Selar vs Mainstack vs Coachli: Which Nigerian Creator Platform Fits Your Business

For Nigerian creators choosing between Selar, Mainstack, and Coachli in 2026, the decision comes down to your audience and your product mix. Selar wins for creators selling primarily to Nigerian audiences who want maximum local marketplace discoverability. Mainstack wins for Instagram and TikTok creators monetising a single link in bio. Coachli wins for coaches and creators running structured businesses with sessions, products, live events, subscriptions, and native email automations, especially those serving both Naira and diaspora (UK, US, Canada) audiences in the same dashboard.

All three are Nigerian-built and are free to start. The real differences lie in product breadth, the true cost once payment processing is included, and which kind of business you are trying to run.

What does each platform actually do?

The three platforms often get lumped together in the "best Nigerian creator platform" title, but they solve different problems.

Selar is a digital product marketplace with payouts and a public creator directory. Creators upload products, set prices, and benefit from Selar's own organic traffic and affiliate network. It is strong on discoverability, especially for first-time sellers, especially those without an existing audience.

Mainstack is a commerce and payments platform that began as a link-in-bio and grew into a broader storefront supporting 100+ currencies. It is built for creators whose primary distribution is social media and who need a single bio link that handles checkout, payments, and product delivery.

Coachli is an all-in-one platform for coaches and creators who sell more than one type of offer. It combines digital products, 1:1 paid sessions, live events, recurring subscriptions and memberships, and native email automations in a single dashboard with native Naira and USD support, amongst 25+ other currencies.

If you only sell ebooks and templates, all three can work. If you also book sessions, run live workshops, sell memberships, or want automated email follow-ups, the field narrows fast.

Selar, Mainstack, and Coachli pricing in 2026: the all-in numbers

This is where the headline fees and the real fees diverge. Each platform structures pricing differently, so a like-for-like comparison needs the full breakdown.

Selar fees

• Naira sales: 4% + ₦50 per transaction, all-in (Selar's percentage already includes payment processing)
• USD sales: approximately 7% + 50¢ per transaction
• Free plan with unlimited products. Optional paid plans: Pro at ₦12,000/month and Turbo at ₦22,500/month

Mainstack fees

Mainstack publishes 3% as its headline fee, but card processing and currency fees are added on top by the payment processor. They add 5.4% + 90¢ per transaction which is paid to the payment processor. There's also a 1% recurring processing fees.

On the pricing page, the layers stack like this:

• Mainstack platform fee: 3% per transaction
• Domestic card processing (including fraud prevention): 5.4% + 90¢ per transaction, paid to the payment processor
• Recurring subscription processing: additional 1% per transaction
• Currency conversion: additional 1.5% per transaction
• Dispute or chargeback: USD15 per dispute received (refundable if the dispute is won)

Coachli fees

• Naira sales: 4% + ₦50 per transaction, all-in (no separate payment processor fee)
• USD sales: 7.5% per transaction, all-in
• The same fee structure applies to 1:1 sessions, digital products, live events, and recurring subscriptions. No fee surcharge for memberships or subscriptions
• No monthly or hidden fees. No paid tier required

Worked example: ₦500,000 monthly revenue from Naira buyers

Say you sell ₦500,000 across 25 transactions averaging ₦20,000 each.

Platform	Percentage	Fixed fee	Total fees
Selar	5% × ₦500,000 = ₦25,000	₦100 × 25 = ₦2,500	~₦27,500
Mainstack (3% + local processor)	~5.9% × ₦500,000 = ₦29,500	processor fixed component	~₦29,500+
Coachli	4% × ₦500,000 = ₦20,000	₦50 × 25 = ₦1,250	~₦21,250

At this volume on Naira sales, Coachli is the cheapest by a meaningful margin once Mainstack's processing layers are included. Selar lands in the middle. The "3% Mainstack" comparison only holds if you stop reading after the headline.

