What do you need to sell digital products? A list of tools and costs

Six things: a place where your product lives, a page that describes it, a checkout with the payment methods your buyers use, automatic delivery after payment, an email list and basic analytics. Today you can have all six in one tool, for nothing: heyhey’s Starter plan costs AED 0 forever, needs no payment card, takes no commission on your sales and includes email marketing.

There are also more things you don’t need than most guides suggest: an online shop with a cart and inventory, WordPress, your own server, an ISBN, a publisher or a separate invoicing tool at the start.

If you build it from separate pieces, the bill looks different. A typical stack is a platform plus an email tool plus, sometimes, a cart: three subscriptions, one of which (email) gets more expensive as your list grows, and some pieces add a percentage of every sale on top.

Contents

1. Six things you can’t do without
2. How much does each one cost?
3. What you don’t need
4. One tool or three?
5. What to look for in a checkout
6. Starter kits for three situations
7. Frequently asked questions
8. Methodology
9. Get all six in one place, for AED 0

Six things you can’t do without

A place where your product lives. A PDF file, modules with video lessons, access to a private section. It has to be hosted somewhere and protected so the link doesn’t circulate freely.

A page that describes it. One page that answers four questions: what it’s about, who it’s for, what exactly I get and how much it costs. Not a shop, not a portal: one page.

A checkout with the payment methods your buyers use. Buyers expect to pay the way they’re used to: by card, with Apple Pay or Google Pay, or with PayPal. If their preferred option is missing, they may abandon the checkout.

Automatic delivery. Access or the file unlocks by itself once the payment goes through, without you having to do anything.

An email list. The channel you own: you can reach the people on it again and again, without depending on a social media algorithm.

Basic analytics. How many people visited the page, how many bought and where they came from. Without it, you’re optimising by gut feeling.

How much does each one cost?

heyhey prices excl. VAT. In every setup, Stripe and PayPal charge their own transaction fees.

The “Minimum” column isn’t a version cut down to the point of being unusable. It’s the full set: product, page, checkout, delivery, newsletter and stats. The limit is quantity: one product, three pages, 50 contacts. None of those numbers will pinch when you’re making your first sale.

What you don’t need

An online shop. A cart, inventory, stock levels, shipping terms: for a single PDF, that’s far more than you need.

WordPress. You can sell with it, and some course platforms work exactly that way, but it’s a choice, not a requirement. A WordPress-based setup can require your own server, your own video hosting and minimum software versions. If you don’t have WordPress today, installing it just to sell an ebook adds updates, backups and plugin compatibility to your to-do list.

Your own server. See above.

An ISBN and a publisher. When you sell directly from your own page, nobody will ask for them. They tend to matter only once you move into distribution.

A mobile app. Your students view the material in a browser, and that’s perfectly enough to start.

One tool or three?

The typical path looks like this: first a course platform, then a separate email tool because the platform doesn’t have one, and a cart somewhere along the way. Three subscriptions, three dashboards, two contact databases.

The bill for this setup has three layers, and only the first one is visible.

Subscriptions. Platform plus email. The email tool is the only item that gets more expensive exactly when things start to work, because its price grows with your list.

Commissions. If any piece takes a percentage, you pay it on every transaction, every month. At 6% of AED 10,000 in monthly sales, that’s AED 600 a month. At 3%, it’s AED 300.

Your time. Contacts moved between systems, tags set up in two places, two dashboards to check after every sale.

heyhey includes full email marketing on every plan, including the free one: broadcasts, automated sequences, sign-up forms, tags and automations. Some platforms only offer an integration with an external email tool, or charge extra for email features, so check this before you choose.

This is exactly where “all in one” stops being a marketing slogan and becomes a line on your invoice.

What to look for in a checkout

Which payment methods it supports. Check that buyers can pay the way they’re used to: by card, with Apple Pay or Google Pay, or with PayPal. In heyhey, you connect Stripe (Visa and Mastercard cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay) and PayPal on every plan.

Whether it takes a commission, and how much. It’s the only cost that grows with your sales. A subscription doesn’t.

Whether the checkout sits on your own domain. Being redirected to someone else’s domain at the moment of payment can cost you conversions.

