy setup process
- No transaction and hosting fees
- Seamless integration with major social media platforms
Cons
- Limited flexibility for customization for storefront design
Cost to sell
- Starter plan: $29/month
- Business plan: $79/month
- Premium plan: $159/month
Verdict
If you desire a hassle-free experience selling digital products, Sellfy is the best place to sell digital products, which might meet your needs. Create your products, share them on social media, or embed them on your website, and Sellfy will take care of all the technical aspects, leaving you stress-free.
#6. Shopify
There is no doubt that Shopify is on this list of best platforms to sell digital products. To sell digital products, users need to use Shopify’s free Digital Downloads app or other third-party apps available in the Shopify app store. Digital products, such as online courses and journal templates, can be easily sold through Shopify. However, for memberships and subscriptions, integration with a third-party app is necessary. Users who don’t mind using multiple apps can benefit from Shopify’s robust features, including an intuitive storefront builder, marketing tools, and customizable themes.
Do you want to start selling digital products with Shopify? You can check our Shopify tutorial for beginners for a detailed and comprehensive guide.
Pros
- Top platform for big eCommerce stores
- Extensive customization options and free premade templates for creating the best website for selling digital products
- Robust built-in marketing and analytics tools
Cons
- Higher fees than other platforms
- Setup with requirements of technical knowledge
Cost to sell
- 14-day free trial available
- Basic plan: $29/month billed yearly
- Shopify plan: $79/month billed yearly
- Advanced plan: $299/month billed yearly
For more information about Shopify pricing and seller fees, read through our article about how much Shopify is.
Verdict
If you’re looking to sell digital products and customize the customer experience, Shopify is the ideal eCommerce platform for you. It offers the flexibility needed to cater to various selling models such as subscriptions and one-time purchases.
#7. Udemy
Udemy is the largest digital product marketplace for course creators, with 49 million students worldwide, making it an excellent platform for selling digital products. With a revenue share model, instructors can earn a substantial commission on their course sales, making it a great choice for course creators seeking a wide audience and potential for high revenue.
Pros:
- Large student base
- Marketplace insights tool with Promising Topics list for course creation
- Fees are charged solely upon successful sales
Cons
- Revenue share varies based on the sales method
- Profit-sharing model that makes you retain only a fraction of your sales
- Restricted capacity for design and features
Cost to sell
- Instructors receive 97% of revenue from their promotions
- Instructors receive 37% of revenue from other sales
Verdict
If your goal is to sell courses, Udemy is an excellent choice. With a massive audience of potential students already on the platform, you can easily reach a large number of potential customers interested in your courses.
#8. Podia
Podia is the best platform for selling online courses, memberships, and downloads, offering a quick and easy start to your business or passion project. This is considered as one of the best platforms to sell digital products since it provides all the necessary tools, including email marketing, website builder, and customer messaging, to enhance your online presence.
Pros
- Easy-to-use platform with no-code interface setup
- Email marketing and website builder included
Cons
- The free plan has transaction fees
Cost to sell
- Free plan available with 8% transaction fees
- Regular pricing starts at $33/month
Verdict
If you desire greater control over your store’s branding and plan to sell courses, memberships, and digital products, Podia is a good choice where to sell digital downloads. It is also suitable if you already have an established audience, as you can easily import them directly into the platform.
#9. Teachable
Teachable is the best platform for online knowledge businesses, offering a dope solution for selling digital products related to education. It caters to all specialties, allowing creators to offer courses while students can easily join and learn. Teachable provides complete freedom for course creation, including handling EU VAT. With three plans to choose from, it’s easy to make an immediate impact in the market.
Pros:
- Versatile platform for online courses allows users produce content using a variety of multimedia formats
- Unlimited capacity to develop and offer courses
- Easy setup and customization options with straightworth process and user-friendly interface
Cons
- Transaction fees on some plans
- Prioritizing online courses only so sellers have limited flexibility for selling downloads
Cost to sell
- Free plan with $1 + 10% transaction fees and 1 course included
- The basic plan at $29/month (billed yearly) with 5% transaction fees and unlimited courses
Verdict
Teachable is an excellent choice if you want to sell courses.