Selar: built for discoverability and first-time sellers

Selar is the most established of the three by reported volume. It paid out ₦18 billion to creators in 2025, almost double its 2024 figure of ₦9.8 billion, and now has roughly 430,000 creators on the platform.

Selar shines for creators who do not yet have their own audience. The public marketplace, organic search traffic, and affiliate program (on paid plans) give first-time sellers a real distribution channel. A new ebook on Selar can find buyers without the creator needing an email list or social following.

Selar is also deeply familiar to Nigerian buyers. The checkout flow, payment options, and creator profile pages have been polished over years of local market focus. For Naira-paying customers, the friction is low and Selar focuses on digital product sales like ebooks, templates, courses, and downloads.

Mainstack: built for social-first commerce and cross-border payments

Mainstack has positioned itself aggressively in the creator economy in 2026, including hosting Moment, a large creator gathering in 2026. Its 135+ currency support and link-in-bio origins make it a natural fit for creators whose primary distribution is Instagram, TikTok, or X.

The platform is built around a single bio link that handles checkout, product delivery, and payments. If your audience finds you on Instagram and clicks one link to buy, Mainstack's flow is purpose-built for that motion. The storefront also supports digital products and broader commerce.

The pricing structure rewards creators whose business is heavily transaction-based with low average order values, on the platform layer. Where it gets more expensive is on layered services: recurring subscriptions, currency conversion, and cross-border payments each add to the cost. Creators running coaching practices, paid cohorts, or recurring memberships will find the per-transaction stack growing.

Service-driven businesses (coaching sessions, live cohorts, recurring client management) are not the core product. Mainstack is best understood as a commerce and payments layer for creators selling products, not a full operating system for coaches and educators.

Coachli: built for the full creator business

Coachli is the youngest of the three, with a premise that a serious Nigerian creator or coach sells more than one thing, whether it's a course, 1:1 sessions, a monthly live workshop, and maybe a paid community or membership. Those should live in one dashboard with one checkout, one customer record, and one set of analytics.

The core product types include:

• Digital products: ebooks, templates, courses, downloads, video, audio, design files
• 1:1 paid sessions: native booking with calendar sync, no Calendly required
• Live events and classes: paid workshops, cohorts, group programs
• Subscriptions: recurring billing at any rhythm the creator sets (whether it's weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually), and no fee surcharge
• Native email automations: welcome series, post-purchase flows, and abandoned cart sequences, with user-set trigger timing, built-in (not a third-party integration)

On total cost, other than the base transaction fee, Coachli has no separate payment processor fee, no currency conversion surcharge, no platform-layer-plus-processor stacking. The transaction fee is the only fee.

Which platform fits which Nigerian creator?

The right choice depends on three questions. Run through them in order.

Question 1: What do you sell?

• Just one-off digital products: Any of the three can work. Mainstack's headline 3% is attractive if you only sell low-ticket items with minimal currency conversion. Selar offers marketplace exposure for first-time sellers. Coachli is the cheapest all-in for Naira creators at any volume.
• Coaching sessions plus digital products: Coachli is the cleanest single-platform fit. Selar and Mainstack require stitching together a separate scheduling tool.
• Memberships or recurring subscriptions: Coachli's native subscriptions with no fee surcharge make recurring revenue cheaper to operate. Mainstack adds 1% on recurring processing.
• Live workshops, cohorts, or group programs: Coachli has these built in. The other two will need third-party tools.
• Email follow-ups as part of the customer journey: Coachli has native welcome, post-purchase, and abandoned cart automations. Selar and Mainstack require connecting an email tool like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.

Question 2: Where are your buyers?

• Mostly in Nigeria, paying in Naira: Selar's marketplace traffic helps with acquisition. Coachli is cheapest on take rate. Both work well.
• A mix of Nigeria and diaspora (UK, US, Canada): Coachli's native Naira plus USD in one dashboard removes the most operational friction. No separate processor setups, no manual conversion.
• Mostly international, with Nigeria as a secondary market: Mainstack's 135+ currencies is the broadest footprint, with the caveat that currency conversion fees stack on top.

