Pick a SendOwl alternative by deciding who should legally sell to your customers. With gateway-based storefronts and delivery tools you stay the seller, and tax sits with you. Merchant of record platforms sell on your behalf and say they take on tax compliance. Checkout and funnel tools suit launch-led selling. Nine tools follow in four groups.
If you sell to buyers in lots of countries and want the tax paperwork off your desk, start with the two merchant of record platforms. If you sell mainly at home and want your own payouts and customer data, a storefront or a delivery add-on will be simpler to run.
Advice in brief: who should be the seller?
Keep control when it's easy to keep: a home market, a handful of products, an accountant you already trust. Hand the selling over when tax registrations in other countries would eat your week. And don't choose a funnel tool because course creators rave about them; it only earns its place if you sell through launches, upsells and order bumps.
The nine compared by selling model
| Tool | Model | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| E-junkie | Buy buttons for downloads | Buy buttons on a site you already run |
| Easy Digital Downloads | WordPress digital downloads plugin | Selling downloads from a WordPress site |
| FastSpring | Merchant of record | Software sold globally with tax handled |
| FetchApp | Download delivery for your store | Adding download delivery to an existing store |
| Paddle | Merchant of record | Handing billing, tax and compliance to one platform |
| Payhip | Digital downloads storefront | One storefront for downloads, courses and memberships |
| SamCart | Checkout-focused selling platform | A checkout-first way to sell online |
| Sellfy | Online store for creators | Downloads, subscriptions and merch together |
| ThriveCart | Checkout and funnel builder | Checkouts and funnels for courses |
No middleman means nobody else carries the tax
SendOwl's own homepage says you connect your payment gateway and sell directly, with no middleman. Read that the other way round and it means you're the seller of record, so sales tax and VAT sit with you. Some alternatives work the same way. Others describe themselves as a merchant of record: the platform becomes the legal seller, collects payment and handles tax compliance, then passes your share on.
Neither model suits everyone. Tax rules vary by country and by what you sell, so check with your own tax authority or an accountant before relying on any platform's description of what it handles.
Four ways to sell a download
Merchant of record. Paddle describes itself as a merchant of record for digital product businesses. FastSpring takes the same role for payments, subscriptions and tax compliance, by its own account. Both lean towards software sellers rather than an author with one ebook, and they'll want to know what you sell before you're set up.
Storefronts. Payhip offers one storefront for downloads, courses and memberships, by its own account. Sellfy is a store builder for creators, the vendor says. Both run through your own gateway, so you stay the seller, and neither needs a website of your own.
Delivery add-ons. FetchApp says it delivers downloads and licence keys from a Shopify, WooCommerce or PayPal checkout you already have. E-junkie offers copy-paste buy-now and cart buttons for any website. Easy Digital Downloads is a WordPress plugin that sells and delivers files from your own site.
Checkouts and funnels. ThriveCart sells courses, communities and subscriptions through checkouts and funnels, the vendor says. SamCart also leads with an optimised checkout for digital products. Within each group they sit in no particular order; the groups are what matter.
For more ways to sell, browse my list of ConvertKit alternatives for creators and my notes on AI for ecommerce marketing.
The full line-up, A to Z
Run a platform that helps creators sell? Ask about a featured slot here.
E-junkie
Best for: Sellers who want to sell downloads, codes and physical goods on a blog, social networks, WhatsApp or Messenger, the vendor says.
Easy Digital Downloads
Best for: WordPress site owners who need PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay and subscriptions, all listed as supported by the vendor.
FastSpring
Best for: Software firms who want to offload global commerce and integrate fewer vendors while staying in control, as the vendor puts it.
FetchApp
Best for: Store owners who only need digital downloads and licence keys delivered after the sale, per the vendor.
Paddle
Best for: Digital product businesses that would rather hand billing, tax and compliance to one platform, in the vendor's description.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Payhip
Best for: Authors and creators selling ebooks, software, templates, video or music, according to the vendor.
SamCart
Best for: Creators who'd like AI to take on, in the vendor's words, the hard parts of building, running and scaling an online business.
Sellfy
Best for: Creators selling downloads, subscriptions and merchandise side by side from one store, as the vendor sets it out.
ThriveCart
Best for: Launch-led sellers drawn to what the vendor calls high-converting checkouts, powerful funnels and a deep set of automations.
Buy your own product before you move
Set up one product on the platform you like and buy it yourself. Check the checkout on a phone, the receipt email, the download link, what happens when that link expires and how a refund works. Then look at what the platform shows you afterwards: the customer's email, their country and any tax line. That single purchase teaches you more than a page of features.
When it all works, move your best-selling product first and keep the old links live until you're sure every buyer can still reach their files. Leave the old account open for a while too, because past customers will look there for re-downloads.
Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.
Frequently asked questions
What is a merchant of record?
The platform becomes the legal seller to your customer. It collects payment and handles tax compliance, then passes your share on to you.
Does SendOwl sell on my behalf?
Its homepage says you connect your own payment gateway and sell directly with no middleman, which leaves you as the seller of record.
Who handles VAT and sales tax?
That depends on the platform's model and on where you and your buyers are. Rules vary by country, so check with your tax authority or an accountant.
Can I keep my Shopify or WooCommerce store?
Yes. One option in the list adds download and licence key delivery to a checkout you already run.
Is there a WordPress option?
One tool here is a WordPress plugin, and the buy-button option works on any website, WordPress included.
Do I need a website to sell downloads?
Not always. The storefront tools give you a shop page of their own, while the delivery add-ons and the plugin assume you already run a site or store.
