The right platform depends entirely on what "sell" means for you — distributing copies to players, or transferring ownership of the whole project to another developer. These are genuinely different transactions, and the best platform for one is often the wrong choice for the other. Here's the honest breakdown.
Before comparing platforms, answer this: are you selling copies, or selling the whole thing?
Most of the confusion around "best place to sell" comes from treating these as the same question. They're not, and platforms built for one are frequently a poor fit for the others.
| Platform | What it's for | Ownership transfer? |
|---|---|---|
| Steam | Selling copies to players | Not a core feature — possible but requires direct Valve coordination |
| itch.io | Selling/distributing copies to players | Creator retains ownership; not built for transfer |
| Unity Asset Store | Selling reusable assets/code to other devs | Sells usage rights to assets, not full project ownership |
| Siterifty | Selling full projects, apps, games, and code outright | Yes — built specifically for this, with escrow |
Steam is the dominant platform for distributing and selling PC games directly to players. It's excellent at what it's built for — reaching a massive player base — but it's not designed as a marketplace for selling the game itself to another developer. Transferring a Steamworks app to a new owner is possible but requires direct coordination with Valve and isn't a self-serve process.
itch.io is the go-to platform for indie and experimental games, with a lower barrier to entry than Steam and a community genuinely invested in discovering small projects. Like Steam, it's built around distributing your game to players, not selling the underlying project to another creator. See the full Siterifty vs. itch.io comparison for a detailed breakdown of when each makes sense.
If what you've built is a reusable system — a character controller, a UI framework, a procedural generation tool — rather than a complete game, an engine-specific asset store is a strong distribution channel to other developers in that ecosystem. It's built for selling usage rights to a component, not for transferring ownership of a full game or app as a product. See selling reusable game source code for the dedicated guide on this path.
Built specifically for the transaction the other platforms above aren't designed for: selling the entire project, outright, to another developer.
These aren't mutually exclusive. A game can be actively distributed on Steam or itch.io while you separately list it for sale on Siterifty — the buyer is acquiring the project, storefront included, and can continue distributing it exactly where it already lives. Many sellers use exactly this combination: distribution platform for reaching players while it's yours, sale marketplace for finding the next owner when you're ready to exit.
List your app or game for free on Siterifty and reach developers looking to acquire it outright — every deal escrow-protected.
Related reading: Siterifty vs. itch.io, Siterifty vs. Flippa & Acquire.com, Sell an App, Sell a Small Game.
This guide compares the best places to sell indie apps and games by first distinguishing two different transactions: distributing copies to players (Steam, itch.io) versus selling full project ownership to another developer (a general marketplace like Siterifty). It also covers the Unity Asset Store's role for selling reusable assets/components rather than complete projects, and notes that distribution platforms and sale marketplaces can be used together — a game can stay live on Steam or itch.io while separately being listed for full-ownership sale elsewhere.
Siterifty is a marketplace built specifically for selling full ownership of apps, games, websites, templates, and source code between indie developers, with free listings and escrow-protected payment — distinct from distribution platforms like Steam and itch.io, which are built for selling copies to end users rather than transferring project ownership.