Gumroad vs. BooksOasis: Creator Platform or Bookstore for Your Ebook?

Gumroad is one of the best-known ways for creators to sell digital products online, and many authors have sold ebooks there. BooksOasis is a bookstore built for independent authors. Both let you sell an ebook directly to readers, but they are built on different ideas. Gumroad is a creator platform that takes a percentage of each sale and handles sales tax for you. BooksOasis is a bookstore that charges a flat yearly plan and pays you the full price of every ebook.

This guide compares the two for authors specifically: fees and what you keep, taxes, delivery, print, discovery and customer data. Gumroad's fees are checked at its own pricing page. At the end you'll find a simple way to use both, each for what it does best.

Whichever you choose, the book file comes first. LiberScript exports clean EPUB and PDF files for selling on Gumroad and print-ready PDFs for BooksOasis paperbacks and hardcovers.

At a glance: Gumroad vs. BooksOasis

How Gumroad charges

Gumroad has no monthly fee. It charges 10% plus $0.50 on each sale made through your profile or a direct link you share, and 30% on sales that come through its Discover marketplace, where Gumroad itself found the buyer. Since January 2025, Gumroad has acted as the merchant of record, which means it collects and remits sales tax around the world on your behalf, a real convenience if you sell to buyers in many countries.

On a $4.99 ebook sold through your own link, Gumroad's fee is about $1.00, leaving roughly $3.99 before any payout costs. That's a higher cut than most shop builders take on a low-priced book, because of the fixed $0.50, but you're paying for tax handling as well as the platform.

How BooksOasis charges

BooksOasis charges a flat yearly plan to list your books and takes no percentage of your price. Every ebook sale pays you 100% of the price, whatever you charge. Print editions pay the price minus the printing cost and a handling fee of 30% of that printing cost, and the reader pays shipping at checkout.

What you keep per sale

Per-sale figures before payout costs. BooksOasis has a yearly plan fee; Gumroad has none.

The fixed $0.50 weighs most on cheap books: on a $2.99 ebook, Gumroad's own-link fee is about 27% of the price. On higher-priced products, such as a $29 course or workbook, Gumroad's percentage becomes a much smaller share, which is one reason it's popular with creators selling premium digital products.

Taxes: Gumroad's big advantage

Selling digital products internationally comes with tax obligations in many countries. Gumroad's merchant-of-record model means it collects and remits those taxes itself, so you don't have to register or file in each country. For an author selling to readers across the world from their own website, that alone can justify Gumroad's fee.

On BooksOasis, the store takes the payment and handles the sale, so you aren't selling to readers directly through your own checkout. Tax obligations on your own income still depend on where you live, so talk to an accountant about your situation.

Discovery

Most Gumroad sales come from the creator's own audience: people who clicked a link in a newsletter, a social post or a website. Its Discover marketplace can bring new buyers, but those sales cost 30%, and books compete with every other kind of digital product there.

BooksOasis is a bookstore, so everyone browsing it is looking for something to read. Your book sits on genre shelves and in search results, on series pages, and in sections for new releases, upcoming pre-orders and books on sale. It won't replace your own promotion, but it gives readers who don't know you yet a way to find you.

What readers receive

Gumroad delivers a file for the reader to download, usually an EPUB or PDF. That works for readers comfortable moving files onto their devices; others may need help, and files can be passed along.

BooksOasis readers read in the Oasis Reader app, which runs in any modern browser, installs like an app and opens books offline once they're on the device. It syncs the reader's place, highlights and notes across devices and offers light, sepia and dark themes, adjustable text, and page-flip or continuous-scroll reading. The ebook isn't handed out as a file.

Print

Gumroad is for digital products; it doesn't print books. BooksOasis prints paperbacks and hardcovers on demand when a reader orders, in five common trim sizes (5 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, 6 x 9, 7 x 10 and 8.5 x 11 inches), from 32 to 800 pages for paperbacks and 24 to 800 for hardcovers. Your ebook and print editions sit on one listing, so a reader can choose the format they prefer.

Customer data and your list

Gumroad gives you your buyers' email addresses, which is one of the main reasons authors use it: every sale can add a reader to your list. BooksOasis readers buy from BooksOasis, so you don't receive their emails. To bring store readers to your list, use your back matter to invite them to your newsletter, ideally with a small bonus such as a short story.

Beyond ebooks

Gumroad handles courses, memberships, templates, audio and more, which makes it attractive if your books are one part of a wider creative business. BooksOasis focuses on books and the tools authors need to sell them: series pages with reading order, pre-orders with a release date, promotional prices with start and end dates, author and imprint pages with unlimited pen names, and verified-purchase reviews.

