Digital products are one of the few ways to make money where you do the work up front, then keep earning from it long after.
Build something once. Sell it over and over. No inventory, no shipping, no client calls eating up your time.
The category is bigger than most people think: eBooks, templates, courses, printables, spreadsheets, prompt packs, presets. They all work the same way, you make it once, sell it again and again, and keep most of what you earn.
Here’s a rundown of the best digital products to sell, and how to actually get to $1,000 a month with them.
8 digital products you can make once and sell over and over:
- Notion templates
- Canva templates
- eBooks and guides
- Printables
- Online courses
- Google Sheets and Excel templates
- ChatGPT and AI prompt packs
- Stock photos and digital art
1. Notion Templates
Notion is one of the most popular productivity tools around, and people will pay for a good template so they don’t have to build it themselves.
Some of the ones that sell best are finance dashboards, freelance business setups, content planners, and student trackers.
You’re looking for something that does a lot but still feels easy to use right out of the box.
Before you build anything, look around Etsy and Gumroad for Notion templates in your niche. See what has the most reviews, read what people say they like, and figure out what’s missing.
Simple, single-purpose templates usually sell for $9 to $19. Bigger systems, like a full freelance setup or a life planner with everything linked together, can go for $29 to $97.
What you could earn: $200 to $3,000+ a month, depending on your niche, pricing, and how many templates you have.
How to start: Notion’s free plan is all you need to build and share templates. List on both Gumroad and Etsy so you’re reaching more people.
2. Canva Templates
Canva templates are quick to make and sell steadily on Etsy.
Things like social media graphic packs, Pinterest pin templates, media kits, presentation decks, and resume templates all do well. The people buying them are small business owners, content creators, and job seekers who want something that looks professional without hiring a designer.
Stick to one type of template instead of trying to offer everything. “Instagram carousel templates for coaches” will do better in Etsy search than “social media templates.”
Canva’s free plan is enough to build and sell templates commercially. If you want more fonts and design elements to work with, Canva Pro gives you a lot more to choose from, and you can try it free for 30 days.
What you could earn: $5 to $150+ per pack. If you sell bundles regularly, that can add up to $500 to $2,000+ a month.
How to start: Make five to ten polished samples, put together clean mockup images in Canva, and list them on Etsy. Join some Etsy seller groups on Reddit or Facebook to get feedback and niche ideas.
3. eBooks and Guides
An eBook doesn’t have to be long to sell well.
A tight, 5,000 to 15,000 word guide on one specific problem, like landing your first freelance client, budgeting on a paycheck that changes every month, or pitching brands as a small creator, can sell for $9 to $29 and keep earning for years without much upkeep.
The trick is being specific. “The Freelance Writer’s Guide to Getting Clients on LinkedIn” will outsell “How to Freelance” every time.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing lets you set your own price and pays you a 70% royalty on Kindle books priced between $2.99 and $9.99.
Fun fact, fiction actually outsells non-fiction on Amazon. Worth knowing if you’d rather write stories than how-to guides.
What you could earn: $100 to $5,000+ a month, depending on your niche, price, how many books you have, and how much you promote them.
How to start: Write about something you actually know well. Publish on Amazon KDP so people can find you easily, and also list on Gumroad, where you keep more of each sale.
4. Printables
Printables are about as easy as digital products get: planners, trackers, journals, wall art, worksheets, and checklists you design in Canva and sell as PDFs.
They’re cheaper, usually $3 to $15, but you can sell a lot of them, especially in areas like budgeting, meal planning, homeschooling, and productivity. One good planner listing with solid mockup photos can bring in dozens of sales a month without you doing much else.
The people who do best build out 20 to 50 listings around one theme. Every buyer is a chance to sell them something else later. One good listing pulls people in, and the rest of your catalogue keeps them around.
What you could earn: $100 to $2,000+ a month once you’ve built up a solid catalogue.
How to start: Design your first five printables using Canva’s free plan. Make good mockup images (Canva’s mockup tool works fine for this), list them on Etsy, and start sending traffic from Pinterest right away.
5. Online Courses
If there’s something you’re good at and can teach, a course is probably your best shot at real money. It takes more work upfront than a template or eBook, but it pays off.
Udemy has over 50 million students and lets you publish courses for free. You keep anywhere from 37% to 97% of what you make, depending on how the student found your course.
What makes this worth it is that a course you record once can keep earning for years without you touching it again.
If you want more control and a bigger cut,Teachable lets you sell directly to your own audience. Their free plan handles payments and doesn’t cap how many students you can have.
What you could earn: $200 to $10,000+ a month, depending on the topic, platform, price, and how big your audience is.
How to start: Pick one skill you could teach in ten lessons or fewer. Plan out the whole course before you record anything. Put it on Udemy first to get some built-in traffic, then move to Teachable once you know people want it and you’re ready to keep more of the profit.
6. Google Sheets and Excel Templates
Spreadsheet templates don’t get enough credit. Budget trackers, debt payoff calculators, profit and loss dashboards, freelance rate calculators, and content planners all sell steadily on Etsy and Gumroad.
The people buying these mean business. Someone looking for a budget spreadsheet isn’t just browsing, they’re ready to pay for something that works right now.
The advantage spreadsheets have over Notion templates is that way more people know how to use them. Not everyone’s heard of Notion, but almost everyone knows how to open a spreadsheet.
A well-made finance dashboard with clear instructions built in can sell for $15 to $47 and barely need any support once it’s out there.
What you could earn: $200 to $2,000+ a month with a solid catalogue in the right niche.
How to start: Build something you’d actually use yourself. Test it out, add a clear instructions tab inside the file, and list it on Etsy and Gumroad with good mockup images. Finance and budgeting niches tend to outsell general productivity ones on both platforms.
