Marketplace roundup

SaaS marketplaces compared as places to buy and sell a SaaS business

Eight venues account for almost every SaaS business that changes hands in the United States, and they fall into three models: self-serve marketplaces where you list and negotiate yourself (Acquire.com, Flippa, Buyouts), curated brokerages that vet and package the deal for a commission (Empire Flippers, Quiet Light, FE International, Website Closers), and general listing boards that simply run the ad (BizBuySell). Which one fits comes down to your deal size and whether you want to run the sale yourself. The table below compares all eight on model, fit, seller cost and who actually verifies the numbers.

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Verified metrics · published multiples · vetted buyers · escrow-backed closes

AI SaaS deal deck

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The deck shows the listing format with sample deals. Verified listings appear once sellers complete verification.

Verified MRR / ARR Published multiples Vetted, capital-qualified buyers Escrow-backed closes AI-SaaS-native

The part most roundups get wrong is the money. Fee schedules in this market are genuinely inconsistent: some venues publish a full rate card, several publish nothing at all, and the numbers that circulate on review blogs are frequently out of date or were never firsthand to begin with. Every figure in the table below was read on the provider's own page in July 2026, and where a provider does not publish a rate, this page says exactly that instead of repeating a secondhand number. Buyouts is one of the eight and we have an obvious interest, so the comparison also states plainly where the others are the better choice. Listings, metrics and buyers shown on this site are illustrative product UI, valuation content is educational rather than a guaranteed sale price or return, and all trademarks belong to their owners.

Self-serve marketplaces win on speed and cost, curated brokerages win on hand-holding and reach for larger deals, and listing boards win on nothing except raw inventory. Match the venue to your deal size before you sign anything.

Every venue, side by side

Every SaaS marketplace and broker, side by side

Eight venues, compared on model, deal size, what a seller actually pays, and whether anyone verifies the numbers before a listing goes live.

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Marketplace	Model	Typical deal size	What a seller pays (July 2026)	Who verifies the numbers
Buyouts	Self-serve marketplace, AI SaaS only	Micro through mid-market AI SaaS	Listing plan $79, $249 or $699 a month while listed plus a 3% to 5% success fee on close	Platform verifies MRR, ARR, growth and churn before the listing goes live
Acquire.com	Self-serve marketplace for startups and SaaS	Roughly $50k to several million	$25, $50 or $100 a month by asking-price band, plus an 8%, 7% or 6% closing fee; escrow included	Seller-submitted financials, buyers verify during diligence
Flippa	Open marketplace for every online asset	$5k to low seven figures	Upfront fee of $29 to $699 under $100,000 or $399 to $1,499 brokered above it, plus a 10% to 5% success fee	A vetting team reviews stated financials on assets priced above $50,000
Empire Flippers	Curated brokerage with in-house vetting	Roughly $50k to $5M and above	No listing fee; $10,000 flat below $66,666.66, then 15% to $700k, 8% on the amount above that to $5M, 2.5% above $5M	Requires revenue screenshots, verified expenses and analytics access before listing
Quiet Light	Advisor-led brokerage for online businesses	Mid-market; live listings commonly $1M to $7M	Success commission only, but no rate card is published anywhere on their site	Advisor prepares the listing after a detailed client interview
FE International	Sell-side M&A advisory with a broker-dealer arm	Larger, advisor-led transactions	Not published anywhere on their site	Advisor-prepared deal memo
Website Closers	Full-service technology and internet brokerage	Roughly $1M and up	Success fee only with no upfront cost; the rate is negotiated and not published	Broker-prepared package
BizBuySell	General business-for-sale listing board	Main street businesses of any size	Basic $74.95, Showcase $99.95 or Diamond $199.95 a month on a six-month term; no platform success fee	Nobody. It is an advertising board, not a vetted marketplace

Fees read firsthand on each provider's own pages in July 2026. Several providers do not publish a rate card at all, which this table states rather than quoting an unverified figure. Pricing changes, so confirm before you budget.

Side by side

A venue built for AI SaaS vs a generalist marketplace

A fair look at what each does well. Both are useful. Here is where they differ.

Feature	Buyouts	Generalist venues
Asset focus	AI SaaS only, with AI-aware tooling	Websites, stores, apps, content and some software
Metrics	Verified MRR, ARR, growth and churn on every tombstone	Seller-stated, or vetted only above a price threshold
Valuation	Published AI-aware multiple on each deal	Asking price set by seller or broker, method not shown
Buyer quality	Capital-qualified before joining the pool	Open registration, or a broad email list
Seller cost	Published listing tier plus a 3% to 5% success fee	Anything from a 10% success fee to an unpublished commission
Exclusivity	None, list and delist when you want	Brokerages typically require an exclusive term
Speed to live	Self-serve, list on your own timeline	Instant on marketplaces, weeks on brokerages
Close and escrow	Escrow-backed closes built in	Escrow included, bundled or arranged separately

Comparison reflects general, publicly understood positioning. Capabilities change, so check each marketplace for the latest. Trademarks belong to their owners.

