Digitally ‑ Digital Products vs. Create & Sell Digital Products

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Digitally ‑ Digital Products vs. Create & Sell Digital Products: At a Glance
3. Deep Dive Comparison
4. The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
5. Conclusion
6. FAQ

Introduction

Adding digital assets to a Shopify store presents a unique set of technical and strategic hurdles that differ significantly from shipping physical goods. Merchants must navigate file security, automated delivery, and customer access without complicating the checkout process. While Shopify is the industry standard for physical commerce, its core functionality often requires additional apps to handle the nuances of digital downloads, license keys, or blockchain-based assets. Choosing the right tool determines whether the digital branch of a business runs on autopilot or becomes a source of endless customer support tickets regarding missing files and broken links.

Short answer: For merchants who need a reliable, feature-rich tool for traditional assets like PDFs and software keys, Digitally ‑ Digital Products offers a robust, well-reviewed solution. Create & Sell Digital Products is a highly specialized tool for minting NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, though its very low user ratings suggest it may not meet the expectations of most store owners. Moving toward a native, all-in-one platform is generally the most effective way to reduce operational friction and keep the customer journey unified.

The following analysis provides a feature-by-feature comparison of Digitally ‑ Digital Products and Create & Sell Digital Products. This guide examines their workflows, pricing structures, and reliability to help merchants identify which app aligns with their specific business goals. By looking at these tools through the lens of long-term growth and customer experience, store owners can make a more informed decision about their digital product infrastructure.

Digitally ‑ Digital Products vs. Create & Sell Digital Products: At a Glance

The table below summarizes the fundamental differences between these two applications based on their core offerings and market performance signals.

Deep Dive Comparison

To understand which of these tools is the right fit, it is necessary to examine how they handle the actual day-to-day operations of a digital store. While both apps live within the Shopify ecosystem, they serve vastly different market segments and technical needs.

Core Features and Workflows

Digitally ‑ Digital Products focuses on the "classic" digital product model. The workflow is designed for speed and security. A merchant uploads a file—such as a PDF guide, a music file, or a video—and attaches it to a Shopify product listing. When a customer completes a purchase, the app triggers an automated delivery. This delivery can happen via the checkout thank-you page or through a customized email. One of the standout features of this app is the ability to sell license keys. This is vital for software developers or brands selling access to third-party tools. The app can automate the distribution of these keys, ensuring each customer receives a unique code from a pre-loaded list or a generated sequence.

Create & Sell Digital Products, developed by Spocket, takes an entirely different approach. It is not designed for PDFs or MP3s in the traditional sense. Instead, it is a gateway to the Ethereum blockchain. The app allows merchants to upload images and list them as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). The workflow involves a "minting" process where the digital image is converted into a blockchain asset. The app handles the technical side of this process so the merchant does not have to deal with crypto wallets or complex smart contracts during the initial setup. Once a customer buys the image, the merchant approves the order, and the app mints the NFT and sends it to the buyer.

Security and Intellectual Property Protection

Security is often the primary concern for anyone selling digital goods. Digitally ‑ Digital Products addresses this through several mechanisms. One of the most effective tools it provides is PDF stamping. This process overlays the customer’s personal information, such as their name and email address, onto the pages of the PDF. This discourages piracy because the file is clearly linked to the original purchaser. Additionally, the app allows merchants to set download limits and expiration dates. For example, a customer might only be allowed to download a file three times or access the link for forty-eight hours after purchase. This prevents customers from sharing download links on public forums.

Create & Sell Digital Products relies on the inherent security of the blockchain. Since the products are NFTs, ownership is verified by the Ethereum network. This provides a different kind of protection—one focused on "provenance" and "uniqueness" rather than preventing file copies. However, the app's 1-star rating suggests that the execution of this security and the minting process may not be seamless for all users. While the blockchain is secure, the bridge between a Shopify store and the blockchain requires high technical stability to ensure customers actually receive what they paid for.

Pricing Structure and Long-Term Value

The pricing model for Digitally ‑ Digital Products is tiered based on the volume of sales and the amount of storage needed. This makes it a scalable option for growing brands.

• Free Plan: This is an excellent entry point for new stores. It allows for 50 orders per month and 5GB of storage. It even includes license keys and custom links, which is generous for a free tier.
• Pro Plan ($7.99/mo): This tier increases the limits to 200 orders and 15GB of storage. It also introduces auto-fulfillment and customizable email templates, which are essential for branding.
• Plus Plan ($12.99/mo): For more established stores, this plan offers 500 orders and 30GB of storage, while allowing for larger individual files (up to 1GB).
• Unlimited Plan ($24.99/mo): This is the top-tier option for high-volume stores. It removes order and storage limits entirely, providing a predictable cost even as the store scales.

Create & Sell Digital Products does not provide clear tiered pricing data in the same way, which can make it difficult for merchants to project their costs. Typically, NFT minting involves "gas fees" (transaction costs on the blockchain), and while the app claims to simplify this, the lack of transparent pricing plans is a factor merchants should consider. When securing a fixed cost structure for digital products, a predictable monthly fee is usually preferable to variable transaction costs.

Customization and Branding

A major part of the customer experience is how the digital product is delivered. Digitally ‑ Digital Products allows for significant branding of the delivery emails and the download pages. This ensures that the transition from the Shopify checkout to the digital file feels like a part of the brand’s journey rather than a generic third-party interaction. Merchants can edit the templates to match their brand’s voice and aesthetic.