Whether you can add order bumps and upsells. Adding a second product with one click on the payment page is the cheapest way to raise your order value.

What happens when a payment fails. With subscriptions, this is not a detail: according to Recurly data, involuntary churn, meaning failed payments, accounts for around 35% of all churn.

Starter kits for three situations

You’re selling your first product and don’t know if it will sell. heyhey Starter. AED 0 forever, no card, no commission: one product, three pages, 50 contacts, 5 GB, a checkout with Stripe and PayPal, automatic delivery, email marketing and analytics. You don’t need anything more at this stage.

You have several products and regular sales. heyhey Growth for AED 199 a month excl. VAT: five products, ten pages, 500 contacts, 40 GB, a custom domain, subscriptions and recurring payments, plus order bumps and upsells. heyhey’s commission is still zero, so your bill doesn’t grow with your sales.

You run a wide catalogue and a community. heyhey Pro for AED 499 a month excl. VAT: unlimited products and pages, 2,500 contacts, 250 GB. Completion certificates, quizzes and assignments, and the community are available on every plan, including Starter.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need to start selling digital products?

Six things: a place where your product lives, a page that describes it, a checkout with the payment methods your buyers use, automatic delivery after payment, an email list and basic analytics. You can have all six in one tool for nothing: heyhey’s Starter plan costs AED 0 forever, needs no card and takes no commission on your sales, with room for one product, three pages, 50 contacts and 5 GB. You don’t need an online shop, WordPress, your own server, an ISBN or a publisher.

How much does it cost to start selling digital products?

The minimum is AED 0 if you choose a permanent free plan with zero commission. If you build a stack from separate tools, you pay for at least two subscriptions (a platform and an email tool whose price grows with your contact list), and some tools add a commission on every sale. In either case, Stripe and PayPal charge their own transaction fees.

Do I need an online shop to sell files?

No. A traditional shop, with a cart, inventory and stock levels, is overkill for digital products. You need a page that describes the product, a checkout and automatic delivery of the file once the payment goes through. Digital product platforms handle this out of the box, and in heyhey it works on the free Starter plan too.

Do I need WordPress?

No, it’s one possible choice, not a requirement. Some course platforms run on WordPress and can require your own server, your own video hosting and regular plugin updates. SaaS platforms, heyhey included, work independently: you don’t install anything or keep track of plugin updates. If you don’t have WordPress today, setting it up just to sell a digital product adds work you won’t see on any price list.

Is email marketing included in the price?

In heyhey, yes, on every plan, including the free Starter: broadcasts, automated sequences, sign-up forms, tags and automations. Some platforms only offer integrations with an external email tool, or charge extra for email and marketing automation, so check what’s included before you choose.

Which payment methods do I need?

The ones your buyers already use online. In heyhey you connect Stripe (Visa and Mastercard cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay) and PayPal, on every plan including Starter. Stripe will ask for your business details and a bank account for payouts; requirements depend on your country.

Is it worth having everything in one tool?

Usually yes, as long as the tool also covers your newsletter: if you buy a separate email tool anyway, you’re left with two dashboards and two contact databases to keep in sync. A single stack wins mainly on mechanics: someone who buys your ebook goes straight into a sequence that offers them your course a week later. The exception is when you have a large, established list with your current provider: then migrating can cost more than keeping two subscriptions.

Methodology

Where the heyhey numbers come from. Pricing and plan limits: heyhey pricing, checked in September 2026.

Recurly data on the share of involuntary churn comes from Recurly’s churn benchmarks, updated in July 2026.

Prices excl. VAT. heyhey plan prices are shown excluding VAT.

What this article doesn’t cover. Tax and accounting formalities: that’s a separate topic, and every case is different. Tax rules depend on where your business is registered.

heyhey is our product. We write about it on our own blog and say so openly.

Get all six in one place, for AED 0

heyhey’s Starter plan costs AED 0 forever, needs no payment card and takes no commission on your sales. You get a place for your product, sales pages, a checkout with Stripe and PayPal, automatic delivery after payment, email marketing with sequences, and analytics. All six, in one dashboard, without assembling a stack. Compare the plans.