Asset Marketplace Fees Compared: What Creators Actually Keep in 2026
If you sell game assets, the platform's cut is the difference between this being a hobby and a business. A 30% fee versus a 12% fee isn't a rounding error. Over a year of sales it's the difference between affording a new GPU and not. Yet most creators pick a platform on vibes and never do the math.
So let's do the math. Here's what the major marketplaces actually take in 2026, and. Just as important. The stuff the headline percentage hides.
(Fees change; these are accurate as of June 2026, but always confirm on the platform before you commit.)
A business with one customer is a business at risk.
The headline numbers
Image: via static1.makeuseofimages.com
What creators keep per sale, roughly:
- Fab (Epic's consolidated store). 88%. Platform takes 12%.
- itch.io. you set it. Default is generous and you can set the platform's cut as low as 0%.
- CGTrader. ~70-80%, reputation- and tier-based; better rates for exclusive uploads and higher-performing sellers.
- Sketchfab Store. 70%. Platform takes 30%.
- Unity Asset Store. 70%. Platform takes 30%.
At face value Fab and itch.io look like the runaway winners, and on pure percentage, they are. But percentage alone is a bad way to choose, and here's why.
Why the headline number lies
Three things the percentage doesn't tell you:
1. Audience size and fit. The Unity Asset Store takes a fat 30%, but it puts you in front of a massive, ready-to-spend audience of Unity developers who are already in the engine when they buy. A higher cut on a platform where buyers actually are can out-earn a lower cut on a ghost town. Reach is part of the price.
2. When and how you get paid. This one's underrated. Some platforms pool your earnings and pay out monthly, with thresholds and delays. Some hold funds longer than you'd like. "88% that arrives in 60 days" is worth less than "85% that hits your account fast." Cash flow matters when you're running this as a business.
3. Exclusivity strings. CGTrader's better rates often assume exclusive uploads. Meaning you can't sell that model elsewhere. That's a real trade: a few more points of royalty in exchange for not diversifying. Sometimes worth it, sometimes not.
So the real formula isn't take-home %. It's roughly:
(take-home % × actual sales volume on that platform) − payout friction − exclusivity cost
A platform that pays 88% but where nobody finds your work loses to a 70% platform swimming in buyers.
The diversify-vs-focus question
Most working creators land on a hybrid:
- List non-exclusive assets on multiple marketplaces to maximize reach.
- Reserve exclusive deals only where the rate bump genuinely beats the lost reach.
- Treat each platform's audience as a different market, not a copy-paste.
The one thing you don't want is to be 100% dependent on a single platform's algorithm and payout schedule. That's a business with one customer.
Where DevLoot lands
Time for the honest pitch, with the numbers on the table. DevLoot is built creator-first on exactly the two things the headline percentages hide:
- Low fee: 8% on the Pro tier (you keep 92%), 12% on Free (you keep 88%). The Pro rate is at the top end of what's out there for a curated, game-focused store.
- Fast, direct payouts: funds run through Stripe Direct Charges. Money flows straight to your connected account per sale, instead of being pooled and held. That solves the cash-flow problem that quietly eats into "high percentage" platforms.
Pro also stacks the stuff that helps you actually sell: a custom storefront domain, priority review, analytics export, and Verified-badge eligibility. So it's not just a better cut. It's a better cut plus the tools to move more units.
Run your own numbers. Look past the headline percentage to where your buyers are, how fast you get paid, and what strings are attached. Do that, and "where should I sell?" stops being a vibe and becomes a spreadsheet. Which is exactly how you should treat it once there's real money involved.
Crunch the numbers for yourself. see DevLoot Pro vs Free →
Related reading
Hero image: via 3dprintmentor.com