Marketplace App Development: 7 Steps to Increase ROI | 2025

Over the years, I've guided dozens of teams through every step of marketplace app development, like planning, publishing, and monetization. Here’s my approach to creating a successful app for your marketplace.

Disclaimer: These features, costs, and compliance requirements may change over time. While we strive to keep this guide accurate and current, verify platform specifications, pricing, and regulatory obligations directly with vendors. Always consult your technical and legal teams before selecting or implementing marketplace solutions.

What Is Marketplace App Development?

Marketplace app development is the process of creating digital platforms that connect multiple buyers and sellers in one place. Examples of marketplace apps include Etsy and Upwork, where brands and service providers reach large audiences.

For example, creating a marketplace app like Etsy or Upwork requires features that support multiple product listings of different brands, secure payments, and messaging. These features handle the needs of both sellers and customers. As a result, you can build with the right tools, avoid wasted costs, and launch a marketplace app that attracts steady users.

Types of Marketplace Apps

Marketplace apps have changed the way we buy, sell, and interact with goods and services. These platforms provide buyers with products they demand and sellers with an income.

‍Let's explore the different types of marketplace apps:

Product Marketplaces (Retail Goods, Second-Hand)

Product marketplaces connect buyers with a wide variety of goods, including new retail items and second-hand products. To help buyers find the goods they’re looking for, these marketplaces typically feature advanced search filters, detailed product descriptions, pricing, and user reviews. 

These marketplaces utilize virtual carts and payment integrations to simplify transactions, while rating systems foster trust between buyers and sellers. 

Popular examples include Amazon and eBay for retail, along with resale platforms like Poshmark or Depop, supporting shopping for both new and used clothing or accessories.

Service Marketplaces (Freelancing, Gig/On-Demand)

Service marketplaces connect customers with professionals offering services like house cleaning and dog walking to freelance design and writing. These platforms showcase provider profiles, pricing, and availability, allowing customers to easily compare options. 

Built-in messaging and scheduling tools support smooth communication and coordination, while secure payments protect both sides of the transaction. Some platforms also include rating and review systems to ensure accountability and quality. 

TaskRabbit, Fiverr, and Upwork are well-known examples, but on-demand gig apps like Uber and DoorDash also fall into this category.

B2B/SaaS Marketplaces

B2B and SaaS app marketplaces serve companies rather than individual consumers, helping businesses discover, compare, and purchase software or services. These platforms often feature in-depth product pages, integration details, transparent pricing, and verified reviews, allowing decision-makers to evaluate options with confidence. 

Examples are Blaze.tech for no-code app building and AWS Marketplace for cloud solutions. 

Niche or Vertical-Specific Marketplaces

Niche marketplaces cater to specific industries or audiences, offering highly specialized products, services, or experiences. These platforms deliver tailored features such as industry-specific search filters, unique booking tools, or specialized payment systems.

Examples include Airbnb for accommodations, Rent the Runway for fashion rentals, and Turo for cars. 

Core Features of a Marketplace App

Any marketplace app relies on core features that support smooth interactions between buyers and sellers. These features build trust, enable transactions, and create a reliable environment that keeps users engaged and returning:

• User profiles and authentication: Profiles let users manage preferences, track order histories, and customize experiences. Strong authentication measures such as multi-factor authentication improve account security and protect sensitive information.

• Listings and search functionality: Users should be able to discover the goods they want through filtering options based on categories, price ranges, and ratings. Listings should also support rich media, allowing sellers to upload high-quality images and detailed descriptions, which can significantly impact purchase decisions.

• Security: Marketplace apps must use data encryption and tokenization to protect financial data. Features like saved payment options and one-click purchases add convenience for repeat customers.

• Ratings and reviews: Buyers provide feedback on purchases through ratings and reviews. This helps other customers make informed choices while giving sellers insights into product performance.

• Communication tools: Features like messaging and live chat improve buyer-seller relationships, support negotiation, and clarify shipping details. Keeping records on-platform also helps resolve disputes.

• Admin and analytics dashboard: This feature should include tools for managing listings, tracking user activity, and monitoring sales metrics.

For businesses that create a marketplace, including these features is essential. Most leading marketplaces include these features, so customers expect any new marketplace to do the same.

