Sell on Azure Marketplace: The Complete 2026 Guide

Learn how to list, co-sell, and scale cloud sales on the Azure Marketplace in this comprehensive guide.
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What is Azure Marketplace and how it works

The Azure Marketplace (now known as Microsoft Marketplace) is Microsoft's digital storefront for finding, trying, and buying cloud solutions, apps, and services from Microsoft and its partners, all certified to run on the Azure platform.

It simplifies procurement by allowing customers to buy solutions directly through their Azure account, with charges consolidated on their Azure bill. Customers get to quickly deploy pre-configured solutions, including virtual machine images, SaaS applications, and container-based solutions, directly into their Azure environment.

For independent software vendors (ISVs), system integrators (SIs), and resellers, Azure/Microsoft Marketplace serves as a global distribution and sales channel, enabling them to reach Azure customers. Let’s see how Microsoft Marketplace works for software buyers and sellers:

How Azure Marketplace works for buyers

Azure marketplace offers software buyers a streamlined discovery and procurement experience. It helps buyers: 

  • Discover solutions across categories such as security, AI & ML, data, DevOps, business applications, and industry-specific workloads.
  • Evaluate Azure marketplace listings with detailed product descriptions, pricing models, vendor profiles, compliance certifications, and often free trials or demos.
  • Purchase using flexible pricing options, including consumption-based billing, annual subscriptions, or bring-your-own-license (BYOL), all charged through a single Azure invoice.
  • Deploy pre-configured solutions (VM images, SaaS apps, managed applications, containers) with a few clicks, integrated directly into Azure services.
  • Centralize procurement and governance by tracking usage, managing subscriptions, controlling access with Azure RBAC, and aligning purchases with enterprise policies.

How Azure Marketplace works for sellers/partners

Accelerate revenue growth on Azure Marketplace by reaching procurement-ready customers, launching flexible offer models, and enabling commitment-backed purchases that reduce buying friction. Software sellers: 

  • Gain visibility to a global Microsoft customer base, including enterprises already standardized on Microsoft procurement and compliance processes.
  • Define pricing and packaging, offer free trials and usage-based billing, create subscriptions, and create private offers for negotiated enterprise deals.

Accelerate enterprise sales by enabling cloud marketplace purchases that align with customer cloud spend commitments (like Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment), reducing procurement friction and accelerate software sales cycles.

Why sell on Azure Marketplace?

Selling on Azure Marketplace accelerates enterprise adoption, shortens sales cycles, and aligns with how modern buyers want to procure software.

It offers visibility, streamlines transactions (including leveraging customer Azure commitments), and provides access to Microsoft's vast sales network, ultimately increasing revenue and market presence.

Let’s understand why Azure Marketplaces are beneficial for software sellers.

1. Reach enterprise buyers already spending on Azure

Azure Marketplace gives you access to millions of active Azure customers, including large enterprises and regulated industries that already trust Microsoft.

Because purchases count toward customers’ Azure cloud spend commitments, buyers are far more willing to transact, removing one of the biggest blockers in enterprise sales: budget approval.

2. Shorter sales cycles with frictionless procurement

Simplified procurement, billing, and deployment through a centralized platform reduces administrative overhead and shortens sales cycles. 

Azure Marketplace fastens the sales cycle by:

  • Enabling one-click purchases through existing Azure accounts
  • Eliminating vendor onboarding, new contracts, and separate invoices
  • Using Microsoft as the billing intermediary

Resulting in a faster deal closure and fewer procurement hurdles.

3. Flexible pricing and deal structures

Azure Marketplace supports multiple monetization models, such as:

  • Pay-as-you-go (usage-based)
  • Subscriptions (monthly or annual)
  • BYOL (Bring Your Own License)
  • Private offers for custom pricing, terms, and enterprise negotiations

This lets you support self-serve buyers and complex enterprise deals in the same channel.

4. Built-in trust, security, and compliance

Solutions are vetted and listed under the Microsoft brand, which helps build instant trust with enterprise buyers.

When listing on Azure Marketplace, companies get verified on:

  • Security and compliance details
  • Microsoft validation and publishing standards
  • Alignment with Azure identity, RBAC, and governance

For risk-averse enterprises, this trust layer often becomes a deciding factor in procuring through cloud marketplaces.

