SoloStore → Pensight alternative
Pensight and SoloStore sell the same things, and neither takes a percentage of what you make. The difference is who runs the server — and whether you pay every month or once.
Short answer: these two are closer than any other pair on this site, and the fees are not the difference. Pensight's platform cut is 0% — what comes off each sale is Stripe's processing, exactly as it is with SoloStore. The real difference is managed versus self-hosted. Pensight runs everything for $29 or $99 a month, indefinitely. SoloStore is $497 once plus about $7 a month of hosting you run yourself, so it costs more today and less every year after. The lines cross in under two years.
$29 a month is $348 a year, in a good year and a quiet one. The software never gets cheaper for having been paid for already.
The storefront, the checkout and the customer list live on Pensight. If the plans change, or the company does, your store changes with them.
A hosted platform decides what gets built, what gets retired and what a plan includes. Software on your own server keeps working the way it worked the day you installed it.
Every number below came off the vendor's own pricing page, checked 5 August 2026.
| Pensight Pro | SoloStore | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | $29/mo (Pro) · $99/mo (Business) | $497 once |
| Platform cut of each sale | 0% | 0% — always |
| What comes off a sale | Stripe's 3% processing | Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢, paid to Stripe |
| Year one | $348 on Pro | $581 all in |
| Every year after | $348 on Pro | $84 hosting |
| Who runs the server | Pensight — nothing for you to do | you do — about five minutes to set up |
| You can host it yourself | No | Yes |
| You own the software | No | Yes |
| Free plan to start on | Yes | No |
| Digital products | Yes | Yes |
| Courses & memberships | Yes | Yes |
| Money lands in your own Stripe | Yes | Yes |
| Shaped around selling 1:1 time | Yes | products and courses |
| Five-year total | $1,740 on Pro | $917 |
Pensight figures are public list prices from pensight.com/pricing, checked 5 August 2026. SoloStore's total is the one-time licence plus about $7 a month of self-hosting (Railway and Bunny, paid direct). Stripe's processing fee applies on both sides and is excluded.
A comparison page that only flatters itself is an advert. Here is where Pensight wins.
Stay on Pensight if you would rather never think about a server, if the free tier still covers you, or if most of your income is 1:1 calls. This page is for the creator who has decided this is the business, and would rather own the software than rent it for the next decade.
Two services, no markup, nothing paid to us — and a five-minute setup with no code and no terminal.
Not sure what self-hosting means in practice? Watch the five-minute setup video — it is the entire process, start to finish.
Other questions? Shoot me an email — matt@mattgiaro.com