How to Build a Marketplace App in 7 Steps

Building a marketplace app is achievable for nearly any organization if you have a clear plan and the right tools in place. Whether you use a no-code tool or traditional development, here’s a general guide for building a marketplace app:

1. Define Your App’s Core Purpose and Features

By clearly defining your app’s purpose and prioritizing essential features, you can simplify development and align the design with user needs. Get a pen and paper and jot down the products your marketplace will offer and the features you want to include.

Pro tip: Rather than trying to appeal to everyone, focus on a specific niche. Your niche can be a product category like vintage shirts, a target demographic like 20-something MMA hobbyists, or a unique service like doggy day care. A niche approach helps differentiate your app and attract a dedicated user base.

2. Set Up User Profiles and Authentication

User profiles and a secure authentication system help create a safe, personalized, and seamless user experience in marketplace apps. They safeguard users’ data and provide them with confidence in the app’s security. Consider adding these online marketplace app features:

• Secure authentication: Implement a strong authentication system that combines email and password verification with two-factor authentication (2FA) for added security. Consider using social media logins for a quicker and more convenient sign-up process.

• Personalized user profiles: This allows users to create detailed profiles that showcase their identity and interests. Include fields for profile pictures, bio descriptions, and contact information. Encourage users to complete their profiles to build trust with other users.

• Secure data storage: By storing user data securely with encryption techniques, you put all users at ease. Adhere to data privacy regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA to protect user information. You can also voluntarily comply with SOC 2 for further data protection, though it’s not required.

3. Design Listings and Search Functionality

A poorly designed listing and search experience can lead to frustrated users and lost sales. Build an interface that lets sellers create visually appealing and informative listings with ease.

Allow them to add high-quality images, detailed descriptions, and relevant tags to showcase their products or services.

Powerful search functionality lets users filter results by keywords, categories, or price, making discovery faster. Consider adding AI search features, such as personalized or semantic search, to improve accuracy and relevance where appropriate.

Categorization and tagging improve discoverability by organizing listings into clear groups. Because many users shop on their phones, optimizing your app for mobile is essential.

4. Integrate Payment Gateways and Enable Secure Transactions

When integrating payments into your marketplace app, only select trusted providers such as Stripe, PayPal, or Adyen for flexibility and international reach. Maintain PCI DSS compliance to protect cardholder data and meet security standards for payment processing. 

Create faster checkouts with encrypted transfers, saved payment options, and one-click purchasing to reduce cart abandonment. Add fraud prevention tools such as IP tracking and address verification. 

Include a clear payment progress indicator during checkout to improve the buyer experience and reduce drop-offs.

5. Add Ratings, Reviews, and Communication Tools

Ratings, reviews, and communication tools build trust in a marketplace app. These features give users clear channels for feedback and communication. 

Ratings and reviews increase credibility, while messaging and chat features support smoother transactions and encourage repeat interactions. A flagging system for inappropriate content helps maintain safety, fostering a safe environment where users feel confident engaging with others.

6. Configure Admin, Compliance, and Analytics Dashboard

A marketplace app needs strong admin and analytics tools to manage activity and performance. Analytics provide insights into engagement and user behavior, helping teams identify trends and areas for improvement. 

When building these features, define admin roles like moderators, analysts, or support staff with clear privileges to maintain security. These features support platform security and aid in compliance efforts. However, full compliance necessitates the implementation of encryption, robust privacy policies, and adequate regulatory safeguards.

Then, specify the KPIs (key performance indicators) that provide a snapshot of your marketplace app’s functionality. 

KPIs such as active users, session length, and conversion rates can reveal drop-off points or high-performing sections, indicating how well your app works. They enable you to fix issues as they arise and allow you to make changes quickly.

7. Test, Launch, and Scale

Your marketplace app must function reliably under real-world conditions to succeed. To help execute, implement usability and performance tests to uncover potential issues. The idea is not to launch your app all at once: Start with one or two essential features, such as listings and payments, then test with early users. Gather user feedback and improve your app.

Repeat this strategy to continually refine and improve your app over time. 

After launch, gather feedback from early users and monitor analytics to identify challenges and prioritize feature improvements. Scaling requires flexibility, so continually optimize infrastructure, expand features, and adjust capacity based on user demand.

Marketplace App Tech Stack

Your marketplace app’s tech stack directly affects performance, compliance, and user trust. The tech stack is the collection of frameworks, programming languages, APIs, and security protocols that power your app. Here’s a list of a typical tech stack’s components:

• Frontend frameworks: Cross-platform frameworks like React Native and Flutter enable developers to build marketplace apps that run on both iOS and Android with a single codebase.

