battles / Platforms
Payhip vs Solidus
Payhip (usage-based/mo, vibe code 6/10) vs Solidus (usage-based/mo, vibe code 6/10). Solidus is the easier one to rebuild yourself — here is what you lose either way.
Platforms
usage-based/mo
- MVP
- multi-day
- Full replacement
- single-creator storefront
Platforms
usage-based/mo
- MVP
- 2 weeks
- Full replacement
- 8-14 months
easier to rebuild
get the build prompt →price gap / year
usage-based
running both / year
usage-based
our call
Start with Solidus — highest vibe code, weakest moat.
Payhip
The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Payhip, sell downloads and simple courses through Stripe or PayPal. The hard boundary is payment integration, eu and uk vat handling, affiliates, courses, and hosted delivery, plus payments, tax, distribution, and operations.
you can rebuild
- Sell a small catalog of downloads and simple courses through Stripe or PayPal, deliver purchased files or lessons, and manage customers from a user-owned storefront.
what you lose
- payment integration, EU and UK VAT handling, affiliates, courses, and hosted delivery
- marketplace discovery
- tax remittance
- fraud operations
- advanced course and community tooling
real moats
- compliance-regulatory
- brand-trust
open source escape hatches
- CourseLit open source
Solidus
There is no licence to escape. Rebuilding makes sense only if you want to leave Ruby; otherwise you are trading a maintained core for a bespoke one.
you can rebuild
- Catalog, variants and option types
- Cart, checkout and order state machine
- Promotions with basic rules and actions
- Admin interface for orders and products
what you lose
- A maintained upgrade path with a security-conscious core team
- Rails extensions for payments, taxes and reporting
- Free bug fixes from other people's production incidents
real moats
- An active maintainer community absorbing edge cases you have not hit yet
open source escape hatches
- spree/spree BSD-3
- medusajs/medusa MIT
- saleor/saleor BSD-3
Questions people ask
Which is easier to rebuild with AI, Payhip or Solidus?
Solidus. It scores 6/10 on vibe code with a moat of 2/10, so an AI-assisted MVP takes about 2 weeks and a full replacement about 8-14 months.
Which one costs less, Payhip or Solidus?
Payhip at usage-based/mo for a typical mid-market store. The gap between the two is about usage-based a year.
What do I lose if I replace Payhip?
payment integration, EU and UK VAT handling, affiliates, courses, and hosted delivery marketplace discovery tax remittance
What do I lose if I replace Solidus?
A maintained upgrade path with a security-conscious core team Rails extensions for payments, taxes and reporting Free bug fixes from other people's production incidents
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