How much does it cost to launch a multi-vendor marketplace?
The cost of a multi-vendor marketplace in Romania has four components: the platform, split payments, the domain and per-vendor invoicing. With a SaaS platform you start from €70 a month, with unlimited vendors and products on every plan; built from scratch, a marketplace with vendor onboarding and split payments costs tens of thousands of euros in development.
Short answer
- A SaaS marketplace platform (hosting and vendor onboarding included) starts from €70 a month, with unlimited vendors and products.
- Split payments via Stripe Connect take a per-transaction fee: typically 1–3% + a fixed fee, on top of your marketplace commission.
- A .ro domain costs around €10–15 per year.
- Invoicing can be automatic per vendor if the platform is connected to an invoicing service.
- The real range, from the entry plan to the largest one: €70–€200 a month, with no from-scratch development costs.
What you pay for (components)
The cost components of a multi-vendor marketplace
| Component | SaaS (e.g. 4marketplace) | Built from scratch |
|---|---|---|
| Platform / hosting | Subscription from €70 a month, hosting and vendor onboarding included | Tens of thousands of € in development, plus hosting and maintenance |
| Split payments | Stripe Connect built in, fee 1–3% + fixed fee | Stripe Connect integration built and tested by hand |
| Maintenance | Included (updates, security, backups) | On your development team |
Practical example
Example: a niche marketplace with 20 vendors and a 10% commission per sale, on the €70 a month Start plan (unlimited vendors and products, 5 GB of storage and one hour of custom development per month), a €12/year .ro domain and split payments via Stripe Connect, costs €70 a month as a fixed sum — plus the domain and the processor fees. There is no development cost, because vendor onboarding and split payouts are already built.
Common mistakes
- Comparing only the subscription and ignoring transaction fees — they grow with vendor volume.
- Setting out to build split payments and vendor onboarding from scratch, when they already exist off the shelf.
- Forgetting you need separate invoicing for each vendor, not just for the marketplace operator.
How 4marketplace helps
- A predictable subscription from €70 a month, with unlimited vendors and products, hosting, SSL and onboarding included.
- Split payments via Stripe Connect and configurable commissions included — no separate development.
- Automatic per-vendor invoicing through the 4b2b ecosystem (4invoices), with no integration cost.