Digitally ‑ Digital Products vs. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales: An In-Depth Comparison

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Digitally ‑ Digital Products vs. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales: At a Glance
3. Deep Dive Comparison: Core Features and Workflows
4. Customization and Branding Experience
5. Pricing Structure and Value Analysis
6. User Experience and Customer Support
7. Choosing the Right App for Specific Use Cases
8. The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
9. Conclusion
10. FAQ

Introduction

Managing a digital storefront on Shopify requires a specialized set of tools to handle the delivery of assets like e-books, software keys, and video content. Unlike physical goods, digital products demand instant fulfillment, secure hosting, and robust protection against unauthorized sharing. Merchants often find themselves choosing between apps that specialize in simple file delivery or those that offer broader content management capabilities. Selecting the wrong tool can lead to customer frustration, excessive support tickets, and lost revenue due to security gaps or technical friction during the checkout process.

Short answer: Digitally ‑ Digital Products is an established solution with a strong focus on storage value and specialized features like digital lotteries, while Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales offers a streamlined, "single-click" approach to file and license delivery. For merchants seeking the highest reliability and mature feature sets, Digitally currently holds the advantage in reviews and storage flexibility. However, stores looking for deep customer retention and high-value brand loyalty may eventually find that both apps, while effective for file transfers, lack the native community and course-building infrastructure required to keep customers engaged long-term.

The purpose of this comparison is to provide a transparent, feature-by-feature analysis of Digitally ‑ Digital Products and Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales. By examining pricing, security, storage limits, and automation capabilities, merchants can determine which app aligns best with their specific operational needs and growth goals.

Digitally ‑ Digital Products vs. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison: Core Features and Workflows

Understanding how these apps handle the daily movement of digital assets is essential for maintaining a professional store. Both apps aim to solve the problem of automated delivery, but their execution and additional utility features differ significantly.

Digital Asset Delivery and Automation

Digitally ‑ Digital Products prioritizes a comprehensive delivery ecosystem. It allows merchants to sell a wide variety of formats, including PDFs, MP3s, and videos. The automation starts the moment a customer completes their purchase, with the app delivering files or license keys via the checkout page and automated emails. A unique aspect of Digitally is the "Digital Lottery" feature, which allows merchants to create promotional excitement and engagement—a feature not typically found in standard file delivery apps.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales focuses on a philosophy of efficiency. The developer describes a "single-click" process where the merchant selects a product and uploads files to begin selling. Arc supports up to 10 files per product, which is helpful for bundling related assets like a collection of graphic design templates or an e-book with accompanying audio files. Like its competitor, Arc provides download buttons on the order confirmation page and sends personalized emails to ensure the customer has multiple ways to access their purchase.

Security and Content Protection

Security is the primary concern for any digital creator. Without proper protection, a single purchase can be shared across the internet, devaluing the content. Both apps address this through PDF stamping and download restrictions.

Digitally ‑ Digital Products offers PDF stamping, which embeds customer-specific information into the file to discourage piracy. It also allows merchants to set download limits (how many times a file can be downloaded) and expiration dates (how long the link remains active). This level of control is vital for time-sensitive releases or high-ticket digital goods.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales provides similar safeguards, including PDF stamping and duration/frequency restrictions. By limiting the number of times a customer can download a file, Arc helps prevent link sharing. These features are standard in the Lite, Premium, and Pro plans, ensuring that merchants who pay for the service receive essential security tools.

License Key Management

For software developers or merchants selling access to third-party services, license key management is a critical workflow. Both apps handle this by allowing for the sale of keys, promo codes, and vouchers.

Digitally ‑ Digital Products provides a way to track licenses and analyze sales data within the app. This helps merchants understand which keys have been assigned and when to restock their inventory of codes. The manual or automated delivery options give merchants the flexibility to vet orders if necessary before a key is released.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales emphasizes bulk and single digital downloads for license keys. It aims to make the distribution of these keys effortless, focusing on a smooth transition from the checkout page to the customer's hands. The unlimited license key provision across all plans makes it a viable option for stores that move a high volume of software licenses or activation codes.

Customization and Branding Experience

A disjointed customer experience can lead to a loss of trust. If a customer buys from a beautifully branded Shopify store and then receives a generic, unformatted email with a raw download link, the brand value takes a hit.

