Best Digital Products to Sell (Ranked for Beginners)
The best digital products to sell, ranked by effort, demand evidence, price ceiling and platform fit, plus which ones beginners should skip for now.
Quick summary (TL;DR)
- The best digital products to sell for a beginner are the ones you can finish in weeks, that solve one clear problem, and that buyers already search for.
- Templates, printables and spreadsheet tools are the easiest starting points; courses and software have higher price ceilings but take far longer to build.
- No product type sells by itself, and popular categories are crowded, so a narrow buyer and a specific outcome matter more than the format.
- Some products carry extra platform risk: Etsy prohibits AI prompt bundles, and resold PLR files are restricted on several major platforms.
- Check demand before you build by looking at existing sellers, reviews and the questions buyers ask.
In this guide
The best digital products to sell as a beginner are ones you can finish in a few weeks, that solve one specific problem, and that people already look for: templates, printables, spreadsheet tools and short guides usually top that list. Courses, software and creative asset packs can earn more per sale, but they take longer to build and are harder to sell without an audience.
This guide ranks product types by how well they suit a beginner. It is not a list of "hot" items; no format sells by itself, and the popular ones are crowded. For niche-by-niche inspiration, see our companion list of digital product ideas that sell.
How did we rank these digital products?
We scored each type on five questions a beginner should ask before building anything.
- Time to a sellable version. Can you finish a good first version in weeks, not months?
- Demand evidence. Can you see other sellers, reviews or search behavior showing people pay for it?
- Price ceiling. How much can a good version reasonably charge?
- Platform fit. Is it allowed and easy to deliver on the main platforms?
- Skill needed. Can someone with basic tools make a quality version?
No ranking can account for your skills. If you're a photographer, presets may be your number one even though they sit lower here.
The best digital products to sell, at a glance
| Rank | Product type | Time to first version | Price ceiling | Competition | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Templates (Canva, Notion, Google Docs) | Days to 2 weeks | Low to medium | High | Organized people, designers, small business owners |
| 2 | Printables and planners | Days to 2 weeks | Low | Very high | Parents, teachers, anyone with a niche hobby |
| 3 | Spreadsheet tools | 1–3 weeks | Low to medium | Medium | People comfortable with formulas |
| 4 | Short guides and workbooks | 2–4 weeks | Low to medium | Medium | People with real know-how in one topic |
| 5 | Creative assets (presets, brushes, fonts) | 2–6 weeks | Low to medium | High | Photographers, illustrators, designers |
| 6 | Mini-courses and workshops | 3–8 weeks | Medium to high | Medium | Experts with some audience |
| 7 | Full courses and memberships | Months | High | Medium | Creators with trust and traffic |
| 8 | Software, plugins and apps | Months | High | Varies | Developers |
"Price ceiling" is relative: a printable often sells for a few dollars, a course for much more. We don't list typical prices because they vary so much by niche; our guide on how to price digital products shows how to set yours.
Which digital products are easiest for beginners to sell?
Templates, printables and spreadsheet tools are the easiest to start with: you can build a quality version in days or weeks with common tools, and buyers understand them from a preview.
1. Templates: the best starting point
Templates rank first because they are quick to make, easy to preview and clearly useful. A buyer understands a resume template or a content calendar in seconds.
- Canva templates for social posts, pitch decks, menus or event invitations.
- Notion templates for study planners, client trackers or habit dashboards.
- Docs templates for onboarding checklists, SOPs or meeting notes.
Two platform rules matter. Canva's help center says templates must be your original design, and designs that include Pro content can only be sold as Canva template links, not as downloadable files. Notion's own Marketplace charges 8% plus $0.40 per paid template sale as of 2026, and access to paid selling there has involved a waitlist.
2. Printables and planners: easy to make, hard to stand out
Printables are the classic first product: PDFs people print at home, such as planners, checklists, chore charts, worksheets and wall art.
They're easy to create, which is exactly the problem. Etsy and Pinterest are full of generic planners. The printables that stand out tend to serve a narrow situation: a homeschool weekly planner, a caregiver medication log, a garden planting schedule for a specific climate.
Our step-by-step guide on how to make printables to sell covers sizes, file setup and mockups.
3. Spreadsheet tools: a hidden middle ground
Spreadsheets are templates with logic: budget trackers, small business inventory sheets, freelancer invoice trackers, wedding budget planners.
Because they calculate something, buyers see more value than in a static page, and fewer sellers can build them well. The trade-off is support: formulas break when buyers edit the wrong cell, so you'll need clear instructions and locked cells.
