A marketplace of deal-hunting buyers. Real revenue, on their terms.
appsumo.com
Eligibility
Who AppSumo accepts
You need
Must offer a lifetime / one-time payment tier
Infrastructure that survives a thousand signups in a week
A support process, because deal reviews are public and brutal
Existing paying customers and a stable product
You'll be rejected if
Subscription-only pricing is rejected
Products that can't be licensed perpetually, such as thin API resellers
Pre-launch products with no customers
Established SaaS Web apps B2B tools Marketplace listings
What you actually get
A listed deal commonly does $10k–$100k gross in its first months, minus AppSumo's share. You also inherit hundreds of demanding lifetime users who will file feature requests forever.
How to submit to AppSumo
1
Apply as a partner
Submit the product, your metrics and a proposed deal structure through sell.appsumo.com. Expect a call before anything is agreed.
2
Design the lifetime tiers
Usually three tiers with escalating limits. Price so a one-time payment still covers years of hosting for that user, not just the first month.
3
Negotiate the split and the window
Ask about the revenue share, the length of the deal window, and whether you can run the same offer elsewhere afterwards.
4
Staff support before launch
Write the docs, clear the inbox, and set roadmap expectations in the listing itself. Reviews land in the first two weeks and stay forever.
AppSumo requirements
Lifetime pricing tier
Paying customers
Support capacity
Deal video, copy and screenshots
Gotchas
Lifetime buyers are your loudest reviewers and your least profitable users. Price for that.
Refund windows are generous, so gross revenue in week one is not revenue yet.
Agent prompt for AppSumo
Paste into your agent
You are preparing an AppSumo partner application.
Product: {NAME} ({URL})
Current pricing: {PRICING}
Metrics: {MRR}, {CUSTOMERS}, {CHURN}
1. Design three lifetime deal tiers with limits and prices, showing the per-user cost assumption behind each.
2. Write the deal page headline and a 400-character description.
3. List the questions I must ask about revenue share, exclusivity and refund window.
4. Flag any part of my current pricing that disqualifies the application.
Return as plain text, ready to paste. AppSumo FAQ
How long does AppSumo approval take?
AppSumo's typical time from submission to going live is 2–8 weeks.
How much does it cost to submit to AppSumo?
Submitting to AppSumo is paid (Rev share).
Does AppSumo give a dofollow backlink?
Yes — a listing on AppSumo carries a dofollow link. The site has a domain rating of 88.
Does AppSumo require a backlink to your site?
No — AppSumo does not require a link back from your site.
What gets you rejected from AppSumo?
Subscription-only pricing is rejected; Products that can't be licensed perpetually, such as thin API resellers; Pre-launch products with no customers.