Commission or flat fee: which costs a course creator less?
A percentage costs less while you sell little and more once you sell a lot; the switch happens at the revenue where the percentage you pay exceeds the flat fee, which for a €19/month plan and a 10% commission is around €190 a month in sales.
Last updated August 16, 2026
The two models
Course platforms charge in one of two ways. A marketplace takes a percentage of every sale, so what you pay rises with what you earn. A subscription platform charges a fixed amount per month regardless of whether you sell nothing or ten thousand euros.
Neither is a trick. They suit different stages, and the useful question is not which is cheaper in the abstract but which is cheaper at the volume you are actually selling today.
Where the two models cross
The break-even is the monthly revenue at which the percentage costs the same as the flat fee. Divide the monthly fee by the commission rate: a €19 monthly plan against a 10% commission crosses at €190 of monthly sales, because 10% of €190 is €19.
Below that revenue the percentage is cheaper. Above it, every additional sale is free on the flat plan and still costs a tenth on the percentage one. The gap widens the more you sell, which is why the model that suited your first month often stops suiting your best one.
Work out your own number rather than copying this one: your platform's rate and plan price are the only two figures involved.
The costs that are easy to miss
Commission is rarely the whole of it. Card processing is charged separately by most platforms, usually as a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction — that fixed part matters disproportionately on cheap courses, where it can exceed the commission itself.
Then there are payout fees, currency conversion when you are paid in a currency you do not bank in, and the delay between a sale and the money arriving. A platform that pays out monthly is holding your revenue for up to thirty days; one that pays into your own payment account is not holding it at all.
Compare total cost per sale, not headline rates. The headline is the part everyone advertises precisely because it is the flattering one.
When a percentage is the better deal
If you are selling occasionally, a percentage is straightforwardly cheaper, and paying nothing in a month you sell nothing is worth something on its own.
Marketplaces also bring buyers. If a meaningful share of your sales come from people who found you through the platform rather than through your own audience, you are not only paying for software — you are paying for distribution, and that can be worth far more than the percentage.
The calculation changes when your buyers come from your own list, your own social following or your own site. Then the percentage buys you software you could rent for a fixed price, and the distribution you are paying for is distribution you brought yourself.
Working out your own break-even
Take your last three months of course revenue and average them. Multiply by your platform's commission rate to get what you paid for those sales. Compare that against twelve months of any flat plan you are considering, and against the payment processing you would pay either way.
If you are close to the line, weigh the direction you are moving in rather than where you are. A percentage on a growing business gets more expensive every month by design.
Frequently asked questions
At what revenue does a flat monthly fee become cheaper than a commission?
Divide the monthly fee by the commission rate. A €19 monthly plan against a 10% commission breaks even at €190 in monthly sales: below that the commission costs less, above it the flat fee does, and the saving grows with every additional sale.
Is payment processing included in a course platform's commission?
Usually not. Card processing is typically billed separately as a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction, on top of any platform commission. The fixed part weighs most heavily on low-priced courses, so cheap products lose a larger share of each sale than the headline rate suggests.
Does a marketplace commission buy anything besides software?
It can buy distribution. Marketplaces have their own audiences and their own search traffic, so some sales come from buyers who would never have found the creator independently. Whether that is worth the percentage depends on how many of your sales actually originate there rather than from your own audience.
What does Coursio charge on course sales?
Nothing. Coursio charges a flat monthly subscription from €19 and takes 0% of course sales. Payments go directly into the creator's own Stripe account, so Coursio never holds the funds and the only per-sale cost is Stripe's standard processing.