* [Topics](/en/topics "Topics") * [Cloud services](/en/topics/cloud-computing "Cloud services") * What is a cloud marketplace? What is a cloud marketplace? ============================ Published January 17, 2023•*3*-minute read Copy URL Jump to section --------------- OverviewWhat is a cloud marketplace?Why use a cloud marketplace?Procurement options Overview -------- A cloud marketplace is an online storefront where customers can purchase software and services that easily integrate with or are built on the cloud provider’s offerings. It also offers cloud-native applications that customers can purchase and manage on the platform. Major software and cloud service providers–including Red Hat, [Amazon Web Services](/en/partners/aws/red-hat-on-aws) (AWS), [Google Cloud Platform](/en/partners/google/red-hat-on-google-cloud-marketplace) (GCP), and [Microsoft Azure](/en/partners/microsoft/red-hat-on-azure)–have cloud marketplaces. [Explore Red Hat cloud services](/en/resources/openshift-cloud-services-tei "SOLP: Cloud powers the adaptive enterprise") What is a cloud marketplace? ---------------------------- Cloud marketplaces initially served as online stores where customers could buy, click, and deploy software. For example, customers could purchase an image of the desired software through the AWS Marketplace and deploy it on their virtual machine (VM) instances on AWS. It was a convenient purchasing method for many cloud users at the time: it didn’t require contacting sales, it provided consumption-based billing, and software costs were based on usage. However, this method only offered software via  the consumption-based model. While this was ideal for start-ups and many small and medium-sized businesses, changes were required to address larger enterprises. Flexible purchase options are crucial for large enterprise customers that are more accustomed to negotiating annual or multiyear enterprise contracts and potentially reluctant to adopt pay-as-you-go pricing structures. To better serve enterprise needs and optimize cloud spend, cloud marketplace platforms evolved into one-stop shops for third-party software and integrated flexible billing models—including pay-as-you-go, software subscriptions, and private, negotiated offers with the software vendor.  [AWS Marketplace](https://aws.amazon.com/partners/redhat/), [Microsoft Azure Marketplace](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/solutions/linux-on-azure/red-hat/#overview) and [Google Cloud Marketplace](https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/product/rhel-cloud/rhel-8?pli=1) are the largest cloud service providers. Each provider’s marketplace carries their own products, cloud solutions and professional services as well as those of independent software vendors. For example, many of Red Hat’s products–including [Red Hat® Enterprise Linux®](/en/technologies/linux-platforms/enterprise-linux), [Red Hat® OpenShift®](/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift), and [Red Hat® Ansible® Automation Platform](/en/technologies/management/ansible)–are available for purchase through these marketplaces. They also all have flexible purchase options to buy software as a service (SaaS) subscriptions that function on VMs in their environments, and they can seamlessly integrate with cloud provider [application program interfaces](/en/topics/api/what-are-application-programming-interfaces) (APIs). Red Hat resources ----------------- [Keep reading](/en/resources "Keep reading") Why use a cloud marketplace? ---------------------------- Cloud marketplaces offer several benefits for the enterprise. One of the biggest advantages of using a cloud marketplace is [committed spend](/en/topics/cloud-computing/committed-spend). This is a predetermined annual spend with the service provider that is often negotiated with a discount. According to [Tackle](https://tackle.io/resources/reports/state-of-cloud-marketplaces/#Section10), nearly half–43%–of buyers say taking advantage of their committed spend with cloud providers is their top reason for purchasing through a cloud marketplace, up from 20% in 2020. Organizations can look at the services available in the provider’s marketplace and use the allocated funds to make purchases that will best integrate with their hybrid cloud strategies.  These marketplaces can help simplify the procurement process. All purchases are made through a single cloud vendor, rather than routing thousands of products through different vendors for approval.  Cloud marketplaces also provide a single source of billing and invoicing, which can be especially helpful for those looking to centralize budgets. The cloud marketplace provider bills the customer and is then billed by the third-party vendor for use of the product. This minimizes administration around procurement, saving time and professional resources that can be assigned to other high-value workloads. [Check out four benefits of using Red Hat products on Microsoft Azure](/en/engage/red-hat-solutions-20220728 "SOLP | 4 benefits of using Red Hat solutions on Microsoft Azure") Which procurement option is right for you? ------------------------------------------ The best procurement option for each enterprise should be determined by its overall usage, scale, and needs. While the below scenarios can serve