• Reliable backend language support: Technologies such as Node.js (JavaScript runtime), Java, and Python power the logic that runs marketplace apps. These technologies handle authentication, listings management, payments, and messaging.

• Databases and APIs integration: Databases securely store product and user data, while APIs enable safe data transfer and system integration. Strong database design, combined with reliable API connections, keeps your app running smoothly.

• Third-party integrations: Third-party integrations, such as payment gateways, shipping APIs, and identity verification tools, expand app functionality while keeping transactions secure. These tools save development time and extend your app’s functionality.

• Secure and scalable infrastructure: Your app’s infrastructure must be secure and scalable for marketplace development projects. Cloud platforms with encryption, compliance frameworks, and load balancing ensure that marketplace apps remain secure, scalable, and performant for end-users.

If you choose a no-code platform, you won’t need to worry about finding a development agency or hiring a programming team. With a no-code platform, much of the backend frameworks and core integrations are handled for you. However, advanced functionality may still require custom APIs or external services.

How Much Does Marketplace App Development Cost?

Marketplace app development costs range from under $100 per month for no-code tools to over $300,000 for complex custom apps. Your app’s complexity, features, and development approach determine the final price. 

Here’s a breakdown of the expected costs and factors that affect them:

Traditional Marketplace App Development

Traditional marketplace app development uses engineers, designers, and QA specialists. This approach offers full customization and scalability but increases costs. For an MVP (minimum viable product), pricing starts at $50,000–$80,000 and often exceeds $500,000 for enterprise marketplaces with advanced integrations.

Features like payment processing, ratings, chat, and logistics add complexity and cost. Security measures such as encryption and fraud detection also increase expenses. A small MVP build may take 4–6 months, while large enterprise marketplaces can take 12 months or more.

After launch, additional budgets are required for hosting, bug fixes, updates, and scaling infrastructure. Traditional builds often require dedicated teams to manage integrations and server performance. However, cloud providers like AWS or Azure provide services to reduce some infrastructure burdens.

No-Code Marketplace App Development

No-code marketplace app development reduces costs through prebuilt templates, integrations, and built-in security. Teams can launch a basic MVP for $100 to $500 per month on entry-level platforms. Costs rise as teams add complexity or scale operations. 

Expect to pay several thousand dollars monthly for enterprise plans as usage, storage, and advanced features grow.

Development time with no-code can be much shorter than traditional coding. A simple MVP can often be built in under a month, while a more feature-rich marketplace app may take several months depending on the platform, complexity, and available support. 

No-code also reduces reliance on developers, allowing many teams or non-technical founders to build directly. However, you still may need technical expertise for advanced integrations or compliance.

Long-term costs are primarily tied to subscription fees, storage, and scaling needs. Maintenance requires fewer resources compared to traditional development, but you should still budget for updates, analytics, and new features to meet user demand.

Monetization Models for Marketplace Apps to Consider

Monetization models for marketplace app development determine how the platform generates sustainable revenue while keeping users engaged. Without a sustainable monetization model, even marketplaces with high user adoption can struggle to remain profitable. For example, many gig economy startups faced this challenge despite rapid growth.

You can monetize your marketplace app by picking one or more of the following models:

• Commission model: The commission model charges a percentage on every completed transaction. It’s one of the most widely used monetization strategies, employed by platforms like Airbnb and eBay, where the platform takes a percentage of each transaction. This model scales with volume, earning revenue in proportion to activity.

• Subscription model: With subscriptions, sellers or buyers pay recurring fees for access to premium features, advanced tools, or better visibility. This approach provides owners with predictable recurring income. Examples include Etsy Plus and LinkedIn Premium, which offer additional benefits to subscribers.

• Listing fees: This method applies to sellers, requiring them to pay a small charge to post their products or services. It works best in marketplaces with strong buyer traffic, discouraging casual or spam listings and encouraging more committed sellers. For instance, Etsy charges a $0.20 listing fee on each item.

• Featured placement/ads: Marketplaces can generate revenue by allowing sellers to pay for promoted listings or top visibility within the app’s search results. These paid tools increase exposure for vendors while providing the platform with an additional revenue stream. Non-paying sellers still retain organic visibility. An example is Etsy Ads.

Always experiment with different monetization strategies to determine which model aligns with your platform’s user behavior and demand. By testing combinations, you can identify optimal revenue streams while maintaining a positive experience for buyers and sellers.

