Distribution map · researched 2026-11-10

Where micro-apps get found

Every big software platform runs an app store inside it. These stores put your app in front of people already working in the host product, and the best ones also bill for you. Here are 65 of them, ranked by how good the odds are for a solo builder today.

65marketplaces
11kinds
6strong bets
71indie examples

Best bets right now

The three marketplaces where a solo builder has the best odds today.

  • The best stores for indies sit inside tools businesses already pay for (Jira, Shopify, monday.com, Google Workspace). Buyers there expect to pay for small add-ons.
  • Built-in billing with a 0% starter cut is new and generous: Shopify (first $1M), Atlassian Forge (first $1M) and monday.com (first $200k). That's a better deal than Apple or Google Play.
  • The biggest audiences pay the least. ChatGPT, Telegram, Canva and Notion reach hundreds of millions of people, but none lets an indie charge easily.
  • Google Workspace, where MagicSlides made its money, still ranks in the top four, but it has no billing and Gemini is moving into the obvious AI ideas.
  • A portfolio of small apps in one store is a proven pattern: Pioneera on monday.com, Datawarehouse on HubSpot and Lizard Brain on Atlassian all did it.

Huge audiences, hard to charge

These reach the most people but rank low today because there's no good way to get paid inside them. Watch them: if billing arrives, they jump up the list.

Ranked by opportunity

Click any column to sort, a name to jump to its notes. "You bill" means you bring your own Stripe, which costs about 3%. Users counts the host platform's users, or its paying customer companies for business tools like Jira and Shopify, so compare within a kind.

Re-rank by what matters to you

B2B add-ons hides stores where consumers pay; Consumer apps hides stores where only businesses or developers pay. Each slider is how much that factor counts (0 = ignore). The table and the notes below re-sort as you move them.

#MarketplaceOpportunity UsersSignup feeYearly feeStore's cutIndie proof
1AAtlassian Marketplace (Jira/Confluence)Work SaaS72300kFreeNone0% up to $1M (Forge), then 16-17%●●●●●
2SShopify App StoreCommerce702.5M$19 onceNone0% up to $1M lifetime, then 15%●●●●●
3Mmonday.com apps marketplaceWork SaaS68250kFreeNone0% up to $200k lifetime, then 15%●●●●●
4GGoogle Workspace MarketplaceProductivity suite653BFreeNone, but a yearly security audit if you need broad Drive/Gmail access0%, you bill●●●●●
5SSteam (non-game software)Mobile/Desktop store65200M$100 per app (refunded later)None30%●●●●●
6FFreshworks MarketplaceWork SaaS6574kFreeNone20%, Freshworks bills●●●●●
7HHubSpot App MarketplaceWork SaaS62288kFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
8AApple App Store (iOS) and Mac App StoreMobile/Desktop store62850MFree$99/yr Apple developer15% under $1M/yr, else 30%●●●●●
9MMicrosoft AppSource / Office add-ins (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)Productivity suite61450MFreeNone3% if Microsoft bills, 0% if you bill●●●●●
10EEtsy (digital templates/tools)Commerce6187M$0.20 per listingNone6.5% + 3% + $0.25 processing●●●●●
11JJetBrains MarketplaceDeveloper6112MFreeNone15%, JetBrains bills●●●●●
12GGitHub MarketplaceDeveloper61180MFreeNone5%, GitHub bills●●●●●
13OObsidian community pluginsProductivity suite601.5MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
14MMicrosoft Store (Windows)Mobile/Desktop store59250MFreeNone0% if you bill; 15% with Store billing●●●●●
15ZZoho MarketplaceProductivity suite59150MFreeNoneZoho bills; cut not published●●●●●
16FFramer Marketplace (templates, plugins)Design58500kFreeNone0% (you keep 100%)●●●●●
17WWordPress.org plugin directory / WooCommerce MarketplaceWebsite builder576MFreeNone0% on WordPress.org (you bill); 30% on Woo marketplace●●●●●
18CChrome Web StoreBrowser563.5B$5 onceNone0%, you bill●●●●●
19SSlack MarketplaceMessaging5547MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
20PPipedrive MarketplaceWork SaaS55100kFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
21MMicrosoft Teams app storeProductivity suite52320MFreeNone3% if Microsoft bills, 0% if you bill●●●●●
22ZZendesk MarketplaceWork SaaS5280kFreeNoneBilled via Stripe Connect; cut not published●●●●●
23SSetappMobile/Desktop store52–FreeNone30% (you share 70% of the pool)●●●●●
24GGumroad DiscoverCommerce52–FreeNone30% on Discover sales (10% + $0.50 direct)●●●●●
25DDiscord App Directory (Premium Apps)Messaging51200MFreeNone15% up to $1M●●●●●
26AAppSumoDeal site511.5MFreeNone~70%, plus 60-day refunds●●●●●
27SSalesforce AppExchangeWork SaaS50150k$2,700 security review$300/yr security review15%, 10% above a threshold●●●●●
28TTelegram Mini Apps (Stars payments)Messaging501BFreeNone~30% via Stars (estimate)●●●●●
29AAdobe Exchange / Adobe Express add-onsDesign5090MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
30QQuickBooks (Intuit) App StoreWork SaaS49–FreeFree API tier; $300+/mo API fees at scale0%, you bill●●●●●
31MMicrosoft Edge Add-onsBrowser48286MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
32WWebflow Apps marketplaceWebsite builder48300kFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
33SStripe App MarketplaceDeveloper465MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
34AAirtable MarketplaceWork SaaS46–FreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
35AAsana appsWork SaaS46–FreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
36VVS Code MarketplaceDeveloper4650MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
37MMake (Integromat) appsWork SaaS46500kFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
38PProduct HuntDeal site46–FreeNoneFree launch; you bill●●●●●
39SSafari extensions (Mac/iOS App Store)Browser45–Free$99/yr Apple developer15% under $1M/yr, else 30%●●●●●
40WWix App MarketWebsite builder45300MFreeNone20% (0% in your first year)●●●●●
41ZZapier App DirectoryWork SaaS453.4MFreeNoneCan't sell; integration listing only●●●●●
42BBubble plugin marketplaceWebsite builder45–FreeNone25%●●●●●
43BBigCommerce App MarketplaceCommerce4441kUnclearPossibly $5k/yr partner fee (sources conflict)0-20% (sources conflict)●●●●●
44CClaude connectors directory / MCP server directories (Claude Marketplace, Smithery, Glama, mcp.so)AI assistant44–FreePaid Claude plan to submit0%, you bill●●●●●
45MMicrosoft 365 Copilot Agent StoreAI assistant4430MFreeNoneNot published●●●●●
46NNotion (integrations + template marketplace)Work SaaS43100MFreeNoneTemplates 8% + $0.40; integrations 0%●●●●●
47XXero App StoreWork SaaS414.9MFreeAPI fees from AUD 35/mo; certified tiers AUD 245+/mo0%, you bill (store billing ended 2026)●●●●●
48MMiro MarketplaceDesign4160MFreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
49TTrello Power-UpsWork SaaS41–FreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
50GGoogle Gemini (Gems, Connected Apps, Gemini Enterprise agents)AI assistant401BWaitlist (US preview)n/aCan't sell yet●●●●●
51ZZoom App MarketplaceWork SaaS39–FreeNone15% (US developers only)●●●●●
52CCanva Apps MarketplaceDesign39265MFreeNoneCan't sell in-app; Canva fund payouts●●●●●
53GGoogle PlayMobile/Desktop store383.5B$25 onceNone15% (subs and first $1M)●●●●●
54RRaycast StoreDeveloper36–FreeNoneCan't sell extensions●●●●●
55SSamsung Galaxy StoreMobile/Desktop store35–FreeNone20%; 15% on subscriptions●●●●●
56IIntercom (Fin) App StoreWork SaaS3530kFreeNoneNo marketplace sales●●●●●
57FFirefox Add-ons (AMO)Browser34–FreeNone0%, you bill●●●●●
58PPoe (Quora) bot creator monetizationAI assistant3411MFreeNonePoe pays you per message and per referral●●●●●
59HHugging Face SpacesDeveloper31–FreeNone (GPU hosting extra)Can't sell; no payouts●●●●●
60DDropbox App Center / Box App CenterWork SaaS3118MFreeNoneNo marketplace sales●●●●●
61SSquarespace ExtensionsWebsite builder305.2MInvite onlyNot publicNot public●●●●●
62CChatGPT apps directory / GPT Store (OpenAI Apps SDK)AI assistant28800MFreeNoneCan't sell digital goods yet●●●●●
63CClickUpWork SaaS25–No marketplacen/an/a●●●●●
64FFigma Community (plugins/widgets, paid)Design24–FreeNone15% (not accepting new sellers)●●●●●
65AAmazon AppstoreMobile/Desktop store16–FreeNoneNot confirmed (was 30%)●●●●●

Notes on each marketplace

In rank order. Scores are 1 to 5, where 5 is best for an indie.

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, easy to ship and get found, proven indie wins, billing handled, low fees▼ crowded

One of the best-proven marketplaces for indies: Atlassian handles billing, buyers have budgets, and Forge apps pay 0% revenue share until $1M lifetime revenue (from 2026). Build on Forge and pick an unsaturated niche.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

300,000+ Atlassian customers (Atlassian FY25 results, Aug 2025); more than two-fifths have at least one Marketplace app (Jun 2026)

Listings

6,000+ Cloud apps, including 3,700+ public Forge apps (Oct 2026); $7B+ lifetime Marketplace sales (Oct 2026)

Billing

Yes. Atlassian bills customers, handles licensing and pays partners.

Fees in detail

Forge apps: 0% on eligible earnings until a partner reaches $1M lifetime Forge revenue, then 16% and later 17%. Connect apps rise from 15% to 20% and then 25%. Atlassian announced these rates in May 2025 and later pushed the increase dates to 1 Apr 2026 and 1 Oct 2026.

Getting listed

Moderate. Requirements include an EULA, a privacy policy, a support channel and an app that doesn't crash; a rejected app can be fixed and resubmitted (Agile Docs post, 2020). Forge apps are hosted by Atlassian, which removes infrastructure and security work.

Discovery

Good. Buyers search the Marketplace from inside Jira and Confluence, and listings show installs, reviews and badges. Search traffic from Jira users with a specific problem converts well.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Forge-native AI helpers for Jira Service Management agents, such as reply drafting or ticket triage for a specific industry
  • Confluence document governance: stale-page detection, ownership reminders, compliance export
  • Jira reporting for niche roles such as agencies billing clients or hardware teams
Competition

High in mainstream Jira categories such as time tracking, test management and reporting. Gaps remain in niche Confluence and Jira Service Management workflows.

Platform risk

Atlassian ships its own AI (Rovo) and native features, and forced the Server-to-Cloud and Connect-to-Forge migrations. Even so, the company openly relies on partners, and Marketplace revenue was $300.7M in FY25.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6

2 70/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, proven indie wins, billing handled, low fees▼ crowded, host likely to clone you

Still the strongest proven indie channel in commerce (built-in billing, 0% on first $1M, merchants who pay $10-$200/mo), but saturation and Sidekick/native features mean only niche, workflow-specific apps make sense now.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~2.51M live Shopify stores (Mar 21, 2025, third-party count via Cropink); 4.82M 'active stores' also cited for 2025 (estimate, Cropink). >80% of merchants use apps, ~6 apps per store (Taylor Sicard, 2026, third-party)

Listings

~12,320 apps (Jan 2025) -> ~17,600 (early 2026) -> 18,000+ (spring 2026); one tracker reports 29,245 live apps (Oct 2026). Third-party tracker counts, ~800 net new listings/month

Billing

Yes. Shopify Billing API is required for App Store apps; Shopify collects from merchants and pays out

Fees in detail

0% on first $1M lifetime gross app revenue (counted from Jan 1, 2025), 15% above; lifetime cap replaced the annual reset from Jun 16, 2025. Plus 2.9% processing fee, $19 one-time partner registration. Large devs (>$20M App Store revenue or >$100M company revenue) pay 15% on all

Getting listed

Manual app review against App Store requirements (performance, Billing API, embedded UX). Review queues grew with submission volume; Shopify rebuilt the pipeline incl. AI-assisted self-review in spring 2026 (Taylor Sicard, 2026). No CASA-style paid security audit; time to approval not officially stated

Discovery

In-admin app store search plus categories, 'Built for Shopify' badge, reviews/ratings heavily weight ranking; paid search ads in the store. Zigpoll reports the App Store is ~1/3 of its signups (2026)

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Vertical-specific B2B/wholesale workflows (e.g., quote-to-order for one niche) that generic apps and Sidekick don't cover
  • Agentic-commerce readiness: product feed/catalog cleanup for AI shopping agents and ChatGPT/Perplexity shopping surfaces (inference, not measured demand)
  • Accounting/ops bridges for under-served regional tax or marketplace systems (e.g., Shopify-to-local-accounting exports, as Exportly did for QuickBooks/Xero)
Competition

Very saturated: 18k-29k apps, ~800 new listings/month, AI-built apps accelerating submissions. Most generic categories (reviews, upsells, popups, SEO) have dozens of 4.9-star incumbents

Platform risk

High and rising: Shopify ships native Shopify Email, Forms, analytics and loyalty-type features; Winter '26 added Sidekick app extensions and Sidekick can generate custom apps inside merchant admin, shifting merchants from installing to building (Taylor Sicard, 2026)

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3 68/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition, easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees

A strong indie bet: native billing with no revenue share up to $200K lifetime, a thin catalog, and a documented $30K MRR portfolio built from small utility apps.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

About 245,000-250,000 customers across 200+ industries (monday.com developer pages, 2025)

Listings

850+ live apps and 1.6M app installs (monday.com app developer page, 2025-26)

Billing

Yes. monday.com handles subscriptions and refunds and pays out monthly in USD via Payoneer, within up to 60 days of invoice approval.

