How much does it cost to build a marketplace app like Airtasker?

Where the money goes: a $110k first version

This is an illustrative split for an Airtasker-style first version. Real quotes move each line with scope.

Not included: legal advice, marketing, provider recruitment and third-party running costs.

The customer side

Customers search, compare, book or post a job, pay, message the provider and leave a review. This side must feel as easy as the big apps they already use.

The provider side

Providers sign up, prove who they are, set prices and availability, accept work and get paid. Onboarding is longer here. Stripe checks identity for payouts. Licences, ABNs or police checks depend on the work, and Stripe doesn’t cover those.

The admin panel

Your team approves providers, handles disputes, issues refunds, bans bad actors and watches the numbers. It is usually a web app. In a test phase it can be very basic, but someone needs these controls.

Worked example: 1,000 jobs a month

This is an illustration, not a quote. Say 1,000 jobs at $200 each, or $200,000 of bookings. Your 15% fee earns $30,000. If that includes GST, $2,727 of it goes to the ATO.

If you handle pricing and pay card fees, Stripe’s processing costs $3,300 + $300 = $3,600. Providers receive $170,000.

Say 300 providers get 1,200 payouts between them. Payout fees are 0.25% of $170,000 ($425) plus 1,200 × $0.25 ($300).

Funds routing adds another 0.25% ($425). Stripe lists it as a separate line, so confirm how it applies with them.

The 300 active providers add $2 each ($600). The total is about $5,350, close to 18% of your $30,000 fee.

This leaves out refunds, chargebacks, international cards and currency conversion. If Stripe handles pricing instead, providers pay the card fees, not you. You control less of the experience.

No card surcharges from 1 October 2026

The Reserve Bank’s decision ends surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa from 1 October 2026. Stripe has turned off surcharging in Australia altogether. Build card costs into your fee.

A flat booking fee that isn’t tied to the payment method is a separate question. Show it in the upfront total, not at checkout. Renaming a card surcharge doesn’t work.

Australian Consumer Law and unfair contract terms

Your terms can’t remove consumer guarantees. Who owes them, you or the provider, depends on how your platform is set up. Private sellers not in business don’t give some guarantees.

Since 9 November 2023, unfair terms in new, renewed or varied standard form contracts can bring penalties.

That covers your contracts with providers too, if they are small businesses with fewer than 100 employees or under $10 million turnover. The ACCC has already acted against an Australian care platform over its terms.

Gig workers: “employee-like” workers and digital labour platforms

The Closing Loopholes reforms created rules for digital labour platforms. A platform is covered if it arranges work by contractors and processes their payments.

Some contractors on these platforms are “employee-like” workers. Among other conditions, they have two of three traits. These are low bargaining power, pay at or below an employee’s, and little control over the work.

Since 26 February 2025, covered platforms must follow the Digital Labour Platform Deactivation Code before removing these workers. Workers with 6 months of regular work, earning under the contractor high income threshold, can apply to the Fair Work Commission. It can order reactivation and lost pay.

The first minimum standards order started on 17 August 2026. The Interim On-Demand Delivery Employee-Like Worker Minimum Standards Order covers app-based food, drink and grocery delivery. It sets pay floors, insurance and record-keeping. More orders may follow for other platform work.

For the app, this means real features. You need deactivation warnings and records, earnings records and a way for workers to respond. Price them in.

GST on your fees

You must register for GST within 21 days once your current or projected GST turnover reaches $75,000. Then you charge GST on your platform fees. Decide early whether your fee is “15% + GST” or GST-inclusive.

On a $30 fee, that is $3 on top, or $2.73 of GST inside the $30. Whether GST applies to the fee or the whole booking depends on your model, so ask your accountant.

Ride-sourcing is different. The ATO treats it as taxi travel, so every driver must register for GST before their first trip, whatever they earn.

Overseas sellers raise another rule. For digital products and low-value imported goods, the platform can be liable for GST on their sales to Australians. Ask your accountant before you allow offshore sellers.

The ATO’s Sharing Economy Reporting Regime

Under the Sharing Economy Reporting Regime, platforms report what their sellers earn. It covered ride-sourcing and short-term stays from 1 July 2023 and most other platform services from 1 July 2024.

You report twice a year: by 31 January and by 31 July. Reports include each seller’s name, contact and bank details and ABN, plus date of birth for individuals. Totals for gross pay, GST and your fees are grouped per seller, per quarter.

Sales of goods where ownership changes hands are not reported. Hire of assets, like cars or equipment, can be.

Collect these details at onboarding and build the report export into the admin panel. Adding them later means chasing thousands of providers.

Privacy and automated decisions

The Privacy Act covers businesses over $3 million turnover, plus some smaller ones, such as those trading in personal information. Check the OAIC’s small business guide. A marketplace holding IDs and bank details should follow the Australian Privacy Principles either way.

From 10 December 2026, covered businesses must explain in their privacy policy decisions that a computer program makes or substantially informs. This applies when the program uses someone’s personal information and the decision could significantly affect them. Automatic deactivation or a blocked payout could qualify. See the OAIC’s fact sheet.