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Neither platform wins for every indie game. Steam is the stronger fit when you want a structured storefront, Steamworks tools and a chance at algorithmic discovery, and can absorb its $100-per-app fee and onboarding work. itch.io is the better fit when you value control over pricing, page design, revenue share and experimental formats, and are prepared to choose how payments, tax and administration are handled.
The short answer: choose for your launch model, not a supposed sales average
Steam and itch.io serve different publishing priorities. Steam supplies a large, standardized store environment with a defined release process, a New Releases Queue and conditional recommendation surfaces. itch.io gives creators more control over their storefront, pricing and platform share, including pay-what-you-want releases.
There is no reliable, like-for-like statistic in official platform documentation showing that a typical indie game sells more on one platform. Your genre, existing audience, price, launch timing, ability to drive traffic and tolerance for payment administration matter more than a blanket claim that one marketplace always performs better.
| Decision factor | Steam | itch.io |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront publishing cost | $100 USD (or equivalent) Steam Direct fee for each new app. It is nonrefundable but can be recouped after at least $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue under Valve’s stated conditions. | The reviewed documentation emphasizes revenue-share and payment choices rather than a stated mandatory per-app fee. Confirm current seller terms before launch. |
| Platform share | No single universal percentage is stated on the current pages reviewed for all cases. | You choose a platform share from 0% to 100%. |
| Payment and tax model | Steamworks onboarding includes paperwork and payment setup. | Choose Direct to you or itch.io Payouts; merchant-of-record, VAT and payout responsibilities differ. |
| Store control | Standardized store pages and Valve-controlled merchandising systems. | Creator-designed pages, pricing, sales and flexible purchase models. |
| Discovery tools | New Releases Queue, possible personalized and genre placements, Discovery Queue and traffic analytics; all are conditional. | Analytics for discovery, downloads, play and referral links, with more responsibility on the creator to present and promote the game. |
Why release on itch.io instead of Steam?
itch.io is compelling when the product or the business model does not fit a conventional premium launch. You can set a price as low as zero through pay-what-you-want purchasing, run your own sales, create a page around the game’s personality, offer pre-orders or early access, attach rewards, join bundles and set crowdfunding goals. That makes it useful for prototypes, experimental games, demos, game-jam projects, tools, niche titles and communities that already gather on your site or social channels.
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The platform also lets you decide how much of each sale goes to itch.io. The setting can be anywhere from 0% to 100%. A 0% platform share can improve the amount you intend to leave with the creator, but it does not eliminate card, wallet or other payment-processing costs. Your choice therefore changes the platform portion of the transaction, not the total cost of accepting money.
Control also means responsibility. You choose between connecting payment providers yourself and using itch.io’s payout system. That choice determines who is the merchant of record, who handles VAT collection and remittance, how chargebacks are handled and when money reaches you. If you want to avoid making those decisions, a highly managed storefront may be more comfortable. If you want to make them deliberately and keep the page and offer under your control, itch.io may be a better fit.
What Steam charges and what its $100 fee really means
Steamworks documents a Steam Direct fee of $100 USD, or the equivalent amount in the applicable currency, for each new app. Valve says the fee is nonrefundable. It can be recouped in a later payment after the product reaches at least $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue from Steam Store sales or in-app purchases, subject to Valve’s stated conditions.
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Think of the fee as an upfront cash-flow requirement rather than a permanent marketing expense. A game that never reaches the recoupment threshold will not recover it. A game that does reach the threshold can have the fee returned through a later payment, but the threshold is based on adjusted gross revenue, not a promise that you personally receive $1,000 in cash at launch. Currency conversion, refunds and other adjustments affect the calculation.
Each app requires its own fee, so a studio publishing several separate games, editions or applications should budget per product. Include time for Steamworks paperwork and payment setup as well as the cash fee. The amount is modest compared with development costs, but it can matter for a free experiment, a very small game or a project whose launch budget is tight.
Steam’s current public pages do not provide one universal platform percentage that applies to every commercial situation. Do not build a forecast around an assumed blanket commission. Read the Steamworks payment terms that apply to your app, territory, sales channel and any special arrangement, then model refunds, taxes, payment timing and any keys sold outside the Steam Store separately.