Why founders and buyers pick Buyouts

One deal room built specifically for AI SaaS

Deal size picks the venue

Below roughly $250,000 a commission-only brokerage rarely earns its fee, so a self-serve marketplace keeps more of the price with you. Above a few million, a broker running a competitive process can lift the outcome by more than they cost. The middle is where the choice actually matters.

Verification is the real differentiator

Every venue in the table lists software. Only some check the numbers before the listing goes live, and the threshold varies: one vets above $50,000, one requires analytics access, and a listing board checks nothing. That difference decides how much diligence work lands on the buyer.

Published pricing is a trust signal

Three of the eight publish a complete rate card, three publish nothing, and the rest sit in between. An unpublished commission is not automatically bad, but it does mean the number is negotiated per deal, so get both the rate and the exclusivity term in writing before you sign.

Keep reading on the parts of a deal this page touches: the full Flippa fee schedule, what Acquire.com charges, the Empire Flippers commission tiers, what SaaS businesses sell for right now, broker or marketplace, and when each one wins.

Good questions

SaaS marketplaces vs Buyouts, answered

For bootstrapped SaaS under roughly $5M, Acquire.com and Buyouts are the strongest self-serve options because both were built for recurring-revenue software. Above that, a curated brokerage like Empire Flippers or an advisory like FE International reaches strategic buyers a self-serve listing will not. Flippa suits sellers who want maximum reach across every asset type.

The main venues are Acquire.com, Flippa, Empire Flippers, Quiet Light, FE International, Website Closers, BizBuySell and Buyouts. Acquire.com and Flippa carry the most self-serve inventory, Empire Flippers and Quiet Light carry vetted mid-market deals, and Buyouts focuses specifically on AI SaaS with verified metrics on every listing.

It depends entirely on price band. Acquire.com is cheapest for most software sellers at a $25 to $100 monthly listing fee plus a 6% to 8% closing fee. Buyouts runs 3% to 5% on close plus a listing tier. Flippa charges 10% below $500,000 plus an upfront fee, and Empire Flippers 15% through most of the mid-market. Flippa read September 2026, the others July and August 2026.

No, and below roughly $1M the commission usually exceeds the premium a broker can realistically win. Brokers earn their fee on larger deals by running a competitive process and reaching strategic buyers you cannot access alone. Under that line, a marketplace with verified metrics, vetted buyers and escrow covers the same ground for far less.

The established ones are, but safety varies by how much each venue verifies. Empire Flippers requires analytics access and expense verification, Flippa vets assets above $50,000, and Buyouts verifies MRR, ARR, growth and churn before listing. A general listing board verifies nothing. Use escrow on every deal regardless of venue.

A marketplace gives you a listing and tooling, then you run the sale and negotiate directly. A broker runs the sale for you: valuation, packaging, buyer outreach and negotiation, usually under an exclusive agreement and a success commission. Marketplaces are faster and cheaper; brokers do more work and cost more.

Self-serve marketplaces run roughly 3% to 10% on close, sometimes with a small listing fee. Brokerages typically charge a success commission in the low double digits that scales down as deal size rises. Three of the eight venues compared here do not publish a rate at all, so their cost is negotiated per engagement.

On self-serve marketplaces, usually yes. On brokerages, usually no: most require an exclusive listing agreement for an agreed term, and Empire Flippers asks for a two-month exclusivity window. Decide your route before you sign, because an exclusive term removes the option for its duration.

A self-serve marketplace, because brokerage economics do not work at that size. Empire Flippers charges a $10,000 flat commission below $66,666.66, which is a very large share of a small deal. Acquire.com, Flippa and Buyouts all take micro listings without a deal-size minimum.

Every published figure here was read on the provider's own pages: Flippa from its pricing page in September 2026, Acquire.com from its pricing pages in July 2026, Empire Flippers from its seller FAQ, BizBuySell from its listing FAQ in September 2026, and Quiet Light, FE International and Website Closers confirmed as not publishing a rate card. Marketplace pricing changes, so confirm before you budget.

More comparisons

See how Buyouts compares

vs Flippa

Flippa fees

Every Flippa listing fee, brokerage fee, success fee and escrow rate across all ten price bands, read off Flippa's own pricing page and totalled on real sales.

vs SaaS acquirers

SaaS acquirers

The nine kinds of buyer that actually acquire SaaS companies, what each one publishes about its criteria, and how the money arrives.

vs Empire Flippers

Empire Flippers fees

Every Empire Flippers commission tier, read off their own seller FAQ and worked out as a real dollar cost at twelve sale prices.

vs Acquire.com

Acquire.com fees

Every Acquire.com listing plan, closing fee and buyer membership price, including the two buyer tiers their pricing page does not name.

vs Website Closers

Website Closers fees

Website Closers does not publish a commission rate. Here is every fee structure they name, and what each one actually costs.

vs Empire Flippers

Empire Flippers vs Acquire.com

Both publish their rates in full, which is rare. Here is what each one costs at nine sale prices, and the point where the cheaper one flips.

See how buying works See how selling works See pricing

The deal room for AI SaaS, not a yard sale

Buy with verified metrics, published multiples and escrow-backed closes, or list your AI SaaS to a pool of vetted, capital-qualified buyers.

Listing figures are published by their sellers and self-reported · valuation content is educational, not a guaranteed sale price or return · trademarks belong to their owners