Fees in detail

Revenue sharing starts once an app reaches $200K lifetime revenue, after which monday.com takes 15%. This implies 0% before the threshold, though the docs don't state the pre-threshold split explicitly.

Getting listed

Marketplace review plus implementing monetization. Payment-board onboarding happens the month after approval.

Discovery

In-product marketplace with search, categories and explainer videos. Developers also report community marketing in Facebook groups and the monday community.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Board and item utilities that fill gaps in native features, such as cross-board mirroring, bulk edits or advanced formulas
  • Document generation from items: quotes, invoices, PDFs
  • Vertical templates plus automations for agencies, construction or real estate
Competition

Low to moderate: 850 apps for about 250k customers is a thin catalog compared with Atlassian.

Platform risk

Medium. monday.com adds AI and native features (for example monday AI) but promotes partners, and its marketplace is still small.

Sources: 1 2 3

4 65/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, proven indie wins▼ no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

This is still the best-proven indie channel in this group. The listing pool is small (~5K), distribution is in-product, and several solo add-ons reach $9K MRR. Target integration or vertical workflows with narrow OAuth scopes rather than generic AI that Gemini now bundles for free.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

11M+ paid Workspace users/customers (May 2025, CommunicationsToday; unit ambiguous). Google has cited 3B+ total users across Workspace apps (figure from the brief, not re-verified here)

Listings

~4,900-5,400 add-ons from ~3,600-4,000 developers; ~4.9-5.1B total installs; median ~10-13K installs per add-on; ~9% pass 1M installs (profitable.app estimates, Oct 2026)

Billing

None. The marketplace doesn't process payments, so you bring your own Stripe, Gumroad, Paddle or LemonSqueezy plus license-key checks (e.g. BudgetSheet used Gumroad license keys)

Fees in detail

0%. Google takes no cut, but you pay your own payment processor's fees

Getting listed

Marketplace review plus OAuth app verification. Sensitive scopes need brand/scope verification. Restricted scopes (e.g. broad Drive/Gmail access) need an annual CASA security assessment: Tier 2 is lab-verified, and paid lab fees can run from a few hundred dollars up to a reported $15K-75K at Tier 3. Narrow scopes (drive.file, current-document-only) avoid CASA. No official SLA for approval time.

Discovery

In-product 'Get add-ons' panel inside Docs/Sheets/Slides/Gmail plus marketplace search, ranked largely by installs and ratings. Education is strong: ~516 add-ons with a median of ~115K users (profitable.app). Ratings matter: freemium add-ons average 3.85 stars vs 2.71 for pure-paid.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Two-way sync add-ons between Sheets and a specific SaaS that has no native connector (the Sync2Sheets pattern: Notion→Sheets at $9K MRR)
  • Education/teacher add-ons for Docs/Slides/Forms (largest median user counts) with a school-license upsell
  • Vertical template/automation add-ons (e.g. invoicing from Sheets, Gmail-to-CRM for one niche) that use narrow scopes to avoid CASA
Competition

Moderate. With only ~5K listings, it's far less crowded than Chrome. 62.9% of add-ons are free/freemium/trial and 3.5% are pure paid (profitable.app). AI 'GPT for Sheets/Slides' categories are now crowded.

Platform risk

High for generic AI features. Gemini was bundled into all Business/Enterprise Workspace plans in Jan 2025, so native 'help me write/create slides/formulas' features compete directly with generic AI add-ons. Niche workflow and integration add-ons are safer.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

5

Steam (non-game software)

Mobile/Desktop store
65/100

▲ big audience, little competition, billing handled, low fees, host unlikely to clone you

A surprisingly strong channel for desktop utilities aimed at gamers and streamers. Lossless Scaling shows the ceiling, and Valve rarely competes with you. It doesn't suit B2B micro-SaaS, though, and the 30% cut and one-time pricing are trade-offs.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~200M MAU (estimate, tbreak 2025); Valve's last official figure was 132M MAU (2021)

Listings

null for software/utilities (SteamDB 'Software' and 'Utilities' tags list thousands)

Billing

Yes. Steam handles checkout, regional pricing, refunds and sales events

Fees in detail

30% to Valve (lower tiers above $10M and $50M); $100 Steam Direct fee per app (recoupable)

Getting listed

Steam Direct review (a few days); store page must be live 2+ weeks before launch

Discovery

Wishlists, tags, seasonal sales, recommendation algorithm; works well for gamer-adjacent utilities

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • PC-gamer utilities (FPS/upscaling, overlays, macro, streaming tools)
  • Creator tools for streamers/VTubers (soundboards, chat overlays, clip editors)
  • Desktop customization (widgets, wallpapers, audio routing)
Competition

Low for non-game utilities; audience is gamers, so tools must fit PC gamer/creator needs

Platform risk

Low: Valve rarely clones third-party utilities

Sources: 1 2 3 4

6 65/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition, easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees▼ small audience, little indie proof

Among the best rails here (80/20, billing handled, about 1-week review) and buyers are business teams. The audience is smaller, so choose per-agent pricing.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

73,000-74,000+ businesses (Freshworks site, 2026)

Listings

500+ apps (older Freshworks blog); current count not found

Billing

Yes, through the Paid Apps Program: built-in payment processing and monthly billing, priced per account or per agent (Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freshsales)

Fees in detail

80% developer / 20% Freshworks; payouts monthly within 30-45 days

Getting listed

Open to individuals; review for functionality, security, UX, code and docs takes about 1 week

Discovery

Marketplace inside Freshworks products; incentive programs for paid apps

Indie proof
  • Saasly (Spritle) Freshworks integrations contributed ~30% of the division's revenue (Freshworks testimonial, undated)
Angles for us
  • Paid helpdesk add-ons for ITSM (Freshservice) such as asset or license reminders
  • SLA or QA analytics for Freshdesk agents, priced per agent
  • Region-specific messaging or telephony connectors
Competition

Moderate; dominated by agencies and integration vendors

Platform risk

Freshworks ships Freddy AI copilots and agents that overlap AI add-ons; moderate risk

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

7 62/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, easy to ship and get found▼ no billing or high fees

Probably the best fit for the MagicSlides-style playbook among the work-SaaS marketplaces: low listing friction, no fees, business buyers, and a publisher (Datawarehouse) that reportedly built a large business from small single-purpose apps. You must bring your own billing.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

288,000+ HubSpot customers and 1.5M+ weekly active users (HubSpot ecosystem page, 2026)

Listings

2,000+ apps (2026). In Feb 2024 there were 1,543 products, 1,251 of them paid, and third-party publishers earned an estimated $69.6M a month (independent estimate).

Billing

No. Developers bill customers themselves, for example with Stripe.

Fees in detail

None. No fees to join, list or transact.

Getting listed

Easy to list: build the integration and get 3 active installs. App certification is optional and stricter, and higher partner tiers add support.

Discovery

In-app marketplace search and categories, and 95% of customers have installed at least one app (9+ on average). Marketing agencies and solutions partners drive a lot of installs.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Single-purpose CRM utilities: property calculators, association cleanup, bulk record tools
  • Industry data syncs into HubSpot for vertical SaaS products without integrations
  • AI enrichment or summarization cards on records for a specific niche such as recruiting or real estate
Competition

Moderate. Big categories such as calling and enrichment are crowded, but many narrow utilities are run by small publishers.

Platform risk

Medium. HubSpot keeps adding Breeze AI and native features such as data quality and org charts, but it actively promotes the partner ecosystem.

Sources: 1 2

8 62/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, proven indie wins, billing handled, low fees▼ crowded, host likely to clone you

Big rails and reach but brutally concentrated outcomes; an indie needs a sharp niche plus outside marketing.

Re-scored after review: iOS users spend the most of any consumer app store, and indie iOS apps with verified revenue are common (most Starter Story apps are iOS).

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

850M+ average weekly App Store users in 175 countries (Apple/Analysis Group, 2025 data, June 2026)

Listings

~2M apps (estimate; Apple not confirmed in sources found)

Billing

Yes: StoreKit IAP/subscriptions; Apple handles payments and taxes; US external links allowed after 2025 court ruling.

Fees in detail

15% for Small Business Program (first $1M/yr) and for subscriptions after year 1; 30% otherwise.

Getting listed

App Review usually 1-2 days; $99/yr developer fee; strict guidelines.

Discovery

Search ads, editorial features, rankings; very competitive ASO.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Niche B2B/prosumer iOS tools (field inspections, trades invoicing) with subscriptions
  • Mac menu-bar utilities using on-device AI
  • Companion apps for popular SaaS lacking native mobile
Competition

Extreme; vibe-coded apps flooding; RevenueCat 2026: only 17% of new subscription apps reach $1k MRR in 2 years and 4.6% reach $10k.

Platform risk

High: Apple Sherlocks utilities (passwords, journaling, AI writing tools, calculators).

Sources: 1 2 3 4

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, little competition▼ hard to ship or get found, host likely to clone you

It has the highest-budget audience and less indie competition than Google, and a 3% transactable option exists. Setup and validation friction is real, and Copilot covers generic AI. It's a good second port for a proven Google Workspace add-on, especially B2B integrations.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

450M+ Microsoft 365 commercial paid seats (Microsoft FY26 Q2, Jan 2026, via Office365ITPros)

Billing

Office add-ins must be free to download. You monetize either with your own billing plus a license check, or by linking a transactable SaaS offer in Partner Center (Microsoft bills; SaaS fulfillment APIs and Microsoft license management)

Fees in detail

3% standard Microsoft commercial-marketplace fee on transactable offers (reduced from 20% in 2021); 0% if you bill yourself

Getting listed

AppSource validation against Office Store policies, with common rejections for manifest, UX and test-account issues. A transactable SaaS offer adds Entra ID app registration and fulfillment API integration, which is heavier than Google. Optional Microsoft 365 Certification. No review-time figure found.

Discovery

In-app 'Get Add-ins' store inside Office and Outlook plus AppSource web. Enterprise admins often deploy centrally, so discovery skews to IT buyers.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Excel add-ins that connect to a specific SaaS/ERP data source finance teams use, sold per-seat to SMBs
  • Outlook add-ins for vertical workflows (legal matter filing, recruiting, real-estate CRM logging)
  • PowerPoint add-ins for brand-compliance/template enforcement in consulting firms, mirroring Google Slides add-on wins on the Microsoft side
Competition

Lower than Google/Chrome for indie tools. Fewer solo devs build Office.js add-ins, but AI Excel/PowerPoint assistants are crowding.

Platform risk

High for generic AI. Microsoft 365 Copilot is built into Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook (Microsoft credits Copilot for Office growth). Niche data connectors and vertical templates are safer.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10 61/100

▲ big audience, easy to ship and get found, proven indie wins, billing handled, low fees, host unlikely to clone you▼ users who rarely pay, crowded

Easiest to start and proven for spreadsheet templates (~$100K/yr examples), but low price points and ad-driven saturation make it best as a lead-gen funnel into a recurring app rather than a micro-SaaS channel.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

86.97M active buyers, 5.71M active sellers (Etsy Q2 2026 10-Q, via Branvas); 86.5M buyers at Dec 31, 2025

Listings

100M+ items for sale (Etsy 2025 10-K); digital-product share not reported

Billing

Yes: Etsy Payments handles checkout and instant digital download delivery

Fees in detail

$0.20 listing fee per listing/renewal + 6.5% transaction fee + 3% + $0.25 payment processing (US); Offsite Ads 15% (12% once mandatory above $10K/yr sales) on attributed orders

Getting listed

None - instant listing; just policy compliance

Discovery

Etsy search (keyword tags/titles), Etsy Ads (CPC), Offsite Ads; listings also rank in Google. Top sellers rely on keyword research tools (eRank) and email lists

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Automated Google Sheets tools for a specific trade (mobile bar, cleaning, notary business templates) as funnels to a paid add-on/SaaS (Dream Path, Nov 2025)
  • Sheets/Slides templates bundled with an Apps Script or add-on upsell (cross-sell to a Workspace Marketplace app)
  • Seller tools for Etsy sellers themselves (profit/fee trackers) - many exist, so differentiate by automation
Competition

Very high for generic digital products: visibility for broad templates 'largely determined by advertising spend' (Dream Path, Nov 2025, opinion); AI-generated templates flooding categories

Platform risk

Low cloning risk, but GMS fell 4% in 2025 and active buyers dropped from 92.0M (2023) to 86.5M (2025); algorithm/fee changes are the main risk

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

11 61/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition, billing handled, low fees▼ little indie proof

Best-built billing rails among developer marketplaces (15% cut, trials, taxes handled) and an audience that already pays for tools; smaller reach and Kotlin/Java plugin dev cost are the tradeoffs. No public indie revenue figures were found.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

12.5M+ recurring active users; ~3.2M paying customers (JetBrains Annual Highlights 2026, 2024-2025 data)

Billing

Yes: JetBrains handles checkout, licensing, 30-day trials, taxes/VAT, resellers; supports paid, freemium, subscriptions with fallback license, perpetual; or 'externally paid' with your own licensing.