5. Simplified billing, collections, and global payments

Customers purchase your solutions directly within their familiar Azure environment, bypassing the lengthy vendor onboarding process. 

During the process, Microsoft will handle:

  • Invoicing and tax compliance
  • Currency conversion
  • Payment collection and partner payouts

This allows you to sell globally without building local billing infrastructure, while keeping revenue operations lean.

6. Better alignment with cloud-first buying behavior

Enterprise buyers increasingly prefer to buy software:

  • From a cloud marketplace
  • Through existing vendors (like Microsoft)
  • With centralized spend visibility

Azure Marketplace meets buyers where they already are inside the Azure ecosystem.

7. Strong co-sell and go-to-market advantages

Azure Marketplace listings unlock Microsoft co-sell eligibility, with Microsoft's field sellers, opening doors to new deals and boosting win rates.

This can materially improve pipeline quality and deal size.

What do you need to sell on Azure Marketplace?

To sell on Azure Marketplace, you need a combination of technical readiness, commercial setup, and compliance alignment with Microsoft’s marketplace requirements.

1. A Microsoft Partner account

You must be enrolled in the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP). This gives you access to the partner center, the ability to create and manage marketplace offers, and payout setup.

What is required:

  • Verified business identity
  • Bank account for payouts
  • Tax profile (varies by country)

2. A marketplace-ready product

Your solution must run on or integrate with Azure and fit one of Microsoft’s supported offer types: 

  • SaaS applications (most common for B2B software)
  • Azure Virtual Machine images
  • Azure Managed Applications
  • Containers (AKS-based)
  • Azure AI / Data solutions

Make sure your product is production-ready (not beta-only) and secure, stable, and scalable.

It should be capable of being deployed or accessed by customers through Azure.

3. Technical integration with Azure

Depending on your offer type, this may include:

  • Azure Active Directory (Entra ID) integration
  • Azure billing metering APIs (for usage-based pricing)
  • ARM templates or deployment automation
  • SaaS fulfillment APIs (for subscription lifecycle management)

Microsoft requires that transactable offers integrate with its commerce and fulfillment systems.

4. A clear pricing and monetization model

Pricing must be transparent and mapped to Azure billing constructs. Below are some of the pricing models of your Microsoft listing:

  • Pay-as-you-go or usage-based pricing
  • Monthly or annual subscriptions
  • BYOL options
  • Free trials or test drives
  • Private offers for enterprise customers

5. Compliance, security, and legal readiness

Microsoft reviews all offers before publishing. To make this happen, you will need:

  • A privacy policy and terms of use
  • Clear data handling and security documentation
  • Compliance declarations (such as GDPR, SOC, ISO, HIPAA, where applicable)
  • A customer support process and SLA

For enterprise buyers, these are often deal-critical.

6. Go-to-market assets for your listing

Your marketplace listing must include:

  • Clear product description and value proposition
  • Screenshots, diagrams, or demo videos
  • Deployment or onboarding documentation
  • Support and contact information

A weak listing directly impacts conversions even if the product is strong.

7. Ongoing operational readiness

Once your listing is live, you will need to:

  • Manage updates and versioning
  • Handle customer support and renewals
  • Monitor usage, subscriptions, and revenue in Partner Center
  • Stay compliant with Microsoft marketplace policies

Marketplace selling is not “set and forget”; it’s an ongoing channel. Doing this in-house might be time consuming and expensive. Therefore working with a cloud GTM platform such as Clazar can help you list and scale on Azure Marketplace, without heavy lift to build and maintain tooling. Get a free consultation from Clazar team today.

What kind of products can you sell on Azure Marketplace?

Azure Marketplace supports a wide range of cloud-native and cloud-enabled solutions that run on, integrate with, or extend Microsoft Azure. These products are typically sold by ISVs, SIs, and technology partners targeting SMBs to large-enterprise buyers.

Here is a list of products that you can sell on Azure Marketplace:

1. SaaS applications

Cloud-hosted SaaS applications accessible via web or API, can be transacted directly through Azure. These applications integrate with Azure but are managed outside the customer’s Azure subscription.

2. Virtual Machine (VM) images

Pre-configured VM images (like Linux or Windows Server) are ready for deployment and available to be procured via Microsoft Azure marketplace. VMs are best suited for infrastructure, security, and legacy software providers.

