> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.akua.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Sellable products
> Wrap a Package into a sellable product for the marketplace or private offers
Products are sellable wrappers around [Packages](/packages). A Product gives a Package catalog metadata, marketplace visibility, and sale paths so customers can purchase and install your software through the marketplace or a private [Offer](/marketplace/offers).
A Product points at a Package version and controls how that Package is presented for sale. When a customer purchases, Akua creates an [order draft](/marketplace/order-drafts), provisions a [private installation repository](/installs/repositories) for that customer, and installs the selected Package version with the customer's inputs.
This page is about the Products you create and sell. For Akua's own platform capability catalog, see [Platform capabilities](/capabilities).
## How sellable products work
Products package your software for sale. Each Product includes:
* **Package binding**: the Package and version customers install
* **Display settings**: name, description, images, and visibility options
* **Sale paths**: public marketplace listing, reusable Offer, or private customer Offer
* **Commercial setup**: optional payment configuration for customer billing
When customers purchase your product, Akua automatically provisions a per-customer installation repository and applies the rendered manifests to the selected cluster. Each customer gets their own isolated installation with dedicated resources.
## How a product becomes an installation
```
Package version + product metadata
│
▼ customer purchases via offer or marketplace
Per-install repository (akua.toml + package.k + inputs.yaml + upstream/ + manifests/)
│
▼ cluster syncs
Running installation
```
Every installation gets its own repository with vendored sources, the customer's inputs, and the rendered Kubernetes manifests. The repository is the install target: your cluster reads from it, your team can edit it, and every change ships with a commit history. See [Concepts](/concepts) for the full picture.
## Products and offers
Products can appear in the marketplace or stay private behind [Offers](/marketplace/offers): shareable short URLs (`akua.dev/i/`) that take customers directly into the install wizard.
An Offer can pre-fill and optionally lock specific input fields. The wizard form is generated from the selected Package version's input schema, so customers configure their install without any hand-coded form on your part. Input schema quality (docstrings, grouping, ordering, widget hints) is the main lever for a great customer experience.
## When to use products
Use sellable products when you want to sell software to customers:
* **Open source monetization**: offer managed, dedicated installations of your OSS project (databases, dev tools, analytics, CMS) as a cloud service without building multi-tenant infrastructure
* **SaaS with dedicated instances**: enterprise customers who need isolation get their own installation (healthcare, finance, collaboration tools)
* **Managed database services**: offer dedicated database clusters (PostgreSQL, Redis, ClickHouse) per customer
* **Custom applications**: B2B SaaS, industry-specific software, white-label solutions, or internal tools turned into products
## Sellable products vs direct installs
| | Sellable products | Direct installs |
| -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Purpose** | Sell software to customers | Internal tools, shared databases, monitoring |
| **Pricing** | Optional Stripe integration | No pricing |
| **Marketplace** | Listed when catalog visibility is enabled | Not listed |
| **Offers** | Yes (shareable install wizard links) | No |
| **Per-install repository** | Yes, one per customer | Yes, one per install |
Both flavors generate per-installation repositories from Package versions and inputs. Learn more about [installations →](/installs).
## Creating a product
Create a product from the [Products dashboard](https://akua.dev/products?create=product). You will:
1. Select an existing Package or create one from an authored `package.k` and supported package dependencies.
2. Choose the Package version that the Product should sell.
3. Add product metadata and decide whether the Product is public in the marketplace or only sold through private Offers.
4. Configure payment when the Product should collect money during checkout.
To collect payment, enable the workspace's commerce payment path, then configure the commercial terms used by the listing or Offer.
## API
Create, update, archive, and list products.
Create and manage offers for your products.
Create Packages, inspect versions, and fetch input schemas.
## Related topics
Manage versioned install definitions and input schemas.
Map Akua's platform catalog categories to docs areas.
Share short URLs that drive the generated install wizard.
How customer purchase journeys are tracked.
How products create customer installations.
Plans, quotas, and platform billing.