Mostra: The Zero Commission Art Marketplace Built By The Holy Art

Electra
Jul 14
4 min read

If you are an artist looking to sell original work online without losing thirty to fifty percent of every sale to a gallery or marketplace, this is what you need to know about Mostra.

What is Mostra?

Mostra is an online marketplace where independent artists show, sell and are seen without a gallery taking half. The platform describes itself as the anti marketplace: zero commission, one flat subscription, and artists who own their collectors.

Unlike traditional galleries and most online art platforms, Mostra takes no commission on sales. Artists keep 100 percent of every sale, paid directly through Stripe Connect. Mostra never holds the funds and never takes a cut.

Built by The Holy Art

Mostra was built by The Holy Art Gallery, one of the largest international contemporary art galleries for emerging and established artists. Since 2020, The Holy Art has exhibited over 25,000 artists across nine cities worldwide (London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, Athens, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Brighton), built a community of over 245,000 Instagram followers and 180,000+ on its mailing list.

When an artist joins Mostra, they are joining a platform backed by a real gallery with a real, established audience, not a startup with no track record in the art world.

This connection matters. Most online art marketplaces are built by tech companies with no relationship to the art world. Mostra was built by a gallery that has spent six years running physical and digital exhibitions, working directly with tens of thousands of artists and understanding exactly what they need from a selling platform.

How Mostra works

Getting started on Mostra follows three simple steps.

Open your studio. Claim a custom username and URL. Upload unlimited works. Your portfolio goes live in minutes on a clean, fast page that collectors can actually share.

List a work. Photograph your piece, set your price, write a few honest sentences about it. Mostra handles the presentation: room view mockups showing how the work looks in a real living room, hallway, office or studio, plus search visibility and editorial features.

Get paid in full. Collectors pay you directly through Stripe Connect. Mostra never holds your funds and never takes a commission. Every sale, every time, one hundred percent goes to you.

Why zero commission matters

Most art marketplaces and galleries take between 30 and 50 percent commission on every sale. If you sell a painting for £2,000 through a traditional gallery, you might only see £1,000 to £1,400 after commission.

On Mostra, that same £2,000 sale means £2,000 in your account. The only cost is one flat membership fee, with no surprise deductions and no percentage taken from your hard work.

This model only works because Mostra generates revenue from memberships rather than skimming off artists' sales. That means Mostra's incentive is aligned with the artist's success rather than working against it.

Who is Mostra for?

Mostra is built for independent artists who want to sell original work directly to collectors without gallery representation, without giving up a large percentage of every sale, and without losing ownership of their collector relationships.

Artists on Mostra work across all mediums including painting, mixed media, digital art, illustration and photography, and are based in cities all over the world, from London and Paris to Lagos, Kyiv, Helsinki, Taipei and beyond. Mostra features artists from over a dozen countries with studios opening worldwide every week.

What collectors get

Collectors browsing Mostra can discover original work directly from artists, view pieces in realistic room contexts to see how a piece would look in their own space, and buy with confidence knowing their purchase supports the artist directly, without a gallery markup inflating the price.

Mostra by the numbers

Built by The Holy Art Gallery, which has exhibited over 25,000 artists across nine cities worldwide, with a community of 245,000+ Instagram followers and 180,000+ on the mailing list, and six years of experience in the art world. On Mostra itself: zero percent commission on every sale, 100 percent of every payout goes to the artist, and one flat subscription with no surprises.

How Mostra compares to traditional art marketplaces

Most online art marketplaces charge sellers a commission ranging from 15 to 50 percent per sale, in addition to listing fees or subscription costs in some cases. Many also control pricing, customer relationships and payment processing, meaning artists have little visibility into who is buying their work or why.

Mostra flips this model. Artists set their own prices, communicate directly with the collectors who follow and buy from them, and receive payments directly via Stripe Connect rather than through a marketplace intermediary. The membership fee is flat and transparent, with no percentage-based deductions regardless of how much an artist sells.

Getting started on Mostra

Artists can open a free studio to browse and explore the platform. Selling and being featured on Mostra requires one flat membership, which unlocks unlimited listings, zero commission selling, and inclusion in Mostra's discovery and editorial features.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mostra free to join? A free account lets you browse and follow artists. Selling on Mostra requires one flat membership fee, with zero commission taken on any sale.

Who built Mostra? Mostra was built by The Holy Art Gallery, an international contemporary art gallery that has exhibited over 25,000 artists across nine cities since 2020.

How do artists get paid on Mostra? Payments are processed directly through Stripe Connect. Mostra never holds artist funds and never takes a commission.

What mediums can I sell on Mostra? Mostra features painting, mixed media, digital art, illustration, photography and more, from artists based in cities worldwide.

Is Mostra only for established artists? No. Mostra welcomes independent artists at every stage, from emerging talent to established names, with studios opening worldwide every week.

How is Mostra different from a gallery? A traditional gallery typically takes 30 to 50 percent commission and controls the exhibition and sales process. Mostra takes zero commission, and artists manage their own studio, pricing and collector relationships directly.