Question 3: Do you have an audience yet?

• No audience, want to be discovered: Selar's public marketplace gives you a starting traffic source. The others assume you bring your own.
• Instagram or TikTok audience driving traffic to one link: Mainstack's bio-link-to-checkout motion is purpose-built for this.
• Email list, podcast, or referrals driving traffic to specific products and sessions: Coachli's structured pages, booking flow, and built-in email follow-ups do more of the retention work for you.

The three verdicts

Choose Selar if you are a first-time digital product seller without an existing audience, you primarily serve Nigerian buyers paying in Naira, and you want marketplace discoverability to do some of the customer acquisition work for you.

Choose Mainstack if you are an Instagram or TikTok creator who needs to convert single-link traffic into sales, your average order value is small enough that the layered processor fees stay manageable, and your commerce is primarily within a single currency.

Choose Coachli if you run a real business that mixes digital products with paid sessions, live events, or subscriptions; you want native email automations without integrating a separate tool; you serve both Naira and diaspora audiences in USD, and you would rather pay one all-in fee than stack platform + processor + conversion charges.

None of these is "best" universally. Each is best for a specific business shape. The most expensive mistake is staying on the wrong platform because it is the first one you set up.

FAQ

Is Selar still the biggest Nigerian creator platform in 2026?

By payout volume, yes. Selar reported ₦18 billion paid out to creators in 2025, almost double its 2024 figure of ₦9.8 billion. Its creator base is around 430,000. Mainstack and Coachli are smaller by reported volume but growing fast.

Which platform has the lowest all-in fees?

For Naira sales, Coachli's 4% + ₦50 is the lowest all-in fee structure once payment processing is included. Mainstack's headline 3% looks lower but adds payment processor, transaction and currency fees on top. Selar lands between the two depending on category and product price.

Does Coachli support recurring subscriptions?

Yes. Coachli offers subscriptions with creator-set billing cadence (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually) and no fee surcharge versus one-time products. Recurring revenue is charged at the same 4% + ₦50 on Naira or 7.5% on USD as everything else.

Does Coachli have email marketing or automations?

Yes, natively. Coachli includes welcome sequences, post-purchase email flows, and abandoned cart automations, with user-set trigger times. No third-party email tool integration required for basic retention flows.

Can I accept Naira and USD on the same platform?

Yes, on all three, but the experience differs. Coachli treats Naira and USD as first-class native currencies in one dashboard with one fee structure. Selar and Mainstack also support multi-currency, with different UX patterns and additional currency-related fees on Mainstack.

Which is best for booking 1:1 coaching sessions?

Coachli, by a wide margin. It has native session booking with calendar integration. Selar and Mainstack require pairing with a separate scheduling tool like Calendly or Cal.com.

Can I migrate between platforms?

Yes. None of these platforms lock your customer list or your product files. You can export your customer emails, re-upload your products, and run two platforms in parallel during transition. Most migrations take a weekend.

Do any of them charge a monthly subscription?

Not as a requirement. Selar has optional paid tiers (Pro at ₦8,000/month, Turbo at ₦15,000/month) for extras like Stripe integration and affiliates. Mainstack and Coachli have no required monthly fees.

What if I only sell one ₦5,000 ebook a month?

At low volume, the fixed-fee component matters most. Coachli's ₦50 fixed fee is the lowest. Selar's ₦100 fixed eats more of a small sale. Mainstack avoids a fixed component but adds payment processor fixed fees on top of the 3% platform layer.

Pick the platform that fits the business you are running

The Nigerian creator economy has room for all three of these tools, and most serious creators will touch at least two of them across their career. The question is not which is "best." The question is which is best for the next 6-12 months of your business.

If you are running a coaching practice, selling more than one type of product, or building a membership with recurring revenue, start a free Coachli account. You get sessions, products, live events, subscriptions, and native email automations in one place from day one, with all-in fees and no monthly cost.