Some examples of Virtual Machine images are:

  • Firewalls, VPNs, and security appliances
  • Databases, data warehouses
  • Enterprise software requiring OS-level access

3. Azure managed applications

These are solutions deploying multiple Azure resources (such as using ARM templates) for complex setups. Azure managed applications are ideal for enterprise buyers as it provides governance, lifecycle management, and operational control.

4. Containers and Kubernetes-based solutions

These are primarily suited to cloud-native and microservices architectures and includes containerized applications running on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Some examples are AI/ML inference services, event processing pipelines, and scalable backend services.

5. Data products and APIs

This type of Azure listing mainly covers datasets, APIs, and data services consumable within Azure. Such products enable recurring revenue from data consumption and analytics use cases.

6. AI Agents

An AI agent assists individuals or organizations by leveraging artificial intelligence to automate business processes. This is best for AI-first companies that want to sell their AI products to Azure users.

7. Professional Services

Professional services for Microsoft Cloud include assessments, briefings, implementation, PoCs, workshops, migrations, and support. You can sell them for your own, third-party, or Microsoft software, but only through Private Offers - customers can’t buy them from the storefront. You deliver the service, while Microsoft manages billing, invoicing, payments, and payouts.

How to Sell on Azure Marketplace (a step-by-step guide)

To sell on Microsoft Marketplace, you need a complete understanding of the listing workflow. Let’s understand the steps to complete to start selling on Azure Marketplace:

1. Join the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program

The first step to sell on Azure marketplace is to sign up for the Microsoft’s partner center.

2. Create/register your publisher account

Once you enroll on the Microsoft partner center, the next steps are to:

  1. Log in to Partner Center
  2. Set up your publisher profile (company name, legal info, payout info).
  3. Complete your tax and bank payment details.

This establishes your identity and enables you to submit offers. Decide what type of product you’re selling, what the pricing model is, and accordingly prepare the required materials.

3. Create the Marketplace offer

After register successfully, you can create Azure marketplace offers. When you log in to the Partner Center:

  1. Navigate to Marketplace offers in Partner Center.
  2. Select + New, provide and choose the appropriate offer type (such as Azure Virtual Machine, SaaS, etc.)
  3. Fill in the technical configuration and lead management (if you want to receive customer leads) 
  4. Upload any required artifacts such as product binaries, ARM templates, or deployment manifests.

At this stage, you also associate the offer with your publisher account.

4. Configure pricing, plans, and terms

Provide pricing tiers (free, trial, paid), marketplace plans, metering settings (for usage-based billing), and links to terms of use and privacy policy, to ensure all required fields are completed; missing info will block publishing.

5. Review and test your offer

Before submitting it for publishing:

  1. Use the Preview functionality in Partner Center to test the end-to-end experience.
  2. Validate deployment flows, billing, and fulfillment.

6. Submit for certification and publish

Once everything is complete, go to Review and publish in Partner Center. Make sure that all pages show status Complete. Once confirmed, select Publish to begin the certification process.

Microsoft will run:

  • Automated validations
  • Manual technical and content reviews
  • Preview creation
  • Final publish to Azure Marketplace once all checks are cleared

Publishing typically takes several hours to days, depending on the offer type.

7. Go live

After passing certification:

  • Approve the offer preview.
  • Click Go Live to make your offer publicly available in Azure Marketplace.
  • You’ll receive a notification and a marketplace link to share with customers.

8. Monitor and manage your listing

Once your listing is live, you can:

  • Track usage, revenue, and leads in Partner Center.
  • Update your listing and plans as needed.
  • Consider co-selling with Microsoft or partner-to-partner resale channels to expand reach.

You can do the listing yourself or work with a listing expert at Clazar to go live hassle-free, that too in weeks, not months.

Confused whether to do it in house or work with Clazar? Do a simple ROI calculation here.

Pricing and fees when you sell on Azure Marketplace

When you sell your software through the Azure Marketplace, you control your pricing, but Microsoft charges a marketplace fee for transactable offers purchased through the marketplace.

Here’s how pricing and fees work:

Marketplace Transaction Fee

Microsoft charges a standard store service fee of 3% on transactable offers sold through Azure Marketplace.

This means if a customer pays $100 for your software license through the marketplace, Microsoft retains $3, and you receive $97. 

Discount on fees for renewals

If you sell through private offers and the purchase qualifies as a customer renewal, you can apply a 50% discount on the marketplace transaction fee.