as a starting point and help provide direction, it is important to note there is no one-size-fits-all purchasing method:  * **Pay-as-you-go:** For smaller enterprises with consistent usage and a committed number of reserved VM instances, a pay-as-you-go model may be the best option for you. * [**Subscription**](/en/about/value-of-Red-Hat) **model:** SaaS subscriptions can be a great option for organizations wanting to put some of their committed spend toward the flexibility of a subscription should their needs change. With this model, you only provide payments for expected usage over an established period of time (e.g. monthly, annually, every three years, etc.). * **Annual contract:** Organizations that experience significant peaks and valleys of use–such as retailers that see increased usage during events like Cyber Monday–are often better served by negotiating an annual contract. * **Private offer:**Organizations with existing vendor contracts or established relationships with trusted providers could benefit from a private offer. In this case, the software purchase is negotiated with the vendor sales representative. The customer is then moved online to the cloud marketplace to fulfill the purchase. [Invest your AWS committed spend on Red Hat solutions](/en/resources/invest-your-aws-committed-spend-overview "resources | Invest your AWS committed spend on Red Hat solutions - HTML") Resource Red Hat a Leader in 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud-Native Application Platforms ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud-Native Application Platforms report to learn about a “Leader” in security-focused cloud service solutions. [Read the report](/en/engage/gartner-magic-quadrant-cloud-application-platforms-analyst-report "Red Hat a Leader in 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud-Native Application Platforms") All Red Hat product trials -------------------------- Our no-cost product trials help you gain hands-on experience, prepare for a certification, or assess if a product is right for your organization. [Keep reading](/en/products/trials "All Red Hat product trials") Keep reading ------------ ### What is PaaS? Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is a form of cloud computing where the hardware and software platform is provided by a third party. [Read the article](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-paas "article | What is PaaS?") ### What is IaaS? Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is a form of cloud computing in which infrastructure services are provided to the user through a cloud. [Read the article](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-iaas "article | What is IaaS?") ### IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS “As-a-service” generally means a cloud computing service that is provided by a third party. [Read the article](/en/topics/cloud-computing/iaas-vs-paas-vs-saas "article | IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS") Cloud services resources ------------------------ ### Related content * E-book [The State of Kubernetes fleet management 2026](/en/resources/state-of-kubernetes-fleet-management-ebook) * Blog post [Turning complexity into confidence with Red Hat Technical Supportability Review with AI](/en/blog/turning-complexity-confidence-red-hat-technical-supportability-review-ai) * Blog post [Bringing new levels of security to the cloud-native frontier: Unified posture management and real-time protection](/en/blog/bringing-new-levels-security-cloud-native-frontier-unified-posture-management-and-real-time-protection) * Blog post [What’s in store for Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated on Google Cloud at Red Hat Summit](/en/blog/whats-store-red-hat-openshift-dedicated-google-cloud-red-hat-summit) ### Related articles * [IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS](/en/topics/cloud-computing/iaas-vs-paas-vs-saas) * [What is PaaS?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-paas) * [What is IaaS?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-iaas) * [What is CaaS?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-caas) * [Why run Linux on IBM Cloud](/en/topics/linux/linux-on-ibm-cloud) * [What is committed spend?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/committed-spend) * [Kubernetes on AWS: Self-Managed vs. Managed Applications Platforms](/en/topics/containers/kubernetes-on-aws) * [Why choose Red Hat for cloud services?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/why-choose-red-hat-for-cloud-services) * [What are cloud service providers?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-cloud-providers) * [What are Red Hat OpenShift cloud services?](/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift/what-are-red-hat-openshift-cloud-services) * [What are managed IT services?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-managed-it-services) * [What is SaaS?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-is-saas) * [What are cloud services?](/en/topics/cloud-computing/what-are-cloud-services) * [What is a service broker?](/en/topics/cloud-native-apps/service-brokers) * [What is FaaS?](/en/topics/cloud-native-apps/what-is-faas) [More about this topic](/en/topics/cloud-computing "More about this topic")