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Introduction

With the surge of eCommerce, selling non-physical items online has never been easier. But the question is, what are the best platforms for digital products and services?

If you are going to open an online store to sell ebooks, digital arts, subscriptions, or online courses, keep reading! In this article, we have compiled a complete list of the best platforms for digital products and services. Hope that after reading this post, you’ll be able to select a suitable solution to sell these intangible goods.

Why Should You Offer Digital Products and Services?

Before uncovering the nitty-gritty of the best platforms for digital products and services, let’s get down to some salient statistics that you should know about.

  • The number of worldwide digital buyers was 2.15 billion people in 2021.
  • The global ebook market is projected to reach $23.12 billion by 2026.
  • The total revenue of the US photography industry was $11.4 billion in 2021 and is predicted to continue to increase.

There’s no doubt that selling digital products and services online has enormous potential. It breaks the physical barriers of geography, allowing you to sell from anywhere, to anywhere. Moreover, selling digital products and services can be very cost-saving. Since these intangible items are stored and delivered via the Internet, there’s no need to worry about traditional warehouses and shipping.

Selling digital products and services online is a highly beneficial way of doing business. With the help of data analytics and digital marketing along with the right tactics and tips for small businesses, you can make a fortune from it.

5 Best Platforms for Digital Products and Services in 2022

Now that we know the reason why we should invest in selling these intangible products, let’s take a look at the top 5 best platforms for digital products and services.

With that being said, don’t feel too stressed about picking up the “perfect” platform. You can always choose a solution, give it a try, and switch from cart to cart if things don’t work out.

Shopify

It’s no surprise that Shopify is the first name that appears in the top 5 best platforms for digital products and services. This platform has been the home of 3.7 million live websites across the globe, which truly indicates the popularity of Shopify. 

Shopify is widely considered one of the best platforms for digital products and services, and with Gelato’s print-on-demand integration, businesses can easily offer customized print products to their customers.

As a front-runner in the eCommerce market, Shopify offers a great wealth of features to help merchants quickly build an online store without having to deal with hosting or other technical stuff. Therefore, whether you are new eCommerce users with little knowledge about technology or experienced sellers in the market, Shopify is certainly an ideal solution to sell digital products and services.

Outstanding Shopify features

  • Digital Downloads app by Shopify 
  • Thousands of apps and plugins on the Shopify App Store.          
  • 80+ well-designed Shopify themes
  • Outstanding design flexibility
  • Dedicated checkout button (Shop Pay)
  • 100+ payment gateway accepted
  • Multichannel selling by integrating Shopify with Etsy and other marketplaces
  • Excellent customer support

Shopify pricing

Currently, Shopify offers 5 different pricing plans for you to choose from, based on your needs and requirements. They are

  • Shopify Lite: $9 per month
  • Basic Shopify: $29 per month
  • Shopify: $79 per month
  • Advanced Shopify: $299 per month
  • Shopify Plus: custom pricing, starting from $2,000 per month

Please note that before committing to any of these pricing tiers, Shopify offers a 14-day-free-trial for every new user. Hence, don’t forget to take full advantage of this limited-time offer and tour around all Shopify features with no cost or credit card required. Find a shopify migration tool to make the transition easy.

Big Cartel

Though it’s not as popular as other hosted solutions like BigCommerce and Shopify, BigCartel is still one of the best platforms for digital products and services. Founded in 2005, this solution has been powering over 77,000 live websites worldwide. 

BigCartel is tailor-made for creative artists such as photographers, painters, or crafters. This platform allows its users to quickly set up an online store to display their work, both in physical forms and digital products. 

BigCartel is an ideal solution for small businesses that are on a tight budget. It provides all the essential features to set up an online store in no time, without worrying about coding or technical skills. Nevertheless, please note that BigCartel isn’t packed with all the bells and whistles that other eCommerce behemoths provide. Therefore, if you are looking for a more robust and feature-rich platform, Shopify is a better selection you should opt for.

Outstanding BigCartel features

  • Easy to use with clean navigation
  • Support major payment processors like PayPal and Stripe
  • Offer free and mobile responsive themes
  • Provide essential eCommerce features such as Inventory management, order tracking, reports & analytics
  • Easy to use with clean navigation
  • Support major payment processors like PayPal and Stripe (Do note that stripe charges a transaction fee for every payment received. Calculate the charges using a stripe fee calculator).”

