itch.io lets developers choose the store's cut — 0-100%, default 10%

Leaf Corcoran launched itch.io in 2013 as a pay-what-you-want indie storefront and simply took no cut — the fee stayed off since a Ludum Dare challenge in 2013 because costs were manageable. Sellers kept asking how the site would become sustainable.

Apply pay-what-you-want to the platform itself: let every seller set itch.io's cut from 0% to 100% (default 10%), trusting the community to fund the store it loves.

On March 23, 2015 itch.io introduced 'open revenue sharing': a slider lets each seller choose the platform's share from 0% to 100%, with 10% as the default and a one-click 'industry standard (30%)' option. In May 2021 the site ran its first Creator Day, setting everyone's share to 100% for 24 hours.

The model made itch.io a standing outlier: while the platform norm was 30%, itch.io's default cut was 10% and developers could set it to zero; the first Creator Day (May 14, 2021) passed 100% of sales to developers, musicians and artists, explicitly echoing Bandcamp Friday, which had already routed more than $52 million to artists and labels.

itch.io launched in 2013 as a pay-what-you-want storefront for indie games, built by Leaf Corcoran. From the start it took no cut of sales at all — the fee was switched off during a Ludum Dare challenge and never turned back on while costs stayed manageable. That made sellers happy and Corcoran's inbox full of the same question: how would the site ever sustain itself?

His answer, announced in March 2015 and switched on March 23, was 'open revenue sharing': each seller gets a slider that sets how much of every sale goes to itch.io, from 0% to 100%. The default is 10%, with a one-click 'industry standard (30%)' option. Corcoran was explicit about the risk — 'what if everyone sets it to 0?' — and chose to take it in the spirit of the supportive community that had grown around the site.

The bet held. itch.io's 10% default became a standing contrast to the industry's 30% norm, and the model became part of the site's identity. In May 2021 the storefront held its first Creator Day, setting everyone's revenue share to 100% for 24 hours — developers, musicians and artists kept all of each sale — explicitly modeled on Bandcamp Friday, which had already routed more than $52 million to artists and labels.

It extended the site's pay-what-you-want philosophy from buyers to sellers, making the business model itself consistent with the brand.

A voluntary cut converts the platform fee from a tax into a gift, building loyalty that no discount could buy.

Defaults matter: anchoring at 10% and offering 30% as a named alternative reframed the industry standard as a choice rather than a law.

Creator Day turned the model into an event, generating press and goodwill for the price of one day's revenue.

Trust is a channel strategy: when sellers choose what the platform earns, a default cut becomes a voluntary vote of support instead of a tax — and the goodwill it buys becomes the moat.

itch.io kept the open model and called the first Creator Day a template for regular events — 'We hope to make this a regular event to give developers an excuse to share and promote their works.' The storefront became a default home for indie, experimental and jam games, and the revenue-share debate it had jumped into — later fought out between Epic and Apple — made itch.io's voluntary-cut approach a frequently cited counterexample to the 30% norm.