How itch.io’s revenue-share and payment choices work
itch.io describes an open revenue-sharing model introduced in March 2015. In the seller settings, the platform share can be configured from 0% to 100%. The selected share is distinct from payment-processor charges, which the payment documentation describes as commonly around $0.30 plus 2.9% per transaction. That figure is an approximation, not a universal current price: the provider, country, currency, card type, account and transaction circumstances can change the amount.
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For example, on a hypothetical $10 sale, a 10% itch.io share would be $1, while an illustrative processor charge using $0.30 plus 2.9% would be about $0.59. The actual amount you keep depends on the processor’s rules, taxes, refunds and the payment mode you select. The example is useful for comparing categories of cost, not for promising a final payout.
Direct to you: you connect the supported payment providers to your itch.io account. You are the merchant of record and are responsible for collecting and remitting VAT where required, as well as handling the associated payment administration and chargeback exposure. Confirm that your provider is available in your country and that your business can issue the records your jurisdiction requires.
itch.io Payouts: itch.io is the merchant of record and handles VAT collection and remittance. You request payouts later rather than receiving each transaction directly. The documented conditions include a minimum balance of $5 and a seven-day waiting period for transactions before they become eligible. Eligibility, timing and payment availability can change, so check the current payout terms immediately before launch.
Neither mode removes the need for bookkeeping. Keep records of gross sales, platform share, processor charges, refunds, payouts and any income or sales tax your own jurisdiction imposes. If you are unsure whether you should register, collect or remit a tax, obtain advice for your country instead of treating a storefront setting as tax advice.
Discovery: what each platform actually promises
Steam’s release and recommendation surfaces
A full Steam release enters a pool for the New Releases Queue. Valve’s visibility documentation says the system prioritizes titles with fewer views, while customer preferences and filters can exclude a title. That is baseline exposure, not a guaranteed number of impressions or sales.
Additional placements can include personalized recommendations, New and Trending areas, genre pages, top-seller lists and the Discovery Queue. These placements are conditional. Valve says purchases and play are strong signals of customer interest and potential audience, so early response can influence where a game appears. Steamworks traffic analytics report impressions and visits, allowing you to compare store-page traffic with announcements, external campaigns and changes to your capsule art or copy.
Steam’s official visibility FAQ answers the question “Can I pay for my game to show up to more customers?” with: “Nope. You focus on making a compelling, interesting, and unique game, and Steam will work out the best places to feature your game based on customers’ interests, preferences, and feedback.” In practical terms, you cannot purchase a guaranteed algorithmic placement. You can improve the product, page and launch communication, then measure how customers respond.
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itch.io’s creator-led discovery
itch.io provides analytics about discovery, downloads, play activity and referral links. Those reports help you see whether traffic comes from a direct URL, a social post, a bundle, a creator page or another source. The platform does not promise that a new release will receive a Steam-like sequence of recommendation surfaces. Your page, community relationships and external promotion generally carry more of the discovery burden.
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Plan the launch before choosing the store
Use this sequence to make the decision concrete:
- Describe the audience. Note the genre, language, age rating, hardware needs and where likely players already discover games. A Steam-oriented PC audience, a game-jam community or a mailing list reached through a direct link may lead to different priorities.
- Choose the offer. Decide whether the first release is premium, free, pay-what-you-want, a demo, early access, a bundle item or a product with rewards. itch.io supports all of those formats in its overview; Steam’s process is more standardized.
- Set a realistic price and budget. On Steam, reserve $100 per app and cash for onboarding. On itch.io, model the selected platform share, processor charges, refunds and any payout delay. Do not confuse a low platform share with zero transaction cost.
- Select payment administration. If you need itch.io to be merchant of record and handle VAT, investigate itch.io Payouts and its balance and waiting-period rules. If you choose Direct to you, verify provider support and prepare for VAT and chargeback responsibilities.
- Build the page for the traffic you can create. Prepare a clear description, screenshots or other media, system information, support contact and refund information. On Steam, plan for standardized assets and the store review process. On itch.io, use the design freedom to explain the game without hiding essential purchase details.