BigCartel pricing

Currently, BigCartel offers 3 different pricing plans based on the number of listed products. They are

  • Gold plan: 5 products for free
  • Platinum plan: 50 products for $9.99/month
  • Diamond plan: 500 products for $19.99/month

Easy Digital Downloads (EDD)

Unlike the other platforms listed in this article, Easy Digital Downloads is not a standalone eCommerce software. It is a plugin that allows you to quickly create an online store on WordPress. As its name suggests, Easy Digital Downloads is specially designed to sell digital products and services, which distinguishes itself from other WordPress eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce and MemberPress.

Outstanding Easy Digital Download features

  • Generate custom QR code to quickly add products
  • Seamlessly integrate with other tools like Dropbox, Stripe, and MailChimp,…
  • Track and monitor customers’ activities through an in-depth analytic system
  • List unlimited digital products to your online store
  • Support major payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net

Easy Digital Downloads pricing

Easy Digital Downloads comes with 4 different pricing tiers. The pricier plan you opt for, the more features you’ll receive. Besides, EDD also provides a 14-day unconditional money-back guarantee, so feel free to try this solution before committing to any pricing plan. 

Easy Digital Downloads pricing includes

  • Personal Pass: $199/year for a single site license
  • Extended Pass: $399/year for a single site license
  • Professional Pass: $599/year for a single site license
  • All Access Pass: $999/year for unlimited site licenses

With that being said, upon registering to Easy Digital Downloads for the first time, you’ll get special introductory pricing. Nonetheless, this offer won’t be applied for renewals and you will be charged the full price.

Sellfy

When mentioning the best platforms for digital products and services, it would be a shame to miss Sellfy. Sellfy is a well-known and affordable solution that allows you to sell every kind of intangible item like subscriptions, ebooks, tickets for online events, and digital arts. Thanks to its ease of use, Sellfy has been the home for thousands of creators in the world.

One outstanding feature of Sellfy is that you can sell both physical and digital products on this platform. Sellfy is packed with a built-in print-on-demand function allowing its users to sell custom T-shirts, mugs, and hats. Upon using this feature, Sellfy will take care of printing your upcoming orders and send them directly to your customers. 

Outstanding Sellfy features

  • Is optimized for both desktop and mobile devices
  • Offer multilingual storefronts by automatically translating to customers’ language
  • Support major payment processors such as PayPal or Stripe
  • Sell from anywhere with an embedded “Buy Now” button
  • Increase traffic to your store by embedding Sellfy on YouTube’s end screens

Sellfy pricing

Sellfy offers 4 different pricing plans, ranging from $0 to $159 per month. Nonetheless, please note that if you decide to commit to Sellfy for one or two years, you’ll receive a small discount on the monthly plan.

Here’s the detailed information about Sellfy pricing:

  • Free plan: $0 per month
  • Starter plan: $29 per month ($22 if billed annually)
  • Business plan: $79 per month ($59 if billed annually)
  • Premium plan: $159 per month ($119 if billed annually)

Gumroad

Gumroad is an all-in-one solution tailor-made for creators. Whether you are a painter, educator, podcaster, or music producer, Gumroad can be the ideal solution that you are looking for. This platform allows you to quickly set up an online store without having to undergo any coding and technical stuff. With Gumroad, you can make money from selling what you love, whether it’s digital arts or online books.

Outstanding Gumroad features

  • Set up subscriptions for membership
  • Support multiple currencies
  • Generate custom license key for selling software
  • Sell multiple versions of your digital products
  • Support various payment methods

Gumroad pricing

One good thing is that Gumroad is completely free. This means, there’s no monthly fee required to start selling on Gumroad.

Instead, Gumroad deducts a small amount of money for every transaction you made on this platform. At the outset of your business, this platform takes 9% + 30¢ per transaction. Then, when your lifetime earnings reach $1,000, the transaction fee will drop to 7% + 30¢. The more sales you get, the less you have to pay for Gumroad. Lastly, once you generate a total of $1,000,000 in-store revenue, the fee will stay at 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.

Final Verdict

And that brings us to the end of this article. Previously, we have taken a look at the top 5 best platforms for digital products and services. And here’s the final verdict you are looking for:

  • If you are on a tight budget, you can choose to start with Big Cartel, Sellfy, or Gumroad since these platforms offer a free pricing plan.
  • On the other hand, in case you have a strong financial background and are looking for robust platforms to sell digital products and services, Shopify and Easy Digital Downloads might be ideal solutions.

To conclude, each platform has its own pros and cons. It’s up to you to choose suitable software that aligns with your business. We hope that this article will help you find the best platforms for digital products and services that suit your niche.