Where you can publish apps, games and goods, and what it costs
August 25, 2026
* As of August 2026. Fees change, so check the platform before you commit.
Sorted by entry fee
| Platform | Entry fee | What goes up |
|---|---|---|
| Google Play | $25, once | Android apps |
| App Store | $99, yearly | iOS apps |
| Steam | $100, per game | PC games |
| Chrome Web Store | $5, once | Browser extensions |
| Sticker marketplaces | Free | Sticker and emoji sets |
| Crowdfunding (Kickstarter and similar) | Free to list | Physical goods |
| Notion and Figma template markets | Free | Templates |
| Watch, TV, automotive | Included with Play | Apps for small screens |
| VR (Quest) | From free | VR apps |
| Discord, Telegram, Slack | Free | Bots |
| API marketplaces (RapidAPI and similar) | Free | Data or functionality as an API |
| GitHub | Free | Open source plus sponsorship |
The three that cost money
Google Play is $25 once. Individual developer accounts have a separate tester requirement to clear before release.
The App Store is $99 a year. Stop paying and published apps come down.
Steam is $100 per game. It comes back once that game passes $1,000 in revenue. So it's free if it sells and $100 if it doesn't.
Three that are cheap and less obvious
The Chrome Web Store is $5, once, for life. If the repetitive work happens inside a browser, an extension fits better than an app.
Messaging bots have no entry fee. Discord, Telegram, and Slack all accept bots with nothing more than an account. Only server costs apply.
Template markets have grown up around Notion and Figma. What ships is a single file, so there's no inventory.
Where the entry fee isn't the real cost
| Platform | What else it takes |
|---|---|
| App Store | A Mac to build on |
| Steam | Review time and store page assets |
| Crowdfunding | Unit cost and minimum order quantity |
| API marketplaces | A server that stays up |
| GitHub | No money, but documentation and support time |
What's been verified
| Actually done | Google Play |
| Fees checked only | Everything else |