SaySo vs ThriveCart: price, features and who each one suits (2026)

ThriveCart is a serious platform, and I'm not going to pretend SaySo matches it feature for feature. It doesn't, on purpose. So the useful question is which pile of features you'll actually use.

SaySo vs ThriveCart at a glance

What a $2,000 month costs on each

Say you sell a $50 product 40 times in a month, all to buyers on US cards, with Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ on every platform.

None of the three takes a cut of sales. ThriveCart's Stripe setup does add a few small Stripe-side charges of its own (Radar at 7¢ a sale and Adaptive Acceptance at 0.08%, plus 0.5% if you turn on its sales tax collection), which is why its card line is a little higher. Before those, the gap is $28 a month between SaySo's founding price and ThriveCart Standard, or $18 if you pay ThriveCart yearly. The question is what you get for it, and with ThriveCart you get a lot.

Where ThriveCart is the better pick

• You sell courses and run a community. ThriveCart Academy comes with every plan: courses, quizzes, certificates and communities, with video hosting included. SaySo doesn't host courses or communities.
• You want to test and tune your checkout. A/B split testing, abandoned-cart recovery and more funnel automation are on Standard.
• You want sales tax handled at checkout. Sales tax automation is listed on both plans.
• You sell high-ticket offers. Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm, plus PayPal, give buyers more ways to pay. SaySo is Stripe only for now.
• You want affiliates and multiple bumps today. Both are on Pro+.
• You hate subscriptions. ThriveCart still offers a lifetime license. At $19 a month, SaySo's founding price adds up to the same $495 in about 26 months, so if you know you'll stay for years, the math is worth doing.

Where SaySo fits better

• You sell digital products and want a store, not just a checkout. SaySo gives you a storefront with three templates and your own domain on its one plan. ThriveCart lists custom domains on Pro+.
• You'd rather pay $19 than $47. If you won't use courses, communities or split testing, that's $28 a month for features sitting idle.
• You'd rather run your store from a conversation. Connect SaySo to Claude and you can ask it to add a product, edit a draft, check sales or change your store design. New discount codes and price changes wait for your approval, and Settings › Activity shows every change marked You, Your Claude or SaySo.
• You want fewer settings. One plan, every feature, no tiers to compare. Products, payment plans, subscriptions, lead magnets, services with a booking link, an order bump, an upsell and a downsell, discount codes, and Meta Pixel and Google Analytics.

What SaySo doesn't do yet

I'd rather you know now than find out in month three.

• No courses, communities, A/B testing or abandoned-cart emails. SaySo shows you abandoned checkouts, but doesn't email those buyers.
• No affiliate program yet. It's coming.
• Stripe only, so no PayPal or buy-now-pay-later at checkout yet.
• SaySo isn't the merchant of record and doesn't calculate or add sales tax or VAT at checkout. You're the seller, so working out and paying what you owe is yours to manage.
• Stripe can still restrict a Stripe account. Owning the account means it's your relationship with Stripe instead of somebody else's... it doesn't make the risk disappear.

FAQ

How much does ThriveCart cost in 2026? Standard is $47 a month, or $37 a month billed yearly. Pro+ is $87 a month, or $67 a month billed yearly. Both come with a 30-day free trial and ThriveCart Academy, and a lifetime Standard license is still offered.

Does ThriveCart take a percentage of sales? No. ThriveCart lists 0% fees on sales. You pay your payment processor's fees, the same as on SaySo.

Is SaySo cheaper than ThriveCart? Yes, on the monthly price: $19 against $47, or $37 billed yearly. ThriveCart includes a lot more, so it's only cheaper if you weren't going to use the extras.

Does ThriveCart hold my money? No. ThriveCart's help center says it doesn't hold your funds, and payouts go from Stripe to your bank. SaySo works the same way: buyers pay into your own Stripe account.

Can I host a course on SaySo? Not as a course player. You can sell a product with files up to 2 GB each and video links, but there are no lessons, quizzes or student logins.

Can I run ThriveCart from Claude? Not officially yet. ThriveCart has a developer API, and its help center says an official connector for Claude and ChatGPT is planned for late 2026. Until then, third-party tools like Zapier offer a way to link it to Claude. SaySo has its own Claude connection built in.

Sources

All checked October 29, 2026.

• ThriveCart home page and pricing: plan prices, what each plan includes, 0% fees on sales, lifetime option
• ThriveCart's new monthly pricing: yearly prices and the 30-day trial (posted July 15, 2026)
• Connecting a payment processor and Stripe Connect+ setup: supported processors, ThriveCart doesn't hold funds
• ThriveCart Developers: public API with OAuth and API keys
• ThriveCart application fees: Radar, Adaptive Acceptance and the sales tax surcharge on Stripe Connect+
• ThriveCart Academy FAQ: official Claude and ChatGPT connector planned for Q4 2026
• Stripe pricing: 2.9% + 30¢ on US cards
• SaySo's home page and help center for SaySo's price, features and what Claude can change