Buy Sell Startups vs Flippa
Flippa is the biggest digital marketplace. Buy Sell Startups is the most focused one. Here's what that means for fees, listing quality, and how quickly you'll actually close.
0% success fee
Free to browse · Plans from $29/mo
Flippa
5–10% success fee on completed sales
Listing fee $19–$499 + 5–10% success fee
Side by side
Startups
Success fee on sale
Flippa charges 10% on deals under $50k, 5% above
Listing fee
Flippa charges $19–$499 to list depending on asset type
SaaS-focused buyer pool
Flippa covers all digital assets — buyers range widely in sophistication
Vetted / curated listings
Flippa has tens of thousands of listings with minimal curation
Direct messaging
Revenue verification
Flippa supports P&L uploads but not live Stripe integration
LOI / offer workflow
Flippa uses an auction/offer model without a formal LOI process
No auction pressure
Flippa's auction format creates artificial urgency
NDA / confidential listings
No minimum deal size
Buy Sell Startups advantages
- Zero success fees — keep 100% of your exit price
- No listing fees to get started
- Focused SaaS buyer pool — less noise, more relevant offers
- Curated listings mean buyers trust what they see
- No auction pressure — set your price and negotiate
Flippa advantages
- Largest marketplace — maximum exposure to potential buyers
- Covers all digital asset types including domains and content sites
- Established brand with 15+ years of transaction history
- Good for content sites, apps, and non-SaaS digital assets
Flippa's scale is an advantage if you want maximum listing exposure. But for SaaS founders who don't want to give away 5–10% of their exit to a platform, and who want buyers who understand SaaS metrics, Buy Sell Startups is the better choice.
Flippa is the largest digital asset marketplace, operating since 2009. It covers a huge range of assets including content sites, apps, domains, and SaaS businesses. The scale comes with trade-offs: high success fees (up to 10%), a significant volume of low-quality listings, and an auction format that can be stressful for sellers.
Common questions
How much does Flippa charge in success fees?
Flippa charges a 10% success fee on sales under $50,000, and 5% on sales above that threshold. On a $100k exit, that's $5,000 paid to Flippa on top of any listing fees you've already paid.
Is Flippa good for SaaS businesses?
Flippa lists SaaS businesses but the buyer pool is mixed — many buyers are focused on content sites, domains, and apps rather than SaaS metrics like MRR, churn, and ARR. If you're selling a SaaS product, you'll likely get more relevant offers on a SaaS-focused platform.
What's wrong with the auction format?
Auctions work well for commoditised assets like domain names. For SaaS businesses, an arbitrary end date creates artificial urgency and can result in underpricing — serious buyers doing proper due diligence need more than a few days.
Can I list on Flippa and Buy Sell Startups at the same time?
Yes, and it's a common strategy. Just make sure your pricing is consistent across platforms and you have the bandwidth to manage inquiries from both.
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