head to head · open source
Gumroad vs CourseLit
Gumroad has 9,699 GitHub stars, 2,036 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CourseLit has 1,265 stars, 256 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Gumroad leads on adoption by 667% (9,699 vs 1,265 stars). Gumroad is written in Ruby under MIT; CourseLit is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Gumroad has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, CourseLit 20%. Gumroad was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Gumroad | CourseLit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.7K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 256 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Gumroad if
- You weight community size — 9.7K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CourseLit if
- You want the CourseLit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and CourseLit fits your workflow better
About Gumroad
Gumroad is an e commerce platform that enables creators to sell products directly to consumers, and this repository contains the source code for the Gumroad web application. The project sits in the Content & Publishing / Learning Management Systems category, is written in Ruby, and is licensed under MIT.
read the full Gumroad overview →
About CourseLit
CourseLit is an open source learning management system written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It is a batteries included platform for creating, selling, and managing online courses, digital downloads, and blogs on a branded website. The project positions itself in the open source learning management system ecosystem as an alternative to Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, Teachery, and LearnDash.
read the full CourseLit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Gumroad or CourseLit more popular?
Gumroad has 9,699 GitHub stars and CourseLit has 1,265. Gumroad has the larger community by that measure.
Are Gumroad and CourseLit free?
Both are open source. Gumroad is licensed under MIT and CourseLit under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Gumroad and CourseLit?
Gumroad is written in Ruby and CourseLit in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Gumroad or CourseLit?
Choose Gumroad if you want the larger community (9,699 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose CourseLit if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.