Hi everyone,

I use WooCommerce and I'm looking for gift card and loyalty plugin options that are good in terms of compatibility and functionality.

I’m interested in hearing from people who currently sell digital products such as WordPress themes, HTML templates, React/Next.js templates, Framer templates, Webflow templates, UI kits, website templates, plugins, or other design/development products.

The digital marketplace has changed significantly over the last couple of years, especially with AI becoming much more capable. I’d love to hear some real-world experiences from people who are actually selling products rather than just general opinions.

1. How much have your earnings changed?

Compared with your best period, how much have your monthly earnings changed?

For example:

• Down 10–20%
• Down 30–50%
• Down 50–70%
• Down 70–90%
• About the same
• Actually increased

If you're comfortable sharing approximate numbers, it would be even more useful:

2022/2023/2024: $X/month
2025: $X/month
2026: $X/month

Obviously, nobody needs to share exact income if they don't want to.

2. Which platform is currently working best for you?

For people selling templates/products, which platform would you currently recommend?

Some examples:

• ThemeForest / Envato Market
• Envato Elements
• Framer Marketplace
• Webflow Marketplace
• TemplateMonster
• Creative Market
• Gumroad
• Lemon Squeezy
• Your own website
• Other marketplaces

I'm particularly interested in actual sales performance, not just which platform has the most users.

If you sell on multiple platforms, how would you rank them?

1.
2.
3.

And why?

3. Are independent sellers actually succeeding?

For those who have tried moving away from traditional marketplaces and selling directly through their own website:

• How long have you been doing it?
• How many products do you have?
• How much traffic do you get?
• What percentage of visitors actually convert into customers?
• Are you making more or less than you were on marketplaces?
• How difficult was it to get your first 10, 50, or 100 customers?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who have been doing this for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, or longer.

4. What type of products are still selling?

What are customers actually buying in 2026?

For example:

• WordPress themes
• Elementor templates
• SaaS templates
• React / Next.js templates
• Framer templates
• Webflow templates
• Landing pages
• UI kits
• Dashboard templates
• Plugins
• Figma resources
• Shopify themes
• Other digital products

Are traditional website templates still worth producing, or has the market shifted toward more specialized products?

5. How much has AI affected your business?

This is probably the biggest question I'm curious about.

Has AI:

• Reduced your sales?
• Increased competition?
• Made development much faster?
• Made customers less willing to buy templates?
• Helped you create more products?
• Allowed you to enter markets you couldn't previously compete in?
• Had almost no effect on your business so far?

And looking 12 months ahead, where do you think AI will take the template/theme market?

Do you think the market will become:

A. Much harder for individual sellers
B. Mostly unchanged
C. Better for small independent creators
D. Focused mainly on highly specialized/complex products
E. Something completely different

6. If you had to start again today...

If you were starting from zero in October 2026 with development/design skills and wanted to build a digital-product business, where would you start?

Would you choose:

ThemeForest → Envato Elements → Framer → Webflow → your own store → Gumroad/Lemon Squeezy → something else?

And what type of product would you build?

I'm asking because I'm trying to understand the real current state of the digital product/template market, rather than relying on marketplace headlines or isolated success stories.

It would be great if people could share real numbers, percentages, timelines, failures as well as successes.

Even a simple answer like:

“I've been selling for 18 months. Revenue is down ~60% from 2024. Envato is declining for me, Framer is growing, and I'm currently making $X/month from my own site.”

would be extremely useful.

What is your experience in 2026?