Create & Sell Digital Products focuses on the "1-click" simplicity of selling NFTs. The customization here is more about the digital asset itself—the image being sold—rather than the delivery infrastructure. Because the end product is a token in a crypto wallet, much of the experience happens outside the Shopify storefront, which can lead to a disjointed brand experience for customers who are not already familiar with blockchain technology.

User Experience and Reliability

The reliability of a digital delivery app is best judged by its merchant feedback. Digitally ‑ Digital Products holds a 4.5-star rating from 28 reviews. This indicates a high level of satisfaction with its ability to deliver files and manage license keys. Merchants often look for apps that "just work," and this rating suggests that Conversion Pro Plus has built a stable tool.

In contrast, Create & Sell Digital Products has a 1-star rating from a single review. While one review is not a large sample size, a 1-star rating for an app dealing with blockchain transactions is a significant red flag. It suggests potential issues with the minting process or customer support. For a merchant, especially one new to digital products, using an app with poor performance signals can lead to significant frustration and lost revenue. Before committing to any tool, reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from is a critical step in verifying the current state of the software.

The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively

While Digitally ‑ Digital Products is an excellent tool for file delivery and Create & Sell Digital Products offers a niche NFT solution, many merchants eventually run into the "fragmentation trap." This happens when a store uses one app for files, another for a community forum, and perhaps a third-party platform for hosting video courses. This leads to a "duct-taped" system where customers have to manage multiple logins, and the merchant has to deal with data that is scattered across different dashboards.

The core problem with fragmented systems is the friction they create. When a customer buys a digital guide and then wants to join a community or take a course, they shouldn't be forced to leave the store and create a new account on a different website. This separation often results in higher bounce rates and increased support tickets from users who cannot find their login credentials. By keeping customers at home on the brand website, merchants can create a much more professional and seamless experience.

Tevello offers an alternative approach by providing a native, all-in-one platform for digital products, courses, and communities. Instead of just delivering a file, Tevello allows merchants to build a dedicated learning or membership area that exists directly inside the Shopify store. This means that all the key features for courses and communities are managed through the same Shopify admin that the merchant already uses for their physical products.

One of the most powerful benefits of this native integration is the ability to leverage Shopify’s own ecosystem for marketing and retention. For instance, merchants can use Shopify Flow to automate rewards or access based on purchase history. Brands have seen massive success with this model. There are success stories from brands using native courses that demonstrate how keeping everything in one place leads to higher lifetime value. When the barrier between "buying" and "using" is removed, customers are more likely to return for future purchases.

For example, some merchants have doubled its store's conversion rate by fixing a fragmented system that previously confused their audience. By replacing duct-taped systems with a unified platform, they ensured that the customer journey was linear and logical. There is no need for external redirects or secondary logins. This unified approach doesn't just look better; it performs better by keeping the user focused on the brand rather than the technical tools behind it.

Another strategic advantage is the transparency of the business model. When a merchant is evaluating the long-term cost of scaling membership, they need to know that their costs won't skyrocket just because they become successful. Tevello provides a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses, which allows for predictable budgeting. This is a stark contrast to platforms that charge per user or per transaction, which can effectively penalize a brand for growing its community.

The success seen by many Shopify store owners often comes down to their ability to simplify the customer's life. Whether it is see how merchants are earning six figures by bundling digital content with physical goods or simply reducing the friction of a single login, the goal is always the same: keep the customer engaged. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Digitally ‑ Digital Products and Create & Sell Digital Products, the decision comes down to the specific type of asset being sold and the level of reliability required. Digitally ‑ Digital Products is the clear choice for anyone selling standard files like e-books, software keys, or media. Its tiered pricing and high ratings make it a safe and scalable bet for traditional digital commerce. Create & Sell Digital Products serves a very specific niche in the NFT space, but its lack of positive feedback and specialized focus makes it a risky choice for general digital product needs.

However, as a digital business grows, the need for a more integrated strategy often arises. Delivering a file is just the first step; building a relationship with the customer through courses and community is how brands truly scale. Natively integrated platforms allow merchants to amplify their sales by keeping every interaction under one roof, which significantly reduces technical overhead and customer confusion. This approach ensures that the "digital" part of the store doesn't feel like a separate, tacked-on experiment, but rather a core part of the brand experience.

By verifying compatibility details in the official app listing, merchants can see how a native solution fits into their existing Shopify setup. Choosing the right architecture early on prevents the need for a painful migration later. To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

FAQ

What is the main difference between Digitally ‑ Digital Products and Create & Sell Digital Products?

The main difference lies in the type of technology they use. Digitally ‑ Digital Products is designed for traditional digital file delivery (PDFs, ZIP files, license keys) via standard download links. Create & Sell Digital Products is a specialized tool for creating and selling NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. One is for standard digital goods, while the other is for blockchain-based collectibles.

Does Digitally ‑ Digital Products protect against file sharing?

Yes, it offers several protection features. The most prominent is PDF stamping, which adds the buyer’s personal details to the document. 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), which helps prevent customers from sharing links with others.

Is Create & Sell Digital Products suitable for selling e-books?

Technically, any image can be turned into an NFT, but this app is not intended for e-book delivery. E-books usually require multi-page support and specific reader compatibility. Create & Sell is focused on the minting of images as tokens. For e-books, Digitally ‑ Digital Products is a much more appropriate and feature-rich choice.

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

A native platform lives entirely within your Shopify store, meaning customers use their existing Shopify account to access their digital purchases, courses, or community. Specialized external apps often require separate logins or redirect customers to third-party URLs. Native platforms typically provide better data consistency, easier customer support, and a more seamless brand experience, as there is no "break" in the customer journey from purchase to consumption.