- Define launch measurements. Track impressions and visits in Steamworks. On itch.io, use discovery, download, play and referral-link analytics. Decide in advance what a successful first week means in terms of qualified visits, purchases, downloads, wish-list or community activity; do not substitute another developer’s anecdote for your own baseline.
- Prepare support and updates. Make sure the account that receives payments can answer refund, key, installation and bug questions. A second storefront means a second page, support path and update checklist.
When Steam is the better first release
Steam is a sensible first choice when your audience expects to buy and update games there, your launch plan can benefit from the New Releases Queue and conditional recommendation systems, and your team can complete Steamworks onboarding. It is also attractive when you want standardized store infrastructure and traffic analytics rather than designing every part of the purchase experience.
Budget for the $100 fee before the app is live, and treat recoupment as a possibility only after $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue from qualifying Steam Store or in-app sales. Build a page and launch campaign that can generate genuine purchases and play, because Valve’s documented visibility signals are customer response and potential audience, not a paid placement package.
Steam may be less comfortable for a project whose main value is an unusual payment model, a zero-price minimum, a heavily customized page or a community that already expects direct downloads. You can still use it later if the product evolves, but do not pay the fee and accept the workflow without a reason tied to your audience.
When itch.io is the better first release
itch.io is a strong fit when you need pricing and presentation control, want to test a concept with pay-what-you-want, plan a bundle or crowdfunding goal, or already have an audience you can send to a custom page. Its open revenue share lets you choose the platform contribution instead of accepting a fixed setting, and its analytics can show which links and communities produce downloads or plays.
That flexibility is most valuable when you are willing to make operational choices. Select Direct to you only after confirming payment-provider support and your VAT obligations. Select itch.io Payouts when the merchant-of-record arrangement and delayed payout schedule suit your business, remembering the documented $5 balance minimum and seven-day transaction waiting period. Keep the platform’s approximate processor-fee example out of your final budget until you have current rates for your account.
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Should you launch on both?
A dual release can serve different audiences: Steam for players who want that storefront and its update ecosystem, itch.io for supporters who prefer creator-controlled pages, flexible pricing or direct links. It can also let you test messaging and traffic sources in two analytics environments. The sources do not establish that using both produces more total sales, so treat it as a workflow decision rather than a guaranteed growth tactic.
Before committing, list the extra work: two product pages, two sets of screenshots and descriptions, separate release notes, support questions from two purchase paths, build uploads, refund handling and accounting reconciliation. Decide whether keys, patches, saves and multiplayer services behave consistently across builds. State clearly what each purchase includes so customers do not mistake a platform-specific license for access on another platform.
If your team is small, launch on the storefront that matches the audience you can reach and support now, then add the second channel after the first release process is stable. If you do launch simultaneously, keep the price and content explanation understandable and measure each channel separately instead of merging numbers into a single sales claim.
Common mistakes and hidden trade-offs
- Assuming Steam placement is guaranteed. New Releases Queue entry and possible recommendation surfaces are conditional; filters, preferences and customer response affect visibility.
- Calling itch.io’s 0% share free. Processor charges remain, and taxes, refunds and payout administration still exist.
- Treating the $100 Steam fee as refundable. Valve describes it as nonrefundable, with recoupment only after the stated adjusted-gross threshold and conditions.
- Using the 76% figure as a personal forecast. Valve reported that 76% was paid out across all non-Valve games on Steam in 2025, excluding developer earnings from Steam keys sold elsewhere. It is a platform-wide aggregate, not a stated commission, median indie payout or sales comparison with itch.io.
- Confusing gross revenue with cash in your bank. Platform shares, processor charges, refunds, VAT, currency conversion and payout timing can all change the amount you receive.
- Choosing a payment mode without checking merchant-of-record duties. Direct to you places VAT collection and remittance responsibility with you; itch.io Payouts places that role with itch.io under its terms.
- Relying on a generic sales anecdote. The official platform documents do not provide comparable median sales, player reach or conversion rates for typical indie games.