  • In this case, instead of paying 3%, you would pay 1.5% on the renewal charge.
  • This reduced fee applies for the entire term of the private offer.
What qualifies as a renewal?
  • Renewal of an existing private offer (including marketplace-migrated deals).
  • Upsell opportunities with an existing customer (if classified as a renewal).

You must self-attest the renewal status when creating the private offer in Partner Center to receive the reduced fee. 

How Azure pricing works overall

When you create your marketplace offer and plans (such as subscription levels, usage tiers), you define:

  • Pricing model (flat fee, user-based, usage-based, BYOL, etc.)
  • Regional pricing and availability
  • Free trials (SaaS free month, VM image trials)
  • Private vs public plans (public listings vs. private deals) 

Microsoft uses an agency model for billing:

  • You set pricing for your product.
  • Microsoft bills customers on your behalf.
  • The agency fee (3% or a discounted rate) is deducted before revenue is paid out.

Top Azure Marketplace programs to help ISVs sell on Microsoft Marketplace

Here is a list of the top Microsoft Marketplace programs for ISVs:

ISV Success Program

A flagship Microsoft partner program designed for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) that helps software companies build, publish, and sell applications on Azure Marketplace.

Some of its benefits are:

  • Azure credits & developer tools for building and testing your solution.
  • Technical guidance & consultations to optimize your app and onboarding.
  • Marketing & sales support to reach new customers and drive transactions.
  • Marketplace Rewards are tied to Marketplace performance (see below).
  • Go-to-market collaboration with Microsoft sellers and partners. 

ISV Success helps you accelerate development, launch faster, and access incentives that make your Marketplace business more scalable and profitable.

Marketplace Rewards

Marketplace Rewards is a performance-based incentive program that helps publishers boost sales and visibility on Azure Marketplace once a transactable offer is live.

From this program you get:

  • Azure sponsorship credits to offset your own costs or sweeten customer deals.
  • Listing optimization help and marketing support.
  • Engagement with Microsoft sellers and co-sell plays.
  • Executive endorsements and joint promotional opportunities.

Azure IP Co-Sell Program

Azure IP Co-Sell Program is a co-selling initiative that allows your Azure Marketplace solutions to be actively marketed and sold by Microsoft’s global sales force.

Under the program:

  • Microsoft sellers include your solution in customer conversations and proposals.
  • Your offers count toward customers’ Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC).
  • Accelerates enterprise sales velocity and expands reach.

To qualify, your offer typically must be transactable on Marketplace and meet co-sell requirements set by Microsoft.

Partner-to-Partner (P2P) Sales

Partner-to-Partner (P2P) Sales on the Azure Marketplace involves two or more Microsoft partners collaborating to solve customer needs, often using one partner's solution within the other's offering, facilitated by tools like Partner Center for co-selling, referrals, and managing private offers. 

P2P sales leverage the Marketplace's digital commerce platform for seamless transactions, enabling partners to scale their reach, find new opportunities (such as multiparty private offers), and deliver end-to-end digital transformation. 

It is a flexible selling mechanism that lets you create private, customer-specific offers and even bundle margin sharing with other partners (like CSPs) to extend your sales channels.

What are Azure Marketplace Private Offers?

Azure Marketplace private offers are customized deals between a software vendor (publisher) and a specific customer with pricing and terms that are not publicly listed on the marketplace. These offers let vendors tailor pricing, terms, and configurations to meet a customer’s unique business, budget, or procurement requirements. 

In contrast to standard public listings, which anyone can browse and buy. Private offers are negotiated directly with a specific customer and then delivered privately via the Azure Marketplace interface.

Key benefits of private offers

Azure Marketplace private offers provide several advantages tailored for enterprise procurement:

Custom pricing and negotiated discounts

Customers and vendors can agree on pricing that’s lower than the public list price or structured to meet multi-year or bulk-purchase commitments. 

Custom terms and contract attachments

Vendors can attach custom agreements or pricing terms (often as a PDF) directly to the offer, so acceptance of the offer also means acceptance of the contract terms.

Flexible billing and duration

Private offers can include flexible billing schedules, extended contract durations (up to five years), and special time-bound discounts tailored to the deal. 

Bundle multiple products/plans

A single private offer can bundle up to 10 distinct products or plans from the same publisher, simplifying procurement and driving better overall pricing.

