AWS SaaS Listing Guidelines: Everything You Need to Know

Introduction

Launching and managing a SaaS product on AWS Marketplace requires adherence to a set of well-defined guidelines. These ensure transparency, seamless customer experience, and secure deployment. AWS has established these requirements to maintain high standards for SaaS products, covering everything from pricing and customer information to architecture and deployment.

This guide breaks down the key AWS Marketplace guidelines for SaaS products, covering everything from product details and pricing rules to hosting requirements and deployment standards. Whether you're preparing your first listing or optimizing an existing one, following these best practices will help you stay compliant and maximize your success on AWS Marketplace.

✅  Prerequisites

First things first, you need to ensure you have all the necessary prerequisites in place:

1. Access and familiarity with the AWS Marketplace Management Portal is essential. This portal is your gateway to registering as a seller and managing your products within AWS Marketplace.
2. Create an AWS Marketplace-Specific Account (optional) - We recommend the creation of a New AWS Account to manage your listings. 
   
   🚀  Learn more: Refer to this article for the benefits of setting up a new AWS Marketplace account for your marketplace listings.
3. Seller registration is a must. Make sure you've completed this step and provided all necessary tax and banking information.
4. Planning is key. Before you proceed, take the time to strategize how you'll create and integrate your SaaS product into AWS Marketplace.

💻  Planning Your SaaS Product

Before you can add your SaaS product to AWS Marketplace, thorough planning is crucial. Here's what you need to consider:

1. Pricing: Choosing the right pricing model is paramount. With three options available, your decision here will impact payment options for customers and the integration work required on your end.
2. Billing Integration: Integration with AWS Marketplace's Metering Service or Entitlement Service is necessary for accurate billing and usage reporting. Testing this integration is vital before going live.
3. Amazon SNS Integration: Utilizing Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) can streamline customer communications and management. Plan how you'll leverage SNS for your product.
4. Accessibility: Decide how customers will access your product. Options include Quick Launch, AWS PrivateLink, or via your own website. Each method has its benefits and considerations.
   
   

📋  SaaS Product Guidelines

It's essential to adhere to AWS Marketplace's guidelines to ensure a smooth and compliant experience:

➡️Product Details

• Provide accessible support for troubleshooting, usage issues, and refund requests.
• Your product metadata must not include links or messaging that redirect users to other cloud platforms, upsell services, or offer free trials outside AWS Marketplace.
• If your product is an add-on, clearly state its dependency on another product and its limited utility without it in the description. 
• If listing in AWS GovCloud (US) Regions:
  • • Include “GovCloud” in the product title.
    • Explain architectural boundaries, use cases, and unsupported workloads in the description.
• If your SaaS application requires buyers to use their own AWS infrastructure, the listing must include:
  • • Comprehensive documentation detailing all provisioned AWS services, IAM policy statements, and how IAM roles or users are deployed and utilized in the customer’s account.
    • Clear deployment instructions or templates to help buyers set up the required resources in their AWS accounts efficiently.

➡️ Product Dimensions

• Public pricing must be available; buyers should not be limited to private offers.
• At least one pricing dimension must be greater than $0.00.
• Pricing must only apply to the software—unrelated services or hidden fees  are not permitted.
• All billing must be managed through AWS Marketplace pricing dimensions.
• Customer payment details (credit card, bank information) cannot be collected outside AWS Marketplace.
• Customers must be able to view their subscription status and contract details within your app.
• If your SaaS application requires buyers to use their own AWS infrastructure, clearly state in the product description that any additional AWS infrastructure costs incurred will be the buyer’s responsibility, separate from the AWS Marketplace transaction.

➡️ Buyer Registration Page

• Customers must be able to subscribe, create an account, and access the SaaS app immediately after purchasing it on AWS Marketplace.
• If access is delayed, provide clear instructions in a notification to the buyer after they subscribe. 
• If a customer already has an account, they should be able to log in from the provided Application Login Page URL.

➡️ Architecture & Hosting Requirements

• SaaS products must follow AWS-approved hosting patterns to qualify as deployed on AWS.
• Products running entirely on AWS receive a special designation in search results and product pages along with a badge for ‘Deployed on AWS’ on their listing in AWS Marketplace. 
• Certain benefits, like Private Pricing Addendum (PPA) commitment retirement, will remain exclusive to SaaS products that are fully hosted on AWS.
• If your product migrates workloads to AWS, AWS must be the only target—multi-cloud support requires a separate listing.
• If your app requires buyer infrastructure:
  • •  Your control plane must reside in your own managed infrastructure.
    • Use secure provisioning methods like AWS Security Token Service (STS) and IAM.
    • You must follow the principle of least privilege when creating usage instructions or deployment templates that grant permissions to your application.

➡️ Deployment Compliance for AWS CloudFormation in SaaS Applications

If your SaaS product uses AWS CloudFormation templates (CFTs) to deploy resources in a buyer’s AWS account, you must meet the following compliance requirements:

• Ensure that CFTs follow AWS Marketplace policies and are included in your SaaS listing.
• If using SaaS Quick Launch, align your CFTs with the recommended deployment method.
• Pass all necessary AWS security compliance checks before publishing.
• Submit proof of compliance to AWS Marketplace operations when requesting product publication.

➡️ Architecture Diagram Guidelines

• Upload an architecture diagram in AWS Marketplace Management Portal to receive the AWS-deployed designation.
• Both high-level and low-level diagrams are accepted as long as they provide clear details.
• Clearly label application and control planes.
• Place components where they logically run (e.g., seller’s AWS account, buyer’s AWS account, etc.).

Conclusion

By following these AWS Marketplace guidelines, sellers ensure compliance, improve buyer trust, and create a smooth experience for all stakeholders. Keeping these best practices in mind will help maximize the success of your AWS Marketplace listing.