Platforms change pricing and features — verify on the provider’s official pages.
Ko-fi and Gumroad serve different creator needs: Ko-fi is a tip jar with optional shops and memberships, while Gumroad is a digital-product storefront with direct sales and a Discover marketplace. Ko-fi Free charges 0% on tips and 5% on shop and membership sales; Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 per direct sale. Paid Questions let a follower pay upfront to ask one private question, and you send one written reply on your own time — no live call or scheduling.
Choose Ko-fi for tips and memberships, Gumroad for repeatable digital products, and Brillay when people ask to pay for your feedback, a private answer, a custom video, or a clearly scoped service. Brillay puts Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, and Tips on one link, where followers pay by card as guests, with no follower account needed. Each custom request is made for the one follower who asked, and the commission is the product rather than an add-on: the price, the scope and the delivery window are published before anyone orders, the brief is collected at checkout, and the follower pays upfront — your personal payment details never enter the exchange. Every offer on the page works that way, so the work arrives already paid for and already specified.
Fees and features can change, so confirm current figures on the Ko-fi pricing page and Gumroad pricing page before deciding.
| Best for | Cheapest use case | |
|---|---|---|
| Ko-fi | Ongoing tips, memberships, and a secondary shop from an existing audience | Free-tier tips at a 0% platform fee (Ko-fi fee explainer) |
| Gumroad | A repeatable digital product (course, preset pack, e-book) with a dedicated sales page | Direct sales at 10% + $0.50 per transaction, no monthly fee (Gumroad pricing) |
Which should I pick: Ko-fi or Gumroad?
Pick based on what you are selling:
- Choose Ko-fi for tips, memberships, and a secondary shop. Ko-fi is support-first: a follower can tip you, join a membership tier, buy a listed item, or submit a creator-defined commission.
- Choose Gumroad for repeatable digital-product sales. Gumroad gives each course, preset pack, e-book, or other product a dedicated sales page with automatic file delivery, and can distribute it through the Discover marketplace for an additional 30% transaction fee.
- Choose a paid-interaction tool for personalized requests. Neither platform centers its workflow on offers such as a $5 Paid Question, a $50 Personalized Video, or a $25 custom request such as a portfolio review or mini audit, each delivered individually to one follower.
If most of your revenue is “thanks for the content” support from an existing audience, Ko-fi is the more natural fit. If you have a downloadable product that you intend to sell repeatedly, Gumroad provides the more purpose-built storefront. Gumroad starts with a product ready to sell; Brillay lets you publish what you will do and how fast, then make it after the first order arrives.
Neither platform is primarily designed around a personalized, per-follower reply. On Brillay each of those is a one-time request — one paid question, one custom video, one small job — with no tier for the follower to join and nothing owed once it is delivered.
How do Ko-fi and Gumroad compare?
| Dimension | Ko-fi | Gumroad |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Tip jar first, with an optional shop, memberships, and creator commissions | Storefront for digital products sold directly or through the Discover marketplace |
| Monthly cost | Free and Standard cost $0/month; optional Gold costs $12/month (Ko-fi pricing) | $0/month with no paid tier (Gumroad pricing) |
| Platform fee | Free charges 0% on tips and 5% on shop, membership, and commission sales; new Standard accounts also pay 5% on tips; Gold costs $12/month and charges 0% (Ko-fi fee explainer) | Direct sales cost 10% + $0.50 per transaction; Discover sales cost 30% per transaction (Gumroad pricing) |
| Payment processing | Payments go through Stripe or PayPal, whose standard processing charges apply in addition to Ko-fi’s platform fee | The 10% + $0.50 direct-sale fee does not include standard card processing; the 30% Discover rate includes processing (Gumroad pricing) |
| Payouts | Payments go directly into the creator’s connected PayPal or Stripe account (Ko-fi payment methods) | Payouts go by direct deposit or PayPal, and the method available depends on the creator’s country (Gumroad pricing) |
| Recurring membership | Yes, through monthly membership tiers | Yes, through a dedicated membership product type with recurring billing (Gumroad pricing) |
| One-off tips or donations | Yes; tips are a core feature | No dedicated tip product; pay-what-you-want pricing on a product can approximate a tip (Gumroad: pay-what-you-want pricing) |
| Digital-product store | Yes; creators can list downloads, prints, and physical items | Yes; digital storefronts are Gumroad’s core product |
| Discovery beyond your audience | No creator-search or marketplace feature; Ko-fi confirms creators cannot be searched for on the platform (Ko-fi: Can I search for creators?) | Discover can surface products to new buyers, with a 30% transaction fee (Gumroad pricing) |
| Commissions or custom work | Yes, through creator-defined Commissions | No dedicated request format |
| Follower minimum | None published | None published |
Sources: Ko-fi figures come from the Ko-fi pricing page and Ko-fi fee explainer; Gumroad figures come from the Gumroad pricing page.
Which is cheaper, Ko-fi or Gumroad?
For tips, Ko-fi Free is cheaper because it charges a 0% platform fee on tips, whereas Gumroad has no dedicated tip product and only a 10% + $0.50 pay-what-you-want option to approximate one (Ko-fi pricing and Gumroad: pay-what-you-want pricing).
For digital products sold through your own link, Ko-fi charges a 5% shop fee, while Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 per direct transaction (Ko-fi fee explainer and Gumroad pricing). Standard payment-processing charges apply on top of both direct-sale platform fees.
