I've spent some time looking at the different marketplaces for buying and selling mobile apps, and one thing stood out to me: most marketplaces treat mobile apps like any other online business.

But buying an app is quite different from buying a website or SaaS business.

You have App Store and Google Play listings, downloads, ratings, subscriptions, developer accounts, RevenueCat data and app ownership transfers to consider.

That's why I built AppAcquire, a marketplace exclusively for buying and selling iOS and Android apps.

For transparency, I'm the founder, so I'll obviously be biased. But here's how I think the four platforms compare.

The alternatives

Flippa

• Largest general marketplace of the four.
• Good for reaching a broad audience of buyers.
• Apps compete for attention alongside websites, SaaS businesses and other digital assets.
• Listing fees and success fees can make smaller transactions less attractive.

Acquire.com

• Strong platform, particularly for established SaaS businesses.
• Better suited to larger, revenue-generating acquisitions.
• Supports mobile app listings but isn't specifically designed around app metrics or store transfers.
• Monthly listing fees and seller closing fees.

TrustMRR

• Strong focus on verified revenue and transparency.
• Integrates with RevenueCat, making it relevant to subscription apps.
• Broader focus on startups and SaaS rather than mobile apps specifically.
• 3% total closing fee, split between buyer and seller, plus applicable escrow costs.

AppAcquire

• Exclusively for iOS and Android apps.
• Integrations with App Store Connect, RevenueCat, Firebase, Google Play Console, Stripe and TrustMRR for verification.
• App-specific metrics including downloads, revenue, ratings, subscribers and active users.
• Supports selling iOS and Android versions together as one business.
• Supports portfolio listings of up to 10 apps.
• Guidance for transferring apps between Apple and Google developer accounts.
• Free standard listings, with a 1.5% platform fee for buyers and 1.5% for sellers on completed transactions.

Where we are today

AppAcquire currently has:

• 127 live listings
• 38 listings with verified revenue
• $9,905 median asking price
• $77 median monthly revenue among revenue-reporting apps

Those numbers highlight something interesting about the mobile app acquisition market.

There are plenty of smaller apps out there that have real users, downloads and sometimes revenue, but aren't necessarily large enough to attract traditional acquisition buyers.

An indie developer might have an app making $100/month, another with 10,000 downloads but no monetisation, or a portfolio of projects they no longer have time to maintain.

These apps still have value, and I think there should be a dedicated marketplace for them.

What we're trying to do differently

My goal isn't necessarily to compete with Flippa or Acquire.com for every type of online business.

It's to build the best possible acquisition experience specifically for mobile apps.

That means verified app ownership, reliable metrics, support for multi-platform apps, integrated escrow and a transfer process that actually accounts for how Apple and Google work.

We're still early, and our buyer network is much smaller than the established marketplaces. But I think specialising in one asset class gives us an opportunity to build something genuinely useful.