Appcharge was founded in 2022, and it was built around people: solution engineers, onboarding teams and account managers. Appside was founded in 2026, AI-native from day one. Appcharge's own documentation sends many store changes through your account manager, and its own launch messaging describes onboarding as manual. Appside is built the other way around: your team builds, edits and publishes the store, and your developers (or, let’s be honest, their AI agents) integrate it in three steps.
Every statement about Appcharge on this page comes from Appcharge's public website, docs, blog, job postings or press coverage, and links to its source. Checked October 25, 2026. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Appcharge was founded in 2022 (Wikipedia), before AI coding agents existed. Platforms from that era grow by hiring: more onboarding, more account managers, more hands-on QA. Appcharge grew from 34 people in 2023 to nearly 200 in 2026 (Revelio Labs). When the process runs on people, changing it means changing the company. In May 2026 Appcharge announced only the "first piece" of an AI-native platform (NewTechEurope).
Appside was founded in 2026, AI-native from the first line of code. The work their teams do by hand, our software does: drafting the store, checking it before publish, and guiding your developers and their coding agents through a three-step integration.
| Built in 2022 Appcharge, public sources | Built in 2026 Appside | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets up your store | People: solution engineers, onboarding and account management teams (job posting). | Software: the builder reads your app's icon and screenshots and drafts a store in your game's look in minutes. |
| How changes happen | Many features are switched on by your account manager (docs). | You change it in the Studio and publish. Every version is kept. |
| AI | MCP server announced May 2026 as the "first piece" of an AI-native platform. In sandbox, production "soon" (docs). | AI-native from day one: AI store builder, docs your coding agent can read, one typed API across every platform. |
| Docs for coding agents | Added in 2026 (docs). | From the start: llms.txt and a Markdown version of every docs page. |
| Price | Quote after a sales call. Not published. | Published: 3.9% per payment. No people-heavy setup to pay for, so no setup fee. |
Yes, if you want to build and change your web store yourself, without going through an account team, and you want a short integration your developers can finish on their own. Our published rate is 3.9%, below the 5–7% category range.
| Appcharge public sources, Oct 2026 | Appside | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | "Get in touch" form. No public sign-up or trial (homepage). | Open the sandbox studio and the live demo now, without a form. |
| Who runs your onboarding | Appcharge's Solution Engineers "own the technical implementation of publisher integrations", alongside dedicated Onboarding and Account Management teams (job posting). | Your developers, with a quickstart that runs against the sandbox. |
| QA before launch | Appcharge staff do "hands-on QA and verification of transaction flows" and manage configuration changes "in line with internal approval processes" (job posting). | Built-in checks before every publish: contrast, legal links and a confirmation on every price. You press Publish yourself. |
| Store features | Docs say to contact your account manager to turn on or customize special offers, bundles, tabs, level-based banners, badges and the maintenance page (docs). | Edit products, prices, badges, offers and design in the Studio, preview it, publish it. Every version is kept and can be restored. |
| Custom domain change | "Reach out to the Appcharge team to request the domain change" (docs). | On the roadmap as a self-serve setting. |
| Partial refunds | "Contact your account manager" (docs). Full refunds are self-serve. | Refunds reach your backend as a signed order.refunded webhook (docs). |
| In-app purchase integration | Six steps in the Payment Links flow: server checkout session, SDK open, award callback, deep link, SDK callbacks, server validation (docs). | Three steps: sign a player token, call openStore() or purchase(sku), grant on a signed webhook (docs). |
| Web store login | A separate player-authentication setup: SSO, player ID, OTP deeplink or game redirect, plus a callback to your server (docs). | The same signed player token logs the player in. No extra callback. |
| Engines and SDKs | Android, iOS and Unity. Other engines: "contact your account manager to scope a custom bridging plan" (docs). | Built and tested: Web/JS, Android, Flutter, Node and Python. In progress: iOS app build, Unity, React Native. Honest status per SDK (status). |
| AI-assisted setup | MCP server for coding agents, in sandbox with production "soon". Early access through your Appcharge contact (docs). | A store builder that drafts a store matching your app from its icon and screenshots. You approve every product and price. llms.txt on every docs page. |
| Pricing | Not published; you get a quote after a sales call (homepage). Third-party guides put the category at 5–7% (GameGrowthAdvisor). | 3.9% per successful payment, published right here. That's the only fee: no setup fee, no monthly fee, no minimum. Everything else is free. |
Appcharge doesn't publish its fees, so you only learn them after a sales call. Appside puts its price on the page: one rate per payment, nothing else.
Category estimate for merchant-of-record web shops (GameGrowthAdvisor). Appcharge doesn't publish its rate.
Per successful payment, and that's it. No setup fee, no monthly fee, no minimum. The Studio, SDKs, store changes and sandbox are all free.
Start free in the sandboxOn a $10M a year web store, the difference between 6% and 3.9% is $210,000 a year back to your studio.
"a self-service onboarding flow that replaces what was previously a manual, support-heavy cycle"
Appcharge MCP launch coverage, Mobidictum, May 2026
"Instead of spending days or weeks on manual onboarding and configuration work"
Gil Tov-Ly, Appcharge CMO, GamesBeat, May 2026
"We started with onboarding because that's where R&D time gets lost on the integration side."
Maor Sason, Appcharge CEO, GamesBeat, May 2026
Appcharge is working to change this with its MCP tooling, which is in sandbox with production "soon" per its docs. Appside was self-serve from day one.
Live ops move daily. With Appside, the people who run the game edit offers, badges, prices and design in the Studio and publish in minutes, with every version kept for rollback. No account manager in the loop.
Open the sandbox, point the builder at your app, and get a draft store in your game's colors. Your developers can buy a test pack from their own build the same day.
One signed player token both logs the player in and authorizes the purchase. Items are granted only on a signed, retried webhook. No checkout-session call, no separate login callback, no purchase ID to re-validate.
The same configure, openStore, purchase and webhook on web, mobile and server, with server SDKs for Node and Python. We publish which SDKs are tested and which are still in progress.
It depends on what you're optimizing for. Appside is built for teams that want to build, change and publish their web store themselves, with a three-step integration. Other options in the category include Xsolla, Stash and Aghanim.
Appcharge was founded in 2022. Appside was founded in 2026 and built AI-native from the start: an AI store builder, self-serve publishing, and docs written for both developers and their coding agents.
Appside publishes one rate: 3.9% per successful payment and nothing else: no setup fee, no monthly fee, no minimum. Everything else is free. Appcharge doesn't publish its pricing; third-party guides put merchant-of-record web shops at 5–7%.
No. Owners publish from the Studio. Editors can change products, prices, offers and design, and every published version can be restored.
Three steps: sign a player token on your backend, open the store or a single SKU from the app, and grant items on the signed order.paid webhook. The quickstart runs against the sandbox with test cards.
Yes. Keep your item-granting code, point it at our webhook, replace the checkout-session call with a player-token endpoint, and swap the SDK call. See Coming from Appcharge.
Games come first. It works for any app that sells credits, coins or packs.
Appcharge is a trademark of its owner. Appside is not affiliated with Appcharge.