Framekit vs Payhip 2026: What Zero Percent Costs

Framekit vs Payhip is one of the more honest comparisons in the digital-selling category, because both platforms publish their fees plainly and neither of them hides a 30 percent surprise in a discovery programme.

The difference is what it costs to reach zero.

Payhip's free plan takes 5 percent and its fee ladder ends at 0 percent on a $99 a month plan. Framekit's fee ladder starts at the same 5 percent and ends at 0 percent on a $39 a month plan.

That single comparison, $39 against $99 for the same zero, is most of what separates them on money. Framekit is an AI website builder with a digital store, client galleries, video review and decks on one account.

A hosted storefront is software that hosts product pages and a checkout for you, which is a narrower product than a website with a store attached.

Full disclosure: Framekit is our own product. Payhip is a genuinely well-run platform and the section on where it beats us names three specific things. Figures were verified against each vendor's published pricing in September 2026.

How We Compared Them

We sold the same $29 preset pack through both, at three monthly volumes, and put the same six-product catalogue into each to see what the storefront looked like at the end.

The honesty split:

• Measured hands-on: both stores, the checkout flow, file delivery, discount codes and what a buyer sees at payment.
• Verified from primary sources: Payhip's plan tiers and fee ladder from Payhip's pricing, read September 2026. Framekit's from the shipped plan configuration.
• Not tested: Payhip's course and membership products in depth, neither of which Framekit offers.

No load times or performance figures appear for either platform.

Framekit vs Payhip at a Glance

The weighting: the cost-to-reach-zero row and the website row decide this. Everything else follows from whether you want a storefront or a site with a store in it.

In one linePayhip is a better standalone storefront and Framekit is a better place for a store to live.

Where Payhip Wins

Payhip beats us in three specific areas, and if any of them is central to your business then the fee comparison further down is not the deciding factor. All three are things we do not offer at any tier.

EU VAT handled for you. Payhip takes on the VAT obligation on EU digital sales. Framekit does not: you are the seller of record and the filing is yours.

For anyone selling meaningfully into Europe, that administrative difference is worth real money and possibly an accountant.

Courses and memberships. Payhip sells courses and recurring memberships. Framekit's store handles one-off digital products only, with no subscription billing anywhere in it, so a creator whose income is recurring cannot run it here.

Affiliate programmes. Payhip has built-in affiliate tooling. We have discount codes and no affiliate system, which for a seller who grows through partners is a genuine gap.

Where Framekit Wins

Framekit wins on three points, and the first is the one that shows up on a bank statement rather than in a feature list. The other two are about what surrounds the checkout.

Zero costs $39, not $99. Both platforms start at 5 percent on their free tier. Payhip's ladder reaches 0 percent at $99 a month on Pro, with a 2 percent middle rung at $29.

Ours reaches 0 percent at $39 a month on Business, with a 3 percent rung at $19. For a seller doing $2,000 a month, Payhip Pro costs $1,188 a year to reach zero and our Business plan costs $372 on yearly billing.

The store sits inside a real site. A Payhip storefront is a storefront. Framekit publishes up to ten pages free, so the product page sits alongside the portfolio that convinced someone to buy, on one domain, with search able to find each page separately.

Galleries, review and decks. Client delivery with a password and download PIN, timecoded video review and proposal decks, all on the same plan.

For a photographer or filmmaker selling presets or LUTs alongside client work, that is three subscriptions collapsed into one.

In one linePayhip prices a storefront and Framekit prices a business, which is why the zero costs less here.

The Fee Ladder, Side by Side

Both platforms are unusually clear about this, so a direct comparison is possible in a way it often is not. Here is one $29 product at three monthly volumes, with card processing excluded because it is identical on both.

Read the bottom row: at $5,000 a month, Payhip Pro is $1,188 a year and our Business plan is $372, for the same 0 percent. Read the top row and the picture inverts for both platforms, because at $500 a month the free tier beats every paid plan on either side.

The crossover on our side is $780 a month in sales, which is $39 divided by 5 percent. On Payhip's it is considerably higher, because $99 divided by 5 percent is $1,980.

In one linebelow roughly $780 a month both free plans are correct, and above it the cheaper route to zero is $39 rather than $99.

Which One Fits Which Seller

Rather than a verdict-by-feature, here is the split we would give a friend who pays neither of us, based on where the income comes from.

• A creator selling courses or a membership: Payhip, which does both, where we do neither.
• A seller shipping heavily into the EU: Payhip, for the merchant-of-record VAT handling.
• A photographer or filmmaker selling presets and LUTs alongside client work: Framekit, because the galleries and the site come with it.
• Anyone above roughly $2,000 a month in sales: Framekit, on cost to reach zero.
• Anyone below roughly $780 a month: either free plan, and neither of us should be taking your money yet.

How to Choose: A Decision Guide

Take these questions in order and stop at the first one you answer yes to. The first three are capability questions rather than price ones, which means they settle the matter outright no matter what the fee tables further up say.

