Flippa has become one of the most popular marketplaces for buying and selling online businesses, domains, apps, and websites. However, many users find the platform’s fees—listing fees, success fees, upgrades, and add-ons—too high, especially when selling lower-value or starter projects.

If you want to buy or sell digital assets without high platform costs, there are several viable alternatives. Many of these platforms offer free listings, lower commissions, or pricing structures that make more sense for smaller or bootstrapped deals. This guide outlines the best Flippa alternatives and explains which type of seller each one is best suited for.

1. Investors Club

Best for: Buyers and sellers of small to mid-sized content sites

Investors Club is one of the most cost-effective alternatives to Flippa. It allows free listings and does not require mandatory success fees, making it ideal for sellers on a budget. Buyers can access fully verified listings, and optional membership plans offer earlier deal access.

Pros:

• Free listings

• No required success fees

• Verified traffic and earnings

• Good for smaller content sites

Cons:

• Smaller audience than Flippa

• Deals can be slower to close due to lower buyer volume

2. Motion Invest

Best for: Beginners buying or selling small content websites

Motion Invest focuses on lower-value content sites and starter blogs. The platform verifies revenue and traffic to maintain quality. Fees are often less expensive than Flippa’s structure, making it more attractive for starter-site sellers.

Pros:

• Verified listings

• Suitable for beginners

• Focus on lower-priced sites

Cons:

• Success fees still apply

• Limited variety outside of content websites

3. Acquire.com (formerly MicroAcquire)

Best for: SaaS, software products, and digital startups

Acquire.com is designed specifically for SaaS and startup acquisitions. It features no listing fees and offers a simple success-fee model, which can be significantly cheaper than Flippa depending on the deal size.

Pros:

• No listing fees

• Transparent success fee

• Strong buyer community

• Good for SaaS and tech assets

Cons:

• Buyers may need a paid plan to message sellers

• Not suitable for small content sites or domains

4. SideProjectors and Similar Project Marketplaces

Best for: Starter apps, micro-SaaS, digital tools, and small side projects

SideProjectors operates more like a bulletin board for digital projects. It attracts builders who want to sell smaller ideas or early-stage projects inexpensively. Listing fees are low or nonexistent, and many sales happen through direct negotiation.

Pros:

• Very low or no listing fees

• Ideal for low-priced projects

• Simple marketplace structure

Cons:

• Small buyer pool

• Limited transaction and escrow support

• Lower visibility compared to major platforms

5. Shopify Exchange

Best for: Shopify stores and e-commerce brands

Shopify Exchange is Shopify’s built-in marketplace for buying and selling stores. Fees can be more predictable and often lower than Flippa’s, especially for smaller stores.

Pros:

• Native Shopify integration

• Transparent pricing

• Suitable for e-commerce sellers

Cons:

• Only supports Shopify stores

• Limited to the Shopify ecosystem

+ Bonus Alternatives +

Tiny Acquisitions

A marketplace focused on small projects and websites under $10,000. Very affordable, with a fast-moving inventory of small digital assets.

Niche Investor

Specializes in content sites and niche blogs. Fees depend on listing type, but the platform is often more affordable for sellers than Flippa.

Reddit and Facebook Groups

Although not structured marketplaces, many digital entrepreneurs buy and sell websites and domains in niche communities, often with no platform fees at all. These channels require more due diligence and manual negotiation but can eliminate costs entirely.

How to Choose the Right Flippa Alternative

Choosing a marketplace depends on three main factors:

1. Cost Structure

Evaluate whether the platform charges listing fees, success fees, or requires paid membership for communication.

2. Buyer Traffic

Smaller platforms may have fewer buyers, which can lengthen the time it takes to sell.

3. Type of Asset

Different platforms specialize in different digital assets. For example:

• SaaS: Acquire.com

• Content sites: Motion Invest, Niche Investor

• Starter projects: SideProjectors

• E-commerce: Shopify Exchange

Selecting the right marketplace can significantly lower your costs and increase your chances of finding the right buyer or seller.

Flippa remains a major player in the online business marketplace space, but it is no longer the only option. If fees are a concern or you want a platform better suited to your asset type, alternatives like Investors Club, Motion Invest, Acquire.com, and SideProjectors offer cost-effective and focused solutions.

Exploring these alternatives allows you to reduce fees, streamline transactions, and connect with buyers or sellers who are better aligned with the value and type of online business you are working with.

Here’s a clean comparison table of all the Flippa alternatives mentioned in the article, designed for easy inclusion in your blog or content management system. You can adjust columns to suit your design.

Where Proxies Fit Into Buying and Selling Online Businesses

Choosing the right marketplace is only half the game. Once you have a shortlist of deals on Flippa or any of its alternatives, the real work starts: due diligence.

This is where proxies become surprisingly useful. Serious buyers and sellers use residential and mobile proxies to get a more accurate picture of how a site or app really performs in different locations and conditions.

Here are a few practical examples.

1. Verifying Traffic and User Experience from Different Countries

If a seller claims that most of their traffic or revenue comes from a specific country, you can use proxies to:

• Visit the site from that country and see exactly what real users see

• Check whether pages load fast or break on certain ISPs or regions

• Verify if there are geo-redirects, pop-ups, or ads that only appear in some locations

Instead of relying only on screenshots or analytics exports, you can reproduce real-world behaviour from multiple regions.

2. Checking SEO Visibility and Rankings

For content sites and niche blogs, organic traffic is often the main asset. But search results can look very different depending on country, city, or even device.

By using proxies, you can:

• Check how the site ranks for key terms in its main markets

• Compare branded and non-branded search visibility from multiple locations

• Monitor whether rankings are consistent or heavily localized

This makes it easier to confirm that the traffic claims on the listing align with what you see in live search results.

3. Competitor and Marketplace Research at Scale

If you are actively flipping sites, you will probably:

• Watch multiple marketplaces at once (Flippa, Investors Club, Motion Invest, etc.)

• Track price ranges, typical multiples, and how fast certain types of sites sell

• Monitor competitors’ listings and niches that move quickly

Proxies allow you to automate and scale this kind of research without constantly running into rate limits, blocks, or skewed results based on a single IP and location.

4. Testing Funnels, Offers, and Landing Pages

For SaaS products, ecommerce stores, and lead-gen sites, proxies help you:

• Test signup or checkout funnels from different countries

• See whether payment options, shipping methods, or copy change by region

• Validate that localized offers or discounts are working as advertised

That gives buyers a clearer view of how robust and scalable the business really is.

Flippa and its lower-cost alternatives help you discover deals. Proxies help you understand which of those deals are actually worth your time and money.

If you are serious about flipping websites or buying online businesses, combining:

• The right marketplace (to reduce fees and find good opportunities), with

• A reliable proxy network (to verify traffic, rankings, and user experience)

gives you a much stronger due diligence process and reduces your risk.