Sublead vs Payhip: an alternative to a free Payhip product for your lead magnet

Payhip is an online store for digital downloads, courses and memberships, free to start with a 5% fee on each sale. An ebook listed there at a price of 0 collects the email address of each person who downloads it. Sublead is not a store: it turns a document into a lead magnet with its own opt-in page, and the reader sees the content right after signing up. Payhip suits a creator who sells and wants the free file in the same shop; Sublead suits one who wants sign-ups and whose freebie can be read as a page.

Create a free accountFacts checked on November 13, 2026

Payhip's help center has an article on using a free product as a lead magnet. You create a digital product, upload the file, set the price to 0, and connect your email provider. The person goes through a checkout where only an email address is asked, then downloads the file.

That costs nothing, and the visitor goes through it as a customer: the freebie is an order, and the page is a product page. In Sublead you write the content, and the page that asks for the email is made from it. The guide on how to create a lead magnet describes that approach.

Choose Sublead if

  • You sell nothing yet and want a list, not a shop.
  • Your freebie can be read as a page and does not need to be a PDF.
  • You want an opt-in page with a headline and a form, not a product page with a checkout.
  • You want every reader to tick a consent box, with the date kept, wherever they live.

Choose Payhip if

  • You sell ebooks, templates, courses or memberships and want the freebie in the same store.
  • Your lead magnet has to be a file: a printable, a preset pack, a spreadsheet.
  • You want buyers added to Mailchimp, Kit, MailerLite or another provider Payhip connects to.
  • You would let people pay what they want for a resource instead of giving it away.

Sublead vs Payhip, point by point

Sublead
Payhip
Price
Free plan
Yes, no time limit
Yes, with a 5% fee on each sale
First paid plan
$29/month (Pro, optional)
$29/month (Plus)
Lead magnets on the free plan
Unlimited
Unlimited products
Creating the lead magnet
How you build the lead magnet
A document editor, like a Notion page
A file uploaded as a product, priced at 0
Opt-in page made for you
Yes, from the document, on Publish
A product page with a checkout
Delivered right after sign-up
Yes, on the page, no email needed
Yes, as a file to download
Collecting contacts
Consent checkbox, with its date kept
Yes
A checkbox shown to EU buyers
Going further
Sends contacts to your emailing tool
Systeme.io and ClickFunnels, with a tag
Mailchimp, Kit, MailerLite and others
Sends newsletters and email sequences
Follow-up sequences after the sign-up (Pro, up to 10 emails). No newsletters: those stay with your emailing tool
Email updates to customers
Your own domain
Pro
Yes, you can connect your own

Payhip's column comes from its own website, read on November 13, 2026. If something has changed since, write to info@sublead.io and we will correct it.

Sublead and Payhip: the prices

Sublead

  • Free · $0Unlimited lead magnets and contacts, opt-in pages, statistics, integrations. No card, no time limit.
  • Pro · $29/month, or $24/month billed yearlyOptional: your own domain, pages without the Sublead badge, email sequences.

Payhip

  • Free Forever · $0All features, unlimited products and revenue. A 5% transaction fee on each sale, plus PayPal or Stripe fees.
  • Plus · $29/monthThe same features, with a 2% transaction fee.
  • Pro · $99/monthThe same features, with no transaction fee.

Payhip's three plans carry the same features, with unlimited products and revenue. What changes is the cut: Free Forever takes a 5% transaction fee, Plus costs $29 a month with a 2% fee, and Pro costs $99 a month with none. PayPal and Stripe charge their own fees on top, on every plan.

Sublead has no fee to compare, because it sells nothing. It is free with unlimited lead magnets and contacts, and its optional Pro plan is $29 a month (see the pricing page). A freebie costs nothing on either one.

The same lead magnet, made in each

With Sublead

  1. 1Write the freebie in Sublead's editor, with images or a video if it helps.
  2. 2Press Publish. The opt-in page comes from the document.
  3. 3Share the link. Sign-ups read the content at once and are listed in your contacts.

