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FastSpring vs Spike

FastSpring vs Spike is a tax-shaped shop versus a door. FastSpring sells as the merchant of record so you are not a VAT clerk. Spike puts a price on a folder. A MoR does not replace a pack you still own after checkout.

Iida Heikkinen

MikkeliUpdated 3 min read

FastSpring vs Spike is a merchant of record versus a door. FastSpring earned a following by taking the tax job so software and file sellers could sell across borders without becoming clerks. That extra is real if your catalogue is public and international. It is furniture if the sale is one couple in one city.

Spike shows up because the leftover complaint is often not VAT. A client will not create an account. A gallery feels wrong next to a public SKU. They still send a Drive after the invoice. Swapping FastSpring for Lemon Squeezy leaves that stack intact. A priced folder is the model change. How to sell a folder online is the unit.

A global till on the left. A folder door on the right. Tax furniture does not replace a named pack.

What FastSpring is for

  • Merchant of record: they take the tax job on a public catalogue.
  • Software, licences, files sold across borders.
  • A checkout strangers can finish without you becoming a VAT clerk.
  • Packs you are willing to have as SKUs in that shop.

When the MoR is the wrong room

A passworded gallery. A treated preview. A client who should never see your other products. Payhip vs Spike if the leftover complaint was a European-shaped shop instead of a MoR. FastSpring can sell the pack. It is a weak room for a named couple.

What you getFastSpringSpike
Merchant of recordYes, the jobNot the product
Public catalogueYesOptional; often private
Client packA SKU among SKUsA private folder URL
Treated previewCoverBlur, watermark, samples
Plan fee on SpikeTheir platform fee5% / 1% / 0% plus Stripe

If the complaint was tax on a catalogue, pick a MoR. If the complaint was that a client is not a SKU, pick a folder.

Keep FastSpring for the public software line. Use Spike for the named job. Fees 5% / 1% / 0% plus Stripe. Free shares last three days, so do not replace a standing product page with a weekend door. Pro and Business leave the folder up. That is the client gallery, the commissioned build, the drop that should not be a SKU. Two rooms. One checkout doing both is how a studio pack becomes a listing.

A named client is not a SKU in a global catalogue. Putting a couple's gallery next to a software licence makes a named job look like a store SKU. Keep FastSpring when cross-border tax on a public line is the job. Use Spike when this week's pack is one folder. Treat the unpaid view. Price the share. Skip the MoR costume. Send the URL. Let them look, pay if they still owe you, and download on that same page. Two rooms. The mistake is one till doing both until a studio pack becomes a listing.

Questions

Good to know

Yes for a file-shaped sale to someone you already know. No for merchant-of-record tax, global checkout, and a public software catalogue. Keep FastSpring when cross-border VAT on a catalogue is the job. Use Spike when the leftover job was a client door.

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Try the workflow in the article.

Upload a folder, protect the preview, share or sell from one link.

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