Creator fee calculator

The table compares the fees each platform charges on one sale at the price you enter. It includes the platform fee, card processing and any optional fee that applies to that platform on that sale. For Etsy that means the listing fee, the 6.5% transaction fee, payment processing and the UK regulatory operating fee. For Gumroad it means the direct fee or the Discover fee, depending on the toggle. Unlockable is shown as 10% from you, plus 10% added to the buyer’s total.

It does not include VAT or sales tax, currency conversion, payout fees, subscriptions, refunds or chargebacks. Those costs are real, but they depend on your tax status, your bank and your buyers. A comparison that quietly folded them in would be less honest, not more.

The price. Fixed fees hurt low prices. A $0.50 Gumroad fee is 5% of a $10 sale and 1% of a $50 sale. Etsy’s listing fee is charged per listing whether the item sells or not.

The region. Card processing and Etsy’s regulatory fee differ between the US and the UK. Gumroad and Fourthwall publish in USD, so they are not in the UK table.

What the platform does for you. Etsy’s search traffic and Gumroad’s Discover marketplace can bring buyers a direct link cannot. Unlockable has no marketplace, no memberships, and is not a merchant of record — you handle your own tax. It is a checkout for an audience you already have. A platform that costs more but brings the sale can be the cheaper choice.

Whether you need memberships or tax handling. Gumroad and Fourthwall are merchants of record and handle sales tax; Etsy collects VAT on digital items in some jurisdictions. Unlockable does not. If cross-border tax is the problem you most want removed, that is worth more than a percentage point.

The table splits the cost into “fees you pay” and “buyer pays extra”. On Unlockable the first is 10% of your list price and the second is 10% added to the buyer’s total, so the buyer pays £11 on a £10 sale and you keep £9. On Etsy a £10 sale has a listing fee, 6.5% transaction fee, processing and the UK regulatory fee, so the seller-side percentage is higher than 6.5% before Offsite Ads.

Compare the “you keep” column, not the headline rate. A platform that advertises 10% but adds processing and a fixed fee can leave you with less than one that advertises 10% and covers processing. Gumroad is the clearest example: 10% + $0.50 plus roughly 2.9% + $0.30 processing leaves less than Unlockable at $10, even though the headline rates look similar.

If nobody knows you, a marketplace is the shop window. Etsy’s search results and Gumroad’s Discover can put a product in front of a buyer who was not already looking for you, which a payment link cannot do. Etsy is also the better fit if you want a listing that can be found by search without building a site.

Selling direct is better when the audience is already yours: people ask for the file in your DMs, your email list or your community. You keep the customer relationship, the price is not sitting beside a page of competitors and the delivery is one link instead of a marketplace account. Neither model wins everywhere; the comparison is there to show the trade at your price.