Fees in detail

JetBrains keeps 15% (capped at 25% with one month notice); reseller fees come out of JetBrains' 15%; payout monthly once balance >= $200/EUR200.

Getting listed

Manual review of plugin uploads; paid plugins require signing a developer agreement and integrating JetBrains licensing API; stricter verification tooling in 2026. Typically days.

Discovery

In-IDE plugin browser with search, staff picks and categories; paid plugins visibly labeled. Smaller catalog than VS Code means niche plugins rank more easily.

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Paid framework-specific productivity plugins for JetBrains users (Rails, Laravel, Spring, Unreal/Rider) where buyers already pay for IDEs
  • AI-agent integration plugins (Claude Code/MCP bridges) for IntelliJ users underserved vs VS Code
  • Enterprise compliance/code-quality checks sold per seat through JetBrains' billing
Competition

Moderate: far fewer paid plugins than VS Code extensions; JetBrains AI Assistant/Junie and Copilot cover generic AI coding.

Platform risk

Medium: JetBrains bundles AI Assistant and Junie and occasionally absorbs popular plugin features, but it explicitly promotes third-party paid plugins as an ecosystem.

Sources: 1 2 3

12 61/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, billing handled, low fees▼ hard to ship or get found, host likely to clone you

Excellent 95% rails and B2B buyers, but the 100-install + verified-org gate and GitHub's habit of building or buying winners make it a channel for a dev-tool SaaS rather than a discovery engine.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

180M+ developers on GitHub (Octoverse 2025, Oct 2025)

Billing

Yes for paid GitHub/OAuth apps: GitHub bills customers on their GitHub payment method; app must handle purchase webhooks and offer monthly and annual plans.

Fees in detail

Developers keep 95% (GitHub cut fee from 25% to 5%, Feb 2021).

Getting listed

Paid listing requires the app be owned by a verified-publisher organization and have 100+ installs (GitHub Apps) or 200+ users (OAuth apps), then listing verification by GitHub.

Discovery

Marketplace search and categories; weak traffic vs organic GitHub/README discovery; Actions dominate listings.

Indie proof
  • Pull Reminders Just under $4,000/month within ~4 months of launch on GitHub Marketplace + Slack (Indie Hackers interview, undated ~2018); later acquired
  • Dependabot Grew to ~$14k MRR before acquisition by GitHub (podcast, Grey Baker)
Angles for us
  • Repo-hygiene bots for niche stacks (changelog/release notes, license/compliance, migration PRs like Laravel Shift)
  • Governance for AI-agent PRs (policy checks, audit trails for Copilot/Claude-generated changes)
  • Engineering-manager metrics apps for small teams priced below enterprise tools
Competition

AI code review bots crowded (CodeRabbit, Copilot code review, Greptile etc.); niche workflow apps less so.

Platform risk

High: GitHub keeps shipping native Copilot features (code review, agent, Dependabot was itself an acquired indie app).

Sources: 1 2 3 4

13

Obsidian community plugins

Productivity suite
60/100

▲ buyers who pay, easy to ship and get found, proven indie wins, host unlikely to clone you▼ small audience, no billing or high fees

A small audience but power users who pay; one indie AI plugin makes about $20K MRR. Approval is fast and platform risk is low, so it's a good niche bet if you bring your own licensing.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

est. 1-1.5M+ users (fueler estimate, 2026; Obsidian doesn't publish figures)

Listings

4,000+ plugins and themes, 120M+ total downloads (Obsidian, May 2026)

Billing

No built-in payments. External license keys, API keys or login gates are allowed, and plugins must be labeled Free, Optional payments or Paid

Fees in detail

0%

Getting listed

Automated code/security scan with results in minutes, live within 24h (since May 2026); must be open-source (closed-source not accepted)

Discovery

New community.obsidian.md directory with search, categories, safety scorecard; in-app browser; Reddit/YouTube

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Paid sync/publish bridges from Obsidian to specific tools (Notion, WordPress, Anki, Readwise alternatives)
  • Vertical templates and plugins for academics, lawyers and novelists with license keys
  • Local-first AI features (embedding search, transcription) with a paid hosted tier
Competition

High for AI chat plugins (Copilot, Smart Connections, etc.); lower for niche workflows

Platform risk

Low-medium: Obsidian is small, plugin-friendly and slow to ship native AI; open-source requirement means forks are possible

Sources: 1 2 3 4

14

Microsoft Store (Windows)

Mobile/Desktop store
59/100

▲ big audience, easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees▼ little indie proof

The best rails on this list: it's free to list and you keep 100% if you use your own billing. A solid secondary channel for desktop utilities, but discovery is weak and there's little documented indie revenue.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

250M+ Microsoft Store MAU (Microsoft, Sep 2025)

Listings

null

Billing

Optional. Use Store commerce, or your own payment system and keep 100%

Fees in detail

0% if you use your own commerce for apps; Store commerce for apps 15% (widely reported since 2021); games 12%

Getting listed

Free registration for individuals and companies (since Sep 2025); certification typically fast; Win32/MSIX/PWA all accepted; own update mechanism allowed

Discovery

Store search plus Windows Search integration; Intune deployment for managed PCs; ranking is weak for small apps

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Windows ports of popular Mac-only menubar/productivity utilities
  • Local-AI desktop tools (offline transcription, file renaming) using NPU on Copilot+ PCs
  • Business utilities distributed via Intune for SMB IT admins
Competition

Moderate; many low-quality apps, fewer polished indie utilities than on macOS

Platform risk

Medium-high: Windows/Copilot and PowerToys keep adding utilities (e.g. AI features in Photos/Paint/Snipping Tool)

Sources: 1 2 3 4

15

Zoho Marketplace

Productivity suite
59/100

▲ buyers who pay, easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees▼ host likely to clone you

Huge SMB base, built-in billing, quick review, and few third-party rivals make Zoho an under-rated option. Zoho's own apps dominate installs, so pick gaps Zoho isn't building.

Toned down from the researcher's scores: the 150M figure counts users across all Zoho products, and the leading indie publishers there are 10-person teams.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

150M+ users, 1M+ paying customers (Zoho, Feb 2026)

Listings

2,000+ extensions across 29 Zoho products (Zoho, 2023)

Billing

Yes. Zoho collects payment via the Zoho Payment gateway and pays developers monthly once sales pass $100

Fees in detail

Not stated in the FAQ (null)

Getting listed

Review takes about 2 business days (Zoho FAQ)

Discovery

In-product marketplace per Zoho app plus featured home or product slots; 1M installs total by 2023, ~30K/month

Indie proof
  • Ulgebra 27 apps, most paid-app installs among independent developers; 9 employees (ProSaaS review, undated)
  • OApps 30+ extensions listed with a team of 10 (Zoho, 2023)
Angles for us
  • WhatsApp or SMS messaging extensions for Zoho CRM and Desk (Ulgebra's niche shows demand)
  • AI document or quote generation for Zoho CRM
  • Local tax or e-invoicing connectors for Zoho Books in emerging markets
Competition

Low from third parties. ~97% of installs go to Zoho's own extensions (ProSaaS analysis)

Platform risk

Zoho builds a lot in-house (55+ apps plus Zia AI) and owns most installs, so it is moderate to high

Sources: 1 2 3 4

▲ easy to ship and get found, proven indie wins▼ small audience

Strong indie proof for templates (one portfolio at ~$30k/mo) and 100% revenue kept. Best for a design-capable builder; plugins can be shipped the same day.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~500,000 users (Series D coverage, Aug 2025)

Billing

Framer sells paid templates in the Marketplace. For plugins, the paid feature handling isn't documented (likely your own billing)

Fees in detail

Creators keep 100% of paid template sales and 100% of plugin revenue, plus a referral commission on site-plan upgrades from template remixes (rate not stated)

Getting listed

Plugins publish immediately with no review (Framer help). Templates are submitted for review; manual Creator Program applications are reviewed within a few days

Discovery

Marketplace categories plus in-editor plugin browser; creator dashboard tracks clicks and earnings (Mar 2025)

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Paid plugins that fill workflow gaps: SEO audit, localization, CMS import or sync from Notion or Airtable
  • Vertical templates for SaaS or AI startups with built-in referral upside
Competition

Template market is busy with designers; the plugin market is younger

Platform risk

Framer keeps adding native AI site generation and CMS features, which can replace simple plugins and templates

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

▲ big audience, proven indie wins, host unlikely to clone you▼ crowded, no billing or high fees

Huge, low-platform-risk distribution via free in-admin listings, but you must bring your own billing and convert free users, and 2026 review queues are long; good for freemium plugins in specific WooCommerce niches.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

WordPress runs 59.8% of CMS-based sites (W3Techs, undated via Barn2); WooCommerce on ~4.23M sites (Store Leads) to ~6.77M (BuiltWith), 7M+ active plugin installs (Barn2, Apr 2026)

Listings

WordPress.org: ~60,000 plugins (estimate implied by Make WordPress Plugins team, Jun 2026). WooCommerce Marketplace: ~751 extensions (Mar 2022, Freemius) - curated

Billing

WordPress.org: none - free plugins only; monetize via freemium upsell with your own billing (Freemius, Lemon Squeezy, Stripe, etc.). WooCommerce Marketplace: Woo handles billing and taxes, monthly payouts ($100 minimum)

Fees in detail

WordPress.org: 0% (you pay your own payment/billing-platform fees, e.g. Freemius). WooCommerce Marketplace: developer keeps 70% of net revenue, Woo 30% (Freemius, Mar 2022)

Getting listed

WordPress.org: free manual review; queue exploded in 2026 - ~700 submissions/week in May 2026 (2.7x May 2025), queue peaked ~1,050 (Apr 2026), and 4,715 plugins new/pending at Aug 31, 2026 with 3,854 older than 7 days (most waiting on author fixes). WooCommerce Marketplace: selective partner application; some plugins rejected without review (Freemius, 2022)

Discovery

WordPress.org search is visible inside every WP admin (Plugins > Add New); ranking driven by active installs, ratings, update recency and keyword match. SEOPress founder called the in-admin listing 'a crucial factor' for sustainability

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • AI-assisted WooCommerce ops tools for one store type (e.g., B2B pricing, subscription box ops) sold freemium with Pro upsell
  • Compliance plugins for new regulations (EU accessibility act, e-invoicing mandates) where site owners must act by a deadline
  • AI-search/LLM visibility tooling (llms.txt, structured data for AI answers) as a lightweight freemium plugin (inference)
Competition

Very high: ~60k plugins and record submission volume in 2026 (likely AI-assisted, but the team does not state the cause); established freemium incumbents in SEO, forms, caching, page builders

Platform risk

Low-moderate: WordPress core rarely clones plugin categories, but Automattic/WooCommerce does ship 'Developed by Woo' extensions, and governance disputes (Automattic vs WP Engine, 2024) have shown platform-control risk

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

18 56/100

▲ big audience, easy to ship and get found, proven indie wins▼ crowded, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

It has the largest audience and the cheapest place to ship, with many indie wins, but store discovery is poor and the field is saturated. It works when the extension rides a specific host site's power users and you bring your own distribution. Avoid generic AI helpers that Gemini in Chrome now does natively.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

Chrome runs on ~3.5B devices, ~65% global browser share (PYMNTS citing StatCounter, Apr 2026)

Listings

~178K active extensions (Exstats, Mar 2026) or ~343K live (profitable.app, Oct 2026), depending on counting method; median ~10 users; 8.1% reach 1K+ users, 0.5% reach 100K+, <300 pass 1M (profitable.app, Oct 2026)

Billing

None. Chrome Web Store Payments were deprecated in 2020-2021, so you bring your own Stripe/ExtensionPay/Paddle/Lemon Squeezy

Fees in detail

0% to Google (one-time $5 developer registration); payment processor fees only

Getting listed

Automated plus manual review, usually quick. Broad host permissions or remote code trigger longer reviews. Manifest V3 is required.

Discovery

Store search is weak and dominated by install counts; Featured badges help. Most indie winners get traffic from SEO, Reddit/X, or by piggybacking a host site (ChatGPT, Poshmark, Gmail).

