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

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. PaidQuiz vs. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales: At a Glance
3. Deep Dive Comparison
4. Pros and Cons: Quick Reference
5. When to Choose One Over the Other
6. The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
7. Conclusion
8. FAQ

Introduction

Shopify merchants who want to sell digital learning, downloads, or membership access face a common choice: use a focused, single-purpose app or move to a platform that integrates content, community, and commerce more tightly. The wrong choice can create friction at checkout, fragment customer data, and limit merchandising tactics like bundling physical goods with courses.

Short answer: PaidQuiz is built for merchants who want to create and sell interactive quizzes inside their store; it’s a narrowly focused product offering embedded, branded quiz experiences. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales is aimed at merchants who need a simple, reliable way to attach files, license keys, and downloadable assets to Shopify orders. Both apps solve clear problems, but neither is a full-featured, native solution for courses, memberships, and communities. For merchants looking to keep customers in Shopify and combine commerce with content, a native platform like Tevello is an alternative worth evaluating.

This article provides a feature-by-feature, outcome-focused comparison of PaidQuiz and Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales. It explains where each app fits, highlights trade-offs in pricing and integrations, and shows how a natively integrated platform changes the equation for merchants interested in long-term customer value and unified experiences.

PaidQuiz vs. Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales: At a Glance

Deep Dive Comparison

This section compares PaidQuiz and Arc across practical merchant criteria: features, pricing & value, integrations and workflows, customer experience, scalability, and support. Each subsection focuses on outcomes that matter for revenue growth, retention, and operational efficiency.

Core Features and Content Types

PaidQuiz: What it does well

PaidQuiz is designed to let merchants build interactive quizzes and charge for access to them directly in the Shopify storefront. Core capabilities include:

• Create questions, scoring logic, and personalized result messages.
• Embed a branded quiz portal inside the store so customers do not need to leave the site to take the quiz.
• Sell quizzes as discrete digital products; quizzes are treated as the product customers buy.
• A freemium path for testing and a Professional plan to remove branding.

Why that matters: quizzes can be high-converting digital products when they provide immediate gratification (e.g., exams, certifications, personality typing) or when used as lead-generation funnels that convert directly into paid access. For subject-matter experts with a single-product digital offering, an embedded, paid quiz can reduce friction and encourage impulse purchases.

Limitations to note:

• The app focuses on quizzes; it lacks broader course features—no lessons, drip schedules, community spaces, or certificate issuance beyond quiz result messaging.
• It does not advertise deep e-learning features like lessons structure, assignments, or granular access controls for subscriptions or memberships.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales: What it does well

Arc centers on secure delivery and management of digital files and license keys. Notable features include:

• Upload up to 10 files per product in the basic workflow, with higher-storage plans supporting much larger libraries.
• Display download buttons on the order confirmation page; deliver personalized emails with download links.
• Manage license keys for software or digital assets.
• Restrict downloads by count or time window, and PDF stamping to deter sharing.
• Email customization for branded delivery messages.

Why that matters: Arc is a solid choice for merchants that sell e-books, design assets, software licenses, or any product where the primary requirement is secure file delivery and license management. It handles the logistics of digital fulfillment reliably and provides storage and limits that scale with plan level.

Limitations to note:

• Arc does not provide learning management features (modules, lessons, community discussions, quizzes embedded in a course flow).
• Its UX is focused on download delivery rather than an interactive consumption environment—customers download files rather than engage with content inside the store.

Pricing and Value for Money

Pricing is a critical factor for merchants balancing cost against features and growth potential. This section compares the effective value offered by each app.

PaidQuiz pricing model

• Starter: Free to install — offers sellable quizzes, embedded quiz portal, branded experience.
• Professional: $100/month — sells quizzes, embedded portal, unbranded.

Value analysis:

• PaidQuiz’s simple tiering makes it easy to test the product on the free plan. For merchants who need unbranded, reliable quizzes at scale, the $100/month Professional plan is predictable but represents a relatively high flat cost for a single-content format.
• The model is straightforward: pay for removal of branding and continued access to quiz-selling tools. There appear to be no per-course or per-student fees beyond the subscription.

Practical takeaway: PaidQuiz can be cost-effective for merchants whose monetized quiz offering generates enough revenue to justify a $100 monthly fee. It may feel expensive for small sellers with low volume or those who need to host multiple content types.