Setting up

A Gumroad product takes minutes: upload the file, write a description, set a price and share the link. BooksOasis takes a little longer because it's a store with editorial standards: you choose a plan, create the listing, add three to five genres and at least three keywords, upload files for each edition, pass the automatic print-readiness check for print, and submit for review. In return, your book appears in a store built for readers.

Using both

1. Format once in LiberScript, exporting an EPUB and a print PDF.
2. Use Gumroad for sales to your own audience, especially premium bundles, courses or bonus material, and to grow your mailing list.
3. List on BooksOasis so browsing readers can discover you, with print editions beside the ebook.
4. Keep list prices consistent across both, and use each platform's own promotions for its audience.

Pricing on each platform

Because Gumroad's fee includes a fixed $0.50, it rewards higher prices and bundles. A single $2.99 ebook loses a large share to the fee, while a $12 box set or a $29 course with a workbook loses a much smaller one. Many authors therefore use Gumroad for bundles, special editions and bonus material rather than single low-priced ebooks.

BooksOasis takes nothing from the price, so low-priced books lose nothing either. A $0.99 series starter pays $0.99, and a $4.99 novel pays $4.99. That makes it a comfortable home for your everyday list prices, including an easy entry price on book one of a series. Keep the same list price for a single ebook on both platforms, and let each platform's strengths shape the extras you sell there.

Bringing a Gumroad audience with you

If you already sell on Gumroad, you don't need to stop. Your Gumroad buyers are on your mailing list, and you can tell them when a book is also available in print on BooksOasis, or when a new series is starting there with a series page and pre-orders. Some readers will prefer reading in an app that keeps their place across devices; others will stay with files. Offering both lets readers choose, and neither platform asks you to be exclusive.

When you announce a new release, lead with the link that suits the reader: Gumroad for your existing buyers who like files and bundles, BooksOasis for readers who want print or who are new to you. Put both links on your website's book page, so no reader has to hunt for a way to buy.

Three authors, three setups

A business author sells a $39 bundle of ebook, workbook and templates on Gumroad to a large professional audience, and lists the book alone on BooksOasis, with a hardcover, for readers who find it by browsing.

A fantasy author with a new series lists every book on BooksOasis for discovery and series reading, and uses Gumroad only for a collector's box set offered to newsletter subscribers once a year.

A poet sells chapbook PDFs on Gumroad at events through a QR code, and lists the collected edition on BooksOasis in paperback and ebook.

A year of sales, two ways

Consider an author who sells 200 copies of a $4.99 ebook in a year. Through Gumroad links, fees come to about $200 (10% plus $0.50 on each sale), with sales tax handled for them. Through BooksOasis, the Starter plan costs $29.99 for the year, with every sale paying the full $4.99. At that volume the flat plan costs less in fees; the question then is whether you'd reach those 200 readers through your own audience, through a store's browsing readers, or both.

When Gumroad fits better

• You sell to your own audience from your website or newsletter.
• You want sales tax handled for international buyers.
• You sell premium digital products alongside books.
• Growing your mailing list is the priority.
• You sell higher-priced bundles where a fixed $0.50 fee matters less.
• Your readers want downloadable files for their own devices.

When BooksOasis fits better

• You want readers who don't know you yet to find your books.
• You want 100% of the ebook price, especially on lower-priced books.
• You want paperbacks and hardcovers printed on demand.
• You want series, pre-order and promotion tools made for books.

Frequently asked questions

What does Gumroad charge? 10% plus $0.50 per sale through your profile or direct links, 30% on sales through its Discover marketplace, and no monthly fee.

Does Gumroad handle sales tax? Yes. Gumroad has acted as merchant of record since January 2025, collecting and remitting sales tax worldwide.

What does BooksOasis cost? $29.99 a year for 10 books, $179 for 100 and $599 for 500. Every ebook sale pays you 100% of the price.

Can I sell the same ebook on both? Yes. Neither requires exclusivity.

Can Gumroad sell my paperback? Not as print on demand. BooksOasis prints paperbacks and hardcovers when readers order, and the reader pays shipping at checkout.

Do LiberScript files work on both? Yes. Sell LiberScript's EPUB or PDF on Gumroad, and upload the EPUB and print PDF to BooksOasis.

More reading: Gumroad alternatives for ebooks and Payhip vs. Gumroad on the BooksOasis publisher site, and our Payhip vs. BooksOasis comparison.

The bottom line

Gumroad is a strong home for selling digital products to an audience you already have, with worldwide tax handling included in its fee. BooksOasis is a bookstore where new readers can find you, where every ebook sale pays in full and print sits beside the ebook, for one flat plan. Use Gumroad for your audience, BooksOasis for discovery, and LiberScript for files that serve both.