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Power-user tools for one specific high-traffic SaaS/marketplace that sellers live in (Poshmark/Etsy/Amazon Seller Central/LinkedIn Sales Nav), the Closet Tools pattern
  • Organisation/productivity layers on top of AI chat apps (folders, prompt libraries, export) that the AI vendors are slow to build
  • B2B workflow extensions that bridge a web app into a CRM/ATS where the user already works (Gmail/LinkedIn → niche CRM)
Competition

Very high: hundreds of thousands of listings and a flood of AI/vibe-coded extensions. Half have almost no users.

Platform risk

Rising. Gemini in Chrome (Sept 2025 onward; agentic browsing Jan 2026; 'Skills' saved prompts on any page, Apr 2026) replicates generic AI summarise/rewrite/side-panel extensions. Extensions bolted onto third-party sites also risk the host site changing or cloning the feature.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

19 55/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, proven indie wins▼ no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Proven indie bot businesses exist, but Slack offers no billing and its AI push plus API restrictions raise platform risk. It suits narrow workflow bots better than general AI assistants.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

About 47.2M daily active users in 2025 (Statista estimate via DemandSage); 200,000+ paying organizations (2023)

Listings

2,600+ apps and integrations, including about 350 AI-enabled apps (Salesforce, Feb 2026; Slack newsletter, Jun 2026)

Billing

No. Developers bill on their own platform; Abot used Paddle, for example.

Fees in detail

None (no marketplace billing)

Getting listed

Manual Marketplace review covering security, scopes, multi-workspace support and support readiness. Since May 2025, commercially distributed apps that aren't listed are limited to 1 request per minute on conversations.history and conversations.replies, which in practice pushes commercial apps into a Marketplace listing.

Discovery

Marketplace categories and search inside Slack. Indie founders report that most early traction came from external channels such as Hacker News; KarmaBot gets most of its traffic from the Slack and Teams marketplaces.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Vertical workflow bots, such as on-call handoffs for small clinics or shift swaps for retail teams
  • Lightweight compliance or retention tools such as message-expiry policies or export for regulated SMBs
  • Slack-to-system micro-integrations for tools without official apps
Competition

Moderate. Classic bot niches (standups, polls, kudos, anonymous feedback) are crowded, and AI agents are a growing share of new listings.

Platform risk

High for AI apps. Slack is expanding Slackbot into an enterprise AI assistant, Salesforce is pushing Agentforce, and the 2025 API terms tightened data access for third-party AI tools.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6

20 55/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition▼ small audience, no billing or high fees

Small but paying SMB sales audience with low competition and proven indie wins like Pipechat at €7k MRR. Bring your own billing and expect a slow review.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

100,000+ companies (Pipedrive, Dec 2023)

Listings

400+ integrations (Dec 2023)

Billing

No built-in billing found. Listings must link to your own pricing page, so you bring your own Stripe

Fees in detail

None found (commercial terms are in the Developer Partner Agreement)

Getting listed

Full manual test of the app; OAuth 2.0 required; demo video, test accounts, ToS and privacy policy; up to 21 business days. Approved apps are unlisted until you publish

Discovery

Marketplace categories and search; 134,000+ users installed at least one app in Jan-Nov 2023

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Messaging-channel connectors (WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS) for SMB sales teams
  • AI call or meeting note summaries pushed into deals
  • Region-specific invoicing or e-signature sync
Competition

Moderate; ~400 apps is small compared with HubSpot or Salesforce

Platform risk

Pipedrive adds native AI and messaging features over time; mid-sized platform risk

Sources: 1 2 3 4

21

Microsoft Teams app store

Productivity suite
52/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, little competition▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, host likely to clone you

It's a viable B2B channel with less indie competition and 3% billing. Admin-gated installs, heavy enterprise expectations and Microsoft's native-feature cadence make it slow for a solo builder. It's best as a port of something already working on Slack.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

320M+ monthly active users (Microsoft, reported Dec 2023 via Windows Central; no newer official figure found)

Listings

2,000+ apps (Microsoft, 2023, via Neowin); now also an Agent catalog for Copilot agents

Billing

Optional. Link a transactable SaaS offer in Partner Center (subscriptions, free trials, in-app purchases, Microsoft license management) or bill yourself

Fees in detail

3% on transactable SaaS offers (Microsoft commercial marketplace fee); 0% if self-billed

Getting listed

Teams store validation via Partner Center, plus SaaS offer certification if transactable. Publisher attestation/Microsoft 365 Certification is often expected by enterprise admins. No review-time figure found.

Discovery

In-Teams app store with categories and ratings/reviews (added 2022). Admins gate installs in most enterprises, so bottom-up adoption is harder than on Slack.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Port a proven Slack micro-app pattern (kudos/karma, standups, polls) to Teams, where indie copies are fewer
  • Teams bots for frontline/regulated workflows (shift handover, compliance check-ins) that Microsoft leaves to partners
  • Lightweight Copilot agent or message extension that wraps a niche SaaS API for one industry
Competition

Moderate: ~2K apps, mostly larger vendors porting their Slack apps. Few indies.

Platform risk

High. Microsoft ships native features aggressively (Loop, Copilot meeting recap, Planner, Approvals), and Copilot agents now sit in the same store.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6

22 52/100

▲ buyers who pay, billing handled, low fees▼ little indie proof, host likely to clone you

Business buyers, built-in Stripe billing and per-agent pricing make it viable for niche support utilities. Avoid AI agents that compete with Zendesk's own products.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

80,000+ companies (Zendesk site); 58% of customers have installed at least one Marketplace app (2025-26)

Listings

1,500+ apps (1,800+ including partners and integrations) (Zendesk blog, 2025-26)

Billing

Yes. Paid apps are billed through Stripe Connect via Zendesk's Stripe app, as one-time or monthly charges per account or per agent, with trials of 1-90 days. Stripe Tax has been automatic since Dec 2025.

Getting listed

Marketplace submission review. Stricter security requirements arrived in 2026 (Global OAuth, data disclosure); about 700 apps are fully compliant, and 50+ complete review each week (Apr 2026).

Discovery

In-admin Marketplace with search and categories; installs are tied to 75% of Zendesk ARR.

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Industry-specific sidebar apps that pull order, booking or account data from niche systems
  • QA and ticket analytics for small support teams that find Zendesk QA too expensive
  • Macro and help-center content hygiene tools
Competition

Moderate. AI agent and copilot categories are crowded, and Zendesk sells its own AI agents.

Platform risk

High for AI apps, since Zendesk's own AI agents and Copilot are core paid add-ons. Lower for niche workflow and integration apps.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

23

Setapp

Mobile/Desktop store
52/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition, billing handled, low fees, host unlikely to clone you▼ small audience, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof

Good as a supplemental, stable income for a polished Mac app, but curated entry and per-user split make it a secondary channel, not a launchpad.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Listings

~240+ curated Mac/iOS apps (estimate; 61 at launch Jan 2017)

Billing

Yes: subscription bundle ($9.99/mo base); Setapp bills users and pays developers monthly by usage.

Fees in detail

70% of each user's fee goes to developers of apps that user opened, split by price-tier multiplier (not by usage time); +20% partner share if you referred the user.

Getting listed

Curated: application and quality review; Setapp chooses which apps it accepts; must integrate Setapp framework.

Discovery

Editorial curation, collections, in-app search; small catalog means each app gets visibility.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Mac utility filling a gap in Setapp's catalog (AI-powered file/automation helpers)
  • Apps for Setapp's prosumer base: menu-bar productivity, local AI tools
  • Add an existing indie Mac app as a second revenue stream
Competition

Low in count (curated), but categories often already filled (one app per niche).

Platform risk

Low from Setapp itself; macOS/Apple native features (e.g. clipboard, window mgmt in macOS) are the risk.

Sources: 1 2 3

24 52/100

▲ easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees, host unlikely to clone you▼ users who rarely pay, crowded, little indie proof

A checkout and MoR layer more than a discovery engine; the 30% Discover fee is steep and buyers lean consumer or creator. Use it for licenses and one-offs, not as a growth channel.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Listings

146,271 products tracked (InsightRaider snapshot, Oct 2026)

Billing

Yes. Gumroad is merchant of record since Jan 1, 2025 and handles tax/VAT; supports one-time and memberships

Fees in detail

Direct sales 10% + $0.50 (5% + $0.50 above $20k/mo); Discover-sourced sales flat 30% (Dodo Payments, 2026)

Getting listed

No app review; anyone can list

Discovery

Discover search and category browse; 30% fee applies only to new Discover customers

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Selling licenses for desktop utilities, scripts or Notion/Sheets tools with MoR tax handling
  • Bundles of templates plus a small companion app
Competition

Very crowded with templates, courses and prompts; the Software Development category is the top-revenue category (~$65.8M modeled revenue, 1,083 products, InsightRaider estimate)

Platform risk

Low cloning risk. Risk is fee changes and low marketplace traffic quality

Sources: 1 2

▲ big audience, easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees▼ users who rarely pay, crowded

Good rails at 15% and viral distribution, but consumer/gamer audience has low willingness to pay; best for bots serving monetized communities.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

200M+ MAU (reported in IPO coverage, Jan 2026)

Billing

Yes: native Premium Apps SKUs - user or guild subscriptions, durable and consumable one-time purchases; storefront in App Directory.

Fees in detail

Discord takes 15% on the first $1M of app revenue (net of taxes/processing), previously 30% (from June 6, 2024).

Getting listed

Monetization requires enabling via developer portal and meeting Premium Apps support requirements; initially available in US, UK, EU.

Discovery

App Directory search/categories plus word-of-mouth between servers; virality via server invites.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Guild-subscription utility bots for paid communities (trading, coaching, cohorts)
  • AI moderation/summaries for large servers
  • Activities (embedded games) with one-time purchases
Competition

Mature bot space (MEE6, Dyno etc.); gaming/community bots crowded.

Platform risk

Medium: Discord adds native AutoMod, onboarding, server subscriptions, activities.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

26

AppSumo

Deal site
51/100

▲ buyers who pay, host unlikely to clone you▼ crowded, no billing or high fees

One-time cash and feedback, but heavy cuts, refunds and lifetime support; use only as a validation launch, not a revenue channel.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~1.5M entrepreneurs / email list; ~1M monthly site visits (ppc.land, Feb 2026)

Listings

2,000+ products (Oct 2021)

Billing

Yes: AppSumo sells lifetime-deal codes and pays out after refund window.

Fees in detail

AppSumo keeps ~65-80% (founder report ~70%, Dec 2024); 60-day refund window.

Getting listed

Application and negotiation; Select program exclusive; weeks.

Discovery

Email blasts and site featuring drive a launch spike.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Launch spike for a new B2B micro-SaaS to gather users and feedback
  • Feature-limited LTD tier to avoid cost blowups
  • AI tools for SMB marketers
Competition

Many AI LTDs; AppSumo revenue fell 50% over 2024-2025 (Noah Kagan, Feb 2026).

Platform risk

N/A for cloning; risk is lifetime support burden and declining platform.

Sources: 1 2

27 50/100

▲ buyers who pay▼ hard to ship or get found, no billing or high fees

The highest-budget buyers of any marketplace, but the security-review cost, packaging work and sales-led motion make it a poor first target for a solo micro-SaaS builder. It fits better as a second channel once the product already has traction.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

150,000+ Salesforce customers (Salesforce's own claim, undated, via ExpandedRamblings); 91% of customers use at least one AppExchange app (Salesforce, Feb 2026)

Listings

6,233 apps from 3,668 developers (Dec 2025, up from 5,661 in Dec 2024); Salesforce cites 9,000+ apps and expert listings and 14M+ installs (Feb 2026)

Billing

Optional AppExchange Checkout exists, but most ISVs invoice customers directly; Salesforce takes a revenue share on paid-app sales either way

Fees in detail

ISVforce: 15% of sales, falling to 10% above a threshold for new businesses; OEM Embedded: 25% (15% above $20M) (Magicfuse, updated Jul 2026)

Getting listed

Mandatory security review for paid apps: $2,700 in the first year, then $300 a year (free apps exempt) (Magicfuse 2025/26). The review is known to be strict and multi-week. You must join the partner program and package the app as a managed package.

Discovery

Search plus categories and reviews. Reviews are thin: 50.65% of apps have zero reviews (Dec 2025). Most sales come through the Salesforce admin and consultant ecosystem and outbound selling, not organic browsing.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Narrow admin utilities such as field-usage audits, permission-set cleanup or flow documentation, priced per org
  • Vertical add-ons for small Salesforce orgs in niches like nonprofits, real estate or recruiting
  • Lightweight AI summarization or data-hygiene components that sit beside Agentforce rather than competing with it
Competition

Moderate. 6.2k apps for a large enterprise base, and 75.5% of developers have only one app. Agentforce and AgentExchange (646+ agentic assets, Feb 2026) add an AI-agent layer where Salesforce is competing directly.