Which digital products pay more but take longer?
Guides, creative assets, courses and software can charge more per sale, but each needs either real expertise, a visible skill or an audience that already trusts you.
4. Short guides and workbooks: sell knowledge, not word count
A focused 20-page guide that solves one problem usually beats a 200-page ebook that covers everything. Think "a first-time landlord's move-in checklist and guide" rather than "the complete guide to real estate".
This format only works if you genuinely know the topic. Buyers of guides are paying for judgment, not information they could search for in five minutes. If you go this route, see how to write an ebook and sell it for outlining, formatting and platform fees.
5. Creative assets: strong if you have the skill
Photo presets, video LUTs, Procreate brushes, fonts, textures and stock photos sell to other creators. Quality is visible immediately, which helps skilled sellers and hurts everyone else.
This category suits people who already practice the craft. Previews matter enormously: show before-and-after images on varied photos, not only your best one.
6–7. Mini-courses, full courses and memberships
Courses have the highest price ceiling among common digital products, and also the highest cost to create and sell. Buyers spend more when they trust the teacher, so courses usually work best after you've built an audience with smaller products or free content.
A practical path: start with a workshop or mini-course on one outcome, collect questions from buyers, and expand only if people ask for more. Platforms such as Hotmart, Payhip and Stan are built around this kind of product; we compare them in where to sell digital products.
Memberships add an ongoing promise of new content every month. Treat that as a second step, not a first one.
8. Software, plugins and apps
Software can charge the most and scale well, but it requires development skills, support and updates. If you're a developer, a small plugin or add-on that fixes one annoying problem can be a strong product. If you're not, this isn't a beginner path.
Which digital products should beginners avoid (for now)?
Some products look easy but carry extra risk or weak economics.
- AI prompt bundles on Etsy. Etsy's guidance on AI creations says prompt bundles may not be sold on their own.
- Pure AI output sold as art. Etsy requires you to disclose AI use in the listing description. In the US, the Copyright Office's report on AI and copyrightability concludes that prompts alone are unlikely to give you copyright in the output, so others may be free to copy it.
- Resold PLR or MRR bundles. Etsy's Creativity Standards require digital downloads to be original content created by the seller, and other platforms restrict resold products too. See PLR vs creating your own product.
- Anything using brands, characters or celebrities you don't have a license for. Trademark and copyright complaints can remove listings or shops.
- Huge "mega bundles" as a first product. They take long to make, are hard to preview and invite comparisons with cheaper bundles.
How do you check demand before building?
Spend a few hours on research before a few weeks on building.
- Search the marketplace you plan to use. Are there sellers with many reviews on similar items? That shows demand, and also competition.
- Read the reviews. Complaints ("wish it had a weekly view", "hard to edit") are a free product brief.
- Look for questions. Forums, subreddits and comment sections where people ask for the exact thing you plan to make.
- Make the smallest useful version first. A single-page tool can test interest before you build the full pack.
If you'd like a guided path through picking, building and selling a first product, our digital products guide for beginners covers the same framework in more depth.
Next steps
- Turn a product type into a specific idea with our list of digital product ideas that sell.
- Avoid the classic traps in common mistakes selling digital products.
- When you're ready to build and launch, see how to sell digital products step by step.
- Want the bigger picture first? Read our guide to making money online.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most profitable digital product to sell?
There isn't one. Courses and software can command higher prices, but they cost more time to build and sell; cheaper products like templates need more sales volume. Profit depends on your buyer, price, fees and traffic.
What digital products sell best on Etsy?
Printables, planners, templates and digital art are common on Etsy because buyers search for them there. That also makes those categories crowded, so specific niches tend to do better than generic designs.
What is the easiest digital product to make?
A one-page printable or a simple template is usually quickest, often a few days of work. Easy to make also means easy to copy, so the listing, niche and quality do the heavy lifting.
Are online courses worth making as a first product?
Usually not. A course takes weeks to plan and record, and it sells best to people who already trust you. Many creators start with a smaller product, learn what buyers want, and build the course later.
Sources
- Etsy — Creativity Standards
- Etsy Seller Handbook — What is Etsy's stance on AI creations?
- Canva Help Center — Use Canva to design digital and physical products for sale
- Notion Help Center — Sell templates on Notion Marketplace
- U.S. Copyright Office — Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability
Getback Editorial Team
We research each guide from official platform documentation and public data, show real costs and trade-offs, and update it when rules change. Read our editorial policy.