- Adding a storefront without a support plan. Every additional page creates another place where customers may need installation help, refunds, updates or accessibility information.
A practical decision checklist
Choose Steam first if most answers below are yes:
- Your intended players already shop on Steam.
- You can fund the $100-per-app fee and complete Steamworks onboarding.
- You want a standardized store with a New Releases Queue and conditional recommendation opportunities.
- You can create a launch that generates purchases and play, the signals Valve says influence visibility.
- You prefer Steam’s payment and storefront framework to running a highly customized sales page.
Choose itch.io first if most answers below are yes:
- You need pay-what-you-want, a zero minimum, bundles, rewards, pre-orders, early access or crowdfunding goals.
- You want to design the page and set your own platform revenue share from 0% to 100%.
- You have an audience, mailing list or community that can follow a direct referral link.
- You are prepared to select Direct to you or itch.io Payouts after reviewing VAT, merchant-of-record, chargeback and payout requirements.
- You want analytics for discovery, downloads, play and referral links and are comfortable driving much of the traffic yourself.
If the answers split evenly, release where the first-month workflow is easier to execute and support. Revisit the other storefront after you have real page visits, conversion and support data from your own game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Steam or itch.io better for selling an indie game?
Neither is universally better. Steam offers a structured storefront, Steamworks onboarding, a New Releases Queue and conditional recommendation surfaces. itch.io offers creator control over page design, pricing, pay-what-you-want formats and platform revenue share. Choose based on your audience, launch plan, budget and payment responsibilities.
Why release on itch.io instead of Steam?
itch.io lets you set the platform share from 0% to 100%, design the sales page, set a price that can have a zero minimum, run sales and use formats such as bundles, rewards, pre-orders, early access and crowdfunding goals. It can suit experimental projects or an audience you can reach directly.
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How much does Steam Direct cost?
Steam documents a $100 USD fee, or equivalent currency amount, for each new app. Valve says it is nonrefundable but can be recouped in a later payment after at least $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue from Steam Store or in-app purchases under the stated conditions.
Does itch.io really take 0%?
You can set itch.io’s platform share to 0%, but payment-processor charges remain separate. The documentation describes processor costs commonly around $0.30 plus 2.9% per transaction, with actual rates varying by provider and circumstances.
Who handles VAT on itch.io sales?
With Direct to you, you are the merchant of record and responsible for VAT collection and remittance. With itch.io Payouts, itch.io is the merchant of record and handles VAT collection and remittance under its terms. Verify current rules for your country and account.
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The documented payout conditions include a $5 minimum balance and a seven-day waiting period for transactions. Eligibility and timing can change, so check the current payment documentation before launch.
Can I pay Steam to guarantee more visibility?
No. Steam’s visibility FAQ says you cannot pay to show up to more customers. Valve says it determines placements based on customer interests, preferences and feedback. New Releases Queue and other surfaces are conditional, not guaranteed.
What does Steam’s 76% statistic mean?
Valve reported that 76% was paid out across all non-Valve games on Steam in 2025, excluding earnings from Steam keys sold outside Steam. It is a platform-wide aggregate, not a typical indie payout, a universal commission rate or proof that Steam outsells itch.io.
Can I sell on Steam and itch.io at the same time?
Yes, some developers use both, but the sources do not establish that dual distribution increases sales. Plan for separate pages, builds, updates, support flows, payment records and customer explanations, then measure each channel independently.
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The official documents considered here do not provide a reliable, like-for-like median sales, reach or conversion statistic for typical indie games on either platform. Avoid choosing on an unsupported average; use your audience, genre, price and launch evidence.
The Bottom Line
Pick Steam for structured storefront reach and Steamworks workflow; pick itch.io for control and flexibility. Steam requires $100 per app, formal onboarding and a visibility system whose extra placements depend on customer response. itch.io lets you set the platform share, design the page and use flexible offers, but you must choose a payment mode and understand processor, VAT, chargeback and payout obligations. A dual release is reasonable when you can support both channels. In every case, validate current terms, model your actual costs and judge performance from your own traffic and customers rather than an assumed platform-wide sales winner.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
