SIDE BY SIDE

Put two or three platforms side by side

Pick the ones you are actually choosing between. The same questions get asked of each, the answers come off the company's own pages, and every figure carries the day we read it.

Places that pay you Things you build on

Eight questions about what it costs and who owns the result, asked of each one.

Platform 1Platform 2Platform 3, optional

2 PLATFORMS · 8 QUESTIONS · 7 ANSWERED BY ALL

You picked one, so a second column was added to give it something to sit next to. Change it above.

beehiiv

Gumroad

What it costs you

What it really costs to startAll in, not the first-year promotional price.

beehiivLaunch plan capped at 2,500 subscribersFree Launch plan allows up to 2,500 active subscribers total, the subscriber limit for that plan type.source · checked 2026-09-07

Gumroad10% + $0.50 per sale, nothing upfrontNo signup or subscription cost to start selling; Gumroad's cut is 10% + $0.50 per transaction on sales through your own profile or links.source · checked 2026-09-07

What it costs to keep alivePer year, once the introductory pricing is over.

beehiiv$517/year Scale, $1,151/year MaxScale renews at $517 billed annually and Max at $1,151 billed annually, at the entry subscriber tier.source · checked 2026-09-07

GumroadNo monthly feeNo monthly or annual fee to keep a store open; the only recurring cost is the percentage deducted from each sale.source · checked 2026-09-07

The gate before the first cent

The gate before it pays anythingThe traffic, sales or balance you must reach before a single cent moves.

beehiivScale plan and actively sendingAd Network access requires the Scale plan or above and a publication that is actively sending on beehiiv.source · checked 2026-09-07

GumroadPays out at a $100 balance$100 USD balance, with higher local minimums in a long list of countriessource · checked 2026-09-08 · read the page

How long before the first paymentThe gap you have to fund out of your own pocket.

beehiivPaid the 20th for the prior monthAd Network payouts are processed on the 20th of each month for the prior month's ads, landing in a beehiiv Wallet that the publisher withdraws manually.source · checked 2026-09-07

Gumroad25% held 90 days above a 15% refund rateNo fixed payout schedule in the terms; above a 15% refund rate Gumroad reserves 25% of a seller's pending funds for 90 days on a rolling basis.source · checked 2026-09-07

Is it yours or theirs

Who owns what you buildYours, or a room you are allowed to sit in until the rules change?

beehiivPublisher owns the contentThe publisher owns their content outright; beehiiv disclaims ownership but takes a royalty-free, sublicensable, worldwide licence to publish it.source · checked 2026-09-07

GumroadSeller owns it; licence is perpetual and irrevocableSellers keep ownership, but grant Gumroad a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive and fully sublicensable licence over their content.source · checked 2026-09-07

Can you take it with youThe domain, the list, the content. What actually leaves with you.

beehiivCSV export, link valid 24 hoursSubscriber data and post content export to .csv from publication settings; the download link stays valid for 24 hours before the export must be re-requested.source · checked 2026-09-07

GumroadWe have not checked this one yet

Can it be soldIs there a resale market, and what does it pay?

beehiivSale allowed via manual transferPublications can be sold or acquired through a manual beehiiv transfer that needs written confirmation from both workspace Owners; workspace team members do not move with it.source · checked 2026-09-07

GumroadNo transfer without consentNot freely sellable: handing your account and username to another party without Gumroad's consent is listed as prohibited conduct.source · checked 2026-09-07

What takes it all awayThe single rule, ban or dependency that ends it overnight.

beehiivSuspension at sole discretionbeehiiv may remove content or suspend accounts at its sole discretion over reputational, legal or deliverability risk. A separate Digital Products clause lets it remove product listings without notice in fraud cases.source · checked 2026-09-07

GumroadTermination without cause or noticeGumroad may halt sales and suspend or terminate an account at any time, in its sole discretion, without cause or notice.source · checked 2026-09-07

There is no winner at the bottom of this table

Nothing here gets added up. A score would have to decide that these questions weigh the same for everyone, and they do not. A lower cash-out bar is better if you need the money this month and worse if it arrives as a gift card you cannot spend on rent. One payout method is fine right up until it is the one that does not work where you live.

The rows worth your attention are usually the ones where the columns disagree about whether to answer at all. A platform that publishes its fee and a platform that does not are not two platforms with different fees. One of them has told you, and you can hold them to it.

Rows marked as not checked are about us, not about them. They mean nobody here has gone looking yet, and they stay visible for that reason. Found a figure that has moved? Tell us, and it gets a new source and a new date rather than a quiet edit.

ALL PLATFORMS