Arc pricing model

• Free: 3 digital products, 50 orders/month, 250 MB storage, unlimited license keys.
• Lite: $14.90/month — unlimited products and orders, 50 GB storage, basic download limitations, PDF stamping, email customization.
• Premium: $24.90/month — 100 GB storage, same feature set.
• Pro: $39.90/month — 250 GB storage.

Value analysis:

• Arc’s pricing scales with storage and order limits. For file-heavy stores or high-volume digital delivery, the Lite/Premium/Pro tiers are predictable and comparatively lower cost than many content platforms.
• The free plan is useful for experimentation or shops with minimal digital sales volume.

Practical takeaway: For merchants primarily selling downloadable files or license keys, Arc offers clear, affordable tiers that map directly to storage and volume. The value proposition is predictable pricing tied to technical needs, not learning features.

Comparative pricing conclusion

• PaidQuiz provides a high-priced single-plan ($100) for unbranded, production-ready quiz selling that may be right for merchants with a focused quiz product and clear revenue model.
• Arc provides lower-cost, granular plans that scale with storage and orders, offering better value for merchants who need file delivery at volume.
• Neither app offers a full course-platform price point that includes community, bundled physical + digital checkout, drip content, or unlimited member handling under predictable, Shopify-native terms.

Integrations, Technical Workflow, and Native Behavior

Integration quality affects checkout flow, analytics, customer accounts, and operational simplicity.

How PaidQuiz integrates with Shopify

PaidQuiz is described as an embedded portal delivered within the online shop. That implies:

• Quiz experiences load inside the merchant’s store, preserving brand continuity.
• Purchases are processed through Shopify, avoiding external checkout redirects.
• For merchants wanting to bundle a quiz purchase with physical goods, the embedded nature should enable product-level selling within Shopify’s storefront and cart.

Missing or unclear areas:

• Public documentation of deeper integrations (e.g., Shopify Flow, native membership handling, customer tags, access expiration control) is limited in the app description.
• There is no clear mention of single sign-on into a persistent member area or integration with Shopify’s customer accounts for long-term access management.

Practical takeaway: PaidQuiz preserves on-site experience for buyers but may require manual work or additional apps for membership access controls and customer lifecycle automation.

How Arc integrates with Shopify

Arc’s operations align closely with Shopify’s order lifecycle:

• Attach downloads and license keys to products; shoppers receive download links on order confirmation and via email.
• Download buttons appear on the order confirmation page, which is part of the Shopify checkout flow.
• Email customization enables tailored post-purchase communication while staying within Shopify’s transaction context.

Strengths:

• Arc handles post-purchase delivery neatly without external logins.
• It supports workflows where a customer buys a physical product and receives digital assets in the same order.

Practical takeaway: Arc is tightly coupled to order fulfillment and is built to work in Shopify’s post-purchase flow. It excels at managing digital delivery without requiring a separate membership system.

Native vs. external considerations

Both apps operate within Shopify, but neither advertises a full native course + community ecosystem. That matters for merchants who want to:

• Keep customers “at home” without redirecting to third-party portals.
• Bundle physical and digital products, promotions, and checkout experiences seamlessly.
• Scale community interactions (discussion boards, member-only content) using Shopify-native customer accounts and flows.

If those needs are important, a Shopify-native, all-in-one course and community solution may offer better long-term integration (see the Tevello section for specifics).

Customer Experience and Learner Journeys

Customer experience shapes conversion and lifetime value. This comparison evaluates the end-to-end journey for buyers and learners.

Purchasing and access flow — PaidQuiz

• Buyers discover a quiz product in the store and complete checkout through Shopify.
• After purchase, customers access the quiz via the embedded portal on the storefront.
• The experience is cohesive and brand-consistent since content is delivered inside the store.

Pros:

• Minimal friction for single-use quizzes.
• Branded, immersive quiz interface helps retention for immediate engagement.

Cons:

• Limited features for sequencing content, issuing progress certificates, or supporting long-term course access.
• If the merchant later wants to expand into full courses or memberships, migration could require additional tools.

Purchasing and access flow — Arc

• Buyers complete checkout and see download buttons on the order confirmation page.
• A follow-up email contains personalized download links or license keys.
• Downloads can be time-limited or restricted by count to protect assets.

Pros:

• Clear, reliable delivery model for files and license keys.
• Works well for products that customers expect to download and own.

