How we vet our partners at AppSumo


You’re either here because you’re interested in launching your product under AppSumo Select (congrats!) or you want to know how we pick the tools that eventually end up in your tech stack.

This article outlines the processes and criteria we go through before any Select tool makes it live in our store.

Step 1: Finding & qualifying leads


The first step of our vetting process happens in the very first stage: initial contact. Our lead development reps determine if a tool fits into at least one of the following:


  • A trending category or “What’s hot” right now (e.g., AI, lead generation, etc.)
  • What AppSumo customers actually want (based on past deal performance + survey data)
  • Up-and-coming spaces our customers would be excited about

If yes, the tool must then meet all six of the following criteria:


1. Be a software tool or digital product (web app preferred and often required)

2. Cannot require a human touch to run (i.e., no agencies/services/manual onboarding)

3. Has a paid pricing tier (public pricing page preferred)

4. Has a well-developed feature list

5. Has clear use case for agencies & small businesses

6. Be fully operational (no alpha/early stage beta tools)

Step 2: Lead outreach & prospective partner calls


Once the tool passes our initial checks, we reach out via email, LinkedIn, or another channel to set up a call with one of our business development managers (BDMs).

There are several types of questions BDMs must ask founders during their sales calls, including:


  • Year founded: Whether the product is new or established, we ask if there’s sustained momentum and recent market interest.
  • Number of employees/company structure: Is this a side hustle or a partner’s full focus? Will the partner be able to sustain an AppSumo launch? Is development handled in house, and not by contractors or freelancers?
  • Current marketing strategy: We ask about go-to market efforts and plans to assess demand. If their current marketing shows zero conversions, it may signal low interest or lack of strategy.

During these calls, we’ll look for common red flags like having less than 12-24 months of runway or little to no MRR. We even have a “partner stability calculator” which helps us determine long-term financial stability.

We use the above to filter out partners who are either launching for the wrong reasons or don’t appear to have the ability to sustain customers beyond the launch. If the tool is a strong fit, it’s onto the next round!

Note: if a tool has launched on AppSumo before, that doesn’t mean it automatically qualifies for another campaign. The partner still needs to go through similar checks as new leads, plus a few extra (such as showing sustainable business growth since their last AppSumo campaign).

Step 3: Crafting the offer & Beta-ling testing


Once a tool has passed all of our quality checks, it’s time to craft an offer! We’ll work closely with the partner to determine competitive pricing and compelling features. The agreement will also outline the deal structure, deal terms, terms & conditions, payment & partner promotion program, and revenue share (which is always negotiable).

After the contract is signed, the tool gets passed along to an unbiased third party (our Beta-lings) to determine if it meets our functionality criteria. Beta-lings review tools using a structured template—evaluating UI/UX, features, integrations, and pricing. They collect feedback in testing surveys across a wide range of areas. Then we generate an overall composite score that helps us decide if a tool gets a place on our launch calendar.

Beta-ling insights often influence product roadmaps and help partners improve before going live. These folks are experienced AppSumo users—entrepreneurs, freelancers, marketers, and developers—who have very high standards.

Once a tool passes all Beta-ling checks, it’s ready to launch!

Interested in the full vetting and launch breakdown? Check out our blog post here for even more details: https://appsumo.com/blog/how-we-vet-select-partners

If you have more questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team at support@appsumo.com.