Platform risk

Salesforce keeps bundling AI (Agentforce) and acquiring vendors. Simple data-enrichment or productivity utilities are exposed to that; deep vertical workflows are less exposed.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

▲ big audience, easy to ship and get found, host unlikely to clone you▼ users who rarely pay, little indie proof

Massive reach and frictionless micropayments, but low-value consumer audience and crypto payouts; little evidence of indie SaaS income.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

1B+ MAU (Pavel Durov, March 2025)

Listings

Mini apps: 100M+ MAU for Web3 mini apps (Sept 2026); count of apps not found

Billing

Yes: Telegram Stars required for digital goods; in-app checkout; Stars withdrawable to TON via Fragment after 21-day hold.

Fees in detail

Net ~70% to developer after store/Telegram fees (estimate; ~$0.014 net per 1-Star at ~$0.02/Star)

Getting listed

Lightweight: create bot via BotFather; no store review; optional listing in Mini App store/catalogs.

Discovery

Mini App store, bot search, referral/affiliate programs (15-25% commissions), channel promotion; dominated by tap-to-earn games and crypto.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Micropayment AI utilities in chat (transcription, translation, image tools) for emerging markets
  • Tools for Telegram channel/community admins (analytics, paid content)
  • Small-business booking/ordering mini apps in Telegram-heavy regions
Competition

Crowded with games/crypto; business productivity tools sparse.

Platform risk

Low-medium from cloning; risk is regulatory/crypto volatility and payout via TON.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

▲ buyers who pay▼ no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Pro video and design plugins have real paying users (PxlSafe makes about $4K MRR), but you handle your own billing and Adobe's AI features are a constant threat. It's worth it if you know creative workflows.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

90M+ Creative Freemium MAU led by Express (2026); 850M+ combined Acrobat and Express MAU (Adobe filings via fueler)

Listings

null (no add-on count found)

Billing

No. Paid upgrades must use an external processor, and the add-on must tell users 'You'll need to pay to upgrade outside of Adobe'

Fees in detail

0% (bring your own Stripe/PayPal/LemonSqueezy)

Getting listed

Adobe review against listing and monetization guidelines; Adobe runs developer funding programs for priority categories

Discovery

Express add-ons panel with trending/featured lists; Adobe Exchange for Photoshop/Premiere (UXP/CEP) plugins

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Premiere/After Effects automation extensions for editors (proven by PxlSafe)
  • Express add-ons that bring in data (spreadsheets, CMS, product feeds) for bulk social graphics
  • Brand compliance / approval add-ons for SMB marketing teams
Competition

Moderate; Express add-on ecosystem is young, and Premiere/AE extension niche has established sellers

Platform risk

High: Adobe ships Firefly/AI features natively across Express and CC

Sources: 1 2 3 4

30 49/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

High-intent SMB/accountant buyers, but no built-in billing, annual third-party security reviews, and new API fees on data-out make it costly for a solo dev; only for write-centric niche integrations.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~100M Intuit customers across all products (Intuit FY2025 results, Aug 21, 2025); QuickBooks Online-specific subscriber count not found. Online Ecosystem revenue $8.3B FY2025

Listings

~750+ apps (estimate, OYN research report, Feb 2026)

Billing

Not documented on listing pages; developers bill customers themselves (no marketplace billing found)

Fees in detail

No revenue share found, but Intuit App Partner Program (Jul 28, 2025) charges for API usage: Builder $0 (500k CorePlus data-out calls/mo, then blocked), Silver $300/mo, Gold $1,700/mo, Platinum $4,500/mo; data-in (Core) calls free; full variable fees from Nov 1, 2025

Getting listed

Three-part review (technical, security, marketing) plus ~40-minute security questionnaire for production access; annual security review by Intuit's external vendor for listed apps or apps >500 connections, medium+ findings fixed within 2 weeks or removal. First-review duration not stated

Discovery

QuickBooks App Store plus the in-product Apps tab (US, UK, CA, IN, AU); accountants using QuickBooks Online Accountant can recommend apps to clients when Intuit SSO is implemented

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Write-heavy (data-in) integrations, which stay free on the Builder tier: e.g., niche marketplace/POS -> QuickBooks sync
  • Accountant-facing tools distributed via QuickBooks Online Accountant recommendations (practice QA, client document chasing)
  • Vertical bookkeeping helpers (e.g., short-term rental, creators) that Intuit's generic AI agents won't specialize in
Competition

Moderate: established players (Dext, Fathom, Float, etc.); Intuit pushing its own AI agents into QuickBooks

Platform risk

High: Intuit is building AI agents (bookkeeping, payments, finance) into QuickBooks and metering read API access, raising costs for data-out apps

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6

31 48/100

▲ little competition, easy to ship and get found▼ little indie proof, no billing or high fees

It's not a standalone opportunity: no indie revenue cases were found and there's no built-in billing. Cross-publishing a Chrome extension here is nearly free and reaches corporate Windows users with less competition.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~286M Edge users (May 2023, via MSPowerUser; no newer official count found); ~10.75% desktop share (Jul 2023)

Listings

~28,741 active extensions, +21.6% YoY (Exstats via Konabayev, Mar 2026). 5.65% have >10K users vs 2.63% on Chrome

Billing

None in store; bring your own billing (same Chromium extension, so ExtensionPay/Stripe work)

Fees in detail

0%; free developer registration via Partner Center

Getting listed

Manual and automated review. Reviews slowed under a surge of AI/'vibe-coded' submissions, and Microsoft added automated checks to speed them up (Feb 2025 expedited process; Sept 2026 update). No official time figure.

Discovery

Smaller store with less noise. Featured badges are evaluated on 60+ quality signals and refreshed every 15 days (Sept 2026). Edge also installs from the Chrome Web Store, which splits traffic.

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Cross-publish any Chrome extension (near-zero extra work) to pick up enterprise Windows users with Edge as the managed default
  • Enterprise-flavoured extensions (Dynamics/SharePoint/Outlook-web helpers) for corporate Edge fleets
  • Chase Featured badges on quality signals while the store is still less crowded
Competition

Low-moderate: ~29K listings vs ~178K+ on Chrome, and a higher share of extensions get meaningful users

Platform risk

Medium. Copilot is built into Edge (Copilot Mode launched Jul 2025), so generic AI side-panel extensions compete with it.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

32 48/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition, easy to ship and get found▼ small audience, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Professional designers/agencies with budgets and a fast (~10 business days) review, but a small base and no built-in billing; good for a focused designer/agency tool, not a mass-market play.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~300,000 customers and 1,300+ Certified Partners (Webflow press release, Oct 15, 2024)

Listings

100+ at launch (Fall 2023); 300+ apps (Webflow update, date ~2024-2025)

Billing

No marketplace billing found in docs: guidelines only require transparent pricing; developers bill users themselves (e.g., Stripe)

Fees in detail

null for apps (none documented). Templates: creators get 80%

Getting listed

Manual review of safety/legal, technical performance, design/usability and branding; Webflow 'aims to send a decision within 10 business days'; review stops at first blocking issue

Discovery

Apps marketplace with categories; apps install directly into sites and appear in the Designer. Partner directory described as 'oversaturated'. Webflow publishes launch-strategy guidance for apps

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • CMS power tools for content-heavy Webflow sites (bulk edits, internal linking, localization QA)
  • Agency tooling: client handoff, audits, accessibility checks inside the Designer
  • Interactive components (calculators, membership/community features) that Webflow lacks natively
Competition

Low-moderate: hundreds of apps, dominated by integrations from larger SaaS vendors

Platform risk

Moderate-high: Webflow is shipping native AI Optimize (A/B testing, personalization), Analyze, AI Assistant and acquired GSAP - categories that third-party apps occupied

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

33 46/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, little competition▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Businesses with money and few apps, but no billing rails, weak discovery and the highest clone risk in this group; no indie revenue proof from the Marketplace itself found.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

5M+ businesses on Stripe directly or via platforms; $1.9T total volume in 2025 (Stripe annual letter, Feb 24, 2026)

Listings

125 apps (Mar 11, 2024; launched with 50 in May 2022). Newer count null

Billing

No: Stripe states 'we don't support charging for your Stripe app from within Stripe directly'; developers run their own billing (typically Stripe Checkout) and link accounts

Fees in detail

None found (bring-your-own Stripe billing at normal Stripe fees)

Getting listed

Review/testing before listing: security, Stripe UI patterns, error handling, Dashboard performance; time null

Discovery

Curated app collections in the Dashboard and Marketplace by company size and Stripe product; embedded app components for Connect platforms

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Dashboard-embedded analytics for a niche (e.g., failed-payment recovery for one vertical) linked to own billing
  • Stripe-to-accounting/tax bridges for regions Stripe Tax/Revenue Recognition doesn't cover well
  • Ops tools for small Stripe Connect platforms (payout reconciliation)
Competition

Low by count (~125+ apps), mostly larger SaaS (DocuSign, Mailchimp, Mercury)

Platform risk

High: Stripe repeatedly ships native features (Payment Links, Checkout, Billing, Revenue Recognition, Sigma); Checkout Page founder said Stripe's launches made him doubt his product (2021)

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

34 46/100

▲ buyers who pay▼ small audience, no billing or high fees

Proven indie revenue for data connectors, but the audience is smaller, there is no billing, and it is unclear whether Airtable is still investing in the marketplace. A secondary option.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Billing

No. Developers charge off-platform and note that in the listing.

Fees in detail

None (no billing)

Getting listed

Extensions built with the Blocks SDK go through a marketplace submission review. No fees or timelines were found.

Discovery

Extensions are found from inside bases. Data Fetcher reported a few new users a day from an early marketplace listing (2022).

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Vertical data connectors, such as e-commerce, ad platforms or a niche CRM into Airtable
  • Interfaces and portals that expose Airtable data to clients
  • Scheduled reports and PDF generation from bases
Competition

Low to moderate. The catalog is small, and data-import categories have strong incumbents (Data Fetcher, miniExtensions).

Platform risk

Medium to high. Airtable has pivoted heavily to AI (Cobuilder, AI fields), and its native AI can replace simple enrichment extensions.

Sources: 1 2 3

35

Asana apps

Work SaaS
46/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition▼ little indie proof, no billing or high fees

Business users and a reasonable review process, but no billing and no documented indie wins. A secondary distribution channel for a SaaS that already exists, not a launchpad.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Billing

No. Asana's developer docs mention no billing support, so developers bring their own.

Fees in detail

None

Getting listed

Submit for review from the developer console with a pre-flight checklist (icon, OAuth, privacy policy, support URL). Asana aims for a first response within a week; apps using app components get extra security and QA review.

Discovery

The App Gallery and directory, plus app components that appear inside tasks (widgets, actions, modal forms).

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • App-component widgets that show data from a niche system inside tasks
  • Intake forms and request routing for specific teams such as legal or marketing ops
  • Reporting and exports for portfolios that are hard to build natively
Competition

Low to moderate. The gallery is dominated by official integrations from large SaaS vendors.

Platform risk

Medium. Asana's AI Studio and AI teammates overlap with automation add-ons.

Sources: 1 2

36 46/100

▲ big audience, easy to ship and get found▼ crowded, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Huge free distribution but no billing and fierce Copilot/AI-agent platform risk; use it as a top-of-funnel for a paid SaaS, not as a store. Small AI-agent companion tools show it works only at hobby-income scale.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

50M+ monthly active developers across Visual Studio + VS Code combined (Microsoft, May 2025)

Listings

100,000+ VS Code extensions (Microsoft milestone coverage, May 2025)

Billing

No native billing: no Buy button and no API to check payment (dodopayments guide). Manifest only supports a 'Trial'/'Free' pricing label. Sellers ship free and gate Pro features with license keys sold via Stripe/Lemon Squeezy/Polar/Dodo.

Fees in detail

0% to Microsoft (no rails); you pay your own processor/MoR fees (~3-8%). A third-party guide's claim of a 5% Microsoft cut is unverified and conflicts with other sources.

Getting listed

Self-serve publish via vsce with automated scanning; no paid security review; minutes to hours.

Discovery

In-editor search sorted by installs/ratings; heavily skewed to incumbents; little featuring. Most paid conversions depend on external marketing.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Companion tools for AI coding agents (session history, diff review, cost/token tracking for Claude Code/Codex) billed via Polar/Stripe license keys
  • Niche framework/DSL tooling (e.g. infra-as-code, SQL dialects, regulated-industry linters) where Copilot is weak
  • Team-oriented paid features (shared snippets, compliance checks) sold per seat outside the marketplace
Competition

Very saturated (100k+ extensions); AI coding category dominated by Copilot, Cursor/Windsurf forks, Claude Code, Codex extensions.

