Selling Digital Products on Shopify: Downloads, Courses, Licensing and Tax

You can sell digital products on Shopify with Shopify's own free app, now called Shopify Digital Products (long known as Digital Downloads). It attaches files or links to products, emails customers an access link after purchase and can show a download button on the order confirmation page. Shopify says "there are no additional fees for selling digital products on your online store" beyond your normal plan and payment costs.

That covers ebooks, templates, presets, music, printables and similar files. For anything more complex, such as license keys, stamped PDFs, streaming video, online courses or memberships, you'll add a specialist app. And because digital goods are taxed differently from physical ones in many places, especially the EU, tax setup deserves as much attention as delivery.

This guide covers the native app and its limits, when to choose an alternative, how to handle licensing, courses and memberships, and what Shopify's Help Center says about tax on digital products. For other guides in this series, visit the Shopify hub.

What counts as a digital product

Shopify's Help Center groups digital products into online services, downloadable files (art, video, audio) and NFTs, and notes that "digital goods are often available to the customer immediately after they make their purchase." Common examples include:

• Ebooks, guides, planners and printables
• Design templates, fonts, photo presets and stock assets
• Music, sample packs and audio files
• Software, plugins and license keys
• Online courses, video lessons and memberships
• Gift cards and vouchers (handled by Shopify's built-in gift card feature rather than a download app)

Shopify's free Digital Products app

According to the Help Center, the app lets you sell digital products in two ways: "Upload a file, such as a video, song, ebook, or graphic," or "Add a link from a supported provider, such as a Notion page, a booking page, an online course, or a cloud storage file." The App Store listing shows it as free, developed by Shopify, with a 4.8-star rating from more than 1,300 reviews as of 1 October 2026.

One limitation catches people out. Shopify warns: "If you edit or delete a digital file, then any customer that's previously purchased your product won't be able to access their digital download using their download link." If you release updated versions (new editions of an ebook, updated templates), plan how existing buyers will get them, for example by emailing them a new link or using an app built for versioned files.

Setting up a digital product

1. Install the Digital Products app from the Shopify App Store.
2. Create the product in Shopify with its title, description, price and images.
3. In the product's Shipping section, make sure the Physical product setting is off. Shopify's Help Center gives this step for both digital products and services.
4. Attach the file or link to the product (or to specific variants) in the app.
5. Decide on a download limit and whether to show downloads on the order confirmation page.
6. Edit the delivery email so it explains what the customer bought, how to access it and where to get help.
7. Place a test order to check the whole flow.

When to use an alternative app

The native app is a solid default for straightforward files. Consider a specialist app if you need:

• License keys for software, fonts or assets
• PDF stamping (adding the buyer's name or email to each copy to discourage sharing)
• Video streaming rather than downloads
• Courses with lessons, progress tracking, quizzes and certificates
• Memberships with recurring billing and gated content

How to evaluate digital delivery apps

• Pricing model: flat monthly fee, storage and bandwidth limits, and overage charges.
• Where customers access content: email links, a download page, the customer account or a separate portal.
• File security: expiring links, download limits and stamping.
• Portability: can you export your files and customer access records if you switch?
• Reviews: recent reviews and how many there are.

Well-known options compared

Pricing models below are as stated on each app's Shopify App Store listing on 1 October 2026. This is a neutral overview, not a ranking.

Our Shopify App Store guide explains how to check badges, reviews and performance impact before you install.

Licensing your digital products

When you sell a file, you're really selling a license to use it. Spell out the terms on the product page and in your terms of service:

• Personal vs commercial use: can buyers use a template for client work or resell products made with it?
• Number of users or seats: one person, a team or unlimited?
• Redistribution: buyers may not share or resell the original file.
• Updates: whether future versions are included and for how long.

A common setup is to use Shopify variants for license tiers (for example "Personal" and "Commercial") with different prices and, if needed, different files. Get a lawyer to review your license wording if the products are valuable or used commercially.

Courses and memberships

You have three main routes:

1. Link out: sell access on Shopify and deliver a link to a course platform. The Digital Products app supports links to online courses, so this is the simplest option, but students learn on another site.
2. Course app on Shopify: an app such as Tevello hosts lessons inside your Shopify store, so customers use one login and you keep the relationship in one place.
3. Subscription plus gated content: for memberships, combine a subscription app with an app or customization that restricts content to active subscribers. Our guide to Shopify subscription apps covers the billing side.

Any option that relies on logins depends on customer accounts. Shopify deprecated legacy customer accounts on 26 February 2026, so build on the current version; see our Shopify customer accounts guide.

Taxes on digital goods

Tax on digital products varies more than tax on physical goods. Shopify's Help Center page on tax on digital products makes these points:

• United States: "in some jurisdictions, you don't need to charge sales tax on digital products." Rules differ by state, so Shopify recommends checking with a local tax expert.
• European Union: "Consumers living in the European Union (EU) must pay a value added tax (VAT) on digital goods at the rate that applies in their own country, regardless where the seller is located." Shopify says sales from micro-business merchants are an exception and are taxed at the merchant's home rate.
• Registration: EU-based merchants can register for the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) for intra-EU sales; non-EU merchants can register for the Non-Union OSS to report VAT on digital goods or services sold to EU consumers.
• Evidence of location: "Some tax authorities require that you collect and record two pieces of evidence of a buyer's location." Shopify records the billing address and IP address, and advises getting another piece of evidence if they point to different countries.

Shopify Tax can calculate US sales tax and supports the EU, UK and Canada. For stores created on or after 13 May 2026, it's free until a lifetime threshold of $100,000 in sales, then charged at 0.35% on Basic, Grow and Advanced in the US (with a $0.99 cap per order). Our Shopify Tax guide covers the details. This is general information, so confirm your obligations with a tax professional.

Delivery, refunds and customer experience

• Set expectations on the product page: file format, size, what's included, software needed and how delivery works.
• Write a clear refund policy for digital goods. Consumer laws differ by country, so check what applies where you sell, and link the policy from product pages. Our guide to store policies explains where policies appear.
• Plan for "I didn't get my file": check spam guidance in your emails and make re-sending links easy for your team.
• Protect, but don't punish: reasonable download limits and stamping deter sharing; aggressive limits mostly frustrate paying customers.

Conclusion

Selling digital products on Shopify is simple for straightforward files: install the free Digital Products app, turn off the physical product setting and test the delivery email. Add specialist apps for license keys, streaming, courses or memberships, write clear license terms, and set up tax correctly, especially if you sell to EU customers. If you want help building a digital storefront or course experience on Shopify, eSEOspace offers Shopify development services.

Frequently asked questions