Microsoft Marketplace programs: every way to list, sell and get referred
Microsoft Marketplace paths cover listing and selling an offer, private offers for named customers and resellers, and the steps that put an offer inside customers' Microsoft purchase commitments. This page maps each path by role, which ones must come first, and what decides which fit your company.
As of
Listing and selling
| Path | What it gives you | Role it needs | Works with others? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactable offer on Microsoft Marketplace | What it gives youList and sell software with a 3% standard store service fee; publishing costs nothing | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Check with Microsoft |
| Reduced fee on private-offer renewals | What it gives you50% reduced agency fee on renewals sold as private offers | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Check with Microsoft |
| Private offers | What it gives youCustom-priced offers for a named customer, with multiyear contracts up to five years | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Check with Microsoft |
| Private offers for Cloud Solution Providers | What it gives youLets resellers sell your software | Role it needsSoftware, Resell | Works with others?Check with Microsoft |
| Multiparty private offers | What it gives youSell with channel partners in one deal | Role it needsSoftware, Resell | Works with others?Check with Microsoft |
| Professional service offers | What it gives youServices offers are transactable if you have transacted large service deals outside Microsoft, or if services are worth more than 10% of the total deal value | Role it needsServices | Works with others?Check with Microsoft |
Which of these fit depends on whether you sell software or services, how many of your deals are custom-priced, and whether resellers or other channel partners are involved in your deals.
Getting into Microsoft's customer commitments
| Path | What it gives you | Role it needs | Works with others? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace (no cost) | What it gives youPrerequisite for any referral listing | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Sequence: comes before referral listing |
| MACC-eligible offers | What it gives youOffers count toward customers’ Azure consumption commitments | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Sequence: needs Azure IP referral-eligible status first |
Whether these pay off depends on whether your offer runs on Azure, how much Azure consumption or marketplace billing you can show, and whether your customers hold a commitment that offers can count toward.
How do these programs combine?
Sequences. Active Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace enrollment is a prerequisite for any referral listing. Referral-ready status needs the offer published on Microsoft Marketplace and a sales contact per geography. Azure IP referral-eligible status is a prerequisite for an offer to count toward customers' Azure consumption commitments (Referral and listing requirements).
Stacks. One offer can carry a standard transaction, a private offer for a named customer, a private offer for resellers, and a multiparty private offer, because each is a way of selling the same listing. Renewals sold as private offers carry a 50% reduced agency fee.
Conflicts. Microsoft's pages state no conflicts among these paths. Services offers have their own transactability test, and a services company that also publishes software would use both tests for its two kinds of offer.
How do you claim or earn each one?
Listing and selling
- 1Publish your offer on Microsoft Marketplace. Publishing costs nothing, and Microsoft charges a 3% standard store service fee when customers buy a transactable offer.
- 2Create a private offer when a customer needs custom pricing or terms. Private offers can run as multiyear contracts up to five years.
- 3Add private offers for Cloud Solution Providers if you want resellers to sell your software.
- 4Use a multiparty private offer when more than one channel partner is in the deal.
Services offers
- 1Check Microsoft's transactability test: professional service offers are transactable if you have transacted large service deals outside Microsoft, or if the services are worth more than 10% of the total deal value.
- 2If a Business Applications specialization is also on your list, publish a tagged consulting offer, which Microsoft requires first.
Customer commitments
- 1Enroll in Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace.
- 2Reach referral-ready status, then Azure IP referral-eligible status.
- 3Confirm in Partner Center that the offer shows as eligible to count toward customers' Azure consumption commitments.
The usual snags are an offer that is listed but not transactable, a missing geography contact, and Azure revenue that is below the threshold for the deeper status.
Why do two similar companies choose differently?
Company A: a security software company that runs on Azure
Three customers asking to buy through their Microsoft contracts. Its paths are a transactable listing, private offers for those named customers, and the Azure IP status that lets the offers count toward customer commitments.
Company B: a consulting firm that sells a fixed-scope assessment
Its paths are the services-offer test, a tagged consulting offer for any later specialization, and a private offer when the assessment is custom-priced for a customer.
The same program year, the same partner, and two different sets of paths.
What changed recently?
- Nov 4, 2026No marketplace fee change appears in the September and October 2026 Partner Center announcements reviewed for this page. Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace, the enrollment that sits in front of every referral listing, is described with its tiers on the funding page.
No Playmaker change page covers Microsoft marketplace yet. Every Microsoft change is on the Microsoft partner page.
Microsoft has the paths. Playmaker finds yours.
You’ve just seen how much Microsoft offers: programs, funding, listings, specialists and the many ways they combine. All of it is real, and much of it can run at the same time. Which of it fits your company depends on your tier, your roles and your deals.
Playmaker does that work for you:
- Ranked by revenue. It looks at your company and orders the Microsoft plays by revenue expectancy, so you spend your time on the plays that matter most.
- A recipe for each play. Every play comes with the steps to run it. You know what to do next, not just what exists.
- Built for your mix. Reseller and services, a Marketplace listing and Frontier Accelerate for Marketplace, several funding programs at once. Playmaker works out how they fit together for your company, not for a generic partner.
- Ready in 3 minutes. Generate your playbook in 3 minutes, then refresh it as your deals change.
What does your playbook show?
Frequently
asked questions
The short answers for Microsoft marketplace. Playmaker shows you the rest in 3 minutes.
Publishing costs nothing, and Microsoft charges a 3% standard store service fee when customers buy a transactable offer. Renewals sold as private offers carry a 50% reduced agency fee.
Yes. Software offers and professional service offers are separate offer types, and services offers have their own transactability test. Which you use depends on the roles you hold.
Through private offers for Cloud Solution Providers, and multiparty private offers when several channel partners are in one deal.
Azure IP referral-eligible status is a prerequisite for an offer to count toward customers' Azure consumption commitments. Microsoft's page names the status; the commitment itself is the customer's.
Microsoft states that an active enrollment is a prerequisite for any referral listing. The pages used here do not say whether it is needed to publish a transactable offer, so check with Microsoft.
Sources
Primary sources for this page, all accessed Nov 4, 2026. Program names and terms belong to Microsoft.
Where can you read more?
- Microsoft partner programs: every path across seven areasThe front door for every Microsoft program area.
- Microsoft sales programsCSP routes, promotional pricing and referral status.
- Microsoft incentives and fundingMargins, benefits packages and marketplace funding.
- Microsoft certifications and competenciesDesignations, specializations and certifications.
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