What Are the Biggest Challenges in Marketplace App Development? 

Marketplace app development presents unique challenges, as these platforms must balance the needs of buyers, sellers, platform owners, and, in many cases, regulators or service providers. Addressing these hurdles early can create long-term success and sustainable growth. 

Expect the following challenges when building and launching your marketplace app:

• Building supply and demand simultaneously: A successful marketplace must attract both buyers and sellers at the same time. Sellers leave when demand is lacking, and buyers exit without enough supply. Many platforms address this by subsidizing or incentivizing one side, such as through free shipping, to overcome this problem.

• Security and fraud prevention: Protecting user data and payments is central to marketplace development. Strong encryption, multi-factor authentication, and fraud detection tools reduce risks and build user trust, though no system can fully eliminate scams. You’ll need to maintain constant vigilance. 

• Legal and regulatory compliance: Online marketplace development requires understanding privacy laws, tax obligations, and consumer protection rules. Noncompliance can result in fines, legal disputes, or reputational harm.

• Platform scalability and performance: As traffic grows, performance must keep pace with user expectations. Marketplace apps need infrastructure that can handle spikes in activity, maintain fast load times, and support integrations. Scaling shouldn’t degrade the buyer or seller experience.

These challenges don’t disappear after launch. You and your team must continuously monitor and update your app. Always gather user feedback to address evolving problems.

What to Watch for in Marketplace App Development

In a few years, marketplace apps will feature different functionalities than they do today. Here’s a list of some new components that you’ll need to consider for future marketplace app updates:

• AI-driven personalization: This technology tailors marketplace experiences by recommending products, services, or sellers based on user behavior. These features can help increase conversions and build stronger engagement by making every interaction feel more relevant and intuitive.

• Embedded payments: Marketplaces simplify checkout by keeping transactions inside the app. Embedded payments make this possible, enabling faster, more secure payments that reduce cart abandonment and boost overall trust and usability for both buyers and sellers.

• Blockchain-based marketplaces: These marketplaces bring transparency and security through decentralized transaction records. Smart contracts can automate payments and dispute resolution, helping users trust the process while lowering reliance on intermediaries in marketplace app development.

• Progressive web apps (PWAs): By combining mobile and web accessibility, progressive web apps give users fast, lightweight marketplace experiences. Instead of trudging through app store searches, buyers and sellers can download these directly from a link on your marketplace app website or social page.

Overall, marketplace apps of the future will deliver smarter, faster, and more secure user experiences. Platforms that fail to adopt these innovations will likely lose users to competitors that implement them.

Launch Your Marketplace App with Blaze

Building a marketplace doesn’t need months of coding or a large dev team. With Blaze, you can create and scale your online marketplace app faster, with compliance, payments, and user management built in.

Here’s why you should choose Blaze for marketplace app development:

• No-code simplicity: Blaze’s intuitive drag-and-drop builder removes technical barriers, letting non-developers design and launch feature-rich marketplace apps. This reduces reliance on costly development teams and accelerates time-to-market.

• Customizable workflows: Every marketplace is different, and Blaze allows you to tailor workflows for payments, user approvals, or dispute resolution. You can design processes that fit your exact business model without writing code.

• Enterprise compliance: Blaze comes with HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance features built in. That means your marketplace can safely handle payments, sensitive data, and global transactions while meeting strict regulatory standards from day one.

• Dedicated support: Unlike many platforms, Blaze pairs you with an implementation team that provides hands-on guidance through setup, launch, and scaling. They’ll answer questions, troubleshoot issues, and teach you the platform.

See how Blaze can help you build a marketplace platform in a fraction of the time. Schedule a Free Demo Today.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Build a Marketplace App?

You can use a no-code platform or hire developers to build a marketplace app. No-code platforms like Blaze offer prebuilt templates and integrations, allowing faster development in weeks or months with lower costs. Traditional development provides complete customization but requires technical teams, longer timelines, and higher budgets. 

How Long Does Marketplace App Development Take?

Marketplace app development can take under a month or over a year. Development time depends on complexity, features, and the chosen method. Simple no-code MVPs can be launched in 2 to 6 weeks, while feature-rich apps may require several months. Traditional development typically requires 4 to 18+ months for basic to enterprise-level marketplaces.

How Do Marketplace Apps Make Money?

Marketplace apps make money by implementing various monetization models, including commission fees on transactions (the most popular model), subscription plans for premium features, listing fees for sellers, and featured placement advertising.