Don’t Burn Out Before You Launch: Selling Plugins Without the Admin Headache

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by everything outside of development (websites, payments, taxes, customer support) you’re not alone. Most audio developers run into this wall at some point. The good news is you don’t have to tackle it all on day one.

Trying to launch a product while also building your own eCommerce site, setting up secure file delivery, and figuring out sales tax in 20+ countries is a fast track to burnout. Especially if you’re a solo dev, the business side can eat up your time and energy, delaying your launch and killing your motivation.

The key is to start small, launch fast, and grow from there.

Let Someone Else Handle the Heavy Lifting

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to sell your plugin or sample library. Services like Pulse, Loot Audio, Plugin Boutique, or more general platforms like Gumroad and Payhip can take care of the boring (but critical) parts of running a digital business:

• Payment processing: no need to set up your own payment gateway.
• Tax compliance: they handle tricky international VAT and sales tax rules.
• File delivery: your customers get instant access to downloads.
• Customer support: in some cases, they’ll even cover first-line support for you.

That frees you up to focus on what you’re best at: building great products.

Merchant of Record Platforms

If you want to sell directly from your own site but don’t want the nightmare of handling global tax compliance, look at Merchant of Record (MoR) platforms. These companies act as the official seller of record on your behalf, so they deal with VAT, sales tax, invoicing, and compliance.

• Paddle: a popular option in the SaaS world.
• LemonSqueezy: newer, lightweight, and developer-friendly.
• Moonbase: built specifically for selling audio software and plugins, so it understands the unique needs of plugin developers.

For many indie devs, an MoR service strikes the perfect balance: you control your storefront and customer experience, while someone else takes care of the legal and financial complexity. It usually requires a little more technical work to set up compared to a marketplace or Gumroad-style platform, but the long-term control it gives you can make it worth the effort.

Choosing the Right Platform

Not all platforms are created equal. The best choice depends on your product and your goals:

• Plugin marketplaces (like Loot Audio or Plugin Boutique) give you exposure to a ready-made audience of music producers, but you’ll have less control and higher fees.
• General platforms (like Gumroad or Payhip) give you more control over branding and customer communication, while still removing a lot of admin headaches, but they won’t target your specific audience.
• Merchant of Record platforms (like Paddle, LemonSqueezy, and Moonbase) let you sell directly without taking on tax and compliance yourself. They usually have lower fees than marketplaces, but require more technical setup and marketing effort.

Think about what matters most right now: audience reach, control, or ease of setup.

Why It’s Smart to Start Simple

Here’s a common mistake: waiting until everything is “perfect” before releasing. The problem is, perfection takes forever, and you’ll miss opportunities to validate your idea.

What if you could test your product idea, make your first sales, and start building an audience without worrying about infrastructure? That early momentum can be worth far more than the commission fees these platforms charge.

You don’t have to go “full business owner” on day one. Start small, keep it simple, and let resellers and marketplaces carry some of the weight while you find your footing.

Final Thoughts

Launching your first plugin or sample library doesn’t need to mean setting up a full business operation overnight. Use the tools available, focus on development, and let the business side grow as your product does.

The faster you get something into the world, the faster you can learn, adapt, and succeed.