Cloud Marketplace fees compared: what Microsoft, AWS and Google Cloud actually charge

Table of Contents

As of mid-2026, the three hyperscaler marketplaces charge broadly similar transaction fees: roughly 3% standard, falling to 1.5-2% for large private offers and renewals. 
 
Marketplace fees were once the loudest objection to selling through cloud marketplaces. That era is long over: the hyperscalers cut their take rates from around 20% to around 3% years ago, but any kind of fee matters at enterprise deal sizes. Here is the full picture.
 

The fee table

Figures as of July 2026; we recommend verifying against each provider's current schedule for the latest numbers.
 
Marketplace
Standard fee (Net new customers)
Private offers
(Net new customers)
Renewals
Channel/ reseller offers
Microsoft Marketplace (Azure)
3%
3%
1.5% 
Multiparty private offers and resale enabled offers
AWS Marketplace
3% for public SaaS (server/AMI 20%)
Tiered by contract value: 3% under $1M; 2% at $1M-<$10M; 1.5% at $10M+
1.5%
Channel partner private offers with regional uplifts
Google Cloud Marketplace
3% (variable model, eff. Apr 21, 2025)
Tiered: 3% under $1M; 2% at $1M-<$10M; 1.5% at $10M+
1.5% (also applies to migrations and channel shifts)
Marketplace Channel Private Offers supported

How the fee is actually applied

On the hyperscaler marketplaces, the provider operates on an agency model: you set the price, the cloud bills the customer, and the fee is deducted before payout. Here are three details ISVs regularly miss:
  1. The fee applies to your license price, not infrastructure. On Microsoft, for example, Azure usage charges attached to a VM offer are billed separately; the 3% applies to your software license amount.
  2. BYOL listings carry no marketplace fee, because no money moves through the marketplace. They also earn none of the committed-spend benefits that make marketplaces valuable.
  3. Renewal economics favor staying on-marketplace. Microsoft, AWS, and Google all now price renewals at roughly half the new-deal fee: a deliberate incentive against moving year-two revenue off-platform.

What the fee history tells you

Microsoft cut its fee from 20% to 3% in 2021; Google Cloud cut from 20% to 3% in 2021 and moved to a variable 1.5-3% model effective April 21, 2025; AWS simplified and reduced its tiered schedule effective January 5, 2024. The direction is one-way: the clouds have decided marketplace revenue is worth more to them as committed-spend drawdown and account stickiness than as a toll. For ISVs, the practical conclusion is that fees are no longer the deciding variable in marketplace strategy: eligibility for committed-spend programs and co-sell access are. (See: MACC vs. EDP vs. GCP commits.)
 

What fees don't include

The transaction fee is not the total cost of a marketplace motion. Budget separately for: listing engineering (billing APIs, metering integration), tax and payout configuration, ongoing offer operations, and, if you use one, a cloud GTM platform, which carries its own subscription or percentage pricing set by the vendor. (See: Do you need a cloud GTM platform?) None of these costs is imposed by the marketplace, but all of them are real. In Partner1's experience across more than 400 companies advised, underestimating operational cost is a far more common error than overestimating the fee. If you need help in making your listing transactable on a marketplace, the Partner1 team can take care of that for you in weeks, not months - and you don't have to pay a recurring fee like you would for a cloud GTM platform.
 

Frequently asked questions

What fee does Microsoft charge on Microsoft Marketplace transactions?
A 3% store service fee on transactable offers, reduced from 20% in 2021. Qualifying private-offer renewals (private offers created after Oct 1, 2024) receive a 50% fee discount.
 
What does AWS Marketplace charge?
For SaaS: 3% on public offers; private offers are tiered from 3% down to 1.5% at $10M+ contract value; renewals are 1.5%. Channel partner private offers add a 0.5% uplift. (Server/AMI, container, and ML public offers are a separate 20%.) Effective January 5, 2024.
 
What does Google Cloud Marketplace charge?
A 3% standard revenue share under the variable model effective April 21, 2025, with reductions to 2% and 1.5% for larger private offers, and 1.5% for renewals, migrations, and channel shifts.
 
Is the fee negotiable?
The published schedules are standard. Larger deal sizes earn lower published tiers on AWS and Google Cloud; Microsoft's published fee is flat at 3% with renewals at 1.5%.
 

Partner1® is the premier partner activation firm built by former Microsoft executives. We help B2B companies grow profitably and globally through partner ecosystem-led growth.

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Juhi Saha
Juhi Saha

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