Platform risk

High: Microsoft/GitHub Copilot keeps absorbing features (chat, agent mode, code review, commit messages); AI-native forks (Cursor etc.) use Open VSX, fragmenting reach.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

37 46/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition▼ little indie proof, no billing or high fees

One of the few automation platforms where a third party can charge for a connector, but you bring your own billing and discovery is weak. Good as a niche side channel, not a main business.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~500,000 customers (make.com About page, accessed Nov 2026)

Listings

3,000-3,500+ apps (make.com About); 1,800+ per AutomationAtlas (Mar 2026)

Billing

No billing mechanism. For community apps, partners must build their own charging system

Fees in detail

Partners keep 100%; Make takes no cut 'at this time'

Getting listed

Community apps need a signed Make partner agreement and must connect a real third-party service not already in Make or on Make's roadmap. Business review only, 2-3 business days. Public verified apps go through a multi-stage app review

Discovery

Integrations directory search; community apps are invite-only installs inside the partner's org, so discovery is weak

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Paid community connectors ($1-$10/mo, Make's suggested SMB price) for niche regional APIs Make lacks, e.g. local accounting or e-invoicing
  • Enterprise connectors ($50-$500/mo suggested) for vertical systems
Competition

Lower than Zapier; multiple partners may publish apps for the same service

Platform risk

Make excludes services it plans to build, and its HTTP/webhook module lets users connect any API without your app

Sources: 1 2 3 4

38

Product Hunt

Deal site
46/100

▲ easy to ship and get found, host unlikely to clone you▼ crowded, no billing or high fees

Useful one-day boost and backlinks, with modest revenue even at a top-3 rank. Use it as a complement to a marketplace, never as the channel.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Listings

2,345 launches in Q2 2026 (~26/day estimate) vs 1,508 in Q2 2025; ~47% tagged AI (Product Hunt, Q2 2026)

Billing

None; launch channel only

Fees in detail

Free to launch

Getting listed

Anyone can launch; featuring is curated (third-party guides say only ~10% get featured after 2025 algorithm changes, unverified)

Discovery

Daily leaderboard, featured homepage, newsletter; spike lasts about one day

Indie proof
  • BuilderKit.ai #2 of the day, $3k revenue in 3 days, $6k total soon after (Jul 2024)
  • IndieMerger #3 of the day, 1,305 visitors, 210 signups, $543 from 7 purchases (~2024-25)
Angles for us
  • Launch each marketplace add-on (Workspace, Chrome) on PH for backlinks and a first spike
  • Developer-tool or boilerplate products, which convert PH's maker audience well
Competition

Very high and rising; AI launches make up about half

Platform risk

Not applicable (no cloning), but reach per launch is volatile

Sources: 1 2 3 4

▲ little competition, billing handled, low fees▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof

It's a secondary port: Apple's built-in billing and 15% fee help, and competition is thin. Packaging friction, weak discovery, and no hard revenue proof found make it a second store after an extension already works on Chrome.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Billing

Yes. Apple handles billing via App Store (paid upfront, IAP, subscriptions); Safari extensions ship inside a native app wrapper

Fees in detail

15% under the App Store Small Business Program (<$1M/yr proceeds; Apple, Nov 2020), else 30%; $99/yr Apple Developer Program

Getting listed

Full App Store review. Needs Xcode, a Mac, and packaging a web extension inside a macOS/iOS app. Developers describe the tooling and docs as painful; China AI rules can block review there (rxliuli, Aug 2025).

Discovery

Poor. Extensions are mixed into the App Store with a small Safari extensions editorial collection; indie Safari devs rely on sponsorships (e.g. StopTheMadness Pro sponsoring Six Colors/Pixel Envy).

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Port a proven Chrome extension that has no Safari equivalent, and charge upfront (Mac users are used to paying)
  • iOS Safari extensions (mobile web power tools), where very few alternatives exist
  • Privacy/annoyance-fix utilities for Mac power users, the StopTheMadness/Wipr pattern
Competition

Low. Many Chrome extensions never ported, so the Safari catalogue is thin (Six Colors, 2021)

Platform risk

Medium. Apple adds native Safari features (content blocking, Reader, Distraction Control in Safari 18) that overlap with popular extensions.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

40

Wix App Market

Website builder
45/100

▲ big audience, billing handled, low fees▼ users who rarely pay, little indie proof, host likely to clone you

Decent rails (80/20, first year 100%) and a large but low-spend SMB/hobbyist base; little public indie revenue proof, so treat it as a secondary port of an app proven elsewhere.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

300M+ users of the platform (Wix claim, 2026, via Style Factory); 265M (2025). Premium subscriber count not disclosed

Listings

~1,980 apps and plugins (Wix app market page via Style Factory, undated): 700+ ecommerce, 490+ marketing, ~252 design

Billing

Yes, optional Wix billing: Wix collects, applies tax, handles chargebacks; monthly payouts once $200 minimum reached (paid ~2 months after the revenue month). External billing also possible

Fees in detail

Wix keeps 20%, developer 80%, calculated after a 2.5% transaction fee and sales tax; 100% to developer for first 12 months on the platform

Getting listed

App review via Wix Dev Center; no paid security audit found; review time null

Discovery

In-editor App Market with categories and search; Wix Studio agencies can recommend/install apps. Ranking quality data null

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • SEO/AI-search helpers for Wix SMB sites (internal linking, schema, AI-answer visibility) - Linkerflow-style
  • Vertical booking/ops add-ons for service businesses where Wix Bookings is generic
  • Wix Studio agency tools (client reporting, multi-site management)
Competition

Moderate: ~2k apps, fewer than Shopify; Wix itself publishes ~25 first-party apps in key categories

Platform risk

Moderate-high: Wix ships its own apps (Wix Stores, Bookings, Forms, AI site/content tools) in core categories

Sources: 1 2 3

41 45/100

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, host unlikely to clone you▼ crowded, little indie proof, no billing or high fees

Not a place to sell apps, since there is no billing and only API owners can publish. Treat it as a free distribution add-on for a micro-SaaS you already run.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

3.4M+ businesses (Sacra, undated)

Listings

~8,000-9,000 app integrations (Sacra undated; Zapier platform page says 9,000)

Billing

None. Zapier lists integrations for your own SaaS; you bill on your own (Stripe etc.)

Fees in detail

Not applicable: no marketplace sales

Getting listed

Public listing only for the API owner or a contractor it hires (publishing reqs 3.1, 7.2); app must be fully launched, not beta; tests and a test account required; no review time stated

Discovery

App Directory search plus partner tiers (Bronze-Platinum); Silver+ gets a featured slot once a year and newsletter/blog spots; exiting Beta needs embed signups and active users (40 for early Silver, 300 for Gold, 2,500 for Platinum)

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Build the Zapier integration for your own micro-SaaS early and embed it to exit beta fast
  • Niche vertical SaaS (e.g. a regional invoicing or booking tool) whose main value is triggers and actions in Zapier
Competition

Very large directory; an integration is a distribution channel for an existing SaaS, not a standalone product

Platform risk

Low risk to an integration itself, but you can't sell standalone Zapier add-ons; Zapier's own AI agents and Tables/Interfaces sit on top of the same apps

Sources: 1 2 3 4

42 45/100

▲ easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees▼ small audience, crowded, little indie proof

Built-in billing, but the audience is small and developers report it is 'really hard to generate meaningful revenue'. Only worth it as a sideline for an existing Bubble expert.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

4.7M apps built on Bubble (Contrary Research, Aug 2025); user count not found

Listings

6,500+ plugins and integrations (Contrary Research, Aug 2025)

Billing

Yes. Bubble sells plugins and templates (one-time or subscription) and pays out via Stripe Connect or PayPal

Fees in detail

Bubble keeps 25%, seller gets 75% (Marketplace Policies)

Getting listed

Moderated. Plugins need a public demo Bubble app showing every feature, with no console errors or exposed keys. Switching free to paid needs a new listing, and installs/reviews don't carry over

Discovery

Marketplace search inside the Bubble editor; ratings reset on price changes

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Paid AI API wrapper plugins with good maintenance (e.g. document parsing, PDF generation)
  • Vertical templates (e.g. clinic booking, marketplace) sold at a premium
Competition

Crowded with many dead or duplicate plugins; developers say markets are small (Bubble forum, 2025)

Platform risk

Bubble ships native features and AI; forum users worry about Bubble 'eating its ecosystem'. Bubble's revenue grew to $74.2M in 2024, so the platform is healthy

Sources: 1 2 3 4

43 44/100

▲ buyers who pay, little competition▼ small audience, little indie proof

Merchants have budgets and competition is thin, but only ~41k live stores; worth it only as a cheap port of a Shopify app, not a primary channel.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~41,221 live stores (Store Leads, Jul 2025); 130,000+ merchants historically (via Red Stag, 2025). Company rebranded as Commerce (commerce.com)

Listings

1,234 listings from 888 ISV partners (appmarketplace.com, Oct 25, 2025)

Billing

Optional 'Unified Billing' (Commerce invoices and collects from merchants, remits to partners); developers may still bill directly

Fees in detail

Conflicting: Shopifreaks (Mar 2025) reports BigCommerce takes no cut and no listing fee (sells sponsored placements); Commerce partner agreement (rev. Sep 1, 2025) references a general 20% revenue share on public apps under the legacy program and a $5,000/yr minimum for payments apps

Getting listed

Technology partner application + app review; time null

Discovery

Marketplace categories plus paid sponsorships and 'preferred' placements

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Port proven Shopify niche apps to BigCommerce where incumbents haven't bothered (B2B Edition helpers, quote tools)
  • Mid-market B2B catalog/pricing utilities
  • Feed/agentic-commerce catalog prep for BigCommerce stores
Competition

Low-moderate: ~1,200 listings, but the store base is small and enterprise-skewed (many apps are integrations from larger ISVs)

Platform risk

Moderate: smaller, slower-moving platform; risk is more about platform decline/shrinking store count than cloning

Sources: 1 2 3 4

▲ buyers who pay, big audience, easy to ship and get found▼ crowded, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Fast-growing business audience and easy listing, but no billing rails and very little proven indie revenue; worth a connector as a funnel for an existing paid product, not as the product itself.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

No official Claude MAU; 300k+ business customers (Anthropic, Sept 2025); 43.5% of US businesses on Ramp paid Anthropic (Jul 2026)

Listings

2,000+ connectors and plugins in Claude Marketplace (Sept 2026); 17,000+ indexed MCP servers ecosystem-wide (mid-2026 estimate)

Billing

No per-developer billing in Claude directory for indie connectors; enterprise 'Agents and products' category lets customers apply Anthropic committed spend to listed vendors (large partners). Indie MCP servers bring their own Stripe/Polar; only ~3-6% of MCP servers show pricing (estimate). Apify offers pay-per-call rails.

Fees in detail

N/A for indies (bring your own Stripe); Apify/others take platform cuts.

Getting listed

Anyone on a paid Claude plan can submit; automated scan then listed as 'Community'; 'Verified' tier tested by Anthropic; local MCPB servers must be packaged as plugins. Smithery/Glama are self-serve.

Discovery

Claude directory search with Verified/Community tiers; Smithery/Glama listings; agents choose tools with weak quality signals.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Vertical data connectors (legal, finance, local government data) with paid underlying data
  • Connectors for popular SMB SaaS with no official connector
  • Claude plugins/skills bundles for specific business roles, sold via your own SaaS subscription
Competition

Very crowded with free open-source servers; official vendor connectors (Notion, Linear, etc.) cover major SaaS.

Platform risk

High: Anthropic adds native capabilities (skills, web, file tools) and vendors ship official connectors that displace third-party wrappers.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

45 44/100

▲ buyers who pay▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

The buyers have money (30M paid seats), but admin gating, heavy enterprise procurement and no proven indie path make it hard for a solo builder today. Watch it, or ship a narrow connector-style agent as a wedge.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

30M+ paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats (Microsoft FY26 Q4, Jul 2026); ~400M M365 users (fourweekmba, 2026)

Listings

No count published; Agent 365 has ~40M agents registered across tens of thousands of companies (Microsoft, Jul 2026), most of them internal

Billing

No consumer-style checkout found in the Agent Store. Agents are submitted via Partner Center; paid agents rely on your own licensing or Microsoft commercial marketplace offers. Agents using company data are metered via Copilot Studio credits ($200 per 25k credits/mo)

Fees in detail

Not confirmed for M365. One report says Microsoft's Windows Agent Store (Build 2026) gives developers 85% (fourweekmba, unverified)

Getting listed

Partner Center submission and Microsoft 365 app certification/validation; enterprise admins must enable agents for their tenant

Discovery

Agent Store inside Copilot (Agents > All agents), curated catalogue of Microsoft, verified third-party and colleague agents; admin gating limits organic installs

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Vertical agents that connect Copilot to niche SaaS that lacks a Microsoft connector (e.g. regional accounting/HR tools)
  • Compliance and document-QA agents for regulated SMB verticals (legal, real-estate)
  • Outlook/Teams workflow agents for specific roles (recruiters, property managers)
Competition

Big ISVs (Adobe, Zoom, Atlassian, etc.) and Microsoft's own first-party agents dominate; few indies visible

Platform risk

High: Microsoft ships first-party agents (Researcher, Analyst, etc.) and Copilot features fast; generic agents get absorbed

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

▲ big audience▼ users who rarely pay, crowded, host likely to clone you

A huge audience, but templates are a creator and audience game rather than a micro-SaaS channel, and integrations have no billing. Worth it only for an integration with a clear sync need that Notion won't build.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

100M+ users (Notion, Aug 2024)

Billing

Templates: yes, Notion is merchant of record via Stripe, but only for creators approved from a waitlist. Integrations: no billing, so you bring your own.

