How does AppSumo calculate revenue share?

Since 2010, AppSumo has partnered with thousands of up-and-coming software companies, helping them put over $113 million of direct profit in their pockets.

We operate on a revenue share model that supports long-lasting partnerships. But at first glance, you might ask, “Why does AppSumo take a cut from its partners?”‍

It’s a valid concern, so let’s dive in to understand how it works and whether it’s a good fit for your business.

How our revenue share works

We get it. You worked hard to create a kickass product, and you want to make sure you maximize the profits.

The actual process of listing on AppSumo is 100% free with no hidden fees, charges, or limitations.

‍We only take a cut on the sales you make.

When it comes to the actual percentage of what AppSumo takes, it’s a little more complex. Despite the numbers you may see floating around online, there are lots of factors we take into consideration. For example:

Campaign duration
Your product’s price point
Your product vertical and feature list
Whether you’re listing a new vs. repeat campaign
Market demand and historical product-category performance

Basically, our percentage depends on a few different qualifiers, and we’re happy to chat through these one-on-one with you.

What we bring to the table

Partnering with AppSumo unlocks significant advantages to boosting your product’s success. The main two? Access to our massive audience and our marketing capabilities.

AppSumo has served over 1.5 million entrepreneurs worldwide. You’ll gain exposure to a vast and dedicated community of potential customers, with an unparalleled opportunity to expand your audience.

And what we do behind the scenes benefits you in the long run. Consider this: how much would it cost you to get one user? What about a thousand users?

You could hire a marketing agency and dish out thousands on ad spend, content creation, and other promotions without guaranteed results.

Partner with AppSumo and you won’t be charged an upfront fee—your results pay for themselves. Through aspects of our platform like heavy site traffic and conversion-driven emails, you’ll instantly gain an extensive following that you don’t even have to pay extra for.

So rather than thinking of our revenue share as a cut, treat it as a “marketing expense” that doesn’t actually come out of your pocket. That’s more cash you get to use toward developing your product.

We strategically reinvest money made from our revenue share back into resources that help you grow (AKA, everything that fuels your campaign to make it successful).

Here’s what we take care of.

Marketing and visibility

AppSumo isn't just a place to list your product—it's a place to actively promote it. We invest millions annually in advertising across various channels like email and paid ads to ensure your product reaches a bigger audience. You’ll gain exposure to a vast and dedicated community of potential customers, with an unparalleled opportunity to expand your audience. (Find out how SEO Buddy made $90K from 1,700 AppSumo customers.)

This spend boosts your product's visibility to thousands of engaged customers ready to discover an awesome new solution—and beyond. Our marketing efforts include building compelling content for your product detail page (PDP), like copy and promotional videos, and creating ad assets. Standout products even get a spotlight in emails like our Weekly Roundup.

We’ve got other cool features, too. You can leverage our beta testing program to learn about areas of improvement for your product. Spread your reach even wider with our affiliate program, where you’ll get up to 100% of sales you drive from new customers.

On top of that, we run major sales throughout the year. This includes the juggernaut that is AppSumo Black Friday to exclusive sales like Last Call for our VIP Plus members. These sales are all opportunities to get even more eyes on your product, as we see major upticks in site traffic during these events. We’ll handle promoting the sale and logistics like fulfilling discounts, too.

Platform maintenance

Listing on AppSumo means benefitting from an optimized platform that's ready-made for conversions.

‍Beyond being a marketplace, AppSumo is a carefully curated customer experience designed to showcase your product effectively. We handle the heavy lifting of platform maintenance, supporting the high volume of site visitors and potential customers your product will encounter. We’re also constantly optimizing our website through A/B tests and new feature rollouts to continue pushing success metrics for each product.

Meanwhile, our product pages display reviews and questions that offer social proof about your deal and mitigate potential concerns. As a founder, you’ll have the opportunity to connect directly with your customers on a public forum to cut down on future support questions and share helpful links like your roadmap and FAQ.

And because Sumo-lings are primed to know exactly where to look on each PDP, our familiar platform cuts down on any potential buyer friction. There’s none of the usual intimidation or confusion that comes from navigating a new website.

Customer support

At AppSumo, we offer an end-to-end user experience, including fast and efficient customer support that builds trust and loyalty towards your brand. While the tool-specific support is up to you, our world-class support team is equipped to handle general inquiries, facilitate discussions, and manage any issues that might come up.

Additionally, we manage the operational aspects that can be challenging for individual vendors, such as handling refunds and answering redemption questions. This takes a load off our partners' shoulders and makes buying straightforward and reliable for our customers.

TL;DR?

The revenue cut we take is reinvested into making AppSumo a powerful engine for tool discovery, marketing initiatives, and partner growth.

When you compare the customer acquisition costs and all of the money and resources spent on independent marketing strategies, partnering with AppSumo means you come out ahead. That’s because you get to focus more on product development and innovation, rather than on costly marketing campaigns.

Working with AppSumo means you get multiple teams and departments championing you and your product. From marketing to development, customer support to operational logistics, working with us means elevating your product and brand to heights that would be pretty tough to achieve on your own. With us, your product gets seen and gains credibility, opening the doors to bigger growth, new kinds of customers, and more wins.

Success in the making

Still on the fence with our model? Check out some real-world success stories. Here’s how some of our partners utilize our rev share:

OpnForm

FeedHive

“You will collaborate closely with the AppSumo team.

They do a ton of work for you, and they spend (on average) 50% of the revenue on advertisement.…

Some think this is a bad deal.

In my view, it's totally fair.

They reach a massive community, they do a lot of initial work, and they take on all the risk.”

(My SaaS made +$400,000 in its first year. Here's how!)

‍Baseline

“It's true; they do take a big chunk of the sales. But what you are getting instead is a sales machine unlike any other I've worked with before. They have what they do fine-tuned for maximum effect.

If you are bootstrapping your business, this is definitely a good deal. Having a super effective marketing team essentially working for you without paying them upfront, or at all if you don't make any sales, is not something you will easily find anywhere else. In general, nobody will work for you unless they are guaranteed payment.”

(AppSumo Case Study: Pros, Cons, Tacos, and $200,000 in sales)

How to maximize your revenue share

1. First, make sure it’s the right fit: Before listing with AppSumo, make sure that offering a lifetime deal is right for your business. It’s a great strategy for newer startups wanting an instant influx of cash and free product feedback, but there are lots of things to consider, which we go over in this blog.

2. Become an affiliate: For partners who join AppSumo’s affiliate program, you’ll get 100% of every new buyer transaction up to $100 and 5% on return buyer transactions. (A new AppSumo buyer = someone who’s never had an invoice on AppSumo—free or paid.)

3. Make your product listing shine: Creating high-quality and compelling product listings is a must to stand out on AppSumo. Not only will it help to capture the attention of potential buyers, but it will also help to differentiate the product from competitors and establish credibility among Sumo-lings. (Check out how Formaloo made $100K in two weeks with their product listing.)

4. Take advantage of AppSumo’s resources: We offer countless resources to enhance your product’s visibility and engagement within the platform’s community. For example:

We’re committed to your growth

AppSumo is all about helping digital creators succeed in a tough market, while also building a community that encourages innovation and winning together.

Through our rev share model, we’re teaming up to boost your brand, spread the word, and grow your business with our backing (we’ve been around the SaaS block a few times, after all).

Interested in listing your product?

Start selling here!

How does AppSumo calculate revenue share?

How our revenue share works