Microsoft has announced that the Visual Studio Marketplace is now open to third-party sellers of Visual Studio Team Services extensions.
These extensions help teams of developers collaborate and manage their projects as they create software together. Previously only a select few Microsoft Extensions were sold in the Visual Studio Marketplace. But now in addition to Test Manager, Visual Studio, and HockeyApp, developers will be able to purchase third party extensions in the Visual Studio Marketplace.
Extensions’ publishers can use the Azure Publishing Portal to set up their subscriptions; choosing offers and pricing plans. Microsoft has also partnered with two publishers to fine-tune the process of converting existing extensions into paid extensions.
All extensions will also have a 30-day trial period for users. Publishers should see this functionality roll out by the fourth quarter of 2016. Microsoft also announced they are working on paid extensions for Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio, as well as options for publishers like offering discounts and annual subscriptions.
