Frequently Asked Questions

DropForge is a digital product delivery platform that helps you sell and deliver digital downloads to your customers. Unlike other platforms, you bring your own Stripe, AWS S3, and Resend accounts, which means:

• You keep 100% of your revenue (minus Stripe fees)
• You have full control over your files and data
• You own the customer relationship
• No vendor lock-in

Most platforms take a percentage of your sales and control your data. DropForge is different:

• No transaction fees: We charge a flat monthly fee, not a percentage of sales
• Your infrastructure: Use your own Stripe, S3, and email accounts
• Full control: You own all customer data and files
• Transparent pricing: No hidden fees or surprises

Basic technical knowledge is helpful but not required. You'll need to:

• Create accounts with Stripe, AWS, and Resend
• Copy and paste API keys into DropForge
• Upload files to your S3 bucket

We provide detailed guides for each step, and our support team is here to help!

Free Plan ($0/month):

• 20 downloads per month
• 20 emails per month
• Unlimited products
• Basic features

Pro Plan ($19/month):

• 1,000 downloads per month
• 1,000 emails per month
• Custom domain support
• Embeddable widget
• Product templates
• Overage: $0.01/download, $0.01/email

Business Plan ($79/month):

• 10,000 downloads per month
• Priority webhook delivery
• Delivery analytics
• Priority support
• Overage: $0.005/download, $0.004/email

On paid plans (Pro and Business), you'll be charged overage fees for usage beyond your plan limits. The overage rates are:

• Pro: $0.01 per extra download, $0.008 per email
• Business: $0.005 per download, $0.004 per email

On the Free plan, service will be paused when you reach your limits until the next billing cycle.

Yes! You can cancel your subscription at any time from the dashboard. Your cancellation will take effect at the end of your current billing period, and you'll retain access to paid features until then. No refunds are provided for partial months.

To use DropForge, you'll need accounts with:

• Stripe: For payment processing (free to create)
• AWS S3: For file storage (pay-as-you-go pricing)
• Resend: For email delivery (free tier available)

Once you have these accounts, you'll provide your API keys to DropForge, and we'll handle the integration.

Setting up Stripe webhooks is easy:

1. Log into your DropForge dashboard
2. Go to Settings and copy your unique webhook URL
3. Go to your Stripe Dashboard → Webhooks
4. Click "Add endpoint" and paste your webhook URL
5. Select events: checkout.session.completed and payment_intent.succeeded
6. Copy the webhook signing secret back to DropForge

Detailed instructions are provided in the dashboard!

You can upload files to your S3 bucket using:

• AWS Console: Web interface for manual uploads
• AWS CLI: Command-line tool for bulk uploads
• S3 Browser: Third-party GUI applications

Once uploaded, you'll reference the file path (e.g., products/my-ebook.pdf) when creating products in DropForge.

Product Templates are reusable product configurations that make selling the same digital product multiple times easy. Instead of manually creating a sale each time, you can:

• Create a template once with your product details, price, and file
• Generate a secure widget code to embed on your website
• Let customers purchase directly through the widget
• Automatically deliver the file after payment

Templates are perfect for products you sell repeatedly, like ebooks, courses, or software licenses.

Product Templates: Reusable product configurations with embedded widgets for automated sales. Best for products you sell repeatedly on your website.

Sales (Create Sale): One-time manual sales where you create a unique checkout link for a specific customer. Best for custom deals, invoices, or one-off sales.

Both methods deliver files securely, but templates automate the process while manual sales give you more control over each transaction.

Yes! Custom domains are available on Pro and Business plans. You can use your own domain (e.g., downloads.yoursite.com) for download links instead of dropforge.dev.

Setup process:

1. Enter your domain in the dashboard Settings
2. Add a TXT record to verify ownership
3. Admin will configure the CNAME routing
4. Add the CNAME record to your DNS
5. Click "Verify Domain" to activate

Full instructions are provided in the dashboard, and you'll receive email notifications when your domain is ready.

