Payhip’s current pricing page lists three plans with the same feature set: Free Forever at $0 per month plus a 5% transaction fee, Plus at $29 per month plus 2%, and Pro at $99 per month with no Payhip transaction fee. Payment processors still charge their own fees on every plan.; check the live page before switching. (Payhip — Pricing).
Because the listed features are the same, the plan question is mainly about the trade-off between a monthly charge and Payhip’s percentage fee. The math is straightforward once the comparison uses the same transaction-fee base on each plan. The business decision also needs judgment: a small theoretical saving may not deserve attention, while a sustained difference could matter to cash flow.
Define the number you are comparing
Let R be the monthly amount to which Payhip’s percentage fee applies under the current pricing and fee rules. The public pricing page lists the percentages, but the calculation below is not a model of take-home revenue or profit. It compares only the Payhip plan charge, assuming the same fee base under each plan.
Under the current listed prices, the monthly Payhip cost is:
| Plan | Monthly plan charge | Payhip transaction fee | Plan-only cost for the model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Forever | $0 | 5% | 0.05 × R |
| Plus | $29 | 2% | $29 + 0.02 × R |
| Pro | $99 | 0% | $99 |
All figures are in U.S. dollars. The model excludes payment processor charges, taxes, refunds, affiliate commissions, discounts, operating costs, and any currency conversion. Those may affect the business’s net proceeds. Check how the current fee rules treat your actual sales and reconcile them against your account reports before using the calculation to make a change.
The two break-even points
Free versus Plus: set the plan-only costs equal.
0.05 × R = 29 + 0.02 × R
Subtracting the Plus percentage from the Free percentage leaves 3% of R. That equals the $29 monthly difference:
0.03 × R = 29
The algebraic break-even is R = $29 / 0.03 = $966.666… per month, displayed as about $966.67. Actual charges can differ by a cent because transactions and fees are rounded. Below the crossover, Free has the lower plan-only cost; above it, Plus does. At the exact point, the two are equal.
Plus versus Pro: compare the $70 difference in monthly charges with Plus’s 2% fee.
29 + 0.02 × R = 99
The break-even is R = $3,500 per month. Below it, Plus has the lower plan-only cost; above it, Pro does. At $3,500, both cost $99 before the excluded items.
That yields the lowest-cost sequence under this model and the current prices:
- Below $966.67 in R: Free is lowest.
- From $966.67 to $3,500 in R: Plus is lowest, except that Free and Plus tie at the first boundary and Plus and Pro tie at the second.
- Above $3,500 in R: Pro is lowest.
Why one pairwise crossover can mislead
Free and Pro happen to cost the same at R = $1,980: the Free plan’s 5% fee is $99, matching Pro’s monthly charge. But that does not make $1,980 the point to switch between those two plans. At the same R, Plus costs $68.60 and is cheaper than either one.
Two plans can intersect even while a third costs less at the same sales level. Compare every option and choose the minimum rather than stopping after the first pair.
What the monthly examples show
| Monthly R | Free | Plus | Pro | Lowest plan-only cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $400 | $20 | $37 | $99 | Free |
| $900 | $45 | $47 | $99 | Free |
| $1,000 | $50 | $49 | $99 | Plus |
| $1,980 | $99 | $68.60 | $99 | Plus |
| $2,000 | $100 | $69 | $99 | Plus |
| $3,500 | $175 | $99 | $99 | Plus and Pro |
| $6,000 | $300 | $149 | $99 | Pro |
The amount saved by changing plans is more useful than the fact that sales crossed a boundary. Once R is above $966.67, the plan-only saving from Free to Plus is 0.03 × R − $29. For example, at R = $2,000, Plus costs $31 less than Free. Once R is above $3,500, the saving from Plus to Pro is 0.02 × R − $70; at R = $6,000, Pro costs $50 less than Plus.
Near a break-even point, the dollar difference is small. At R = $1,000, the model puts Plus just one dollar below Free. Crossing that line does not automatically make a plan change urgent. Consider the likely pattern of sales and how material a recurring saving would be to your business.
Use actual reports to check the model
Payhip’s Help Center describes a monthly Sales Report with Payhip fees, PayPal and Stripe fees, tax fields, products sold, and affiliate information. Compare the report with your own order records and processor statements. The help page describes PayPal and Stripe fee fields; if you use another supported payment processor, reconcile its statement separately. Refunds are reflected in Payhip reporting, but do not assume from that fact alone how every platform or processor fee is treated for a particular transaction. (Payhip Help Center — Sales Report; Payhip Help Center — How Do I Refund a Transaction?)
Use the same period and the same R when comparing plans. If sales vary by month, a launch or seasonal spike can push one period above a crossover while the next falls below it. Choose a review period that represents the business’s normal pattern instead of switching plans based on one unusually strong month.
What these formulas leave out
PayPal, Stripe, or another processor may charge transaction fees that depend on the seller’s account, country, payment type, and processor schedule. Those costs remain part of your economics under every Payhip plan. If your processor charges the same way regardless of Payhip tier and your payment mix remains unchanged, its fee is outside this plan-only crossover calculation; it still reduces the amount left after costs.
Taxes, refunds, affiliate payouts, discounts, software, customer support, and operator time matter to the business too. They are not interchangeable with Payhip’s subscription and transaction charges. Build a separate total-cost view when deciding whether Payhip itself is the right platform; this article compares only the three Payhip plan charges shown on the pricing page.
A practical plan review
When your sales pattern changes, make the comparison in a consistent way:
- Record the monthly fee base used in the calculation and how you determined it from current Payhip rules and reports.
- Apply the live Free, Plus, and Pro charges to the same R.
- Confirm the lowest-cost plan, including ties at a boundary.
- Compare the difference in dollars with the effort and timing of changing plans.
- Reconcile the next report and processor statements against what the model predicted.
Payhip’s pricing page currently says all plans include the same features, unlimited products, and unlimited revenue. That is the vendor’s present plan description, not a guarantee that every business has identical needs or that another service would cost more. Recheck the plan page and billing terms before acting. (Payhip — Pricing; Payhip Help Center — How Do I Get Paid?)
Apply the break-even points to your plan review
At the currently listed prices, the plan-only break-evens are $966.67 and $3,500 in the monthly percentage-fee base. They identify where the lowest Payhip plan charge changes under the stated assumptions; profit and processor mix require a wider cost view.
Use the live terms and your own sales records. If the lower-cost option saves little, the choice can wait. If the saving is material across the sales pattern you expect, then compare the billing conditions and make the change deliberately.