#10. Gumroad
Gumroad is making significant strides in the digital creator space. This best platform to sell digital products offers a seamless storefront builder, content security, and flexible payment options. Creators can sell various digital products, making it perfect for anyone looking to sell ebooks, courses, music, or other digital content with ease. Their recent rebranding and CEO Sahil Lavingia’s encouraging piece on ‘taking small bets’ demonstrate their growing presence in the digital creator economy.
Pros
- No signup or membership fees.
- Quick and easy onboarding process (create and publish products in 5 minutes).
- Thriving and expanding community.
- Abundant creator resources at Gumroad University.
Cons
- Limited design flexibility for landing and shop pages.
- Analytics are restricted to purchase and follower data.
- 10% transaction fee per sale
Cost to sell
- Free to start, with a 10% transaction fee per sale (plus payment processing fees).
Verdict
As one of the best platforms to sell digital products, Gumroad is an ideal entry point for the digital creator, especially for those starting from scratch. With a simple process to create and link products, you can easily connect your Gumroad store to social media without requiring a mailing list or website.
Why Should You Sell Digital Products?
Selling digital products opens doors to new possibilities, offering low overhead costs, global reach, and diverse revenue streams. Discover the reasons why venturing into the world of digital products can be a lucrative path to success:
Lower overhead costs
Digital products have lower production costs and no inventory overhead, making them a cost-effective option for creators and sellers. This means that digital products can be sold at a lower price point while still generating a healthy profit margin.
Large market
With the Internet, digital products can be easily distributed and accessed by customers worldwide via top marketplaces for selling products, eliminating the need for physical distribution channels. This makes it much easier to reach a global audience and generate sales from anywhere in the world.
Unlimited product types
Digital products can come in many different types, including ebooks, courses, software, music, videos, and more. This allows creators to diversify their product offerings and cater to a wide range of customer interests.
Lower barriers to entry
Selling digital products has lower barriers to entry compared to physical products, as there are no manufacturing or shipping costs associated with them. This allows creators to start their business with minimal investment and grow it over time.
Irresistible Profit margins
Selling digital products often results in higher profit margins as there are no manufacturing or shipping costs associated with them. This allows creators to reinvest more of their profits back into their business and create even better products in the future.
Long-lasting shelf life
Unlike physical products, digital products do not deteriorate or expire over time. This means that creators can continue to sell their digital products for years to come, providing a steady stream of revenue.
Never out of stock
Digital products are always available for purchase and never run out of stock. This means that creators can sell an unlimited number of copies of their digital products without having to worry about restocking or inventory management.
Easy management and delivery
Digital products are easier to manage, sell, and deliver compared to physical products. They can be easily uploaded to a website or a platform. Customers, then, can download them instantly after purchase, without having to wait for shipping or delivery.
Best Platforms to Sell Digital Products FAQs
- What are the best places to sell digital products?
When it comes to selling digital products, several platforms stand out as popular choices. Each platform offers unique features and advantages, catering to different types of digital products and target audiences. You may wonder: โWhere can I sell digital productsโ. Here are some of the best websites to sell digital products for your reference:
- Etsy
- Creative Market
- Payhip
- Thinkific
- Sellfy
- Shopify
- Udemy
- Podia
- Teachable
- Gumroad
- Is it profitable to sell digital products?
Selling digital products can be highly profitable. Digital products often come with lower production and distribution costs compared to physical goods, allowing for higher profit margins. What is more, the ability to sell to a global audience without the constraints of physical inventory can lead to increased sales and revenue. With the right marketing strategies and quality products, selling digital products can be a lucrative business venture.
- What are the best digital products to sell online?
The best digital products to sell online are those that cater to a specific niche and provide unique value to the customer. Some examples of popular digital products include:
- Ebooks and digital guides
- Online courses and tutorials
- Printable art and posters
- Graphic design templates
- Stock photos and videos
- Music and audio files
- Software and apps
Ultimately, if you can find your best digital products to sell online, you can decide the platforms to sell digital products.ย
Where to Sell Digital Products – Final Words
In conclusion, the digital landscape offers a plethora of best platforms to sell digital products. Whether you prefer a digital product marketplace like Etsy or a dedicated platform like Shopify, choosing the right platform depends on your product type, target audience, and business goals. Letโs embrace the digital revolution and thrive as digital product creators today!
If you have any further questions or need additional consultation related to the topic, feel free to contact us. Plus, you can also check on our Retailer Blog and Facebook community, where LitCommerce will be sharing the latest trends, growth hacks, and selling tricks in the eCommerce industry.