I talked to 8 SaaS founders, these are the most common SaaS tools they use
Hey everyone! I started this website called FounderStacks where you can see what tools/services founders use to run their business.
I talked to 8 SaaS founders, ranging from small indie product founders all the way up to a startup founder doing 8 figures in revenue, to get what they use and how much they pay.
These are the most common saas products used:
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Stripe (5 / 8 use it)
Average score: 80 / 100
Costs go up into the thousands per month based on how much revenue they are doing.
Top Review: "It handles all the payment methods we offer. We also built an entire subscription system for our customers using Stripe Connect. Our customers can offer subscriptions to their customers using Calendesk and Stripe. I like their API; it's easy to integrate and super reliable. Additionally, the variety of features Stripe offers allows companies like Calendesk to provide more options for their customers. However, I'm not a fan of their invoicing system. We couldn't use it in Poland because it lacked some important information required for Polish customers. The fees are quite high as well."
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Webflow (3/8 use it)
Average score: 85 / 100
Average cost: $61 / month
Top Review: "We'll be using it soon for the new product page, blog, and help center. We're moving away from custom code. It solves the problem of designing UIs and then having to code them. Now, just one person can manage the website design and simultaneously bring the design to life on a real webpage. It also seems to be well-optimized for SEO purposes. However, I dislike their pricing; there are lots of hidden costs that you're unaware of when you start. Sometimes, the designer itself is buggy, especially in the localization modules."
Other Tools Mentioned Where 2/8 use them: Sendgrid, Slack, Google Workspace, Trello, ChatGPT, AWS, Plausible
More datapoints:
The median number of software products used by a SaaS founder is 8 products.
The founder of the 8 figure company with 100+ employees uses 27 products.
Hope this is interesting!
Note: This is based off the data I have, I wasn't able to get some data like cost/score for every single one of them.
This is a great idea - will complete the form (our stack is at least 20 right now, as visualized in a literally stack of cards on our board!)
That would be great! If there's any way I can make it easier or faster on you I can do that too..i've had people send me all of the information in a voice note
Not sure if this can be a business but i'm trying!
I also think it's a business, and good for you (and us)! If it's helpful -
Amazing feedback that I have written down to implement :) thank you!
I wonder what no code platform is most used by SAAS companies, anyone know?
I would guess Bubble. I can't prove it any way but every no code software dev agency i've heard of uses bubble.
It's sad to know that nobody is using the platform to collect video testimonials.
Cool post! I guess Webflow is for sure the best when it comes to Website building
Thanks! Yeah i like webflow (what i used to make my site) but it can get pricy as you scale. I have a friend who got up to like $9k per year on webflow for all his sites
Insightful compilation! This article offers valuable insights into essential SaaS tools used by industry leaders. Much appreciated for sharing!
No problem :)
Cool project, This data is incredibly useful for anyone starting or running a SaaS business. Do you have any plans to expand this research to include more founders or different industries?
Yep i've mainly started with software, ecommerce, and agency owners. But really adding anyone right now!
Cool project! Worth improving styling a bit though.
Thanks! Work in progress haha
The insights are interesting. Your idea is great and have potential for expansion. These are qualitative data, people would be interested in having quantitative data.
What quantitative data would you like to see?
Currently getting how much they pay and having them give a score out of 100
To enhance the quantitative aspect, consider adding metrics that reflect user satisfaction and tool effectiveness. Here are a few suggestions:
Integration Complexity: Rate how easy or difficult it is to integrate each tool with existing systems. Seamless integration can be a significant factor in tool selection.
ROI Estimates: You can ask founders to estimate the return on investment for each tool. This could be in terms of time saved, revenue generated, or customer satisfaction.
User Adoption Rates: How quickly and widely are the tools being adopted within their organization?
Feature Utilization: What percentage of available features are actively being used? This can highlight if companies are overpaying for unused functionalities.
I hope by incorporating these few metrics, you can provide a richer, data-driven perspective that can greatly aid other founders in decision-making.
Also you can keep expanding your sample size and founders from different regions.
Cool project. This data is going to be quite helpful for anybody starting a SaaS business.
thank you!
I'm pretty surprised no auth provider is mentioned, seems second only to collecting money. Unless we consider AWS?
I'd love to add you to the site as well if you're up for it!
Sure, why not?
Sweet! you can fill out the form here:
https://www.founderstacks.co/add-stack
I just looked back and I think these were all that were mentioned: AWS, Render, Clerk
Just starting out with this project so definitely could be better on getting absolutely everything they use!