Selling Your App: What Your Actual Options Look Like

Nobody is doing an IPO at $14K MRR. Nobody is selling their indie SaaS to a strategic buyer for synergies. Forget every framework you read about MBOs and ESOPs. Those are for $80M companies with HR departments.

You built an app. You want to stop running it. Here's what actually happens next.

The TL;DR

Six paths, ranked by how much you walk away with vs. how much weekend it costs you:

1. ·Marketplace listing (Birexit, Acquire.com): 4-12 weeks · 1.5x-3.5x profit · medium effort
2. ·Direct buyer outreach: 2-8 weeks · 2x-4x profit · high effort, highest payout
3. ·Asset-only sale (code + domain): 1-3 weeks · $500-$5K · lowest effort, lowest payout
4. ·Full handover with 30-day consulting: 6-12 weeks · 2x-3x + small retainer · medium effort
5. ·Co-founder / team takeover: 2-4 weeks · 1x-2x · low effort, low payout but clean exit
6. ·Walk away (just shut it down): 1 weekend · $0 · zero effort, zero payout

If you only remember one thing: most indie founders overestimate what they'll get from path 1 and underestimate how good path 4 is.

Path 1: List on a Marketplace

The default move. You write a listing, attach Stripe screenshots, set an asking price, and wait.

What it looks like: Birexit, Acquire.com, Flippa, MicroAcquire. You pay 0% to 10% commission depending on the platform.

What you'll actually get: 1.5x to 3.5x TTM profit. An app doing $800/mo profit lists at $20K, closes at $16K to $19K, in 6-10 weeks.

Pros: Buyers come to you. Standardized escrow. Some platforms verify revenue for you. Cons: Lots of tire-kickers. Listings that don't move in 90 days start to feel stale and get further discounted.

Do this if: You have clean numbers, no time to hustle, and you're OK waiting 2-3 months.

Path 2: Direct Buyer Outreach

You DM operators on X, in indie communities, in subreddit threads, in Slack groups where micro-SaaS buyers hang out. You pitch the deal directly.

What it looks like: Find 15-30 people who've publicly bought small SaaS in the last year. Send each one a one-paragraph pitch with three numbers (MRR, profit, asking).

What you'll actually get: 2x to 4x TTM profit. Sometimes higher if you find someone who already wants your category and was about to build it themselves.

Pros: Highest payouts. Faster than marketplaces if you hit the right buyer. Cons: Real work. Most won't reply. You're doing sales, and you're selling yourself.

Do this if: Your app is in a clear, hot category (AI tooling, vertical SaaS, dev tools) and you can name 10 plausible buyers in 60 seconds.

Path 3: Asset-Only Sale

You sell the domain, the code, maybe the email list. Not the business. No customers, no Stripe transfer.

What it looks like: Domain on Dan.com, code on GitHub Marketplace or via a quick gumroad listing, email list to whoever wants it. Could be three separate buyers.

What you'll actually get: Almost nothing relative to the app's revenue potential. $500 to $5K for the lot, usually. The domain is often the most valuable piece.

Pros: Fast. Done in a week. Zero transition complexity. Cons: You're leaving 80% of the value on the table.

Do this if: Your app is dead, your churn ate the MRR, or you literally cannot face the handover work. Sometimes "salvage" is the right move.

Path 4: Full Handover With 30-Day Consulting

This is the one most underrated by sellers. You sell the app and commit to 30 (or 60) days of paid consulting, helping the new owner take it over properly.

What it looks like: Asking price = standard multiple + a $1.5K-$5K consulting retainer. You answer questions in Slack, do a code walkthrough, hand off Stripe and DNS yourself.

What you'll actually get: Same 2x to 3x multiple as a marketplace, plus the retainer, plus a happier buyer (which means they actually pay and don't try to claw back via escrow disputes).

Pros: Buyers love it. Higher close rate. Justifies a slightly higher multiple. Cons: You're not fully done for 30-60 days post-close. Need to actually be available.

Do this if: Your app has any operational nuance (manual onboarding, scraping that needs maintenance, anything where docs alone aren't enough).

Path 5: Co-Founder Or Team Takeover

If you built it with someone, or have a contractor who already maintains it, sell it to them. Internal handover, no escrow, no marketplace fees.

What it looks like: A simple asset-purchase agreement, payment plan if needed, no due-diligence theater.

What you'll actually get: 1x to 2x TTM profit, often on a 12-24 month payment plan rather than upfront. Lower payout because internal buyers know the warts.

Pros: Fast. Clean. No transition risk. Customers don't notice. Cons: Lower price. Awkward if the relationship turns sour mid-payment-plan. Always paper this properly.

Do this if: You have an obvious internal candidate and you'd rather close in 3 weeks at $12K than spend 4 months chasing $18K.

Path 6: Just Shut It Down

Refund the last month, email your users, cancel the domain renewal, archive the repo. Done.

What it looks like: A weekend of cleanup. A polite "I'm shutting this down on June 30, here's your refund and a list of alternatives" email.

What you'll actually get: $0 in proceeds. But also $0 in stress, no buyer due diligence, no awkward Slack handover. Your reputation stays clean if you handle the customer side well.

Pros: Fastest possible exit. Sometimes the right answer for tiny apps where the sale price would barely beat your time cost. Cons: You're literally setting money on fire if the app has any real cash flow.

Do this if: App makes less than $200/mo profit, you hate it, and the marketplace listing would be too embarrassing.

Real Talk: What I'd Actually Do

If you're at $400-$1,500 MRR with clean books: list on Birexit, set asking at 2.5x TTM, and budget 8-10 weeks. While it's listed, DM five operators in your category as a parallel track. Whichever path closes first wins.

If you're at $1,500-$5,000 MRR: go direct outreach first. Marketplace as a backup if outreach doesn't bite in 4 weeks. You can clear 3x+ this way.

If you're under $200 MRR: don't waste your time on a marketplace. Either asset-sale the domain or shut it down clean. The energy you'd spend on a sale process is worth more than the sale.

The worst path is none of the above: leaving a $0 app on auto-renew for 18 months because you can't decide. Pick a path, give it 60 days, and move on.