1. Do you sell courses or memberships? Yes: Payhip. We have no subscription billing at all.
2. Do you need EU VAT filed on your behalf? Yes: Payhip, or a merchant of record. We are not one.
3. Do you need an affiliate programme? Yes: Payhip. We have discount codes and no affiliates.
4. Do you also need a portfolio site, client galleries or review links? Yes: Framekit, which carries all three on the same plan.
5. Are you above $2,000 a month in sales and want 0 percent? Yes: Framekit at $39 a month against $99.
6. Below $780 a month? Either free plan. Revisit when you cross it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Framekit cheaper than Payhip?

At the free tier they are identical, both charging 5 percent on sales.

The difference is what it costs to stop paying a percentage: Framekit reaches 0 percent on its Business plan at $39 a month, and Payhip reaches 0 percent on Pro at $99 a month.

For a seller doing $2,000 a month or more, that is a difference of about $816 a year for the same outcome.

Does Payhip handle EU VAT?

Yes, which is one of the clearest reasons to choose it over us. Payhip takes on the VAT obligation for EU digital sales, where Framekit leaves you as the seller of record with the filing as your responsibility.

If a meaningful share of your buyers are in the EU and you do not want to manage that, Payhip or a merchant of record is the correct purchase and our lower fee does not compensate.

Can I sell courses on Framekit?

No. The Framekit store sells one-off digital products such as presets, LUTs, templates, ebooks and project files, with automatic file delivery.

There is no course player, no drip content and no subscription billing, so a creator whose income is a membership or a structured course needs Payhip, Podia or something built for it.

We would rather say so than describe a download as a course.

What is the crossover where a paid plan beats a percentage?

On Framekit it is $780 a month in sales, which is $39 divided by 5 percent. On Payhip it is roughly $1,980 a month, because $99 divided by 5 percent works out that way.

Below your platform's crossover, staying on the free plan and paying the percentage is the cheaper choice, and any vendor telling you otherwise is selling you a plan you do not need yet.

Do both platforms deliver files automatically?

Yes, both handle product pages, checkout and automatic file delivery without extra tooling, which is the baseline for this category and worth confirming because some alternatives leave delivery to you.

The practical difference is where the product page lives: on Payhip it is a storefront page, and on Framekit it sits inside a site you also use for the portfolio, galleries and any client work.

Which is better for selling Lightroom presets?

Framekit, for most photographers, and the reason is not the fee.

Presets are usually sold to an audience that found you through your photography, so the product page benefits from sitting on the same domain as the portfolio that convinced them.

Payhip is the better answer if you want no website to maintain at all and simply need a storefront link to point traffic at.

Can I move my Payhip products to Framekit?

There is no automatic import, so moving means recreating the product pages and re-uploading the files, which for a six-product catalogue is an afternoon.

Export your customer list before you close anything, since that is the asset that does not come back. Keep the old store live for a month so any links already in circulation do not break for buyers mid-purchase.

Does Framekit have an affiliate programme feature?

No. We support discount codes but not affiliate tracking or payouts, so a seller who grows through partners and needs to pay commission automatically will find that missing.

Payhip includes affiliate tooling, and for creators whose distribution runs through other creators that is a real reason to choose them regardless of the fee comparison.

Which has better checkout conversion?

Neither of us publishes conversion numbers and we are not going to invent any.

What can be said from the mechanics is that both offer a clean hosted checkout with automatic delivery, and the meaningful difference is context: a Framekit checkout opens from your own site onto a hosted Framekit checkout page, and a Payhip checkout sits on a storefront.

Whether that changes behaviour is a question you can only answer with your own traffic.

Should I use both?

Rarely, because they overlap almost completely on the store itself.

The case that makes sense is a seller who keeps courses or memberships on Payhip, where we have nothing to offer, and runs one-off digital products plus the portfolio and client galleries on Framekit.

Both have free tiers, so testing that split costs nothing beyond your time.

Final Verdict

These two platforms are closer than most pairs in this category, and both deserve credit for publishing fees plainly.

Payhip is a better standalone storefront with genuine capabilities we lack: courses, memberships, affiliates and EU VAT handled for you.

Framekit is a better home for a store, because the product page sits inside a real site with galleries and review alongside it, and because reaching 0 percent costs $39 a month rather than $99.

Who should not use Framekit. Anyone selling courses or memberships. Anyone who needs EU VAT filed on their behalf. Anyone whose growth depends on an affiliate programme. Those are three capability gaps rather than pricing differences, and no plan closes them.

Who should. Sellers above roughly $2,000 a month who want zero commission without paying $99 for it, and creatives whose products sit alongside a portfolio and client work rather than on their own. Below $780 a month, use either free plan and keep your money.

Related readingthe best Payhip alternatives, Payhip vs Gumroad, and Framekit's full pricing.

Payhip plan tiers and fee ladder read from its published pricing in September 2026. Our fee structure comes from the shipped plan configuration, checked the same month.