The best download gate for Bandcamp artists (2026)
Full disclosure: we make one of these tools. GetMusic publishes this page, so we are biased. We have tried to earn your trust anyway by ranking by what fits you, saying plainly where a competitor is better, and putting GetMusic below it when it is.
You searched for a download gate, you sell on Bandcamp, and you may be about to buy the wrong thing. A download gate is a page that makes a fan do something (follow you on SoundCloud or Spotify, join a list, repost) before it releases a file the gate hosts. None of the gate tools know what a Bandcamp download code is. They cannot validate one, count one, or tell you who used one.
So this page does two jobs. First, it ranks the real gates, because if follow-to-unlock is the mechanic you want, you should get the best one. Second, it explains what a Bandcamp code tool does instead, which is hand codes to a browsing audience with no action required, and when that trade is better for a Bandcamp artist. GetMusic is the second kind. It is not a gate, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Everything below comes from each tool's public pricing page in October 2026.
TL;DR
- Hypeddit — Rookie free after a Pro trial, Basic from $9/mo — the most complete gate, with SoundCloud repost and comment actions
- PUSH.fm — free, unlimited Reward Links — the gate to start with if you do not want a bill
- Show.co — free for CD Baby members; pricing for everyone else unconfirmed — only if you already distribute through CD Baby
- GetMusic — first release free, $10 per release after — not a gate; hands Bandcamp codes to fans browsing by genre and shows you who claimed
- Bandcamp's own tools — free — generate the codes here no matter which tool you pick
1. Hypeddit
- Best for
- Artists who want the full menu of unlock actions, especially SoundCloud reposts
- Price
- Rookie free plan (only after a Pro trial; Hypeddit branding); Basic from $9/mo; Pro from $13/mo; Elite $99/mo; annual billing is cheaper, see their pricing page
- Is it a gate?
- Yes. Fan completes actions, Hypeddit unlocks a file it hosts
If you are set on a gate, Hypeddit is the one to beat. The action list covers SoundCloud follow, like, comment, and repost, plus Spotify follow, and the fan gets an MP3 you uploaded once they have done them. Email collection comes with paid plans. Pro adds fan analytics, a Spotify popularity score, and AI-driven ad tooling. It also makes smart links, pre-saves, and link gates, so one subscription covers most of a release rollout.
The costs are real. The free Rookie plan is only unlocked after a Pro trial and keeps Hypeddit branding on your page. Basic starts at $9 a month, and the thing it gates is a file Hypeddit hosts, not your Bandcamp release. A fan who passes the gate has an MP3 and a reason to never visit your Bandcamp page.
For an artist whose growth metric is SoundCloud or Spotify followers, that is a fine trade. For an artist whose metric is Bandcamp buyers and supporters, it is a detour.
2. PUSH.fm
- Best for
- Artists who want a gate for free and will take fewer action types in exchange
- Price
- Free plan: unlimited smart links, pre-saves, and Reward Links, 1 GB storage, access to collected emails; Premium $5/mo adds 50 GB, email export and filtering, Meta Pixel
- Is it a gate?
- Yes. A Reward Link unlocks a download, a secret message, or a hidden URL after the fan follows, shares, or signs up
PUSH.fm is RouteNote's link tool, and its free tier is generous: unlimited Reward Links, and you can see the emails you collect without paying. A Reward Link asks the fan to follow socials, share, or join a newsletter, then releases a download (within 1 GB of storage), a secret message, or a hidden URL.
That hidden-URL option is the closest any gate gets to Bandcamp. You could point it at your Bandcamp page, or paste a single code into the secret message. But PUSH.fm has no per-code tracking: every fan sees the same message, no code is validated, and you will not know who redeemed what. It is a gate with a Bandcamp-shaped door, not a code tool.
Start here if the budget is zero. Move to Hypeddit only if you need repost or comment actions that PUSH.fm does not offer.
3. Show.co
- Best for
- Artists who already distribute through CD Baby and want a gate bundled with their account
- Price
- Free for CD Baby members. We could not confirm current pricing or availability for non-members; check their site
- Is it a gate?
