Built-in billing

Built-in billing means the platform itself takes payments from customers, handling checkout, invoices and payouts, so you do not need to connect a separate payment tool. For example, a student buys a course and pays on the platform's own checkout page. Gumroad, Teachable and Thinkific are among the tools that offer this.

Selling digital products needs a way to charge cards, deal with tax and refunds and deliver access after payment. Built-in billing means one system handles it all and a sale gives access straight away. It matters when you want to start selling quickly. Check how it handles tax, and whether you can use your own payment account if you want to.

• Ask which payment methods and currencies are supported for your customers.
• Check how sales tax or VAT is handled, and whether the platform collects and reports it.
• Find out whether the platform adds a fee on each sale on top of the payment provider's charges.
• Test a refund and a failed payment to see how access and records are handled.