Cloud & infra marketplaces
Microsoft Azure Marketplace vs Microsoft AppSource
Microsoft Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource both compete in cloud & infra marketplaces. Here is how they compare on the factors that decide where a developer should build — authentication, complexity, review, monetization, and merchant of record.
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Microsoft Corporation | Microsoft Corporation |
| Ecosystem | Cloud & infra marketplaces | Cloud & infra marketplaces |
| Category | Cloud | Cloud |
| Primary auth | OAuth 2.0 | OAuth 2.0 |
| Also supports | JWT, API key, Webhook | API key |
| Complexity | Enterprise (L4) | Enterprise (L4) |
| Security review | Required | Required |
| Integration types | Embedded app, Connector, Workflow action | Embedded app, Connector, Workflow action |
| Monetization | Free, Paid app, Usage-based, Revenue share | Usage-based, Paid app, Listing fee |
| Onboarding fee | No cost to publish | Partner Center registration fee |
| Commission | 3% marketplace transaction fee on transactable offers (reduced from the former 20%) | 20% marketplace service fee on transactable offers |
| Merchant of Record | Microsoft is MoR for transactable offers | Microsoft acts as MoR for transactable offers |
| AI agents / bots | Supported | Supported |
| Example apps | Datadog, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Palo Alto VM-Series | Adobe Sign for Dynamics 365, DocuSign for Power Automate, Nintex |
| API rate limits | SaaS Fulfillment and Metering APIs have documented limits; deployed products' runtime is governed by underlying Azure service quotas. | Microsoft Graph and Dataverse throttling limits apply per tenant. |
| Links |
Which should you choose?
- Lower complexity: both at level 4/4.
- Security review: both require a formal review.
- AI agents: both explicitly support AI agents.