itch.iovs
Steam
Steam: Vastly larger audience and infrastructure, with a fee, review process and 30% cut
itch.io
Open marketplace for indie games and game assets
As of 29 August 2026, itch.io is free to use. An open storefront where creators set their own revenue share, and the home of most game jams. Softwr lists it under Gaming. itch.io is made by itch corp, available on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux.
Overview
What itch.io does
itch.io is an open digital marketplace for independent games, game assets and creative tools. Anyone can publish without approval, and creators set their own revenue share — including zero — which is unlike any other games storefront. It is also where most game jams happen, including Ludum Dare and Global Game Jam submissions, making it the de facto home of experimental and student game development. Its pay-what-you-want model and charity bundles have moved substantial sums to independent developers.
What people use it for
- Publishing an independent or experimental game without an approval process
- Running or entering a game jam
- Buying game assets, tools and charity bundles
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about itch.io.
- Open publishing means enormous variance in quality and very little curation
- Discovery is difficult: without curation, a new release can go entirely unseen
- Consumer audience is far smaller than the mainstream storefronts
- Client and library features are minimal compared with Steam or GOG
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of itch.io
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- itch.iovsGOG
GOG: A curated DRM-free store, where itch is open and uncurated
Pricing
What itch.io costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
itch.io
Free
- Free publishing
- Creator-set revenue share
- Game jam hosting
Capabilities
Features
Open publishing
No approval process; anyone can list a project
Creator-set revenue share
Developers choose the platform cut, including zero
Game jams
Hosting and submission tooling used by most major jams
Pay what you want
Flexible pricing including free and name-your-price
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is itch.io free?
Yes to publish, and creators set their own revenue share on sales — including zero.
Who uses itch.io?
Independent and experimental developers, students, and most major game jams including Ludum Dare submissions.
Why is discovery hard there?
Because publishing is open and uncurated. That is what makes it accessible to any creator, and it means new releases can go unseen.
Keep looking
Where to go from itch.io
- itch.io alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- itch.io pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- itch.io badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Gaming softwareThe full category
- Best Gaming softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Gaming software for
Compare itch.io with
- GOG
- Humble Bundle
- Steam
- Epic Games Store
- Roblox
- Shadow PC
- Playnite
- Minecraft
- Heroic Games Launcher
- Lutris
- RetroArch
- Twitch
- Ubisoft Connect
- Winio
- Battle.net
- EA Play
- RetroArch
- Twitch
Other Gaming software
Pay what you want game, book and software bundles with a bounded charity split
From $11.99/mo11 researched notesPC game storefront with a lower revenue cut for developers
Free plan8 researched notesA user-generated games platform running on Robux, not a single game, with a developer payout system and a marketplace cut
Free plan9 researched notesA full Windows machine in a datacentre, rented by the month
From $29.99/mo11 researched notesOpen source Windows library manager that pulls every storefront into one browsable collection
Open source11 researched notesSandbox building and survival game sold as a bundled Java and Bedrock purchase, owned by Microsoft, with paid Realms subscriptions
From $29.99/one-time9 researched notesOpen source client for Epic, GOG and Amazon libraries on Linux, Windows and macOS
Open source11 researched notesOpen source Linux game manager built around community install scripts and Wine runner management
Open source11 researched notesOpen source frontend running dozens of emulators as interchangeable cores behind one interface
Open source11 researched notesUbisoft launcher, rewards programme and the Ubisoft+ subscription
Free plan11 researched notesBlizzard game launcher and store, now owned by Microsoft, for a small first party catalogue
Free plan11 researched notesSubscription access to the EA back catalogue with timed trials of new releases
From $5.99/mo11 researched notesOpen source frontend running dozens of emulators as interchangeable cores behind one interface
Open source11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for itch.io, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on itch.io
itch.io alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
itch.io pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare itch.io
Put it head to head with anything we hold
itch.io badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Gaming software alternatives
Sandbox building and survival game sold as a bundled Java and Bedrock purchase, owned by Microsoft, with paid Realms subscriptions
One-time purchase, optional Realms subscriptionA user-generated games platform running on Robux, not a single game, with a developer payout system and a marketplace cut
Free to play, Robux currency packs and a subscription
Free to play battle royale and creative platform funded by V-Bucks, skins and a seasonal battle pass
Free to play with in-app purchases
Cloud gaming that streams games you bought elsewhere, when the publisher allows it
Per user per monthPay what you want game, book and software bundles with a bounded charity split
Pay what you want per bundle, or a monthly subscriptionSubscription access to the EA back catalogue with timed trials of new releases
Per user per month