Cons:

• Not designed for locked member-only content inside the storefront where lessons are consumed daily.
• Less suitable for interactive learning experiences that benefit from in-platform video playback, quizzes inside a lesson flow, or member discussions.

Use Cases and Merchant Profiles

Different apps suit different merchant profiles. This section pairs merchant goals with the app most likely to meet them.

• Merchant selling single interactive assessments (e.g., certification tests, personality assessments):
  • PaidQuiz is the better fit due to its native quiz creation and scoring features.
• Merchant selling e-books, photo packs, software licenses, or any file-based digital product:
  • Arc is the better fit because of its file management, license key support, and delivery controls.
• Merchant wanting to bundle physical kits with guided, on-demand courses and a member forum:
  • Neither PaidQuiz nor Arc is a complete fit. This is where a native course + community platform that integrates with Shopify checkout and product bundling becomes valuable.
• Merchant scaling to repeat course sales, bundles, and long-term member relationships:
  • Consider platforms that support memberships, drip content, certificates, and Shopify-native checkout to reduce friction.

Security, Compliance, and Delivery Controls

Digital goods require secure delivery, especially for licensed assets or paid content.

• PaidQuiz: Security model centers on delivering access to a quiz inside the storefront. Without documentation on download controls or DRM, it’s best suited to content where the business model is access rather than file ownership.
• Arc: Offers explicit download limitations, PDF stamping, and license key management—practical features for sellers who need to protect file-based IP.

Merchants should confirm details such as storage locations, encryption, and account-level access controls with each app’s documentation before selling high-value digital products.

Scaling, Analytics, and Reporting

Long-term growth relies on understanding sales patterns, repeat purchase behavior, and engagement.

• PaidQuiz: Likely provides minimal analytics centered on quiz completion and scoring. For robust cohort analysis or repeat-purchase tracking specific to learning consumption, additional analytics tools may be necessary.
• Arc: Focuses on delivery metrics (orders, downloads) more than learning engagement. It integrates cleanly with Shopify’s sales reporting but lacks built-in course engagement analytics.

Merchants that need to correlate course engagement with lifetime value, retention, or AOV should look for solutions that integrate with Shopify reporting or provide native analytics around member behavior.

Support, Documentation, and Onboarding

Merchant time is valuable; support and onboarding quality matter.

• Both PaidQuiz and Arc display zero reviews and zero ratings on the Shopify App Store according to available data. That absence of public feedback makes due diligence important: merchants should request demos, trial the apps on a development store, and confirm onboarding timelines.
• Arc’s tiered plans and clear feature list (download limits, email customization, PDF stamping) suggest operational predictability. PaidQuiz’s freemium path allows testing of quiz creation before committing to a monthly fee.

Practical step: Use a development store or free plan to test the flow, then evaluate operational support response times before migrating customer-facing content.

Pros and Cons: Quick Reference

PaidQuiz — Pros

• Built specifically for paid quizzes and assessments.
• Embedded, branded experience within Shopify avoids external redirects.
• Freemium starter plan enables low-risk testing.

PaidQuiz — Cons

• Narrow scope: not a full LMS or membership platform.
• Professional plan cost ($100/mo) may not represent strong value for merchants who need broader features.
• Limited public reviews and rating data.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales — Pros

• Robust file delivery, license key support, and email customization.
• Predictable, affordable tiering based on storage and orders.
• Download limitation and PDF stamping improve asset protection.

Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales — Cons

• Not designed for hosted lessons, drip content, or community features.
• The customer experience centers on downloads rather than in-platform learning.
• Limited public reviews and rating data.

When to Choose One Over the Other

The right pick depends on immediate product needs and long-term goals.

Choose PaidQuiz if:

• The primary product is an interactive, paid quiz or certification delivered entirely within the storefront.
• The merchant prioritizes an embedded, branded user experience for assessments.
• There is willingness to pay a flat Professional fee for unbranded deployment.

Choose Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales if:

• The merchant sells downloadable files, software license keys, or other file-based products.
• Secure delivery, download limits, and PDF stamping are important.
• Predictable, storage-based pricing that scales with volume is a priority.

Choose a different path if:

• The goal is to sell multi-lesson courses, run member communities, drip content, issue certificates, and bundle physical products with digital access while keeping all customers in Shopify. For those needs, evaluate Shopify-native course and community platforms that unify commerce and content.

