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Where can you sell an AI character? Marketplaces compared

2026-10-15 · OpenStela

It depends on what you're selling. If you want to sell many copies of a file, like a sticker set, a LoRA or a reference sheet, Etsy, a Discord Server Shop or Civitai will do it, and they handle the payment. If you want to sell the character itself, once, to one buyer who then holds it, none of those three is built for that. Sellers usually end up in Discord DMs, where nothing is written down. OpenStela is built for that one-off handover: a contract, a file check, and a record that moves with the character. It doesn't handle the payment, though.

So the two questions to ask before comparing fees are these. Is the buyer getting a copy or the original? And who holds the money between "I'll take it" and "here are the files"? The table answers both for each option. The sections after it give the details, with links to each platform's own pages.

The options side by side

Fees and features checked 2026-10-15. Platforms change their fees, so click through before you decide.

Discord DMs: free, and nothing is defined

This is where most character sales happen today. Someone sees your character in a server and asks if it's for sale. You agree on a price, they send money through a payment service, and you send a PSD or a zip.

Discord takes no cut because Discord isn't involved. Your payment service may charge a fee, and you'll need to check theirs. The real cost is what's missing. Nothing written says what was sold, whether you can keep using the character, or whether you might sell it again next month. If the buyer says the files never arrived, or you say the payment never cleared, all you have is a chat log. And the buyer can't check anything you tell them about the character's history.

For a $20 sale between people who already trust each other, that may be fine. Past that, the gaps are the problem. How do I sell an AI character? goes through what a definite sale needs.

Discord Server Shop: Discord handles payment, for copies

Discord also has a built-in shop. According to its Server Shop help page for server owners, you can sell "Downloadables" and "Premium Roles" as one-time purchases. Discord has a 90/10 split: you keep 90% and Discord keeps 10%, and the page adds that "there are various fees that will impact your final payment amount." The page also notes that Apple takes an extra cut of subscriptions started in the iOS app.

Some limits matter for characters:

• US only. You need a US bank account and US ID for Stripe. The Creator Revenue FAQ says monetization won't be available outside the United States.
• File types. Downloadables accept .png, .mov, .pdf, .jpeg and .gif, up to 10 files and 500 MB per product. Zip and rar files aren't supported, so a character pack has to be sent as loose images or a PDF.
• Payout thresholds. Your first payout comes once you've earned $100. After that the threshold is $25.

What the buyer gets is a copy, and every buyer gets the same one. That suits reference sheets, wallpapers or a member-only channel. It doesn't fit "this character now belongs to you." Read Discord's Monetization Terms for what you're agreeing to.

Etsy: a big audience, for copies

Etsy's Fee Basics page sets out three fees most sellers pay:

1. Listing fee: $0.20 per listing, charged whether or not it sells.
2. Transaction fee: 6.5% of the total order amount, including shipping and gift wrap if you charge for them.
3. Payment processing fee: a set rate plus a percentage, which varies by country.

Etsy Ads and Offsite Ads cost extra if you use them. On a $40 digital download, the first two come to $2.80 before processing.

Etsy sells digital downloads, and its What Can I Sell on Etsy? page has a section on AI-made items. Read it, and the current Terms of Use, before you list anything AI-made.

Etsy's strength is the audience: people already go there to buy. Like the Discord shop, it sells copies of a file to many buyers. A listing doesn't describe rights beyond what you write in it, and nothing marks that a character has passed from one owner to the next.

Civitai: selling access to a model

If your character lives as a LoRA or checkpoint, Civitai is the natural place. Its post The 2026 Creator Program: The Full Picture (published 2026-07-30, updated 2026-10-13) lists the ways to earn:

• You earn when people generate with your model, plus tips. No membership is needed for this.
• You can set a licensing fee per generation, or sell access to a model "for generation, download, or both."
• Each month you can put new prices on a limited number of model versions: Free 3, Bronze 10, Silver 25, Gold unlimited.
• The Creator Shop sells cosmetics you design, and "you keep 70% of each sale."

Earnings are in Buzz, Civitai's on-site currency. Turning Buzz into money goes through the Creator Program's monthly pool, which is for members, and each tier has a monthly cap. Per the October 13 update, from 2026-11-01 generation compensation can still be spent on the site but can't be banked. Licensing fees, access sales and tips still can.

Here the buyer gets access, and many people can buy access to the same model. That fits a character LoRA you want to keep earning from. It doesn't fit handing the character to one buyer. Check Civitai's Terms of Service for your plan.

OpenStela: handing over the character itself

OpenStela is a registry with a market attached. Our hero line puts it this way: "Upload the characters and works you already have, get an on-chain ID and record — and when you sell, the record goes with them."

Here's what's different. You register the character first. It gets an ID, a fingerprint for each spec version, and a record anchored on chain that night. Listing is free. A character can be in showcase (no price, the default), for sale, exclusive licence, or non-exclusive licence. Buyers reach you through a thread on the character's page. A deal starts from a contract template the platform fills in with the ID, spec fingerprint and works. Both sides edit the commercial terms, then each signs the fingerprint of the same text.

Payment goes directly from the buyer to you, by whatever method you agreed. The buyer reports it and you confirm. Then you pay the deal fee: 5% of the price, minimum $15, or minimum $3 for a non-exclusive licence. The platform then moves the pack. In an assignment, the pack moves out of your account rather than being copied, and the file list is compared against the one frozen at signing. The buyer has an acceptance window, 72 hours by default and negotiable, to check what arrived. The transfer is written into the character's record. What actually moves when you sell a character walks through it file by file.

What it doesn't do matters just as much:

• There's no escrow. We never hold the price. Someone still has to pay or deliver first. Reporting and confirming create a record, but the risk doesn't go away.
• There's not much of an audience yet. A market is only as useful as the buyers browsing it. Etsy and Civitai have far more traffic.
• Works have no deal room. A song or video registered without a character can be listed for contact, but the contract and transfer are only for characters.
• The record is evidence, not title. It shows what was registered and when, and what was signed and transferred. It doesn't show that the seller made the character or had the right to sell it. What does an ID actually prove? sets out where that line sits.

Pricing and how a sale runs have the full details.

Which one fits your sale

These aren't really competitors. They sell different things, and plenty of creators use more than one.

1. Many copies of a file (sticker packs, reference sheets, wallpapers): Etsy if you want an audience that's already shopping, or a Discord Server Shop if your buyers are already in your server and you're in the US.
2. Ongoing income from a character model: Civitai, with paid access or a licensing fee.
3. The character itself, to one buyer, or an exclusive licence for a term: this is where DMs leave the most undefined. A registry gives both sides the same written object, contract and transfer record. You still settle payment between yourselves.
4. A small sale to someone you trust: DMs are fine. Write down in the chat what's being sold and whether you keep any rights.

Whatever you use, keep your original files and a note of how you made the character. That's the same advice as in Five ways to prove a file existed on a date. No marketplace can supply that history later, and a buyer paying real money will ask for it.

This is general information, not legal advice. Platform fees and terms change, so read the current pages linked above before you list.