Payhip vs Shopify: Digital Products or a Full Catalogue

The short answer: if you sell only digital products and take less than $780 a month, Payhip's $0 plan costs less than Shopify Basic, because 5% of $780 is $39, the Basic price on monthly billing. Above that, Shopify's flat fee is lower than any Payhip plan on the platform charge alone, but Payhip collects, reports and remits EU and UK VAT on digital sales, and Shopify's plan table does not say it remits anything (checked on 26 October 2026 on the Payhip and Shopify pricing pages; card processing is charged separately on both). Choose Payhip if your job is selling downloads, courses, memberships or coaching to buyers in many countries without filing their VAT yourself. Choose Shopify if your job is a catalogue with physical stock, where digital products are one shelf among several.

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Payhip is a storefront for things that are delivered by link or by login: ebooks, templates, courses with quizzes and certificates, memberships, and coaching booked through Zoom or Calendly, with physical products supported too, per its homepage. Shopify is the machinery of a retail business: products, inventory across locations, shipping labels, a till for in-person sales, and listings on social channels, marketplaces and AI chats, per its pricing page. Payhip charges by the sale. Shopify charges for the shop.

Three numbers to put in a sheet:

1. The break-even against your sales. For example, Shopify Basic at $39 a month equals Payhip's 5% fee at $39 / 0.05 = $780 of monthly sales, and equals Payhip Plus, $29 plus 2%, at ($39 - $29) / 0.02 = $500. Fees from the Payhip and Shopify pricing pages, before card processing.
2. The payment account you already run. Payhip deposits each sale immediately, and Stripe or PayPal charge their standard rates on every plan. Shopify adds a 2% third-party transaction fee on Basic when anything other than Shopify Payments takes the money, and its FAQ says Shopify Payments is available only in certain countries (pricing page). Check which applies to you before the sheet goes further.
3. The rate you will read after month one. Add the platform fee, the processor fees and any subscription from your statements, and divide by gross sales. That effective rate, kept monthly, is what tells you to change plan or platform.

What each would charge at three sales levels

Platform charges only, worked from the Payhip pricing page and the monthly billing price on the Shopify pricing page, checked on 26 October 2026. Card processing comes on top on both: Stripe or PayPal at their standard rates on Payhip, 2.9% + 30¢ per online card payment through Shopify Payments on Basic. The table favours Shopify at every level above $780; the next section is why many digital sellers pay the difference.

Three differences the table leaves out

Who files the tax

Payhip says it automatically collects, reports and remits digital EU and UK VAT, and US and Canadian sales tax, on your behalf (pricing page). Shopify's plan table lists automated sales tax calculations, tax liability tracking, and VAT validation, exemptions and invoicing (pricing page): it works the tax out and tracks what you owe; nothing in the table says Shopify files or remits it, and an advanced tax platform is sold as an add-on. For a seller in the EU whose buyers are spread across member states, that is the line that decides it.

What a product can be

On Payhip a product can be a course with drip publishing and certificates, a membership, or a coaching session, with no app to add (homepage). On Shopify a product is anything in a catalogue, and files reach buyers through Shopify's own free Digital Products app, which attaches files or links to products and sends access links after purchase. Courses and memberships do not appear in Shopify's plan table.

Where the buyer comes from

Shopify pushes products outward: social channels, marketplaces, its Shop app and AI chats, with a $0 Agentic plan for selling in AI channels only. Payhip assumes you bring the audience, and lets you embed a buy button on an existing site, a Shopify theme included, per its Shopify article. The two are not exclusive: a Shopify store can sell its physical goods itself and point course buyers to Payhip.

Ask Sidekick to price the switch on your own numbers

If you already sell downloads on Shopify, its AI assistant can do the sheet from point 1 with real data. Sidekick works with your store's data, can write and run its own code to compare or summarise it, and follows instructions you save as skills.

1. Ask Sidekick for the last three months of sales of your digital products, month by month, and for what each Payhip plan would have charged on those totals, with the arithmetic shown.
2. Save the request as a skill, so the same comparison runs next quarter without a new prompt.
3. The human check: someone matches the monthly totals against Shopify's finance reports or payouts before the comparison leaves the room. Shopify's help page notes that in some stores Sidekick cannot run code, so a missing calculation is a reason to do it by hand, not to trust a guess.

Free before paid

Payhip's $0 plan charges nothing until a sale happens, and Shopify gives three days free with no card, then $1 a month for three months, per the pricing page. The sheet above costs nothing and answers most of the question first.

When you open Shopify's pricing page, look at the toggle above the cards. It loads on yearly billing, so Basic shows as $29 a month; on monthly billing it is $39 (pricing page). Payhip's plans are monthly, with no yearly option listed. Set beside Payhip's $29 Plus, Shopify's $29 reads as the same price, when it is the price of committing to a year; the page opens on the figure that comes with twelve months of subscription booked, which suits Shopify better than a seller still testing an idea.

When Payhip is the right store

• Your products are files, courses, memberships or coaching, and buyers are in several countries.
• You want VAT on digital sales collected and remitted for you.
• Sales are small or uneven, and a fee per sale suits you better than a subscription.

When Shopify is the right store

• Physical stock is most of the business, with digital products alongside it.
• You sell in person, on marketplaces or in AI chats as well as on your site.
• Monthly sales sit above the break-even in your sheet, and you will file your own tax.

The Payhip entry and the Shopify entry cover each product; how to use Payhip turns a free download into paid sales, and ClickFunnels vs Shopify compares Shopify with a funnel builder.

FAQ

Can Shopify sell digital downloads?

Yes, through its free Digital Products app, which adds files or links to products and sends access links to customers after purchase (App Store listing).

Do I pay Stripe or PayPal fees on Payhip?

Yes, at their standard rates, on every plan, on top of Payhip's own fee of 5%, 2% or nothing, per the pricing page.

Can I use Payhip inside a Shopify store?

Yes. Payhip documents three ways: an embedded buy button, a link, or an embedded page, with the button available for digital and physical products (Shopify article).