Both fee schedules read firsthand, August 2026
Empire Flippers vs Acquire.com: fees, commission and which one nets more on a SaaS sale
Empire Flippers and Acquire.com are the two venues most AI SaaS founders end up choosing between, and unusually for this industry, both publish their entire fee schedule. That makes this the one comparison you can settle with arithmetic instead of sales calls. Acquire.com charges 8%, 7% or 6% at close depending on price band, plus $25 to $100 a month to keep the listing up. Empire Flippers charges no listing fee at all and takes a blended commission that starts at a $10,000 minimum, runs at 15% up to $700,000, drops to 8% above that, and falls again to 2.5% past $5 million.
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Run those two schedules side by side and the answer is lopsided for most of the range, then quietly reverses. On a $2,000,000 sale Empire Flippers costs $209,000 and Acquire.com costs $120,000, a difference of $89,000. On a $10,000,000 sale Empire Flippers costs $574,000 and Acquire.com costs $600,000, so Empire Flippers is now the cheaper one. The crossover sits at roughly $9.26 million, because Empire Flippers keeps stepping its rate down while Acquire.com stays flat at 6% forever. Worth knowing before you assume the percentage on the homepage is the percentage you pay. One caution on sources: several comparison articles still quote Acquire.com at a flat 4%, and their own seller pricing page published 8%, 7% and 6% when we read it in August 2026. Buyouts is a competing marketplace, so weigh our comparison accordingly and check both schedules yourself.
Two of the very few venues that publish a full rate card. Acquire.com is cheaper on every sale below roughly $9.26 million, often by a wide margin, and Empire Flippers wins above that because its top tier falls to 2.5% while Acquire.com holds at 6%.
Both published schedules, worked out in dollars
What Empire Flippers and Acquire.com each cost a seller, at nine sale prices
Empire Flippers commission is blended: $10,000 flat below $66,666.66, then 15% of the sale price to $700,000, then 8% on the portion between $700,000 and $5 million, then 2.5% above $5 million. Acquire.com charges a single closing percentage set by price band: 8% below $250,000, 7% from $250,000 to $1 million, and 6% above $1 million. Empire Flippers charges no listing fee. Acquire.com listing fees are $25, $50 or $100 a month by band and are shown separately below rather than folded into these totals.
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| Sale price | Empire Flippers fee | Effective rate | Acquire.com closing fee | Effective rate | Difference | Cheaper here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $10,000 | 20.0% | $4,000 | 8.0% | $6,000 | Acquire.com |
| $100,000 | $15,000 | 15.0% | $8,000 | 8.0% | $7,000 | Acquire.com |
| $250,000 | $37,500 | 15.0% | $17,500 | 7.0% | $20,000 | Acquire.com |
| $500,000 | $75,000 | 15.0% | $35,000 | 7.0% | $40,000 | Acquire.com |
| $750,000 | $109,000 | 14.5% | $52,500 | 7.0% | $56,500 | Acquire.com |
| $1,000,000 | $129,000 | 12.9% | $70,000 | 7.0% | $59,000 | Acquire.com |
| $2,000,000 | $209,000 | 10.5% | $120,000 | 6.0% | $89,000 | Acquire.com |
| $5,000,000 | $449,000 | 9.0% | $300,000 | 6.0% | $149,000 | Acquire.com |
| $10,000,000 | $574,000 | 5.7% | $600,000 | 6.0% | $26,000 | Empire Flippers |
Both schedules were read firsthand in August 2026, Empire Flippers from its commission-structure explainer and seller FAQ, and Acquire.com from its seller pricing page. The dollar figures are our arithmetic applied to their published formulas. Empire Flippers own worked example for a $1,000,000 sale is $105,000 plus $24,000, which matches the $129,000 in this table. Acquire.com columns show the closing fee only and exclude the monthly listing fee, which depends on how long the listing runs. Figures exclude legal fees and tax. Confirm current terms with each platform before you list.
Side by side
Empire Flippers vs Acquire.com vs Buyouts, on the terms that decide a SaaS exit
A fair look at what each does well. Both are useful. Here is where they differ.
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| Feature | Buyouts | Empire Flippers | Acquire.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee at close on a $2M sale | 3% on the $1,500 tier, so $60,000 | 15% to $700k then 8%, so $209,000 | 6% above $1M, so $120,000 |
| Fee at close on a $250k sale | 4% on the $499 tier, so $10,000 | 15% flat, so $37,500 | 7% in the $250k to $1M band, so $17,500 |
| Listing or upfront fee | $149, $499 or $1,500 one-off by tier | None at all | $25, $50 or $100 a month by price band |
| Minimum commission floor | None | $10,000 flat below $66,666.66 | None. The percentage applies at any size |
| Cost if it never sells | The listing tier fee only | Nothing. Pure success fee | The monthly listing fees you accrued |
| Rate published openly? | Yes, on the pricing page | Yes, full tiered schedule with a calculator | Yes, seller bands on the seller pricing page |
| Exclusivity required | None. List where you like | 2-month exclusivity | None stated |
| Escrow | Escrow on every close | Handled in their migration and payout process | Included free, via partnered escrow |
| Who runs the sale | Self-serve, with verified metrics up front | Full brokerage. They vet, package and broker it | Self-serve. You talk to buyers directly |
| Buyer-side cost | $99, $299 or $899 a month membership | No buyer fee published | Free, or $390 a year Premium, or $780 a year Platinum |
| Payout timing after sale | On escrow release at handover | 1 to 3 weeks on average | On escrow release, buyer and seller agree terms |
| What the platform verifies | MRR, ARR, growth and churn verified before listing | Vets and verifies seller financials before listing | Seller-reported metrics, buyer runs diligence |
| Best suited to | AI SaaS founders who want a published low rate | First-time sellers above $200k who want it handled | SaaS founders comfortable running their own deal |
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
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Below $9 million, the gap is not close
Across the whole range most AI SaaS actually sells in, Acquire.com is cheaper by a lot. At $250,000 it is $17,500 against $37,500. At $1,000,000 it is $70,000 against $129,000. At $2,000,000 it is $120,000 against $209,000. The reason is structural rather than promotional: Empire Flippers holds 15% all the way to $700,000, which is roughly double what Acquire.com charges in the same band, and the 8% tier above that only applies to the portion above $700,000. If price is the deciding factor and your business is worth under a few million, the arithmetic has already answered the question.
Above roughly $9.26 million it flips, and most articles miss it
Empire Flippers keeps stepping its rate down and Acquire.com does not. Past $5 million Empire Flippers charges only 2.5% on the excess, while Acquire.com stays at a flat 6% no matter how large the deal gets. Set the two formulas equal and they cross at about $9,257,000. At $10 million Empire Flippers costs $574,000 and Acquire.com costs $600,000. That is a narrow band of the market, and very few SaaS businesses sell there, but if yours might, the platform that looked expensive at every smaller size becomes the cheaper one.
The fee is not the only thing you are buying
Empire Flippers is a brokerage and Acquire.com is a self-serve marketplace, so the 15% is not purely a worse version of 7%. Empire Flippers vets the business, builds the listing, screens buyers and runs the migration, which is worth real money to a founder selling for the first time who does not know what a normal LOI looks like. Acquire.com hands you the tools and expects you to run your own process. Decide how much of the deal you actually want to run before you decide which fee is too high, and read the 2-month exclusivity clause either way.
Good questions
Empire Flippers vs Buyouts, answered
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