Before payment processing, the platform-fee comparison is:
| Direct sale price | Ko-fi shop fee at 5% | Gumroad direct-sale fee at 10% + $0.50 |
|---|---|---|
| $5 | $0.25 | $1.00 |
| $100 | $5.00 | $10.50 |
Gumroad’s advantage is not a lower direct-sale fee. Its advantages are a product-focused sales page, automatic delivery, and access to the Discover marketplace (Gumroad pricing). Gumroad charges 30% for a sale through Discover, and that rate includes payment processing.
A potentially confusing detail is that Ko-fi’s advertised 0% tip fee applies to the Free tier. New accounts default to Ko-fi’s Standard tier, which charges 5% on tips, so using the 0% Free arrangement requires deliberately switching tiers.
For more detail, see does Ko-fi take a percentage and did Gumroad raise its fees in 2026?.
What do Ko-fi and Gumroad have in common?
Both platforms have a $0 monthly-cost option. Ko-fi offers $0/month Free and Standard tiers, while Gumroad has no monthly paid tier (Ko-fi pricing and Gumroad pricing).
Both platforms collect their platform fees only when a transaction occurs, rather than charging for an unsold page or product listing (Ko-fi pricing and Gumroad pricing). Neither company’s official pricing page lists an audience-size or follower minimum, so a creator can open a Ko-fi page or list a Gumroad product without first reaching a stated follower threshold (Ko-fi pricing and Gumroad pricing).
Both also support pre-made digital products. The difference is emphasis: selling downloads is one feature within Ko-fi’s broader support platform, while digital-product sales are Gumroad’s central purpose.
Where do paid requests from your followers fit?
Neither Ko-fi nor Gumroad is centered on personalized fulfillment for each buyer. A Ko-fi supporter generally tips, joins a membership, buys a listed item, or uses the creator-defined Commissions feature. A Gumroad buyer purchases a pre-made product that can be sold and delivered repeatedly. Neither workflow is centered on clearly scoped, one-time follower requests: one Paid Question gets one written reply, one Personalized Video gets one video, and each custom request has one defined delivery. A Brillay Custom Work offer can be published before there is a finished file to upload: the listing states what you will make and when it lands, and a paid order can arrive before the file exists — the opposite order of operations to stocking a Gumroad catalogue.
That gap is a separate product category — paid, per-follower interaction — rather than a replacement for either platform. Brillay puts Paid Questions, Personalized Videos, Custom Work, and Tips on one link (how Brillay works). You set a fixed price for each personalized offer, and followers pay by card without creating an account. You can decline a request. No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. There is no follower minimum either (Brillay pricing). Followers pay upfront; for Paid Questions, there is no live call, no scheduling, and you reply in writing on your own time, within the window you set.
You can keep Ko-fi for support or Gumroad for repeatable products, then add Brillay if followers also ask to pay for your feedback, a private answer, a custom video, or another defined service. If you are unsure whether followers will pay for a question, review, or personalized request, a fixed offer lets you test real demand without turning it into a vague donation appeal.
The direct comparisons are available at Brillay vs. Ko-fi and Brillay vs. Gumroad.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ko-fi or Gumroad better for selling digital products?
Gumroad is the more purpose-built choice when digital-product sales are the main business. It provides dedicated product pages, automatic delivery, and an optional Discover marketplace.
Ko-fi can also sell downloads, prints, and physical items. Its shop fee is 5%, making it a practical option when product sales are secondary to tips or memberships (Ko-fi pricing).
Do Ko-fi or Gumroad charge a monthly fee?
Neither requires a monthly fee. Ko-fi’s Free and Standard tiers cost $0/month, while its optional Gold tier costs $12/month and removes Ko-fi’s service fee. Gumroad has no paid tier and instead charges 10% + $0.50 for direct transactions or 30% for Discover transactions (Ko-fi pricing and Gumroad pricing).
Do I need a minimum number of followers to use either platform?
No published follower minimum appears on either company’s official pricing page. A creator can therefore set up a Ko-fi page or list a Gumroad product without first meeting a stated audience-size threshold.
Audience fit still matters commercially: Ko-fi is structured for support from existing followers, while Gumroad works best when buyers want a specific product.
Can I use Ko-fi and Gumroad together?
Yes. The platforms are not mutually exclusive. A creator can use Gumroad for packaged products such as courses, templates, or preset packs and use Ko-fi for tips or membership tiers.
Because both have a $0-month option, you can use either alongside Brillay. One Brillay link can hold your one-time Tips and personalized offers, followers can check out without an account, and there is no membership requirement or monthly Brillay fee. For creators wondering what to charge, starting with a small fixed price for one question, one review, or one clearly defined task is cleaner than negotiating every request in DMs.
What should I read next?
For a broader fee comparison, see creator platform fees compared and the best online tip jars for creators. If you are comparing these platforms with a paid-interaction model, read Brillay vs. Ko-fi and Brillay vs. Gumroad.
If people keep asking to pick your brain, review their portfolio, answer a private question, or make a custom video, turn the request into a clearly priced offer instead of negotiating in DMs or asking for a vague donation. Create your free Brillay page — there is no follower minimum and nothing to apply for, and creators in 41 countries can get paid.