- Yes. Gates content behind social follows, Spotify follows, YouTube subscribes, or email sign-ups
Show.co is CD Baby's gate. It puts an action wall (social follow, Spotify follow, YouTube subscribe, email sign-up) in front of content and is free if you are a CD Baby member. If you are already paying CD Baby to distribute, it is already in your account and worth switching on before paying anyone else.
We could not confirm whether artists outside CD Baby can use it today, or what it would cost them, so we are not going to guess. Treat that as an open question and check their site. Like the other gates, it is not Bandcamp-specific: it does not distribute or track codes, and the fans who reach it are the fans you send.
Ranked third because the audience for it is narrower, not because the gate is worse.
4. GetMusic
- Best for
- Bandcamp artists who want codes to reach new listeners and want to know who those listeners are, without asking them to do anything first
- Price
- First release promotion free (up to 100 codes); $10 one time per additional release; fans never pay
- Is it a gate?
- No. There is no follow-to-unlock. Fans browse by genre and claim a code with no account
GetMusic is the opposite mechanic. Instead of making one fan do three things to get one file, it puts your release in front of fans who are already browsing the genre shelves and ranked feeds looking for something to hear, and lets any of them claim a Bandcamp code without creating an account or following anyone. Paste the Bandcamp URL and the release page builds itself. Upload codes and each one is validated against Bandcamp before it is served. Fans who follow the genre or follow you are told when the release goes up.
In return you get a per-claim record: who claimed, when, and where they came from. That is the piece every gate above is missing, because a gate only knows about the people you pushed through it. The redemption itself happens on Bandcamp, so the fan ends up with your release in their Bandcamp collection rather than a loose MP3.
This is the better trade when your goal is Bandcamp supporters rather than platform follower counts, and when you do not have a large audience to push through a gate in the first place. The gate is the better trade when the follow is the whole point and the file is bait. Those are different goals; pick the tool that matches yours. If you are torn, the GetMusic vs PUSH.fm page walks through a split test.
5. Bandcamp's own code tools
- Best for
- Everyone, as step one; on its own, for artists who only share codes with a list they already own
- Price
- Free. 200 codes per account to start; 1,000 more per $500 in sales; more can be bought on the Tools page
- Is it a gate?
- No. It generates and counts codes; the mail-merge through Mailchimp or Constant Contact is the closest thing to delivery
Whatever you pick above, the codes come from here. The Tools page on each release generates a batch and exports a CSV, and Bandcamp's help docs cover mail-merging that CSV through Mailchimp or Constant Contact so each subscriber gets one code. Redemption happens at bandcamp.com/yum.
The Tools page will show how many codes in a set have been redeemed. It will not show who, or where they found the code, and Bandcamp has no public surface where strangers discover free codes. If a mailing list is your whole plan, this is enough. If you want strangers, you need either a gate (to convert the ones you send) or a code tool with an audience (to find ones you did not).
What we'd do today
- Write down the one number you want this release to move. If it is SoundCloud or Spotify followers, you want a gate. If it is Bandcamp supporters or a list of real listeners, you want a code tool. Do not pick before you answer this.
- If it is a gate: start with a free PUSH.fm Reward Link and an MP3. Upgrade to Hypeddit only when you need repost or comment actions.
- If it is codes: generate a batch on the Bandcamp Tools page, put up to 100 on GetMusic as the free first release, and watch the claim list for a month.
- If you want both: keep them separate. Hosted MP3 behind the gate; Bandcamp codes on the code tool. Never paste a whole code batch into a gate's secret-message field, because every fan will see the same code.
- Read the how-many-codes post before you decide batch size. Giving away more codes than you can track is the most common first mistake.
Frequently asked questions
Skip the gate. Let fans claim the code.
Your first GetMusic release promotion is free: up to 100 Bandcamp codes, a release page built from your Bandcamp URL, and a list of who claimed. No follow required from the fan, and no subscription from you.
Written by Chuck Blake, founder of GetMusic.
GetMusic is a Bandcamp code distribution platform, so this page has a bias and says so. Competitor features and prices were checked against each company's public pages in October 2026; if something has changed, tell us and we will fix the page. More about who we are is on the about page and in GetMusic by the numbers.