The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively

Fragmentation is a real operational cost. Many merchants start with single-purpose tools that solve one problem, only to discover gaps when use cases multiply. Common friction points include:

• Customers forced to log into an external portal for course access, increasing support tickets.
• Inability to bundle physical products and courses under the same checkout and SKU logic.
• Disconnected analytics and marketing data across platforms, making it difficult to track repeat purchase behavior or LTV for learners.
• Per-seat or per-member pricing models that grow unpredictably as communities scale.

A natively integrated platform reduces these friction points by keeping customers "at home" on the Shopify storefront, using the same checkout, customer accounts, and commerce flows merchants rely on.

Tevello: A native option for courses and communities

Tevello is a Shopify-native platform built to unify courses, digital products, and communities inside the merchant’s store. Its design objective is to remove the seams between commerce and content so that a customer experience feels seamless and coherent.

Key value propositions:

• Unlimited courses, members, and community spaces under an all-in-one plan.
• Memberships, subscriptions, drip content, certificates, quizzes, and video hosting integrated into the Shopify experience.
• Bundling and upselling physical products with courses to increase average order value and repeat purchases.
• Native behavior with Shopify checkout and customer accounts to reduce login friction and support overhead.

To evaluate the business impact, consider real merchant outcomes achieved with Tevello:

• How one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products: Crochetmilie consolidated video courses and physical product bundles into Shopify, selling 4,000+ courses and generating $112K+ in digital revenue while also increasing physical product sales. Read the Crochetmilie case study here: how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products.
• Migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets: Charles Dowding moved a large member base from a fragmented system to a Shopify-native setup, adding 2,000+ new members and sharply reducing login-related support issues. Read how one merchant migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets.
• Generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers: fotopro used a native integration to upsell photography courses to existing customers and recorded significant repeat purchase behavior and revenue. See the fotopro story: generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers.
• Achieved repeat business and higher AOV by bundling: Klum House bundled physical kits with on-demand sewing courses and achieved a 59%+ returning customer rate and a material increase in AOV for returning customers. Learn more about that outcome at the Klum House case study hub on the success pages.
• Doubled conversion by fixing fragmentation: Launch Party improved conversion by moving from a patched-together stack to a unified system that kept customers on-site and simplified the checkout to course experience. The launch party case highlights how smoothing friction lifts conversion rates.

Each of those links points to case studies and success stories that illustrate the practical business outcomes of a unified, Shopify-native approach. For merchants considering a move away from specialized tools or external portals, these examples show how natively integrated platforms can increase lifetime value, lower support costs, and streamline operations. See how merchants are earning six figures and more on the Tevello success stories page: see how merchants are earning six figures.

How Tevello changes the trade-offs

Compared with PaidQuiz or Arc, Tevello’s native platform addresses several recurring trade-offs:

• Bundling physical and digital: Instead of treating courses and physical kits as separate systems, Tevello makes bundles straightforward and keeps the entire purchase on Shopify.
• Predictable pricing: An unlimited plan provides predictable monthly cost for unlimited courses and members, removing per-seat unpredictability and making growth projections easier. Review a simple pricing structure and trial options here: a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.
• Membership continuity: Customers remain in Shopify customer accounts rather than logging into external portals, reducing forgotten-password issues and support tickets.
• Feature set: Drip content, certificates, quizzes, and community features are included, avoiding the need to stitch together multiple apps.
• Native checkout: Because everything is native, courses and memberships can leverage Shopify checkout and automation (e.g., Shopify Flow) out of the box, streamlining promotions and automation.

For merchants who want all the key features for running courses and member communities within Shopify, Tevello documents all the key features for courses and communities.

How to evaluate migration risk vs. long-term value

Moving away from point solutions requires assessing the migration cost versus long-term benefits:

• Estimate the time and support overhead saved by reducing login issues and support tickets (Charles Dowding’s case is an example).
• Model the revenue uplift from bundling courses with physical products (Crochetmilie and Klum House provide concrete numbers to benchmark).
• Factor in predictable pricing vs. per-user or per-seat costs that can rise with scale.

For many merchants, a short trial period on a development store—combined with a migration plan for existing content—makes it possible to assess whether consolidation drives the expected business outcomes.

Explore the Tevello pricing and trial options to test the platform yourself: a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses. For merchants who prefer to see social proof, read the Tevello success stories hub: see how merchants are earning six figures.

