Platform Rent Calculator
Every platform charges you rent to sell your own work. Type your monthly sales and see what you keep on each one, side by side, plus the annual toll for staying on rented land.
Free · Local-firstWhat this does
No trackingPut in how many sales you make a month and the average price. The calculator runs the same numbers through seven ways to sell and shows what actually lands in your account on each, then the annual difference between the priciest door and your own.
Two kinds of platform. Merchant-of-record ones (Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy) fold card processing into their headline rate, so what you see is what you pay. Everyone else (Substack, Patreon, Ko-fi, Payhip) charges their cut plus card processing on top (~2.9% + $0.30). Your own Stripe checkout skips the platform cut entirely and pays only processing. The tradeoff isn't in this calculator: your own store means you handle your own setup and taxes. This measures the money, not the labor.
Your numbers
Type and watchWhat you keep, per month
Most kept on top| Platform | Fee | You keep / mo | Effective fee | Annual rent |
|---|
Fees as of 2026, standard or free plans, U.S. Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30). Gumroad 10% + $0.50 · Lemon Squeezy 5% + $0.50 (both merchant-of-record, processing included) · Substack 10% · Patreon 10% · Ko-fi free 5% · Payhip free 5% (these four add ~2.9% + $0.30 processing) · Your own store 0% platform, processing only. Paid tiers and non-U.S. cards change the math; verify your own rate.