What is Whop? A guide for sellers, platforms, and users

This guide helps you learn how you can use Whop to earn a sustainable income online.

The internet has created millions of entrepreneurs.

But it's also created millions of businesses that don't fit neatly into the systems pre-built for them.

Whop is changing that, building a complete end-to-end system for running a business on the internet.

This guide explains what Whop is, how it works, and how sellers, platforms, and users are using it to build businesses online.

What is Whop?

Whop is the first end-to-end API for running a business online.

It replaces the dozen separate tools businesses used to juggle for money movement, customer acquisition, and global compliance (more detail on these below).

And it's built for every business. Coaching and courses, agency services, marketplaces, paid groups, software, physical products – the list goes on.

Whatever you're building or selling, Whop streamlines the operation behind it.

Even if you're starting from scratch (actually, our AI can help with that, too):

TL;DR: Whop is where the internet does business.

What Whop isn't

Whop isn't a checkout tool, a payment processor, or a subscription billing platform. It's built for every stage of earning online.

While most companies help you solve one problem, we're helping you run your entire business.

And unlike many platforms, you're never left to figure it out alone. When you need help, you can speak directly to real people who know the product and understand the challenges internet businesses face.

“One thing that Whop excels at is responsiveness. I had a question this morning and within two minutes I had an answer. A clear, direct answer, not some AI assisted answer. It was a real human from Whop answering that question within literally two minutes.” 

– Branson Packard • Founder of FoodFluence

Who Whop is for: The Global Fortune 5,000,000

Whop was built for what we're coining The Global Fortune 5,000,000.

That's the millions of internet entrepreneurs, operators, founders, and small business owners who power local economies around the world.

From people building software from their bedrooms, to those running agencies that serve millions of customers. Some businesses on Whop sell courses, software, services, or products. Others power marketplaces, communities, and entire ecosystems.

They've all got something in common, though. Ambition.

That's why businesses on Whop grow 51% year-over-year on average. And we're here to help you do it.

How do people use Whop?

Whop powers businesses of all sizes, from solo internet entrepreneurs to global platforms serving millions of customers.

Here's how different types of businesses use Whop end-to-end.

Sellers: Run your company on Whop

If you sell what you know, make, or do, Whop gives you the infrastructure to earn, grow, and scale.

• Coaching and courses: Sell coaching programs, courses, masterminds, and mentorships with financing at checkout, local payment methods, failed-payment recovery, and integrations with tools like HubSpot and GoHighLevel.
• Paid groups: Build paid communities with flexible pricing, custom experiences, instant payouts, and product pages designed to convert visitors into members.
• Services and agencies: Send invoices, get paid faster, automate tax collection, and manage client payments from one place.
• Software: Manage subscriptions, automate failed-payment recovery, handle licensing, and sell globally without worrying about tax compliance in every region.
• Physical products: Accept payments through a branded checkout, connect Shopify fulfillment, sell in local currencies, and let Whop handle the complexity behind the scenes.
• Events: Sell tickets, offer payment plans, create multiple ticket tiers, and get paid before the doors open.

Platforms: Build with Whop infrastructure

Sellers run their business on Whop, while platforms build with it, embedding Whop's infrastructure inside their own app, site, or marketplace through Whop's API.

That means you skip the hardest part of building a platform: building your own payments, payouts, and compliance stack. All while your brand stays on top.

• Marketplaces: Accept payments from buyers, pay sellers and creators instantly, embed chat, and manage compliance from a single system.
• Gig economy: Pay workers globally in real time while simplifying tax reporting and compliance requirements.
• Creator platforms: Pay thousands of creators and clippers for the content they produce – automatically, at scale, and with payouts and tax forms handled.
• Telehealth: Accept patient payments, manage recurring billing, and streamline operations without building payment infrastructure from scratch.

"We're using Whop for all payouts and it's been extremely smooth sailing, and their team has instant responses for help on literally anything!"

– Dris Elamri • Founder of Instinct

Plus, with Whop Migrations now live, platforms running subscription billing can migrate their database over from Stripe in 30 seconds.

"Whop gives me peace of mind - I don't have to worry about our payment stack working. Our team has gotten back so much time."

– Nick Lawton • CEO of SideShift

Users: Earn and upskill on Whop

Whop isn't just for established businesses. Sometimes you gotta spend a little time grinding before that first launch, and we get that.

Millions of people use Whop to discover products, join communities, learn new skills, and find ways to earn online.

Through Discover, users can browse thousands of businesses, compare ratings and reviews, and join products that match their interests.

Users can also find clipping and UGC opportunities, earning money by creating content that helps businesses grow. No product, audience, or company required.

The infrastructure that runs it all

Running a business online involves a lot of moving parts.

You accept payments from customers. Pay contractors and partners. Spend money to acquire customers. Manage taxes. Hold cash between payouts. Reinvest profits back into growth.

Most businesses handle those jobs across multiple providers. Whop brings them together.

Here's how.

Payments and payouts

Whop helps businesses accept payments anywhere in the world through embedded checkouts, payment links, buy now, pay later options, built-in crypto payments, and more than 100 local payment methods.

Smart routing automatically retries failed payments, helping businesses recover revenue that would otherwise be lost.

Paying out users? Simple. Businesses can pay people in more than 241 territories, with built-in identity verification, tax compliance, and instant withdrawals.

"Now our creators can start earning with a lot less friction, which makes the platform a lot easier to use and the experience a lot better."

– Drew Levin • Co-Founder of SideShift

Whop Business Cards

Businesses on Whop can spend their card balance anywhere Visa is accepted, with up to 5% cash back on eligible purchases including Whop Ad spend, Content Rewards, and Uber.

Whop Ads

Whop Ads helps businesses acquire customers, without leaving Whop.

You can launch campaigns through premium agency ad accounts, access first-party buyer audiences, track results through Whop attribution tools, and reinvest revenue into growth directly from your dashboard.

It's ads, done smarter.

Tax and compliance

Whop helps businesses handle operational complexity that comes with growth.

For sales made through Discover, Whop generally acts as the marketplace and (where required by law) determines whether tax applies, calculates and collects the appropriate amount at checkout, and remits those taxes to the relevant authorities.

But what if you're a platform or business using embedded checkout or selling direct to consumers?

That's where Whop Tax Service comes in. It can automate tax collection, filing, and remittance, helping you meet your business obligations without managing the process yourself.

Whop also provides built-in compliance tools (including KYC for payouts), helping businesses onboard users, manage risk, and move money across borders.

Distribution

Accepting the best payment methods and currencies only matters when you have customers. For some businesses coming to Whop, audiences are already built. But for others, they're starting from scratch. That's where our distribution tools can make a huge difference.

• Whop Affiliates: Whop helps you turn customers, partners, and creators into a sales force. Businesses can launch affiliate programs, reward referrals, and scale through performance-based growth.
• Discover: Our own marketplace which gives businesses access to more than 22 million monthly buyers actively looking for products, services, software, communities, and opportunities.

Build your next business with Whop

Whatever you're building, Whop runs everything behind it. That includes getting paid, paying out, finding customers, and staying compliant. Now, you can focus on the work that actually helps you sell and scale.

Our mission is simple: deliver everyone a sustainable income.

Welcome to where the internet does business.