AppSumo Alternatives and Sites Like AppSumo for SaaS Founders Who Want to Keep Their Revenue

Seven lifetime deal sites compared on the cut they take and when they pay you, plus the route that takes no cut at all: putting your product where business buyers pay full price.

No revenue share and no discount. The Listing plan is live as soon as the payment clears.

SaaS founder weighing a lifetime deal offer against monthly subscription revenue

The short answer

The main AppSumo alternatives are DealMirror, Dealify, SaaS Mantra, RocketHub and StackSocial. They take a reported 30% to 50% of each sale, against AppSumo's published 30% on its own customers, and they reach fewer buyers. All of them sell your product at a discount, usually as a lifetime license.

If the reason you are looking is that you want to keep your revenue, the stronger alternative is not another deal site. It is a place where business buyers compare tools and then pay your normal monthly price. A listing here costs $49 a month, or $24 a month billed annually, and takes nothing from the sale.

Sites like AppSumo compared for the founder selling on them

Only AppSumo publishes its seller terms. Every other split is negotiated per deal, so the figures marked reported come from 2026 comparison guides and are a starting point for the conversation, not a quote.

Site Platform cut Source When you are paid Who buys there Note
AppSumo 5% on buyers you bring, 30% on AppSumo customers published 60 days after the sale Deal buyers, solo founders, agencies Free to list, 60 day refunds
DealMirror About 30% to 50% reported Per contract Deal buyers, marketers Split set deal by deal
Dealify About 30% to 40% reported Per contract Small business operators Curated, fewer deals
SaaS Mantra About 30% to 40% reported Per contract Founders and freelancers Founder run
RocketHub About 30% reported Per contract Entrepreneurs Pitches itself as maker friendly
StackSocial About 50% reported Per contract Consumers Gadgets, VPNs, courses
PitchGround About 30% to 40% reported Per contract Deal buyers One 2026 guide says it stopped new deals in 2025
SoftwareHome None, buyers pay your normal price published Your own checkout Business buyers comparing tools $49 a month or $24 a month billed annually

Sources: AppSumo seller guide and payout page (95% on new buyers, 70% on returning AppSumo customers, payouts 60 days after the sale); other platforms from 2026 AppSumo alternatives guides by launch directories, which note that splits vary deal by deal.

The lifetime deal arithmetic most founders skip

The revenue share is the number founders argue about, and it is the smaller problem. Say you sell 300 lifetime codes at $69, mostly to AppSumo's own customers. That is $20,700 in sales and about $14,490 to you, paid two to three months later once the refund window has closed.

Now compare those same 300 accounts on a $29 monthly plan. If they stayed a single year they would bring in $104,400. The lifetime buyers never will, and they still log in, open support tickets and use your servers every month. Before you sign, put a number on what one active account costs you to run. A cloud cost breakdown per customer turns that from a guess into a line you can put next to the $48 you will receive.

Moving to a deal site with a 40% cut instead of 30% changes the first number by a few thousand dollars. It does nothing to the second. That is why the founders who write "never again" posts after a big AppSumo run rarely complain about the split. They complain about a support queue full of people who paid once.

When a lifetime deal still makes sense

It is not always the wrong move. A lifetime deal is a reasonable trade when you need cash for runway this quarter and have no cheaper source, when the product is a prosumer tool that solo operators buy on impulse, or when you need a few hundred real users to find the bugs and earn the first reviews.

If that is you, cap the number of codes, sell a limited plan rather than everything, and bring your own audience where you can, because AppSumo keeps only 5% on buyers you send. The 30% only applies to customers it brings to you.

Alternatives to AppSumo that take no share of revenue

If the goal is customers who pay a subscription, look at channels that charge a flat fee and send people with a budget.

  • 1Software directories. Buyers compare tools in a category and click through to start a trial. The software directory submission guide ranks which ones send business buyers and what each charges.
  • 2Launch platforms. A launch week costs $0 to about $49 to fix your date, and the traffic is founders and early adopters. The SaaS launch platforms comparison prices all nine.
  • 3Featured placement. A flat $299 week at the top of your category and on competitors' alternatives pages, in front of people already shopping.

None of these hands you $14,000 in a month. What they do is bring customers who pay again next month, which is the thing a lifetime deal trades away.

300 customers, two ways

Lifetime deal at $69, AppSumo customers

$14,490

once, paid about 60 days after each sale

Monthly plan at $29, kept for one year

$104,400

and still paying in month 13

Illustration only. Churn on a monthly plan lowers the second number, and support costs on lifetime accounts lower the first.

List where buyers pay full price

A profile next to 201 tools across 35 categories, comparison pages with your competitors, and a slot on their alternatives pages.

List your SaaS from $24 a month Or feature it for $299 a week

AppSumo alternatives FAQ

What are the alternatives to AppSumo?

The lifetime deal sites founders use instead of AppSumo are DealMirror, Dealify, SaaS Mantra, RocketHub and StackSocial. They take a smaller reported cut, roughly 30% to 50%, but reach a smaller audience. If you want buyers who pay your normal price, the alternative is a software directory or launch board, which charges a flat fee and takes no share of revenue.

How much does AppSumo take from sellers?

Under AppSumo's current marketplace terms you keep 95% of revenue from buyers you bring yourself, which is a 5% processing fee, and 70% of revenue from returning AppSumo customers. Listing is free. Older featured lifetime deals were widely reported at a 60% to 70% platform cut, so check which program your deal falls under.

Is selling on AppSumo worth it?

It can be for a prosumer or small business tool that needs cash, users and feedback quickly. It is a poor fit for a B2B product with a monthly plan, because every lifetime buyer is a customer who will never pay a subscription and still uses your servers and support. Founders who regret it usually cite support load more than the revenue share.

What sites are like AppSumo?

Sites like AppSumo sell discounted software deals, usually lifetime licenses, to a list of deal buyers. DealMirror, Dealify, SaaS Mantra and RocketHub focus on SaaS; StackSocial leans toward consumer software and gadgets. All of them negotiate the revenue split deal by deal.

How long does it take to get paid by AppSumo?

AppSumo pays 60 days after the sale, because buyers have a 60 day refund window. Sales made in one calendar month are paid on the first business day after that 60 day wait, so the cash from a launch month arrives about two to three months later.

Keep the whole subscription

$49 a month, or $24 a month billed annually, live once paid, with no share of what your customers pay you.