With Payhip

  1. 1Prepare the freebie as a file in another tool.
  2. 2In Payhip, click Add New Product, choose a digital product and upload the file.
  3. 3Set the price to 0. A payment processor still has to be connected to the store.
  4. 4Connect your email provider, then tick the option that subscribes customers to a list for this product.
  5. 5Save, and share the product's link.

How a free product works as a lead magnet on Payhip

On Payhip, a lead magnet is a digital product priced at 0. Its help center states that buyers of a free digital product only enter an email address, that no payment details are required, and that they can download the file immediately. It also states that you need a payment processor connected to your store even if you only offer free products.

The email address reaches your list through an integration. You connect a provider (the help center lists ActiveCampaign, AWeber, Kit, Flodesk, GetResponse, Klaviyo, MailerLite, Mailchimp and others), then tick "Automatically subscribe customers to mailing list" on the product. New subscribers are pushed every 10 minutes. Customers in the EU see a checkbox about receiving product updates and offers, and those who leave it empty are not added to your list.

What a Payhip store does that Sublead cannot

Payhip takes payments, and Sublead does not. It sells downloads, courses, coaching and memberships, delivers files through a download page and email links, and its features page says it handles VAT and sales tax compliance. All of that is on the free plan, paid for by the 5% fee. A creator with a paid ebook and a free sample of it has every reason to keep both in one store. The same reasoning applies to shops like Gumroad and Stan Store.

What an opt-in page changes for a free ebook

An opt-in page has one purpose, the sign-up. Sublead's shows the first page of your document next to a form with a first name, an email and a consent checkbox. There is no cart and no price on it, and after the form the reader is on the content.

Because the content is a page, it can carry what a file cannot: an embedded YouTube, Vimeo or Loom video, and a call-to-action button with the label and destination you choose. That button can lead to your Payhip store. Sublead also shows views, sign-ups and conversion rate for each lead magnet. For formats that suit a page, see these lead magnet examples.

Using Sublead with a Payhip store

Sublead has no integration with Payhip; a button links the two. You publish the free guide on Sublead, set its button to open your product or store page on Payhip, and share the Sublead link in your bio or under your videos. Readers who want more arrive in the shop. The guide on the link in bio explains where to place that link.

Contacts collected by Sublead stay in Sublead, or go to Systeme.io or ClickFunnels with a tag if you use one of them. Buyers on Payhip stay in Payhip and in the provider you connected there. You end up with two separate lists.

Questions and answers

Is Payhip free?
Yes. The Free Forever plan has every feature and unlimited products, with a 5% transaction fee on each sale, as its pricing page stated on 13 November 2026. Plus is $29 a month with a 2% fee, and Pro is $99 a month with none.
Can I offer a free ebook on Payhip to collect emails?
Yes. Create a digital product, upload the file and set the price to 0. Buyers enter an email address and download the file, and a connected email provider can add them to a mailing list.
Do I need a payment processor for a free product on Payhip?
Yes. Payhip's help center says a payment processor must be connected to your store even if you only offer free products. Buyers of a free digital product do not enter payment details.
Is Sublead an alternative to Payhip?
For giving something away in exchange for an email, yes. Sublead does not sell products or take payments, so it does not replace a Payhip store.
Can I sell my ebook with Sublead?
No. Sublead publishes free lead magnets only. To sell, keep a store such as Payhip and point the button of your lead magnet at it.
Does Sublead integrate with Payhip?
No. Sublead's integrations are Systeme.io and ClickFunnels. The two tools are linked by the call-to-action button of your lead magnet, which can open any Payhip page.

Sources

What this page says about Payhip was read on its own website on November 13, 2026:

More comparisons

Create your lead magnet for free

Write it, publish it, share the link.
Unlimited lead magnets and contacts, free.

  • Unlimited lead magnets and contacts
  • A link to share, the second you publish
  • Video, images and audio in your pages
  • Your own call to action at the end
  • Sent to your emailing tool, tagged
  • Free, no card needed
Free plan$0/ monthEverything on this page, for good. No card, no trial.
Create a free account