Course platform transaction fees explained (2026)
Course platform transaction fees can cost more than the monthly price. See who charges what, plus a $5k/mo worked example.
Course platform transaction fees are a cut the platform takes from every sale you make — separate from your monthly subscription and separate from your payment processor. The short version: Thinkific, Kajabi, and Systeme.io charge 0%. Teachable charges 7.5% on its cheapest plan. Podia charges 5% on its cheapest plan. Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 per sale. Once you’re selling regularly, that percentage often costs you more than the monthly fee you were trying to save on.
This is the single most expensive mistake new creators make. You pick the platform with the lowest sticker price, sell $5,000 a month, and quietly hand over $250–$500 of it. Here’s exactly how the fees work, who charges what, and the math that tells you when to upgrade.
Two different fees, and people confuse them constantly
When you sell a $100 course, money can get taken out in two completely separate places.
Payment-processor fees are charged by Stripe or PayPal to move the money. These are roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, and you pay them no matter which platform you use. They’re unavoidable and roughly the same everywhere, so they aren’t where you win or lose.
Platform transaction fees are an extra cut the course platform takes on top of processing — purely for the privilege of selling through them. This is the fee that varies wildly between tools, and it’s the one worth optimizing. A platform advertising “0% transaction fees” means 0% platform fee; you still pay Stripe.
So the real per-sale cost on a fee-charging plan is the platform fee plus processing. On Gumroad’s 10% + $0.50, a $100 sale loses $10.50 to Gumroad and then ~$3.20 to Stripe on top.
Who charges what in 2026
Here are the entry-plan transaction fees for the main course platforms. These are the rates on each tool’s cheapest paid (or free) tier — most platforms drop the fee to 0% if you upgrade.
| Platform | Entry-plan fee | Cheapest plan (annual/mo) | When the fee goes to 0% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io | 0% | Free | Always 0%, even on free |
| Thinkific | 0% | $36 (Basic) | Always 0% |
| Kajabi | 0% | $71 (Starter) | Always 0% |
| Teachable | 7.5% | $29 (Starter) | Upgrade to Builder ($69) |
| Podia | 5% | $42 (Mover) | Upgrade to Shaker ($84) |
| Gumroad | 10% + $0.50 | $0 (no monthly) | Never (pay-per-sale model) |
Two patterns matter here. First, the genuinely fee-free platforms (Thinkific, Kajabi, Systeme.io) charge 0% on every plan — the only variable is the monthly price. Second, Teachable and Podia use the fee as a lever to push you up a tier: their cheap plan looks attractive, but the fee is designed to make upgrading feel like a relief.
Gumroad is its own thing. There’s no monthly fee at all — you pay 10% + $0.50 on every direct sale (30% if a buyer finds you through its Discover marketplace). That’s brilliant when you sell occasionally and brutal once you sell consistently.
Why the fee usually beats the monthly price
The trap is that a monthly fee is fixed and a percentage fee scales with your success. Teachable’s Starter plan saves you $40/mo versus its Builder plan — but the 7.5% fee means Builder becomes cheaper the moment your monthly sales pass roughly $530. Almost nobody building a real course business sells less than that.
Worked example: $5,000/month in sales
Let’s say you sell a $100 course and do 50 sales a month — $5,000 in revenue. Here’s what each platform’s platform cost looks like (monthly subscription + transaction fee, excluding the Stripe processing you’d pay everywhere).
| Platform | Monthly fee | Transaction fee on $5k | Total platform cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io (Startup) | $14 | $0 | $14 |
| Thinkific (Basic) | $36 | $0 | $36 |
| Kajabi (Starter) | $71 | $0 | $71 |
| Podia (Mover, 5%) | $42 | $250 | $292 |
| Teachable (Starter, 7.5%) | $29 | $375 | $404 |
| Gumroad (10% + $0.50) | $0 | $525 | $525 |
Read that again. Teachable’s “$29” plan costs you $404 a month at this volume. Gumroad’s “free” model costs $525. Meanwhile Thinkific — with a higher sticker price — costs $36, because it takes 0% of your sales.
Over a year, the gap between Teachable Starter and Thinkific Basic is roughly $4,400. The cheap-looking plan is the expensive one.
The fix on Teachable and Podia is to upgrade: Teachable Builder ($69/mo) and Podia Shaker ($84/mo) both drop the fee to 0%, so at $5k/mo they cost $69 and $84 respectively — a fraction of the fee-charging tiers. The fix on Gumroad is to leave once volume is steady. Want to run your own numbers at your real sales volume? Use our pricing calculator to drag in your monthly sales and see the true cost per platform.
When a transaction fee is actually fine
Fees aren’t evil — they’re just a financing model. Pay-per-sale makes real sense in two cases.
You’re pre-launch or selling sporadically. If you make three sales this month, Gumroad’s 10% costs you $30 and a $36/mo subscription costs you $36 for nothing. Pay-per-sale tools cost zero until you earn, which is the right call while you’re validating.
You value zero overhead over margin. Gumroad handles checkout, delivery, VAT, and payouts with essentially no setup. For a side project where your time is worth more than the fee, that’s a fair trade.
The mistake is staying on the percentage model after the math has flipped. The moment your monthly sales are predictable and growing, run the numbers — and usually move to a 0%-fee platform.
FAQ
Do all course platforms charge transaction fees? No. Thinkific, Kajabi, and Systeme.io charge 0% platform fees on every plan — you only pay your payment processor (Stripe/PayPal). Teachable, Podia, and Gumroad charge fees on their cheapest tiers, though Teachable and Podia waive them once you upgrade. See the full course platform comparison for how fees and features line up.
Is a 0% platform fee actually free? Not entirely. “0% platform fee” means the platform takes nothing extra, but you still pay standard payment processing — roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per sale via Stripe or PayPal. That processing cost is unavoidable on every platform, so it’s not a useful point of difference. The platform fee is.
At what sales volume should I stop using Gumroad? Gumroad’s 10% + $0.50 overtakes a $36/mo flat platform once you pass roughly $370 in monthly sales, and the gap widens fast from there. If you’re selling more than a few hundred dollars a month consistently, a 0%-fee platform like Thinkific or Systeme.io will almost always be cheaper. Run your exact numbers in the pricing calculator.
Which course platform has the lowest fees overall? Systeme.io is the cheapest end to end: a genuinely free plan, 0% transaction fees, and built-in email and funnels. For a more polished course experience at 0% fees, Thinkific is the pick. Not sure which fits you? Our advisor takes you through it in under a minute.
The bottom line
Never judge a course platform by its monthly price alone. The transaction fee is the number that scales with your success, and on the cheap-looking plans it can cost you thousands a year. Map your real sales volume against the fee, and a 0%-fee platform like Thinkific, Kajabi, or Systeme.io usually wins outright.
Want a recommendation tailored to your stage and sales volume? Try the advisor, or model your exact costs in the pricing calculator.