Faster acceptance and purchase

Once the vendor creates the private offer, customers can often accept and proceed with purchase within minutes—much faster than negotiating standalone contracts outside the marketplace.

Works toward Azure benefits

Purchases made through eligible private offers count toward a customer’s Azure Cloud Consumption Commitment (MACC), helping them meet consumption goals and unlock additional cloud benefits.

What product types support private offers

Private offers support a broad range of Azure Marketplace products, including:

  • SaaS applications
  • Azure Virtual Machines
  • Azure applications and containers
  • Professional services (only available via private offers)
  • VM software reservations (VMSRs) are also exclusive to private offers

Two types of private offers

ISV-to-Customer Private Offers

  • Created directly by the software vendor for their customer.
  • The vendor negotiates pricing, terms, and conditions with the customer.

Multiparty Private Offers

  • Involve an additional partner (such as a reseller or CSP).
  • The vendor and partner co-sell to the customer, often keeping existing business relationships intact while still transacting through Azure Marketplace.

What is the Azure Multiparty Private offer?

An Azure multiparty private offer allows businesses to purchase Azure cloud services through authorized Microsoft partners (resellers) via programs such as the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) or older Open Licensing. It often comes with benefits such as simplified billing, customized pricing, and access to special credits or discounts through offers like the Azure Plan. 

This Clazar guide offers a detailed step-by-step guide to create Azure Multiparty offers.

Key reseller offer types and programs

  • Azure Plan (CSP): The modern standard for new customer relationships in the CSP program, offering flexible purchasing for consumption-based Azure services.
  • Azure in Open Licensing: A simpler way for small to mid-size businesses to buy Azure credits (OSA Keys) through familiar resellers for consumption over 12 months.
  • Azure Credit Offer (ACO): A specific initiative for CSPs to provide customers with fixed free Azure usage to accelerate consumption.
  • Resale Enabled Offers (Marketplace): Allows partners to resell their own Marketplace solutions, which count towards customers' Azure consumption commitments. 

Benefits for customers

  • Buy Azure alongside other Microsoft software through a single reseller
  • Partners offer end-to-end support, deployment, and optimization
  • Access tailored costs and packages
  • Utilize credits and discounted rates through specific plans or programs 

Benefits for partners (resellers)

  • Sell directly to Microsoft customers
  • Handle customer billing and collections via the Marketplace
  • Help customers meet their Azure consumption goals
Azure Co-Sell workflow

What is co-selling on Azure Marketplace

Co-selling through Azure Marketplace (part of the Microsoft commercial marketplace) is one of the fastest paths for ISVs to expand reach, accelerate enterprise deals, and align with Microsoft sellers on shared customer opportunities. 

It’s a structured cloud GTM motion with eligibility requirements, documentation, and operational discipline that determines how visible (and valuable) your offer becomes inside Microsoft’s internal sales motions.

What “co-selling” with Azure actually means (and why it matters)

Microsoft defines co-sell as collaborative selling between Microsoft and partners that may include:

  • Working directly with Microsoft sales teams
  • Partner-to-partner (P2P) engagements
  • Sharing deals with Microsoft for visibility and forecasting
  • Participating in solution assessments where vetted partners help customers evaluate Microsoft-based solutions 

The practical advantage is simple: co-sell-ready solutions are surfaced to Microsoft sellers, making it easier for them to discover, pitch, and attach your offer in customer engagements. Once you progress to Azure IP co-sell eligible, your offer can also contribute toward the customer’s Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), which is often a major procurement unlock for enterprise buyers.

How ISVs co-sell with Microsoft Marketplace

1. Publish offer on Azure Marketplace

Your offer must first be live and transactable on Azure Marketplace. This is a prerequisite for any co-sell engagement.

2. Achieve co-sell-ready status

To work with Microsoft sellers:

  • Complete your partner profile in Partner Center
  • Publish your offer
  • Provide required co-sell assets (one-pager, pitch deck, etc.)

Once done, your solution will be co-sell-ready.

3. Achieve Azure IP Co-Sell Eligibility (Optional but Powerful)

For even bigger benefits in Azure Marketplace:

  • Meet specific criteria, including revenue thresholds and technical validation.
  • Your solution must be an Azure-platform IP offer, such as SaaS, Azure App, VM, or container. Once eligible, your solution becomes Azure IP co-sell eligible.

