What's the difference between an Inventory Seller Node and a Marketplace Seller Node on ONDC?
The short answer
An Inventory Seller Node (ISN) is for brands that manufacture or hold their own stock and sell it directly, this is the path most D2C brands take. A Marketplace Seller Node (MSN) is for platforms that aggregate multiple sellers, closer to how Amazon or Flipkart function within the ONDC framework. If you're a single-brand D2C business, you almost certainly want an ISN-type seller app integration, not an MSN, picking the wrong one adds unnecessary complexity to your ONDC integration.
A quick summary to orient you. The real value is below: the resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it, not us.
Here are the resources
Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time. India-specific ones carry a badge.
Why we picked it
The technical registry documentation, mostly relevant if you or your dev team are evaluating a seller app's integration quality, or considering building a custom integration rather than using an off-the-shelf seller app.
Why we picked it
The official ONDC page for sellers - the source of truth on how to actually onboard, which buyer/seller apps are live, and what the network currently supports, rather than a third-party summary.
Why we picked it
A more managed onboarding route for founders who don't want to navigate the ONDC registry/seller-app landscape solo, worth comparing against a DIY seller-app signup on cost and speed.
