TrustMRR Review (2026): How It Works, Fees, and Is It Legit?

TrustMRR went from a side project to the place where indie founders list their startups in under a year. It now claims 200K monthly visitors and hosts thousands of startups whose revenue is pulled straight from their payment provider. We read its data every day to build MRRdeals, so we know the platform well, including where it stops helping you.

This review covers how TrustMRR works, what it costs, how a deal actually closes, and what you still have to check yourself.

What TrustMRR is

TrustMRR started as a public leaderboard of startup revenues. Instead of posting a Stripe screenshot on X, a founder connects a read-only API key from their payment provider and TrustMRR displays the real numbers: total revenue, last 30 days, MRR, active subscriptions and customer counts.

The marketplace sits on top of that database. Any verified startup can be flagged as for sale with an asking price. As of October 9, 2026, the TrustMRR API returns 2,303 startups for sale, out of a database of roughly 11,000 verified profiles.

How revenue verification works

Verification is the whole point of the platform, so it is worth understanding precisely.

1. The founder clicks Add startup and pastes a read-only key from their payment provider. TrustMRR cannot charge customers or change anything in that account.
2. TrustMRR reads revenue directly from the provider and refreshes it automatically.
3. The profile shows the verified figures, with the provider's name.

Supported providers include Stripe, RevenueCat, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Paddle and Dodo Payments, plus Superwall, Creem, Whop and the App Store.

Here is how the providers split among the 896 listings we score (for sale, with a price and at least $100/mo of revenue):

The RevenueCat and Superwall share tells you something: about a third of the serious listings are mobile apps, not web SaaS.

How buying on TrustMRR works

TrustMRR's own FAQ describes a fully in-platform process:

1. Contact the seller. On any listing, click Contact Seller, write a message and optionally include an offer. You only need a name and email to start.
2. Optional NDA. Either side can start a mutual NDA before going further. Basic metrics are visible without one.
3. Letter of Intent. TrustMRR generates the LOI template; both parties edit one shared draft with revision history and sign it on the platform.
4. Asset Purchase Agreement. Same flow for the APA. You can sign as an individual or on behalf of a company.
5. Escrow. Once the APA is signed, TrustMRR opens a transaction on Escrow.com. Both parties go through Escrow.com's identity checks, the buyer funds the escrow, the seller transfers the assets, and funds are released when the transfer is confirmed.

One constraint matters a lot: TrustMRR only supports a single lump-sum payment. No earnout, no seller financing, no "50% now and 50% in 60 days". If you need a structured deal, you will have to take it off-platform, and lose the escrow protection.

TrustMRR fees

For sellers

All-in, TrustMRR estimates the seller's cost at 4-6% of the sale price. That is well below the alternatives:

Fees as published by each platform in October 2026. We compare them in detail in our TrustMRR alternatives guide.

For buyers

Browsing is free and there is no buyer subscription, unlike Acquire.com (paid plans from $390) or Microns ($299/year). Your costs are your share of the 3% fee and of the escrow fee.

Pros and cons

The noise is the biggest practical problem. Of the 2,303 startups for sale on October 9, 931 had no revenue at all and 476 more made under $100 a month or had no price. That leaves 896 listings with numbers worth modelling, which is exactly why we built the MRRdeals Score: it ranks those 896 on profitability, growth, product, moat, operability, risk and market so you can start with a shortlist.

Is TrustMRR legit?

Yes, with the right expectations.

• The revenue is real. It comes from the payment provider through a read-only key, not from a screenshot.
• The money is protected. Payment goes through Escrow.com, released only after the assets are transferred.
• The rest is on you. Nobody at TrustMRR audits the code, the traffic sources, the margins or the founder's claims. On a $5K app that is a fair trade; on a $150K SaaS, budget real due diligence time.

How to find the good deals on TrustMRR

1. Filter out the noise first. Ignore listings without verified revenue unless you are buying a domain or a codebase.
2. Look at the multiple, not the price. Across the 896 scored listings, the median asks 3.3x annual revenue and the middle half sits between 1.8x and 5.8x. Our valuation multiples report breaks that down by category.
3. Prefer recurring revenue. 89% of the scored listings have real MRR; one-off revenue is worth less.
4. Check payback. At the median, a listing pays itself back in about 50 months of current profit. Anything under 24 months deserves a close look.

Our best TrustMRR deals page applies all of this every day. Here are the top-scored listings right now:

Top-scored TrustMRR deals right now

SHANNON LAB LLC (ONLY STRIPE MRR COUNTED)

Artificial Intelligence

MRRdeals Score

87Top 1%

MRR

$6.2K/mo

AskingOn sale

$21K

+40.9%0.2xmultiple595 subscribers5.7K visitors/mo

FitCal

Health & FitnessiOS · Android

MRRdeals Score

85Top 1%

MRR

$5K/mo

AskingOn sale

$50K

+40.7%4.1xmultiple2.3K subscribers

A

Anonymous startup

SaaS

MRRdeals Score

84Top 1%

MRR

$11.6K/mo

AskingOn sale

$155K

+76.8%0.8xmultiple436 subscribers

Bottom line

TrustMRR is the best source today for small SaaS and apps with verified revenue, and the cheapest one to transact on. Use it for deal flow, use escrow for every payment, and do your own checks on margins, churn and transferability before signing the LOI.

Frequently asked questions

Is TrustMRR legit?

Yes. TrustMRR is a real marketplace built by indie maker Marc Lou. Revenue on each profile is pulled from the founder's payment provider through a read-only API key, deals are signed on TrustMRR (NDA, LOI, APA) and paid through Escrow.com. It verifies revenue, not everything else: profit margin and the quality of the business still need your own due diligence.

How much does TrustMRR charge?

Listing a startup for sale costs $29 (Starter), $199 (Growth) or $499 (Scale) one-time. When a deal closes, TrustMRR takes a 3% marketplace fee plus the Escrow.com fee, and both are split between buyer and seller. All-in, the seller typically gives up around 4-6% of the price depending on the deal size.

How does TrustMRR verify revenue?

Founders connect a read-only API key from their payment provider (Stripe, RevenueCat, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Paddle, Dodo Payments, Superwall, Creem, Whop, the App Store…). TrustMRR reads revenue, MRR and subscription counts directly from that account and refreshes them automatically, so the numbers are not screenshots.

Can I pay in installments or with an earnout on TrustMRR?

No. TrustMRR only supports a single lump-sum payment through Escrow.com. Seller financing, earnouts or 50/50 split payments are not available on the platform.

Do I need an account to buy on TrustMRR?

You can browse every listing without an account. To contact a seller you send a message (with an optional offer amount) from the listing; you then verify your email to manage the deal from the dashboard.