Marketplace or direct sales: which distribution channel
A marketplace (app marketplace, store, directory) gives you access to an already-installed audience. Direct sales puts you in touch with the customer with no intermediary. A marketplace lowers your acquisition cost but takes a commission and sits between you and the customer. Direct sales keeps the margin and the relationship, but you have to generate all the demand yourself.
By Isidore Mikorey-Nilsson · June 30, 2026
Marketplace
An audience already there
Best for
SaaS companies that integrate into an ecosystem with an active marketplace.
Strengths
- Immediate access to a base of buyers
- Lower acquisition cost thanks to the platform's traffic
- Trust borrowed from the marketplace
Limitations
- A commission that eats into your margin
- Customer relationship and data partly captured by the platform
Direct sales
The margin and the relationship are yours
Best for
SaaS companies that want to control their brand, their price and their customer relationship.
Strengths
- Full margin with no commission
- Customer relationship and data 100 percent yours
- Total control over price and experience
Limitations
- You have to generate all the demand yourself
- Higher acquisition cost at the start
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | Marketplace | Direct sales |
|---|---|---|
| Initial reach | Strong | To be built |
| Margin | Reduced (commission) | Full |
| Customer relationship | Shared | Direct |
| Price control | Limited | Total |
| Best for | Starting fast | Maximizing margin |
Marketplace or direct sales: where are the buyers
Cloud marketplaces carry increasing weight. Sales on hyperscaler marketplaces rose to about 16 billion dollars in 2023 and are expected to reach 85 billion by 2028, according to Invisory.
More importantly, the money is already there: companies hold more than 360 billion dollars in cloud commitments they can use to buy third-party software through these marketplaces. Selling where the budget is already committed noticeably shortens the buying cycle.
Direct sales keeps the opposite advantage: full margin and 100% ownership of the customer relationship. No commission, no intermediary between you and the buyer, total control over price and experience. But all the demand is yours to generate.
The real tradeoff: reach versus control
The marketplace lends you an audience and trust: the buyer sees your product in an environment they already know. In B2B this is decisive, since word of mouth and ease of integration weigh heavily in the choice of a tool, as shown by G2.
The price of that reach is a commission that eats into your margin and a relationship partly captured by the platform: limited customer data, dependence on its rules. You gain speed, you lose autonomy.
Direct sales demands more acquisition effort at the start, but every customer truly belongs to you. Calculate the impact of the commission on your real acquisition cost with the CAC calculator.
Often, both at once
Many SaaS companies do not choose: they use the marketplace for initial acquisition, then push their customers toward a direct relationship for margin and loyalty. The marketplace becomes an entry channel, not the only door.
This mixed model protects your margin on your best accounts while still benefiting from the traffic and already-committed budgets on marketplaces. The key is to never stay a prisoner of a single distribution channel.
If referral-partner channels interest you, also compare affiliation or partnerships, and to frame your overall model, see product-led or sales-led and our guide building a SaaS.
Do not depend on a single channel
The real danger of a marketplace is dependence. A change in rules, commission or algorithm, and part of your acquisition disappears overnight. A marketplace is an excellent entry channel, a poor sole channel.
The remedy is simple: use the marketplace to acquire, but build a direct relationship and owned channels in parallel, such as your newsletter or your SEO. You benefit from the reach without being chained to it.
This logic applies to every borrowed channel: the more a channel does not belong to you, the more you need to balance it with assets you own. It is the same caution that guides the choice between rented acquisition and owned acquisition.
Verdict
If a marketplace already concentrates your audience, it lowers your acquisition cost and speeds up your start, at the cost of a commission and a shared relationship. Direct sales keeps the full margin and the customer data, but requires you to build your own demand. Many SaaS companies use the marketplace for initial acquisition, then push their customers toward a direct relationship.
Your tailor-made acquisition plan
We read your SaaS and hand you a complete plan: who to target, which channel, what to do.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a marketplace hurt my brand?
- It can dilute your customer relationship if you never move beyond it. The ideal is to use it to acquire, then build loyalty directly.
- Can you do both in parallel?
- Yes, and it is often optimal: the marketplace brings volume, direct sales protects the margin on your best customers.
- Are cloud marketplaces worth it for a small SaaS?
- Increasingly so: already-committed cloud budgets draw in B2B buyers. The commission is justified if it shortens your sales cycle.
- How do you keep the customer relationship through a marketplace?
- By pushing buyers toward a direct relationship after the first purchase: onboarding, content, direct support. The marketplace acquires, you build loyalty.
Sources
- Cloud Marketplace Statistics (Invisory, 2024)
- How B2B SaaS Marketing Leaders Buy Software in 2024 (G2, 2024)