Fees in detail

Templates: 8% + $0.40 per sale, plus 1% for non-US payouts; payouts every two weeks after a 14-day hold. Integrations: none.

Getting listed

Paid template selling requires a waitlist application (review can take months), Stripe onboarding and review of each template. The integration gallery has its own review.

Discovery

Notion Marketplace search and categories; creators also rely heavily on social media, SEO and Gumroad.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Sync integrations that Notion lacks natively, such as niche CRMs or banking to Notion databases, sold as SaaS
  • Vertical operating-system templates paired with a paid companion integration
  • Notion-to-output tools such as publishing, PDF reports or client portals
Competition

Templates are very saturated and AI can now generate many of them. Integrations are less crowded but monetize weakly.

Platform risk

High. Notion AI and agents and Notion's own templates absorb many template and integration use cases.

Sources: 1 2 3

47 41/100

▲ buyers who pay▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Buyers pay well, but Xero just removed marketplace billing and added per-connection API fees and certification gates; viable only for a narrow accountant tool that can carry ~AUD 245+/mo platform cost once past 50 connections.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~4.9M subscribers (Xero FY26 results, via FNArena, May 20, 2026); 4.6M at H1 FY26 (Nov 2025)

Listings

~1,000+ apps (estimate, OYN research report, Feb 2026)

Billing

Being retired: Xero App Store Subscriptions billing ended - apps had to migrate billing by Jul 1, 2026; developers now bill customers themselves

Fees in detail

Old model: 15% of app revenue sold via the App Store (retired). From Mar 2, 2026: API tiers (AUD/mo) - Starter free (5 connections), Core $35 (50 connections, 10 GB egress), Plus $245 (1,000), Advanced $1,445 (10,000), Enterprise on application; egress overage $2.40/GB

Getting listed

App Certification required for Plus tier and above; Advanced/Enterprise also need initial and annual Security Assessment. Starter/Core have no certification prerequisite (so likely no App Store listing benefits)

Discovery

App Store with categories/collections and reviews; strong accountant/advisor recommendation channel

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • AI bookkeeping QA / error detection for advisors (OYN report gap)
  • Budget AR chasing priced below Chaser (£150+/mo)
  • Compliance deadline monitoring for MTD/VAT in UK/AU/NZ
Competition

Moderate: many established apps (Dext, Fathom, Float, Syft, Chaser), but small apps with few reviews exist (EasyCSV, Nume); AI financial analysis/reconciliation called 'wide open' (OYN, estimate)

Platform risk

High: Xero is building its own AI (JAX) and tightened API economics; the 2025-26 pricing change was widely described as ending the 'all-you-can-eat data buffet'

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

48 41/100

▲ little competition▼ little indie proof, no billing or high fees

Under-served but unproven for indies: no billing and no documented indie revenue. Only worth it for a niche facilitation tool with an external audience.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

60M-70M+ users (Miro developer docs, undated, likely 2024-25)

Billing

No native monetization. Developers use Stripe or Salable, both of which Miro documents.

Fees in detail

None (no billing)

Getting listed

Marketplace review required before listing; no fees found.

Discovery

The in-app marketplace has categories such as 'paid with free trial', 'new apps' and 'Miro paid plan'.

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Workshop and facilitation utilities such as timers, voting or retrospectives for agile coaches
  • Converters into and out of boards: code to diagram, PDF to sticky notes, board to Jira
  • Education and classroom tools on boards
Competition

Low to moderate. The catalog is small and dominated by integrations from big SaaS vendors.

Platform risk

Medium. Miro is shipping Miro AI features (diagram generation, summaries) that overlap with simple AI add-ons.

Sources: 1 2

49 41/100

▲ little competition▼ little indie proof, no billing or high fees

Little competition, but no billing and a stagnating host. Viable for a tiny utility, but Jira apps on the Atlassian Marketplace are the better bet.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Listings

247 Power-Ups at the end of 2021, with about 4 new ones a month (Blue Cat Reports, Jan 2022)

Billing

No. Atlassian provides no payment mechanism for Power-Ups; developers handle payments and licensing themselves (Atlassian developer community, Nov 2021).

Fees in detail

None

Getting listed

Power-Up directory submission review by Trello

Discovery

In-board Power-Up directory. Top third-party Power-Ups reached 100K+ board installs (Planyway 150K+, 2021), but the directory doesn't show prices.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Reporting and time tracking for small agencies using Trello
  • Client-facing views and portals for Trello boards
  • Recurring-card and automation add-ons beyond Butler
Competition

Low by count (about 250 listings), but Trello's growth has slowed under Atlassian.

Platform risk

Medium. Atlassian makes popular features native (Calendar and List Limits Power-Ups are built by Trello) and sometimes changes Power-Up plan rules.

Sources: 1 2

▲ big audience, little competition▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

There is no indie-friendly paid marketplace yet. Gems can't be monetized and Connected Apps is a US-only, waitlisted preview with no billing. Use it for distribution only, and keep charging through the Workspace Marketplace or your own Stripe.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

1B+ Gemini app MAU (Google, Aug 2026)

Listings

50+ connected apps in Gemini (Oct 2026); Gems can be shared (since Sep 2025) but there is no public Gem store

Billing

None for Gems or Connected Apps (no monetization mentioned). Gemini Enterprise agents can be sold via Google Cloud Marketplace (A2A agent-as-a-service, procurement APIs)

Fees in detail

Gems/Connected Apps: null. Google Cloud Marketplace fees for agents not stated in the sources

Getting listed

Connected Apps Platform: US-only public preview with a waitlist (Oct 28, 2026); MCP server + Google Connected Console submission. Cloud Marketplace agents: A2A Agent Card, OAuth, Google functional/security/pricing review

Discovery

Connected apps are invoked by Gemini/Search intent; Gems are shared via link only; Enterprise agents via the admin agent gallery

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Get on the Connected Apps waitlist early with an MCP server for an existing micro-SaaS (acquisition channel, not billing)
  • Gemini Enterprise A2A agents for Workspace-heavy SMB verticals sold via Cloud Marketplace
  • Use Gems as free lead magnets that point to a paid Workspace add-on
Competition

Early. Launch partners are big brands (Adobe, Experian, Peloton, Instacart, Canva)

Platform risk

High: Gemini itself is the product and keeps adding native Workspace features; Google reportedly bars apps from running their own ads in it (fourweekmba)

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

51 39/100

▲ billing handled, low fees▼ crowded, little indie proof, host likely to clone you

Billing is built in at a reasonable 15%, but it is US-only, AI Companion overlaps most obvious ideas, and there is no public evidence of indie success. Low priority.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

4,363 customers paying more than $100K a year (Oct 2025, Zoom Q3 FY26); total user figure not found

Listings

About 2,559 apps (Mar 2025, Partnerfleet); 3,125 companies listed (Bloomberry, Mar 2026). There were 1,000+ apps and 6M+ installs in Feb 2021.

Billing

Yes. Zoom's own app monetization processes payments and collects sales tax.

Fees in detail

15% of gross sales excluding tax. Restrictions: US developers only, USD only, a free plan is required, and the minimum paid price is $0.99.

Getting listed

Zoom reviews every published app. No review timelines or fees were found.

Discovery

Homepage sections (Conversational AI, Essential Apps, App of the Month, New), categories and filters. Search matches only title keywords (Partnerfleet, 2025).

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Industry-specific post-meeting workflows, such as telehealth intake notes or tutoring session reports
  • In-meeting games, icebreakers and engagement apps for training and education
  • Compliance recording and retention tools for regulated small businesses
Competition

Meeting-AI categories such as notetakers and transcription are saturated, and Zoom's own AI Companion is included in paid plans.

Platform risk

High. Zoom AI Companion covers summaries, notes and translation for free in paid plans, and Zoom-built apps take homepage space.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

52 39/100

▲ big audience, little competition▼ users who rarely pay, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

A huge audience with good in-editor discovery, but monetization depends on discretionary Canva programs or external payment links, and native AI is a direct threat. Good for distribution to an external SaaS, weak as a standalone revenue rail.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

265M+ monthly active users and 31M+ paid users (2025, TechCrunch Feb 2026)

Listings

300+ apps used more than 1B times (Sep 2024)

Billing

No general billing rail. External payment links are allowed. The invite-style Premium Apps Program pays developers from Canva's $50M innovation fund based on usage, and its status in 2026 is unclear (possibly paused).

Fees in detail

Not applicable. Premium Apps earn usage-based payouts from the fund; App Adoption Awards ($900K to 100 developers across 228 apps over 3 years) end June 1, 2026.

Getting listed

Canva reviews all apps against its design guidelines; the review is reported to be fairly strict.

Discovery

Strong. Since 2024, apps appear inside the Text, Elements and Photo Editor tabs and in Docs, not just a separate apps tab.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Deep third-party data integrations that create designs from CRM, e-commerce or spreadsheet data
  • Niche-workflow apps such as print-ready packaging, real-estate flyers from MLS data or menu boards
  • Brand-compliance checkers for enterprise teams, tied to the new Developer Directory
Competition

Low by count (about 300 apps), but Canva says it now favors apps that 'AI can't easily replicate'.

Platform risk

High. Canva's Magic Studio AI and its acquisitions cover most generic generation features.

Sources: 1 2 3

53

Google Play

Mobile/Desktop store
38/100

▲ big audience, billing handled, low fees▼ users who rarely pay, crowded, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, host likely to clone you

Lower willingness to pay and a tester gate make it weaker than iOS for indie micro-SaaS; ship as a second platform.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

3.5B+ Android users (litslink, undated figure)

Listings

3.9M+ apps (Statista via litslink, Jan 2026); ~2,100 new apps/day in 2026 (Testers Community)

Billing

Yes: Play Billing; alternative billing allowed in US/UK/EEA from June 30, 2026 (Epic settlement).

Fees in detail

Subscriptions: 10% service fee + 5% billing fee = ~15% effective (from June 30, 2026 in US/UK/EEA); IAP 15% on first $1M, 20-30% above.

Getting listed

$25 one-time fee; new personal accounts need 12 testers for 14 days before production (~3 weeks gate); review up to 7 days.

Discovery

Play search and charts; 964/1000 apps released in 2026 have no rating; 84.5% of 2026 apps under 1k installs.

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Android versions of iOS-only niche B2B tools
  • Utilities for emerging markets with low prices
  • Companion apps for small-business workflows
Competition

Extreme saturation.

Platform risk

High: Google builds features into Android/Gemini.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

54

Raycast Store

Developer
36/100

▲ buyers who pay▼ small audience, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Not a place to sell; useful only as a free funnel to a paid product for power-user Mac developers.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

'Hundreds of thousands' of Mac users (Raycast Series B announcement, Sept 2024); Windows public beta Nov 2025, iOS 2025

Listings

1,500+ community extensions (aiproductivity.ai, 2026; other sources say 'thousands', estimate)

Billing

None for extension authors: store extensions are free and open source in the raycast/extensions repo; Raycast monetizes only its own Pro/AI plans. Authors monetize by connecting to their own paid service.

Fees in detail

N/A (no paid extensions)

Getting listed

Pull request to the public extensions repo; community managers review FIFO, first contact within ~a week; rejected if it duplicates existing or native features.

Discovery

In-app store search and popularity; per-extension install counts public (e.g. Linear ~203k).

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Raycast extension as free acquisition channel for your own paid SaaS (e.g. micro-SaaS APIs for devs/designers)
  • Integrations for fast-growing tools lacking an extension
  • Windows-specific extensions as the Windows store fills up
Competition

Popular SaaS integrations already covered; Raycast rejects duplicates.

Platform risk

Medium-high: Raycast ships native AI, clipboard, snippets, notes etc. and rejects extensions duplicating native features.