7. ChatGPT and AI Prompt Packs
Prompt packs are one of the fastest growing things people are selling right now. Marketers, bloggers, coaches, and business owners will pay $9 to $39 for a good pack that saves them from having to figure it all out themselves.
Some popular niches: content prompts for bloggers, sales copywriting prompts, social media caption packs, and business strategy prompts.
Again, being specific wins. “50 ChatGPT Prompts for Etsy Sellers” will outsell “100 ChatGPT Prompts for Business” every time on Etsy.
A well-tested, organized PDF with 50 to 100 prompts in a specific niche is something you could build and list in a single day.
What you could earn: $100 to $1,500+ a month, depending on how specific your niche is, how good your listing is, and how many packs you have.
How to start: Pick an audience you understand well. Write, test, and fine-tune 50 prompts that actually work well every time. Put them into a clean PDF in Canva and list it on Gumroad and Etsy.
8. Stock Photos and Digital Art
If you’ve got a camera or some design skills, stock photos and digital art can pay off for a long time. Bloggers, content creators, and small businesses are always looking for images that fit their brand and aren’t the same free stock photos everyone else uses.
Niche photo packs, like flat lays for food bloggers, styled desk setups for productivity creators, or phone mockups for developers, sell steadily on Etsy and Creative Market.
Digital art and illustrations work the same way, you make it once and can license or sell it forever. Print-on-demand sites like Redbubble take it a step further by putting your art on physical products without you having to manage any inventory.
What you could earn: $100 to $2,000+ a month, depending on your niche, how much you make, and where you sell it.
How to start: Pick a specific visual niche and build a starter pack of ten to twenty images or illustrations. List them on Etsy and Creative Market. Promote them on Pinterest, since visual content tends to get a lot of clicks there.
Where to Sell
| Platform | Fee | Best For | Traffic Source |
| Gumroad | 10% per sale | Beginners; all product types | Your own: Pinterest, email, social |
| Etsy | $0.20 + 6.5% | Templates; printables; art | Etsy search + Pinterest |
| Payhip | 5% per sale | Low fees; instant payouts | Your own |
| Teachable | $1 + 10% (free plan) | Online courses | Your own + SEO |
| Udemy | Revenue share | Courses with built-in traffic | Udemy marketplace |
| Amazon KDP | 30% retained by Amazon | eBooks and paperbacks | Amazon search |
Most people start by using Gumroad and Etsy at the same time. Gumroad works well for traffic you bring in yourself, like from Pinterest or social media, while Etsy brings in people searching who’ve never heard of you.
Once you’re ready for lower fees and want other creators to be able to promote your stuff for a cut, add Payhip into the mix.
How to Drive Traffic With Pinterest
Pinterest is the best free traffic source out there for digital products. It works like a search engine, people go there looking for ideas and tools, and they click through to buy.
Pins don’t disappear the way Instagram posts do. A pin you make today could still be bringing in sales six months from now.
- Set up a free Pinterest Business account and build your profile around your niche
- Make five to ten pin graphics per product in Canva: vertical format (1000 x 1500px), a bold headline that says what’s in it for the buyer, a clean mockup, and your brand name at the bottom
- Write descriptions with real keywords that say what the product is, what problem it solves, and who it’s for
- Link each pin straight to your Gumroad, Etsy, or Teachable page
- Post five to ten pins a day and stick with it, showing up regularly matters more than posting a ton at once
Once it builds momentum, it really adds up. One good pin in the right niche can bring in hundreds of clicks a month, month after month.
Realistic Earnings Timeline
Month 1: Launch two products on Gumroad and Etsy, and start pinning on Pinterest. Expect somewhere between $0 and $100.
Month 2: Pinterest traffic starts to build, and your Etsy listings pick up their first reviews. Expect $100 to $300.
Month 3: You’ve got four or five products up, plus your first bundle. Expect $300 to $600.
Month 4 to 6: You’re pinning consistently, your reviews are growing, and you’ve got six to ten products out there. $1,000 a month becomes something you can count on, not just hope for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a website to sell digital products?
No. Gumroad and Etsy both give you product pages that work like a full storefront. Most people start there before ever building their own site. A website’s worth it once you’ve got a product that’s actually selling.
What's the easiest digital product to make?
Printables and prompt packs take the least work. A well-designed planner in Canva, or a set of 50 ChatGPT prompts turned into a PDF, can come together in a few hours. Canva templates take a bit longer but usually sell for more and get better reviews.
How many products do I need before I start making money?
One is enough to get started. Two or three gives you a better shot at finding what people actually want. The people who hit $1,000 a month fastest usually have at least five listings up, since each one is a new way for someone to find you on Etsy or Pinterest.
Can I sell the same product on more than one platform?
Yes, and most people do. Listing the same thing on Gumroad, Etsy, and Payhip all at once is completely normal. None of these platforms require exclusivity, and each one brings in different buyers.
What if my product isn't selling?
Check three things, in this order: your title and description (is it specific and clear about what someone gets?), your mockup images (do they actually show what buying it looks like?), and whether you’re pinning consistently.
Most of the time, it’s a listing problem, not a product problem. Fix the listing before you build something new.
Is the digital products market too crowded already?
The market for generic stuff is crowded, sure. But specific, well-made products in a focused niche aren’t. “Canva template” has a ton of competition. “Canva media kit template for travel bloggers” doesn’t.
Being specific is the biggest edge a new seller has over people who’ve been at this longer with bigger catalogues.
Final Thoughts
The people making $1,000 to $5,000 a month from digital products aren’t doing anything more complicated than what you could do.
They picked a niche, built one product, listed it, and kept going. That’s really the whole playbook.
One product. One listing. This week. Then build the next one.
Things start adding up the day you actually publish something, not the day you finally feel ready.