Operational benefits for marketing and retention

A unified platform enables marketing and retention tactics that are harder with fragmented stacks:

• Easier cross-sell flows: Add a course to the same cart as a physical product and run targeted post-purchase funnels.
• Cohort-based offers: Use native customer tagging and flows for targeted re-engagement campaigns.
• Reduced friction: Fewer external logins mean fewer abandoned courses and fewer support tickets.

If the goal is to measure and grow customer lifetime value, a native approach removes many of the technical barriers that complicate those efforts.

Practical next steps for merchants evaluating platforms

• Create a list of required outcomes: content types, access rules, bundling needs, and support SLAs.
• Test each app on a development store: both PaidQuiz and Arc offer entry-level options for experimentation. For Tevello, explore a trial or demo to compare native membership flows.
• Benchmark the migration effort: confirm how much work is required to move content and members from current platforms.
• Run a small pilot: migrate a single course or product bundle and measure conversion, support tickets, and repeat purchase behavior over a 60–90 day window.

If the desired outcome is to reduce platform fragmentation and keep customers on Shopify, review Tevello’s trial and pricing to validate the path forward: a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses. Tevello is also available on the Shopify App Store and is presented as a natively integrated solution—review the listing to confirm technical fit and reviews: natively integrated with Shopify checkout.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between PaidQuiz and Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales, the decision comes down to product focus and business goals. PaidQuiz is well-suited to merchants monetizing interactive quizzes and assessments inside their storefront. Arc is the practical choice for reliable, secure digital-file delivery and license management at scale. Both apps fill specific roles, but neither is designed to be a one-stop platform for courses, memberships, and communities.

For merchants who want to unify commerce, content, and community inside Shopify, reduce support overhead, and unlock bundling and membership strategies that increase LTV, a native platform offers a higher-value path. Tevello provides that native option, combining course features, community spaces, and Shopify-native checkout and customer account integration. To evaluate whether a native consolidation is the right move, review Tevello’s features and success stories—including merchants that achieved more than $112K in digital revenue by bundling courses with physical products and a merchant that migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets—and compare the operational benefits against the single-purpose apps outlined above. See how Tevello’s success stories demonstrate real outcomes and what the platform delivers: see how merchants are earning six figures, how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products, and migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets.

Start your 14-day free trial to unify your content and commerce today: Start your 14-day free trial.

If a merchant’s immediate need is a single-purpose tool—an embedded quiz or a download manager—PaidQuiz and Arc offer focused solutions. If the business plan includes growth through repeat purchases, bundles, memberships, and community engagement, evaluate the long-term benefits of a native, all-in-one platform and test how consolidating systems impacts conversion, support, and lifetime value.

FAQ

What types of merchants should choose PaidQuiz over Arc?

• Merchants whose primary digital product is an interactive quiz or assessment should choose PaidQuiz. It’s built for delivering quizzes inside the storefront, providing scoring and personalized results messaging that suits certifications, exams, and personality-type products.

What types of merchants should choose Arc ‑ Digital Content Sales over PaidQuiz?

• Merchants selling downloadable files, licensed software, e-books, or asset packs should choose Arc. Its file delivery, download limitation, PDF stamping, and license key management make it better suited for file-based commerce than PaidQuiz.

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

• A native platform like Tevello combines course creation, community features, memberships, and native Shopify checkout under one roof. This reduces customer friction, simplifies bundling of physical and digital goods, and avoids multiple logins and fragmented analytics. Tevello’s case studies show concrete business outcomes—such as generating over €243,000 through upsells and migrating large communities to a unified Shopify setup—that illustrate the operational and revenue benefits of consolidation. See the Tevello features page to compare capabilities: all the key features for courses and communities.

How should a merchant decide whether to consolidate or stay with a single-purpose app?

• Start by listing must-have outcomes: content formats, access rules, bundling needs, and tracking requirements. Pilot each approach on a development store, measure conversion and support impacts, and estimate migration costs. For merchants who prioritize growth through memberships and product bundling, consolidation onto a Shopify-native solution is often worth the short-term migration effort. Read Tevello’s success stories to see comparative outcomes and benchmarks that can help inform that decision: see how merchants are earning six figures.

Additional resources:

• Tevello pricing and trial information: a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses
• Tevello on the Shopify App Store (for app listing and merchant reviews): natively integrated with Shopify checkout