Marketplace presence is one of the highest-leverage investments in partner-led growth, but only if you pick the right marketplaces and operate them seriously. Here is a working comparison of the four most consequential SaaS marketplaces for B2B companies in 2026 — what each is good for, what each costs, and what investment each requires to produce real revenue.
Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace
Audience: enterprise IT buyers, largely Microsoft-centric organizations with M365 and Azure footprints. Strong in regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, government).
Economics: Microsoft takes 3% of transactable offer revenue (down from 20% as of 2023), one of the most ISV-friendly economics among major marketplaces. Procurement-as-a-service through Azure consumption commitments is a meaningful lever for enterprise deals.
What it takes to work: certified solution status, integration with Microsoft identity (Entra ID), and active engagement with Microsoft’s ISV partner team. Without partner team engagement, listing produces minimal inbound. With it, transactable offers backed by Microsoft co-sell can produce significant six-figure deals.
AWS Marketplace
Audience: enterprise and mid-market technical buyers, heavy DevOps/data/ML workloads. Buyers using AWS spend commitments to procure software (the ‘burn down’ motion) drive most marketplace transactions.
Economics: AWS takes 3% on partner-led transactions, up to 20% on direct transactions depending on tier. The economics work because the typical deal size is large — enterprise procurement through AWS Marketplace averages $200K+ ACV.
What it takes to work: SaaS Contracts or SaaS Subscriptions integration (engineering investment of 4-12 weeks), AWS Partner Network membership at Select tier minimum, and active relationship with AWS ISV team. Most successful AWS Marketplace ISVs report that 30-50% of new enterprise revenue flows through marketplace within 18 months of investment.
Salesforce AppExchange
Audience: Salesforce admins and operations leaders, with most buyers being mid-market and enterprise. The most established B2B SaaS marketplace and the highest expectations for ISV polish.
Economics: Salesforce takes 15% (Tableau Exchange) or 25% (AppExchange) depending on listing type. Higher than AWS or Microsoft, but with established conversion mechanisms that produce reliable inbound.
What it takes to work: AppExchange security review (3-6 month process, significant engineering investment), customer reviews on the listing (target 50+ in first year), and active partnership with Salesforce’s ISV team. The investment is real but the inbound is also real — established AppExchange ISVs report 20-40% of new revenue from marketplace.
HubSpot App Marketplace
Audience: SMB and mid-market marketing and sales operations buyers. Strong fit for marketing tech, sales tech, and revenue operations products.
Economics: HubSpot does not take a percentage of revenue from marketplace transactions, making it among the most ISV-friendly marketplace economics available. Listing is free; conversion comes from HubSpot’s 200K+ customer base.
What it takes to work: certified app status (engineering and review process), integration with HubSpot APIs at appropriate depth, and ongoing engagement with HubSpot’s app partner team. The audience skews smaller than enterprise marketplaces but volume is high; SMB-focused ISVs report 15-30% of new revenue from marketplace.
Shopify App Store
Audience: Shopify merchants, primarily SMB and mid-market e-commerce operators. Largest marketplace by app count and one of the highest-conversion mechanisms in commerce technology.
Economics: Shopify takes 0% on the first $1M in revenue per app per year, then 15% above that. Among the most ISV-friendly economics in any major marketplace.
What it takes to work: app review and approval (typically 4-8 weeks), strong listing optimization (screenshots, demo videos, reviews), and merchant support quality reflected in marketplace ratings. Successful Shopify apps can produce $2M-$10M+ ARR primarily through marketplace inbound.
How to Pick One or Two
Match the marketplace to your ICP. Enterprise IT product? AWS or AppSource. Marketing/sales tool for SMB and mid-market? HubSpot. Salesforce ecosystem product? AppExchange. E-commerce app? Shopify.
Most B2B companies should commit to one marketplace deeply rather than maintain dormant listings in five. Marketplace presence is an operating commitment, not a checkbox. Pick the one where your ICP lives, invest the engineering and partner ops to make it produce, then add a second only after the first is producing reliably.
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