4. Collaborate on co-sell opportunities

Once you’re co-sell-ready or IP co-sell eligible, you can:

  • Share leads and opportunities with Microsoft sellers via Partner Center.
  • Register deals for Microsoft assistance in closing them.
  • Leverage Microsoft’s influence to build deeper customer engagement.

Co-sell readiness checklist

To become co-sell ready, Microsoft expects you to complete five foundational items: 

  1. Have a PartnerID + active Marketplace account in Partner Center
  2. Complete your business profile in Partner Center
  3. Publish a live Marketplace offer
  4. Provide a sales contact for each co-sell geography
  5. Submit all required details and collateral in the Co-sell > Solutions section, including a pitch deck and one-pager

Why this matters: Microsoft sellers need consistent, vetted positioning materials to confidently attach your solution to active customer opportunities. The collateral review is part of what determines whether your solution is promoted in Microsoft’s internal seller catalogs.

What are the key Azure co-sell statuses

Microsoft’s co-sell program is tiered. Each tier unlocks increasing access and value:

A) In-market

Your offer is live in Microsoft Marketplace, but you haven’t completed the co-sell readiness requirements yet. 

B) Co-sell ready

You’ve met baseline requirements such as having a marketplace account, completing your Partner Center profile, publishing the offer, and submitting required co-sell collateral (like a pitch deck and one-pager) plus sales contacts by geography. 

C) Azure IP co-sell eligible

You meet co-sell ready requirements plus additional Azure-specific criteria such as revenue thresholds, technical validation, architecture documentation, and transactability. This tier is also a prerequisite for MACC alignment. 

Rule of thumb: Co-sell ready gets you in front of Microsoft sellers. Azure IP co-sell eligible makes your offer materially easier to procure for enterprise accounts (because of MACC). 

How to qualify for Azure IP co-sell eligibility

Azure IP co-sell eligibility applies only to specific offer types—SaaS, Azure Applications, Containers, VMs. After you achieve co-sell ready, Microsoft requires four additional criteria for Azure IP co-sell eligibility:

  1. Revenue threshold: At least $100,000 USD in Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) or Marketplace Billed Sales (MBS) over the trailing 12 months
  2. Technical validation: You must meet Marketplace policies, be primarily platformed on Azure, and pass Microsoft’s Azure platform technical validation
  3. Reference architecture diagram: Upload a diagram (mandatory for most offer types) as part of your co-sell documentation
  4. Transactable offer: New solutions must be transactable on Marketplace (this has been required since July 11, 2023 for IP co-sell eligible status)

Once eligible, you gain benefits such as:

  • Eligibility for your offer’s spend to count toward MACC, which buyers actively seek
  • Increased marketplace credibility and signals like badges depending on program status

How to scale Azure Marketplace sales with automation (using Clazar)

As Azure Marketplace deal volume grows, manual workflows quickly become a growth limiter. What starts as a manageable process of creating offers, tracking approvals, and reconciling payouts soon turns into friction across sales, revenue operations, finance, and engineering.

This is why Clazar is becoming the go-to automation platform for ISVs scaling on the Azure Marketplace, helping teams move faster, reduce errors, and treat marketplace sales as a mature revenue channel rather than an experiment.

Streamlining Azure private offer management

Azure Marketplace private offers are essential for enterprise deals, but managing them manually is slow and error-prone.

Clazar enables:

  • Sales teams to create Azure private offers directly from the CRM
  • RevOps to control approvals, pricing guardrails, and deal structures
  • Finance teams to track offer status and expected payouts without spreadsheets

Managing multiparty private offers (MPO) at scale

Azure multiparty private offers add complexity with:

  • Channel partner involvement
  • Revenue sharing and margins
  • Custom pricing and enterprise terms

Clazar automates the entire flow from partner authorization, offer creation, margin calculations, to contract workflows, so teams can run partner-led Azure deals at scale without increasing operational overhead.

Automated co-sell management with Microsoft

Azure co-sell motions require tight coordination across Partner Center, CRM, and sales teams.

With Clazar:

  • Co-sell opportunities sync automatically with Microsoft workflows
  • Sales teams avoid duplicate data entry across systems
  • Microsoft sellers gain earlier and clearer visibility into active deals
  • Reporting stays consistent across CRM, Partner Center, and finance

This helps ISVs accelerate co-sell velocity and maximize alignment with Azure GTM.

