What Is SaaS? Software as a Service Explained

Familiar SaaS products include Slack, Zoom, Shopify, HubSpot, Salesforce, Notion, Figma, Gmail, Google Docs, Dropbox, and Spotify. Essentially any software you access via a browser or subscribe to monthly fits the SaaS model.

Automatic updates (no manual installs), access from any device, lower upfront cost (subscription vs perpetual licence), built-in backups, and the ability to scale your plan up or down as needed.

Ongoing subscription costs (can exceed buying a licence over time), dependency on the vendor staying in business, data stored on third-party servers (privacy considerations), and internet dependency.

Through monthly or annual subscription fees. Most use a freemium model — a free tier that converts users to paid plans. Revenue scales with the number of subscribers and average revenue per user (ARPU).