Digitally ‑ Digital Products allows for significant customization of both the delivery emails and the download pages. Merchants can align the look and feel of these touchpoints with their store’s branding, ensuring a professional transition from the point of sale to product consumption. This includes the use of QR codes for access, which can be useful for physical-to-digital bridge products or mobile-first customers.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales also offers email customization and an "elegant and customizable" download button on the checkout page. While the description indicates that these features are part of the paid tiers, they are essential for merchants who want to maintain a cohesive brand identity. The focus here is on simplicity and providing an "effortless" experience for the buyer.

Pricing Structure and Value Analysis

The pricing models of these two apps represent different approaches to storage and order volume.

Digitally ‑ Digital Products Pricing

The pricing tiers for Digitally are structured around order volume and storage capacity:

• The Free plan is quite generous, offering 50 orders per month and 5GB of storage. This is ideal for new stores testing the digital market.
• The Pro plan ($7.99/month) increases storage to 15GB and supports 200 orders.
• The Plus plan ($12.99/month) provides 30GB of storage and 500 orders.
• The Unlimited plan ($24.99/month) removes order and storage caps, which is excellent value for money for high-volume stores.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales Pricing

Arc’s pricing is significantly higher at the top end but offers more storage on the mid-range plans:

• The Free plan is more restrictive, allowing only 3 products and 250MB of storage, though it does match the 50 orders per month limit.
• The Lite plan ($14.90/month) offers 50GB of storage and unlimited orders.
• The Premium plan ($24.90/month) offers 100GB.
• The Pro plan ($39.90/month) offers 250GB.

For a merchant with a few very large files (like high-definition video), Arc’s Lite plan might provide a better value for storage than Digitally’s Pro plan. However, for a store with hundreds of small files and high order volume, Digitally’s Unlimited plan at $24.99 is more cost-effective than Arc’s Pro plan at $39.90.

User Experience and Customer Support

The reputation of an app is often as important as its feature list. Digitally ‑ Digital Products has a 4.5-star rating based on 28 reviews. This suggests a level of stability and merchant satisfaction that has been tested over time. Merchants can look at these reviews to understand common praise or complaints regarding the app's performance and the responsiveness of the Conversion Pro Plus support team.

In contrast, Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales currently has no reviews or ratings in the provided data. This does not necessarily mean the app is inferior, but it does mean there is less social proof for potential users. Merchants choosing Arc may be "early adopters," which can sometimes mean more personalized attention from the developer, but it also carries the risk of unpolished features or slower response times compared to a more established competitor.

Choosing the Right App for Specific Use Cases

The choice between these two apps often depends on the specific nature of the digital products being sold and the current stage of the business.

• For Gamified Sales and High Volume: Digitally ‑ Digital Products is the clear choice. The digital lottery feature and the unlimited orders on the $24.99 plan make it a robust tool for merchants running frequent promotions or those with a massive catalog of e-books and keys.
• For Large File Hosting on a Budget: Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales may be preferable for merchants who have high storage needs but relatively low order counts. The 50GB of storage on the $14.90 Lite plan is significantly higher than what is offered at Digitally’s similar price point.
• For Maximum Reliability: Digitally’s established review history makes it the safer bet for merchants who cannot afford downtime or delivery glitches during a major launch.

The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively

While both Digitally ‑ Digital Products and Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales excel at moving files from a server to a customer, they represent a "fragmented" approach to digital commerce. In this model, the customer buys a product and then receives a link to a file. The relationship often ends there. If a merchant wants to build a community, offer a structured course, or provide a membership area, they frequently have to add yet another app, creating a "duct-taped" system. This fragmentation leads to multiple logins for the customer, separate silos for customer data, and a disjointed brand experience that can ultimately lower conversion rates.

Tevello offers a different philosophy: the "All-in-One Native Platform." Instead of treating a digital product as just a file to be downloaded, Tevello treats it as an experience that lives directly within the Shopify store. By keeping customers "at home," merchants eliminate the friction of external platforms and separate login credentials. This native integration allows digital courses and communities to sit right alongside physical products, making it possible to bundle a physical kit with a digital masterclass effortlessly.

The results of moving to a native system are often reflected in the bottom line. For instance, strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively have allowed brands to generate over $112,000 in revenue by simply offering digital education alongside their physical inventory. This approach avoids the technical overhead of managing external file delivery systems and focuses on the long-term value of the customer.

