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Payhook/Ko-fi alternative
Comparison

Ko-fi alternative with 0% platform fees and a real API

Ko-fi takes 5% of every digital product sale on its free plan. Remove it with Ko-fi Gold ΓÇö for $6/month. Payhook charges 0% with no monthly fee, no donation framing, and a full API for sellers who want to build rather than click.

Start freeRead API docs

The fee math (Ko-fi Free vs Payhook)

Ko-fi's free plan takes 5% of every digital product transaction. Here's what that compounds to at different revenue levels:

Monthly revenueKo-fi (Free)PayhookMonthly saving
$1,000/mo$50 (5% fee)$0 platform fee$50
$5,000/mo$250 (5% fee)$0 platform fee$250
$10,000/mo$500 (5% fee)$0 platform fee$500

Upgrading to Ko-fi Gold ($6/month) removes the 5% fee ΓÇö but you're now paying $72/year before you've made a single sale. Payhook costs nothing until your buyer pays.

Where Ko-fi falls short for digital product sellers

  • 5% platform fee on every digital product sale ΓÇö taken on top of Stripe processing costs
  • Ko-fi Gold ($6/month) required to drop to 0% ΓÇö $72/year before your first sale ships
  • No public developer API ΓÇö products must be created and managed through the dashboard
  • No programmatic checkout generation ΓÇö can't create payment links from code
  • No webhook customisation for downstream automation or agent workflows
  • Built for creator/fan donations and memberships ΓÇö digital product tools are secondary

What Payhook gives you instead

0% platform fee, no Gold plan needed
Payhook charges 0% platform fee at every level. You pay Stripe's standard rate (2.9% + 30p) and nothing else. No $6/month subscription to keep your own revenue.
Full write API
Create products, generate checkout links, and wire up webhooks ΓÇö all via REST. No dashboard required. Automate your catalog from code, a CI pipeline, or an AI agent.
Professional digital storefront
Purpose-built for selling digital files, templates, tools, and datasets. Every product gets a clean marketplace listing ΓÇö not a donation widget.
Marketplace discovery
Every Payhook product gets an indexed page on the marketplace. Buyers can find you through search ΓÇö not just your bio link or social following.

API-first from day one

Ko-fi has no public API. Every product is created through the dashboard ΓÇö there's no way to automate uploads, generate checkout links from code, or integrate into a CI pipeline.

Payhook exposes the full product lifecycle via REST:

POST /api/v1/products
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...

{
  "name": "Illustration Asset Pack",
  "price_cents": 1500,
  "currency": "usd",
  "category": "design"
}

-> {
  "id": "prod_abc123",
  "checkout_url": "https://getpayhook.com/checkout/prod_abc123"
}

Common questions

Do I need to be a developer to use Payhook?
No. The dashboard handles product creation, file upload, and sales tracking with no code. The API is there when you want it ΓÇö not required.
Does Payhook handle file delivery like Ko-fi?
Yes. Upload your file once. On every successful purchase, Payhook generates a signed time-limited download link and sends it in the buyer confirmation email.
What's the catch with 0% platform fees?
There isn't one. Payhook connects directly to your Stripe account. You pay Stripe's standard processing rate (2.9% + 30p) and keep everything else. Payhook makes money when more sellers use the platform ΓÇö not by clipping your revenue.
Can I still accept tips and one-off payments like Ko-fi?
Yes. Set any price, including pay-what-you-want pricing. Buyers choose their amount ΓÇö you keep it all minus Stripe fees.
Also comparing: Payhip alternative · Gumroad alternative · Sell with 0% fees

Sell digital products without the 5% cut

0% platform fee. No Gold plan. Full API. Founding seller spots are still open ΓÇö first 50 sellers lock it in permanently.

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