Sources: 1 2 3

55

Samsung Galaxy Store

Mobile/Desktop store
35/100

▲ little competition, billing handled, low fees▼ users who rarely pay, small audience, little indie proof

Better fees since 2025, but it's a consumer secondary store with little business intent. Only worth it as an extra listing for Android apps or themes.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

null (no official Galaxy Store MAU found)

Listings

null

Billing

Yes, Samsung IAP

Fees in detail

80/20 for paid apps, games, themes and items; 85/15 for subscriptions (effective May 15, 2025)

Getting listed

Samsung Seller Portal review; separate themes/watch-face designer program

Discovery

Preinstalled on Galaxy devices; top charts dominated by Samsung, games, themes and watch faces

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Galaxy Watch faces and phone themes (a native category of the store)
  • Galaxy AI-adjacent utilities for Samsung-specific features (DeX, S Pen)
Competition

Low developer attention compared with Google Play, but users mostly install apps from Play

Platform risk

Medium: Samsung bundles its own apps and Galaxy AI features

Sources: 1 2 3

56 35/100

▲ buyers who pay▼ small audience, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

High-budget customers, but no billing, no indie proof found, and the Salesforce takeover adds big platform risk. Avoid as a primary channel now.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

30,000+ companies (Salesforce press release, Jun 2026); Intercom renamed Fin and is being acquired by Salesforce for ~$3.6B

Listings

100+ at launch (2017); current count not found

Billing

None. Intercom said monetization was not on its roadmap; bring your own billing

Fees in detail

Not applicable

Discovery

App Store search and categories; Intercom planned smarter search and recommendations

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Fin-adjacent analytics or QA (conversation-quality scoring, reporting exports)
  • Vertical data connectors that feed Fin with order or booking context
Competition

Mostly established SaaS vendors' integrations

Platform risk

High. Fin AI agent ($100M+ ARR for Fin for Sales, Apr 2026) absorbs many support or AI add-on use cases, and the Salesforce acquisition (signed Jun 2026) makes the ecosystem's direction uncertain

Sources: 1 2 3 4

57 34/100

▲ little competition, easy to ship and get found, host unlikely to clone you▼ users who rarely pay, small audience, little indie proof, no billing or high fees

Don't target it as a primary market: it has a small, declining share, no billing, and a user base that doesn't like paying. Cross-publish only if porting is cheap.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

Firefox desktop share fell from 5.88% (Jun 2025) to 3.79% (May 2026) per Statcounter (via PiunikaWeb). Mozilla's dashboard shows MAU roughly stable, but no figure was retrieved

Listings

~83,465 active extensions, +74% YoY (Exstats via Konabayev, Mar 2026). 34% have 0 users; only 0.69% exceed 10K daily users

Billing

None. AMO doesn't sell extensions; Mozilla points developers to external payments, subscriptions or donations

Fees in detail

0%

Getting listed

Automated signing plus possible manual review; source code submission required for minified/bundled code. Mozilla piloted a paid 'Promoted Add-ons' review/promotion program in 2020 and later dropped it.

Discovery

Small store; 'Recommended' badge program drives most visibility. Users are privacy/tech-savvy and less inclined to pay.

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Privacy/security tools sold as one-time licenses to a privacy-minded audience
  • Cross-publish a Chrome extension (WebExtensions API is largely compatible) for incremental users
  • Developer/power-user tooling where Firefox devtools users still congregate
Competition

Low for paid tools but a weak market. Listing growth is mostly ports and low-use extensions.

Platform risk

Low cloning risk (Mozilla rarely competes with add-ons), but a shrinking user base is the risk

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

58 34/100

▲ easy to ship and get found, billing handled, low fees▼ users who rarely pay, small audience, crowded, little indie proof, host likely to clone you

Easy to ship and the billing is built in, but the audience is small and consumer-heavy, and earnings go mostly to a few creators. Treat it as a cheap side experiment, not a main channel.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

~11M monthly visits to poe.com (Mar 2026, via plisio review); no official MAU

Listings

1M+ user-built bots plus 100+ official models (plisio, 2026)

Billing

Yes. Poe handles billing; creators set a per-message price paid from users' compute points, and Poe pays creators in dollars monthly (Stripe, 23 countries, $10 minimum)

Fees in detail

Per-message price set by the creator, plus a referral payout. The original program paid up to $20 per subscriber referred (TechCrunch, Apr 2024); a 2026 review says 100% of the first monthly payment and 50% of the first annual payment

Getting listed

Low friction: prompt bots or server bots (your own API) published instantly; no formal security review found

Discovery

In-app explore/search of bots; huge long tail; top earners concentrated

Indie proof
  • Program-wide (no named indie) Quora says creator run-rate is 'tens of millions'/yr and top creators earn 'hundreds of thousands per year' (company claim, unaudited, 2025)
Angles for us
  • Server bots that wrap a proprietary data/tool (e.g. niche document converters, domain calculators) rather than a prompt
  • Media-generation bots tied to a specific workflow (e.g. product photo backgrounds) priced per message
  • Use Poe as a funnel to a standalone micro-SaaS
Competition

Very saturated (1M+ bots), and most wrap the same frontier models Poe already exposes directly

Platform risk

High: Poe adds new official models and features every month, so a wrapper bot is easily replaced. Poe is a small player compared with ChatGPT and Gemini

Sources: 1 2 3 4

59 31/100

▲ easy to ship and get found, host unlikely to clone you▼ users who rarely pay, small audience, crowded, little indie proof, no billing or high fees

Good for launching free demos to a developer crowd, but useless as a place to get paid. Use it for top-of-funnel distribution only.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

null (no official MAU found; HF reported >$100M ARR, 97% of users free per fourweekmba)

Listings

1.3M+ Spaces (May 2026, neuronfeed)

Billing

No. HF bills you for hardware and PRO; there is no checkout that pays creators. To charge, bring your own Stripe/auth or embed the Space in your site

Fees in detail

null (no creator payouts)

Getting listed

None; instant publish (Gradio/Streamlit/Docker). Paid GPU hardware or ZeroGPU quotas apply

Discovery

Trending Spaces page and likes; strong for ML/dev audience, virality via X/Reddit

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Launch a free demo Space of a niche model as a top-of-funnel for a paid API or SaaS
  • Specialized tools on top of open models (e.g. document OCR for a specific form type) with upgrade links
  • Spaces for model fine-tuning/eval workflows aimed at ML engineers
Competition

Extremely high volume, mostly free demos and research

Platform risk

Medium: HF does not clone apps, but it changes free compute and inference credits (free inference credits removed Oct 2026, usagepricing)

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5

▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Directories with no billing and no indie proof found, on hosts that are stagnating or adding AI natively. Low priority.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

Dropbox 18.07M paying users (Q3 2025, down from 18.24M YoY); Box customer count not found

Listings

Box: 1,500+ integrations (Apr 2022); Dropbox count not found

Billing

None. Directories link out to your app; bring your own billing

Fees in detail

Not applicable

Discovery

Directory browse or search inside dropbox.com sidebar and Box App Center; collections curated by the host

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Niche file workflows (e.g. auto-watermark or redact PDFs on upload) marketed directly
  • Vertical compliance or retention tools for Box enterprise customers
Competition

Mostly large SaaS vendors' integrations

Platform risk

Dropbox Dash and Box AI bring native AI search and summaries, which threatens simple file AI add-ons. Dropbox paying users are shrinking

Sources: 1 2 3

61

Squarespace Extensions

Website builder
30/100

▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees

The official Extensions directory is effectively closed to indies; the opportunity is selling plugins/templates to Squarespace designers off-platform, which is a content/SEO business, not a marketplace play.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

5.195M unique subscriptions (Squarespace Q2 2024, Jun 30, 2024 - last official figure before going private Oct 2024, via Style Factory)

Listings

46 listings from 45 ISV partners (appmarketplace.com, undated); launched Dec 2019 with 14 extensions

Billing

null - not documented publicly; extensions appear to bill users directly on their own sites

Fees in detail

null

Getting listed

Curated, invite/partner-only directory of 'third-party tools'; no open self-serve submission process found

Discovery

Small curated directory inside Squarespace settings; the real indie channel is code-snippet/plugin shops sold off-platform (e.g., SQSP Themes, Squarespace Plugins) via SEO and designer communities

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Code-injection plugins sold directly to Squarespace designers (sliders, filters, member features) rather than via the official directory
  • Squarespace Commerce ops helpers (bulk editing, inventory sync) for shops outgrowing native tools
  • Templates plus plugins bundles for Squarespace Circle designers
Competition

Official directory: very low count but closed. Off-platform plugin/template market has established sellers

Platform risk

Moderate: Squarespace ships native commerce, scheduling (Acuity), email and AI tools; private-equity owned since Oct 2024

Sources: 1 2 3 4

▲ big audience▼ users who rarely pay, crowded, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Enormous audience but no way to charge for digital goods inside ChatGPT as of 2026 and a history of unfulfilled monetization promises; treat as a speculative funnel only.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

800M+ weekly ChatGPT users (cited Dec 2025, VentureBeat); ~900M-1B reported in 2026 (eWeek, estimate)

Listings

Dozens of approved partner apps at directory launch (Dec 2025); 3M+ custom GPTs created (OpenAI, Jan 2024)

Billing

None native. Apps may link out only for physical goods; digital goods, subscriptions and in-app services not allowed in submitted apps as of Jan-May 2026 forum threads; Instant Checkout/ACP not open to most devs. GPT Store revenue share stayed an invite-only US pilot (2024), no general payouts.

Fees in detail

N/A for digital goods (not permitted); OpenAI said it is 'exploring' digital goods monetization.

Getting listed

Every app reviewed against OpenAI guidelines; one version under review at a time; privacy policy, support contact, teen-appropriate content required.

Discovery

App directory in sidebar, @-mentions and contextual suggestions by ChatGPT; OpenAI controls distribution.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • ChatGPT app as free acquisition funnel to a paid web SaaS with account linking (auth-gated)
  • Vertical data/tools apps for business workflows likely to be first to get commerce rails
  • Physical-goods/commerce helpers (allowed to link out)
Competition

Big brands (Canva, Zillow, Spotify, Adobe) launched first; GPT Store flooded with millions of GPTs.

Platform risk

Very high: OpenAI controls ranking/invocation and keeps adding native features; GPT Store's promised revenue share never broadly materialized.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

63

ClickUp

Work SaaS
25/100

▼ hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Not a marketplace yet. Skip for now and revisit if ClickUp launches its community app marketplace.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Listings

No open third-party marketplace. A feature request for a community app marketplace is marked 'We'll Do It' (Aug 2025), and ClickUp says extensibility is 'limited to built-in features, personal developments or official integrations'.

Billing

None

Fees in detail

Not applicable

Getting listed

No public listing path for indie apps; only official integrations appear in the App Center.

Discovery

App Center shows official integrations only

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Watch for the announced community app marketplace; being an early entrant could pay off
  • External tools that use the ClickUp API, such as reporting or client portals, sold directly
Competition

Not applicable

Platform risk

High. ClickUp bundles everything (Brain AI, docs, chat), and there is no marketplace to protect partners.

Sources: 1 2

▼ crowded, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, no billing or high fees, host likely to clone you

Avoid as a primary channel: native paid selling is closed to new creators, free alternatives are plentiful, and Figma AI clones popular features.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Billing

Yes for approved sellers: Figma handles checkout, refunds and sales tax. Figma isn't approving new sellers, so most developers use external payments such as LemonSqueezy or Stripe.

Fees in detail

15% flat on Figma-processed sales. Plugins can be one-time or subscription, minimum $2. Payout 30 business days after a sale.

Getting listed

Plugin review for publishing. Paid selling: 'We are not approving new creators to sell paid files on Community at this time' (Figma help).

Discovery

Community search and trending lists; very crowded, with a long tail of free plugins.

Indie proof
Angles for us
  • Design-to-code exports for niche targets such as email HTML or a specific CMS
  • Accessibility and compliance audits for regulated industries
  • Brand-asset governance plugins for agencies
Competition

Very high. Thousands of free plugins exist, and AI design plugins are proliferating.

Platform risk

High. Figma AI (Make, First Draft, rename layers and similar) keeps absorbing popular plugin features.

Sources: 1 2

65

Amazon Appstore

Mobile/Desktop store
16/100

▼ users who rarely pay, small audience, hard to ship or get found, little indie proof, host likely to clone you

A contracting store: it's gone from Android phones (Aug 2025) and it's moving to Vega OS. Don't target it for micro-SaaS.

Audience
Intent
Room
Ease
Rails
Safety
Proof
Users of the host

null (no current user figure found; now limited to Fire TV/Fire tablets/Echo)

Listings

null

Billing

Amazon IAP on Fire OS / Vega devices

Fees in detail

null (not confirmed in this research; historically 70/30)

Getting listed

Amazon app review; new Vega OS (Linux + React Native) requires porting, WebView supported

Discovery

Fire TV / Fire tablet storefront only

Indie proof

No named indie earnings found.

Angles for us
  • Fire TV utility/ambient apps ported to Vega early while the catalog is thin
  • Kids/education apps for Fire tablets
Competition

Shrinking ecosystem

Platform risk

Very high: Amazon shut down the Appstore on non-Amazon Android devices and ended Amazon Coins on Aug 20, 2025; Fire TV is moving to Vega OS with no sideloading

Sources: 1 2 3 4

How the score works

Each marketplace was researched on the open web (November 2026) and scored 1 to 5 on seven things. The opportunity score is the weighted mean, scaled to 0 to 100: Audience 15% · Intent 20% · Room 15% · Ease 15% · Rails 10% · Safety 10% · Proof 15%. Intent and proof weigh most, because a big audience that won't pay, or that no indie has cracked, is a trap. Scores are judgment calls from the evidence; the notes and sources say why.