DropForge generates secure, time-limited download links for your customers:

• Expiration: Links expire after a set time (default 24 hours)
• Download limits: Limit how many times a file can be downloaded (Free plan: max 3, Pro/Business: up to 50)
• Secure: Links are encrypted and can't be shared
• Tracked: Monitor download activity in your dashboard

Customers receive the download link via email immediately after payment is confirmed.

Yes! Pro and Business plans include a secure embeddable widget. The widget is completely secure - all product details (price, file, limits) are fetched from your server, so customers cannot modify them.

To use the widget:

1. Create a Product Template in your dashboard
2. Click the widget icon to get the embed code
3. Copy and paste the code into your website's HTML
4. Customers can purchase directly from your site

The widget automatically handles payment processing and file delivery!

The Sales tab in your dashboard shows all transactions (both from templates and manual sales). For each sale, you can:

• View customer details and download status
• See how many times the file has been downloaded
• Resend the download email if needed
• Copy the download link to share manually
• Delete the sale if necessary

All sales are tracked in real-time, and you'll receive notifications for new purchases.

Yes! You can create multiple Product Templates for the same file with different prices. This is useful for:

• Early bird vs regular pricing
• Different license tiers (personal vs commercial)
• Bundle deals vs individual products
• Regional pricing

Each template gets its own widget code and can have different download limits and expiration times.

We're here to help! You can reach us through:

• Contact Form: dropforge.dev/contact
• Documentation: Comprehensive guides in the dashboard

Business plan customers receive priority support with faster response times.

If a customer doesn't receive their email:

1. Check their spam/junk folder
2. Verify the email address is correct in your dashboard
3. Use the "Resend Email" button in the Products section
4. Check your Resend dashboard for delivery status

You can also manually share the download link from your dashboard.

Yes! Security is our top priority. We implement bank-level security measures to protect your data:

• Encryption in transit: All data transmitted over HTTPS/TLS 1.3 encryption
• Password security: Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with salt
• API key protection: Your Stripe, S3, and Resend API keys are encrypted using AWS Key Management Service (KMS) with FIPS 140-2 validated hardware security modules
• Separation of concerns: Even if our database is compromised, your API keys remain secure in AWS KMS
• Audit trails: All key access is logged and monitored via AWS CloudTrail
• Your infrastructure: Your files remain in your own S3 bucket under your control
• Regular security audits: Continuous monitoring and security updates
• Compliance ready: Our encryption meets PCI-DSS, SOC 2, and HIPAA standards

We use the same security infrastructure trusted by banks and financial institutions. Your sensitive API keys are never stored in plain text and are protected by multiple layers of encryption.

See our Privacy Policy for more details.

Your Stripe, AWS S3, and Resend API keys are protected using enterprise-grade security:

• AWS KMS encryption: Keys are encrypted using AWS Key Management Service, which stores encryption keys in FIPS 140-2 Level 2 validated hardware security modules (HSMs)
• Never stored in plain text: Your API keys are encrypted before being stored in our database
• Automatic key rotation: Encryption keys are automatically rotated annually
• Access logging: Every time your keys are accessed (for webhooks, checkouts, etc.), it's logged with timestamp and reason
• Principle of least privilege: Only the specific operations that need your keys can access them

What this means for you: Even if someone gains unauthorized access to our database, they cannot decrypt your API keys without also compromising AWS KMS - which is virtually impossible due to the hardware-based security.

This is the same level of security used by major financial institutions and payment processors to protect sensitive credentials.

We've designed our security architecture with this scenario in mind:

Your API keys remain safe because:

• They're encrypted with AWS KMS, not stored in our database in a readable format
• Decryption requires access to AWS KMS, which is separate from our infrastructure
• AWS KMS uses hardware security modules that are physically tamper-resistant
• All key access attempts are logged and monitored

Your files remain safe because:

• Files are stored in YOUR AWS S3 bucket, not on our servers
• You control access to your S3 bucket
• We only generate temporary download links - we don't store your files

Your customer data:

• Customer emails and download records are in our database
• No payment information is stored (handled by Stripe)
• You can export your data anytime from the dashboard

Our commitment: In the unlikely event of a security breach, we will immediately notify all affected users, provide detailed information about what was compromised, and work with security experts to resolve the issue. We maintain cyber insurance and have an incident response plan in place.