When a store unifies its content and commerce, the technical friction that often kills sales is removed. Merchants have seen success in achieving a 100% improvement in conversion rate by replacing fragmented systems with a single, cohesive experience. Instead of sending a customer away to a download page, the customer stays logged into their account on the store, where they can access their content, interact with a community, and see recommended physical products that complement their digital purchase.

One of the biggest advantages of this native approach is the cost structure. Rather than paying for increasing storage tiers or per-user fees, merchants can access a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses. This provides predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees, which is essential for businesses that are scaling rapidly. Whether a store has ten members or ten thousand, the focus remains on growth rather than managing increasing app costs.

By keeping the experience inside Shopify, merchants also benefit from lessons from brands merging education and commerce. These brands have found that when a customer consumes content on the same site where they shop, their lifetime value increases. They are more likely to return, more likely to engage with the community, and more likely to make repeat purchases.

For stores that are currently overwhelmed by customer support tickets related to login issues or lost download links, migrating over 14,000 members and reducing support tickets is a common outcome of switching to a native platform. A single login for both shopping and learning simplifies the customer journey and frees up the merchant to focus on marketing and content creation.

Choosing a native platform also means examples of removing friction from the course sales funnel become the standard for your business. Instead of a multi-step process involving external emails and third-party hosting, the delivery is immediate and integrated. This level of professionalism is what separates a basic digital shop from a high-growth brand.

For those planning their long-term growth, planning content ROI without surprise overages is much easier when the platform doesn't penalize you for success. As the community grows, avoiding per-user fees as the community scales ensures that profit margins remain healthy even as the brand becomes more popular.

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by evaluating the long-term cost of scaling membership.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Digitally ‑ Digital Products and Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales, the decision comes down to the balance between established reliability and specific storage needs. Digitally ‑ Digital Products offers a more mature ecosystem with 28 positive reviews, a unique lottery feature, and a very competitive "Unlimited" plan that appeals to high-volume sellers. On the other hand, Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales provides a clean, simplified interface and higher storage limits in its mid-tier plans, which may suit merchants with large file sizes but lower overall order volume.

However, as a brand grows, the limitations of simple file-delivery apps often become apparent. Selling a file is a transaction, but building a brand is an ongoing relationship. Natively integrated platforms amplify sales by turning those transactions into memberships, courses, and communities that live directly on your Shopify store. This approach not only increases the average order value through easy bundling but also significantly reduces support tickets by unifying a fragmented system into a single Shopify store. By keeping the customer journey entirely within the Shopify ecosystem, you create a seamless environment where commerce and content support each other.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

Which app is better for selling software license keys?

Both apps are highly capable of selling license keys. Digitally ‑ Digital Products offers built-in analytics to track your licenses, which is helpful for inventory management. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales offers unlimited license keys across all its plans, making it a very strong contender for high-volume software sellers who want a straightforward delivery mechanism.

Can I protect my PDF files from being shared?

Yes, both Digitally and Arc offer PDF stamping. This process embeds the customer's identifying information (like their name or email address) onto the pages of the PDF. While this doesn't physically prevent a file from being sent to someone else, it acts as a significant psychological deterrent and allows you to trace the source of any leaked content. Both apps also allow you to limit the number of times a file can be downloaded.

How does a native, all-in-one platform compare to specialized external apps?

A native platform like Tevello integrates directly into your Shopify theme and customer accounts. Specialized apps like Digitally or Arc are excellent for one-off file deliveries, but they often function as separate layers on top of your store. A native platform allows you to host courses, build communities, and sell digital products in a way that feels like a natural part of your website, using the same login and checkout your customers already trust. This typically leads to higher engagement and better retention than sending customers to external download pages.

What happens if I exceed the storage limit on my plan?

In most cases, Shopify apps will either prevent new uploads or prompt you to upgrade your plan once a limit is reached. Digitally ‑ Digital Products offers an "Unlimited" plan for $24.99 per month, which removes the need to worry about storage caps entirely. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales scales up to 250GB on its highest plan, which accommodates very large files but does have an eventual ceiling. For merchants with massive libraries, seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify and handles unlimited content can be a helpful comparison point for long-term scalability.

Is there a limit to the size of individual files I can upload?

Digitally ‑ Digital Products has a standard limit of 2GB per file on its Unlimited plan, though they mention this can be increased upon request. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales does not explicitly state an individual file size limit in its plan descriptions, but its total storage caps (up to 250GB) suggest it can handle significant file sizes. Always check the current confirming the install path used by Shopify merchants for the most up-to-date technical specifications before a major product launch.