Payhip is where a lot of teachers start selling on their own, and for good reason. It's free to begin, it handles VAT on digital sales, and it has memberships, coupons and bundles built in. Plenty of sellers never need anything else.
But once you have a few hundred members and a big catalogue, you start to notice its edges. This guide walks through the alternatives teachers actually use, with fees from each platform's own pages as of October 2026.
1. Why teachers look for Payhip alternatives
In our conversations with resource makers, the reasons tend to be the same few:
- Fees at scale. On the free plan, Payhip takes 5% of every sale. At $1,000 a month that's $600 a year, and the paid plans are $29 or $99 a month. We worked through the numbers in Where your platform fees really go.
- Looking like everyone else. Shop pages are tidy but similar. Established sellers often want a site that feels like their brand.
- A member area that's hard to browse. When members have hundreds of resources, they want to search and filter by age, subject or topic, not scroll a list.
- Doing it all yourself. Uploads, member questions and fixes all land on you.
If none of those sound familiar, you may be best staying put. If they do, read on.
2. Payhip alternatives at a glance
| Option | What it costs | Your customer list? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payhip | 5% (free), 2% ($29/month) or 0% ($99/month), plus card fees | Yes | Getting started on your own |
| Tes | You keep 60–80% of the VAT-exclusive price; 20p fee under £3 | No, buyers are Tes's | Being found by UK teachers |
| TPT | Changed in October 2026; see below | No, buyers are TPT's | Reaching US teachers |
| Etsy | $0.20 listing, 6.5% transaction fee, plus payment processing | Limited | Printables and gift-style products |
| Gumroad | 10% + $0.50 on direct sales; 30% via its Discover marketplace | Yes | Simple digital downloads |
| Shopify | Monthly plan, plus apps for downloads and memberships | Yes | Sellers who also sell physical products |
| WordPress (DIY) | Hosting, plugins and your time | Yes | Confident tinkerers |
| Bespoke membership site | Setup fee and monthly care plan; card fees only per sale | Yes | Established sellers with hundreds of members |
3. Marketplaces: Tes, TPT and Etsy
Marketplaces bring buyers to you. In return they take a bigger share and keep the customer relationship. They're a different kind of thing from Payhip rather than a straight swap, and many sellers use one alongside their own shop.
Tes
The obvious choice for UK teachers. Tes pays a royalty of 60%, 70% or 80% of the VAT-exclusive price depending on your sales over the last 12 months, with a 20p fee on resources under £3. Our guide to Tes royalties explains the tiers and what you actually keep.
Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT)
TPT is the biggest marketplace for US teachers, which makes it less useful if your resources follow the UK curriculum or EYFS. Its seller tiers changed in October 2026. Reports of its help centre describe a Basic tier paying 55% with a 30-cent fee per resource, and a new Exclusive tier that pays more but requires you to sell your digital resources only on TPT. We couldn't confirm the details on TPT's own pages, so check its seller help centre before deciding, especially the exclusivity terms if you also sell elsewhere.
Etsy
Etsy works well for printables, planners and classroom décor, and less well for curriculum resources or memberships. You pay a $0.20 listing fee, a 6.5% transaction fee and payment processing, which third-party guides put at 4% + 20p for UK sellers. Etsy can also charge for offsite ads on some sales. Check Etsy's fee page for the current figures.
4. Shop builders: Gumroad, Shopify and WordPress
Gumroad
Gumroad is the closest like-for-like swap for Payhip: a simple shop for digital products, with no monthly fee. Its pricing page lists 10% + $0.50 per direct sale, and 30% on sales through its Discover marketplace. For low-priced resources, that 50 cents adds up quickly, so it rarely works out cheaper than Payhip.
Shopify
Shopify is a strong choice if you sell physical products too, like printed packs or toys. For digital downloads and memberships you'll need extra apps, each with its own monthly cost, and you'll be the one fitting them together.
WordPress with WooCommerce
The DIY route. The software is free, and you can build almost anything. The catch is that you're responsible for hosting, security, updates, backups and every plugin conflict. Many teachers who go this way end up spending their evenings fixing their site instead of making resources.
5. Your own bespoke membership site
For established sellers, the real alternative to Payhip is often a site of your own, built around how your members actually use your resources. Payments go to your own Stripe account, so nobody takes a cut of your sales. The site looks like your brand, members can search and filter everything, and someone else handles the hosting, updates and fixes.
It costs more upfront than a shop builder, so it suits sellers with a few hundred members or more, where the fee savings and better member experience pay their way. This is what we do at paperputty, so we're biased. Our how it works page explains the process, and pricing sets out the costs.
6. How to choose the right Payhip alternative
A few questions will usually point you the right way:
- Where do your buyers come from? If it's marketplace search, keep a marketplace. If it's your Instagram, newsletter or Facebook group, you don't need one.
- How many members do you have? Under a couple of hundred, Payhip or Gumroad is hard to beat. Past that, fees and member experience start to matter more.
- How much time do you want to spend on tech? Be honest. DIY is only cheap if your time is free.
- Can you take your members with you? Whatever you choose, make sure your members and their past purchases can come too.
When you're ready to move, our guide to moving off Payhip without losing a single member covers exports, emails and keeping your old links working.
There's no best platform, only the best fit for the seller you are now.