Revenue reporting and reconciliation for Azure Marketplace

Azure Marketplace payouts can be complex, especially with multi-term contracts, private offers, renewals Partner margins, and credits

Clazar automates:

  • Payout tracking and reconciliation
  • Revenue attribution by offer, customer, and term
  • Refunds, adjustments, and billing cycles

Finance and RevOps teams gain accurate, audit-ready reporting without manual reconciliation.

Why automation matters for Azure Marketplace growth

By automating every core workflow, Clazar removes the operational friction that slows Azure Marketplace sales. 

ISVs can:

  • Scale enterprise and partner-led deals confidently
  • Reduce deal cycle times
  • Improve pricing and revenue accuracy
  • Turn Azure Marketplace into a predictable, repeatable revenue engine

With Clazar, Azure Marketplace becomes a growth channel rather than an operational burden.

From day one, it was critical to align with internal stakeholders around the ‘why’ — why marketplace, and why now. We framed it through the lens of deal economics: reducing cost of acquisition, minimizing legal overhead, and eliminating the inefficiencies of redlining every contract.
But more importantly, as a customer-obsessed company, we saw it as a way to meet our customers where they are. That message really resonated with leadership. It’s not just about building great products, it’s about making them easy to buy, in the way our customers prefer to buy.
Sarah Jackson
Cloud & Partner Alliances
Director, UserTesting

Frequently asked questions

What security and compliance requirements apply?

All marketplace listings must meet Microsoft’s publishing standards, including:

  • Privacy policy and terms of use
  • Secure deployment architecture
  • Compliance disclosures (e.g., GDPR, SOC, ISO, HIPAA, where applicable)

Can sellers offer discounts on Azure Marketplace?

Yes. sellers can:

  • Offer public discounts
  • Create private offers with negotiated pricing
  • Apply discounted marketplace fees for qualified private offer renewals
How long does it take to publish a product on Azure Marketplace?

Publishing timelines vary by offer type, but typically range from a few days to a few weeks, depending on technical validation, compliance checks, and content readiness.

What is co-selling in Azure Marketplace?

Co-selling allows ISVs to sell jointly with Microsoft’s sales teams. Once an offer is co-sell-ready or Azure IP co-sell eligible, Microsoft sellers actively include the solution in customer deals.

Do Azure Marketplace purchases count toward Azure consumption commitments?

Yes. Eligible Azure Marketplace purchases, especially transactable offers, can count toward a customer’s Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC), which often accelerates deal approvals.

What is a multiparty private offer?

A multiparty private offer includes an additional partner, such as a reseller or CSP, allowing revenue sharing while still transacting through Azure Marketplace. This enables partners to participate without breaking existing customer relationships.

What are Azure Marketplace private offers?

Private offers are custom, customer-specific deals that allow sellers to negotiate pricing, terms, duration, and bundles. They are commonly used for enterprise and strategic deals and are purchased directly by customers through the Azure Marketplace.

What is a transactable offer?

A transactable offer is one where Microsoft handles billing and payment collection on behalf of the seller. Customers purchase directly through Azure Marketplace, and charges appear on their Azure bill.

How does pricing work on Azure Marketplace?

Sellers define their own pricing models, including:

  • Pay-as-you-go (usage-based)
  • Monthly or annual subscriptions
  • Bring Your Own License (BYOL)
  • Free trials

Microsoft handles billing and collects a 3% marketplace service fee on transactable offers.

What types of products can be sold on Azure Marketplace?

On the Microsoft Marketplace, you can sell the following types of products (but not limited to):

  • SaaS applications
  • Virtual machine (VM) images
  • Azure Managed Applications
  • Containers and Kubernetes solutions
  • Data products and APIs
  • AI and machine learning solutions
  • Professional services
Who can sell on Azure Marketplace?

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), system integrators (SIs), and partners enrolled in the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program can sell on the Azure Marketplace, provided their products meet Microsoft’s technical, security, and compliance requirements.

What is Azure Marketplace?

Azure Marketplace is an online storefront where businesses can discover, purchase, and deploy third-party software and services that run on or integrate with Microsoft Azure. 

It simplifies procurement by allowing customers to buy solutions directly through their Azure account with consolidated billing.