Itch.io

itch.io is the leading open marketplace and distribution platform for independent digital creators, with a primary focus on indie video games. Unlike traditional storefronts like Steam or Epic Games Store, itch.io empowers creators with complete control over pricing, page design, and distribution — with no approval process, no gatekeeping, and a revolutionary open revenue sharing model where sellers choose how much (if any) commission to pay. The platform hosts hundreds of thousands of games, game assets, tools, comics, music, and other digital creations, making it the de facto home for indie game developers, game jam participants, and experimental interactive media.

What makes itch.io fundamentally different from every other game marketplace is its creator-first philosophy. There are no votes, likes, or algorithmic gates to get content approved — creators upload and publish immediately. Pages never contain third-party advertisements or links to competitor products. The open revenue sharing model launched in 2015 lets sellers set their own commission rate, even down to 0%, trusting the community to support the platform voluntarily. Combined with pay-what-you-want pricing, pre-orders, early access, crowdfunding goals, and bundling tools, itch.io provides the most flexible monetization options available for indie creators.

Key Features: Instant publishing with no approval process or gatekeeping — upload and sell immediately, open revenue sharing where sellers choose their own commission rate from 0% to any percentage they choose, pay-what-you-want pricing model where buyers can optionally pay above the minimum price including free games, customizable creator pages with full design control over how games and products are presented, game hosting with browser-based HTML5 game support for play-in-browser experiences, detailed analytics dashboard showing downloads and plays and traffic sources and revenue breakdowns, game jam hosting and participation tools — itch.io is the primary platform for global game jams with thousands of events, pre-order and early access support for building audience and revenue before full release, crowdfunding with project goals for community-funded development, digital asset marketplace for selling game assets and sprites and music and tools alongside games, bundle creation tools for packaging multiple games or products together, community features with comments and ratings and devlogs for building player relationships, itch.io desktop app (Butler) for managing uploads and enabling automatic game updates for players, support for Windows and macOS and Linux and Android game distribution, reward tiers and exclusive content for supporters and backers, and embeddable game widgets for showcasing games on external websites and blogs.

Pricing: itch.io is free to use for both creators and buyers. There are no listing fees, no monthly subscriptions, and no mandatory commission. The platform operates on an open revenue sharing model where sellers voluntarily set their commission rate — the default suggestion is around 10% but can be set to 0%. Payments are processed through PayPal or Stripe with standard payment processing fees. Buyers can purchase games at set prices, pay-what-you-want above minimums, or download free content. There are no premium seller tiers or paid features — every creator gets access to the full suite of tools.

Use Cases: Indie game developers publishing and selling their games with full creative and financial control without platform gatekeeping, game jam participants hosting and sharing jam entries with the global indie game community, solo developers and small studios building an audience through free demos and early access releases and devlogs, game asset creators selling sprites and music and sound effects and development tools to other developers, experimental and artistic game creators publishing interactive experiences and visual novels and alternative games, hobbyist developers sharing free games and building a portfolio of work for career development, and tabletop RPG designers selling digital rulebooks and character sheets and campaign supplements alongside video games.