Moonbase vs Gumroad
Choosing Moonbase over Gumroad brings a whole number of tools to increase revenue, and better support for downloadable software.
If you have been selling your audio software on Gumroad, the next step is usually owning the buying experience end to end. Moonbase is a self-hosted storefront that lives on your own domain, so checkout, cart, customer accounts and downloads all sit inside your brand instead of a shared marketplace page. You decide how products are presented, bundled and priced.
Where it matters most for plugin and DAW developers is licensing. Moonbase has software licensing built in, with SDKs for JUCE, .NET and JavaScript, so activation, seat management and offline activations are handled natively rather than bolted on with raw key codes. Customers can log in to your site to manage their own licenses, and the same system supports subscriptions and rent-to-own pricing for higher-ticket instruments and suites.
Moonbase also acts as the merchant of record, collecting and remitting sales tax and VAT worldwide, and adds a built-in affiliate system plus marketing integrations to help you grow loyalty-driven sales from the same place you sell.
Feature comparison
MoonbaseFeatures
| Feature | Moonbase | Gumroad |
|---|---|---|
| E-Commerce | Yes | Yes |
| Software Licensing | Yes | Limited* Simple product key checks only, no self-service management |
| Marketing Integrations | Yes | Built-in marketing |
E-Commerce & Payments
| Feature | Moonbase | Gumroad |
|---|---|---|
| Global Payments | Yes | Yes |
| Sales Tax Handling | *Yes Moonbase acts as a Merchant of Record to collect and remit sales tax world-wide | Yes |
| Embeddable Shopping Cart | Yes | Limited* Only supports updating cart during a redirect checkout experience |
| Subscriptions | Yes | Yes |
| Rent-to-Own | Yes | No |
| User Accounts for Customers | Yes | Limited* Only a simple customer portal on the Gumroad website |
| Coupon Codes | Yes | Yes |
Software Licensing
| Feature | Moonbase | Gumroad |
|---|---|---|
| Floating Licenses | Yes | No |
| Self-service Management | *Yes Customers can log in to your website to manage all their licenses | No |
| Offline Activations | Yes | No |
| Supports External Systems | Yes | Yes |
Marketing
| Feature | Moonbase | Gumroad |
|---|---|---|
| Newsletter Integrations | *Yes Moonbase supports several popular newsletter platforms to sync data with | Limited* Relies on integrations going the other way, with varied data completeness |
| Campaign Revenue Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Segmented Pricing & Discounts | *Yes Offer exclusive discounts to segments of your customers | No |
| Up-sells & Cross-sells | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliate Revenue Sharing | Yes | Yes |
This is Moonbase
A platform built to sell downloadable software at scale, direct to consumer, with a complete set of tools to handle payments, licensing and marketing.
Kick-ass customer experience
Full-featured storefront on your website
Use our embedded storefront to add all the features you need to your own website in minutes, so that you can build your story & brand identity using the tools you know.
- Shopping cart:
- Make the shopping experience smooth by having a user-manageable cart, all integrated with native buttons on your website.
- Overlay checkout:
- Keep visitors on your own website by using our overlay checkout to decrease any friction towards payment.
- Customer authentication:
- Let your customers log in to get personalized discounts applied, as well as access to their owned products and licenses.
- Customize to make it yours:
- Can be themed to match your brand & identity, to feel like a native part of your website.
Fully integrated with your website
Software licensing without the hassle
Offer a product activation journey that customers won't even notice, fully automatic, integrated with your website.
- Time-limited trials.
- Offer customers a taste of your app by allowing time-limited licenses on-demand.
- Secure cryptography.
- Our licensing tech is based on strong RSA key cryptography using industry standard formats.
- SDKs for integrations.
- Get integrated in minutes using our SDKs for JUCE, .Net or JavaScript apps.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Moonbase is built to support migrations, including importing existing customers and issuing licenses for products they already own. Because Moonbase supports external systems, you can keep activations working during the transition and consolidate license management on your own site.
Yes. Moonbase acts as the merchant of record, which means it collects and remits sales tax and VAT on your behalf worldwide. You sell globally without registering for tax in every jurisdiction or reconciling rates yourself.
No. Moonbase provides a self-hosted storefront with cart, checkout, customer accounts and downloads that you embed on your own domain. You keep full control of branding and the buying experience without building payment or account flows from scratch.
Yes. Software licensing is built in, with SDKs for JUCE, .NET and JavaScript. It supports online and offline activations, floating licenses, and self-service license management so customers can administer their own activations from your site.
Comparing other platforms? Compare Moonbase with Paddle and FastSpring.
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