Sell an AI Tool

AI tools sell on margin, not revenue. Buyers know that a product calling frontier models can lose money on every user, so the first thing they ask for is the inference bill next to the revenue.

The second thing they ask is what happens when the model provider changes prices or terms. A tool that swaps providers with a config change is worth more than one welded to a single API.

What buyers pay

Priced on gross margin, then on distribution

A tool with 60 percent gross margin after inference is priced like any SaaS. A tool at 10 percent margin is priced as a codebase plus an audience, whatever the top line says.

Distribution is the second lever. A tool with a ranking blog, a Chrome listing or an active community sells for more than a better tool nobody can find.

Ranges reflect small-deal marketplaces in 2026 and move with the market. Your buyer decides the price; these numbers tell you where the conversation starts.

Before you list

1. Monthly revenue next to monthly inference and hosting cost, for at least six months.
2. Which providers you use, on which plan, and whether the account can be transferred or must be recreated.
3. Content rights: whether generated assets, training data and prompts can be assigned to a buyer.
4. Abuse and moderation history, because the buyer inherits the provider relationship.
5. The prompt and evaluation set that makes the product work. That is the actual asset.

What moves at closing

The buyer pays Tool Index once you've both signed. Then, in this order:

1. Provider accounts recreated in the buyer's name; API keys are never shared.
2. Repository, prompts, evaluation data and any fine-tuned weights with their licenses.
3. Domains, app store or extension listings, social accounts.
4. Customer migration on the payment processor.
5. A written note of rate limits, quotas and the provider contacts you have.

You mark the deal delivered with a note of what moved. The buyer confirms inside the inspection window and the money is released to you, minus 1 percent (minimum $19, maximum $199) and the card processor's fee. If they open a dispute, a person reviews the delivery evidence before anything moves.

What kills deals

• Provider terms the product already violates.
• A margin the seller cannot demonstrate.
• Training data the seller does not have rights to.
• A single provider account with a compliance flag on it.

Questions

My tool is free with ads. Can I sell it?

Yes. Ad revenue is priced like content revenue, roughly 25 to 40 times monthly profit, and traffic proof matters more than anything else.

Do buyers want the model weights?

Only if they can use them. Fine-tunes trained on customer data or on data with restrictive licenses are a liability, not an asset. Say clearly what's included.

How does escrow work here?

The buyer pays Tool Index, not you. You transfer the accounts and code, they confirm, the money is released to you minus the fee. If they dispute, a human reviews the delivery evidence before anything moves.