SaaS services are an integral part of everyone’s daily life. We use SaaS much more often than we think. And the convenience, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and other advantages of SaaS gain the trust of consumers without having to explain their complex structure and philosophy of the model.
In this article, we decided to look into how SaaS companies can help businesses and share a list of SaaS solutions that are most popular with entrepreneurs.
According to market research, the SaaS market is projected to reach $716.52 billion by 2028.
What Is SaaS?
Software as a service, or SaaS, is one of the three main categories of cloud computing and is the most common among consumer-level products.
Gmail, Google Docs, and Microsoft Office 365 are SaaS, providing productivity applications over the Internet. For businesses, there are SaaS tools for sales management, call management, customer feedback collection, customer relationship management, financial management, customer experience surveys, human resources management, subscription management and recurring billing, market research, staff interaction… In fact, anything. SaaS applications are used by a range of IT professionals services and business users, as well as executives at various levels.
In 2020-2021, the need to distance put a strain on the social behavior of people, as well as the characteristics of business and production processes. Cloud technology, already growing rapidly in recent years, has received a tremendous push to develop and improve.
Pros and Cons of SaaS
Advantages
SaaS is very popular because it has many advantages. They include:
- Updates. Software hosted on a server can be updated centrally, unlike the traditional model in which the software would need to be updated on each machine. In other words, SaaS can be easily maintained with the latest version of the software at all times;
- Hardware. With the software running on the server, individual PCs don’t have to be updated to meet hardware requirements, and there are no issues with not meeting minimum requirements;
- Costs. With a subscription model, acquisition costs are reduced for businesses. In addition, users can be added on an as-needed monthly basis so businesses can expand;
- Rapid deployment. Because the software doesn’t need to be installed and configured on individual computers, it can be deployed much faster with SaaS;
- Accessibility. The SaaS application requires only a browser and an Internet connection to access it, allowing users to log in from anywhere. In addition, user data is stored in the cloud and is not tied to an individual user’s PC, making it easy to collaborate with other users.
Disadvantages
Despite the advantages of SaaS, there are also some disadvantages:
- Data security. For sensitive data, in the healthcare or legal spheres, confidential information goes outside the company’s server, which raises issues of access control, privacy, and security;
- Slow performance. Depending on the speed of your Internet connection and other necessary resources, a SaaS app may run slower than if the software runs locally;
- Lack of integration. With SaaS, there are fewer opportunities to integrate the software with other programs (compared to the traditional software).
For many companies, the pros have outweighed the cons, and there is a trend toward running more software through SaaS with a cloud computing model.
Must-Have SaaS Tools For Businesses
Since it can be costly to manage your own tools for many tasks in your business, consider the top SaaS tools below.
EmailAnalytics
If your team uses email to communicate, then you need EmailAnalytics. The app visualizes your team’s email activity, showing you essential metrics like emails received, sent, and average email response time.
This enables sales and customer service teams to track and improve response time. In fact, EmailAnalytics customers respond 42.5% faster than non-EmailAnalytics customers, on average. That leads to a 16% increase in sales and 100% happier customers (who doesn’t like faster responses, right?).
EmailAnalytics features:
- Daily/weekly/monthly email reports
- Data benchmarks
- Fast & easy team onboarding
Cost: 14-day free trial, then starting at $5/user per month.
Quickbooks
This is one of the most popular services for automating accounting. Entrepreneurs choose it because it works with popular CRM systems, tracks profits and losses, prints receipts, counts taxes, and collects balance sheets. Suitable for small companies who need an accounting system that meets their needs.
QuickBooks Online offers the most efficient, comprehensive, and useful tools. In addition, its flexibility and extensibility often surpass most Quickbooks alternatives.
Cost: by subscription from $12.95 per month. (30-day trial period)
LeadsBridge
LeadsBridge is an iPaaS solution that enables companies to enhance their omnichannel strategy by orchestrating their business data.
LeadsBridge fulfills your integration needs, focusing on bridging gaps between advertising platforms and sales funnels, and delivering tailor-made integrations made upon your business needs.
The LeadsBridge platform is suited for companies that want to streamline their advertising activities by integrating the marketing technology stack with Facebook & Instagram Ads, Google Ads, and LinkedIn Ads.
With more than +370 out-of-the-box integrations available at the moment, you can easily connect your chosen software with your advertising platform, seamlessly synchronizing data for your marketing workflows.
LeadsBridge main features include:
- Lead Sync
- Audience Targeting
- Online to Offline Tracking
- Platform to Platform
- eCommerce Synchronization
- Tailor-Made integration
LeadBridge offers a free trial for all four paid plans when billed monthly or annually. Paid plans start at just $29 with the self-service platform that offers up to 1.5k leads/mo.
RecurPost
RecurPost is a social media scheduler you can use to upload fresh content, which will be published instantly.
As a social media planner, they provide all the resources you require to keep your social media accounts active, whether you choose to use applications when on the go, our Chrome plugin while you browse, or regular schedules.
Features:
- Bulk scheduling
- White label reports
- Content marketing
- Royalty free images
Cost: RecurPost offers a 14-day free trial and their least expensive package runs around $12.50 a month.
EngageBay
EngageBay is a HubSpot alternative for startups, solopreneurs and small businesses. Since some of the popular marketing automation and CRM solutions can get really expensive for small firms, EngageBay was launched in 2017 as a one-stop alternative to get marketing, sales, and customer support tasks streamlined and automated.
About 30,000 business owners have tried EngageBay and the reviews are often great. The platform comes in handy when you need email templates, a landing page builder, canned or automated responses, a free integrated Live Chat widget for all your website pages, and real-time visual sales reports.
EngageBay features:
- Automation workflows with custom nodes
- Email & Landing page builder with templates
- Facebooks ads, social suite for customer tracking
- Video marketing
- Customer Support tickets and groups
Cost: Free plan lasts forever; paid plans start at $7.79/month.
Sked Social
Sked Social is an Instagram-first social media scheduler, giving you tools that get you the most out of Instagram, and faster.
It’s perfect for brands that are visually-led, and it can be used anywhere from simple ‘set and forget’ bulk posting to full social attribution tracking, lead generation, content creation, and UGC (user-generated content) sourcing.
Sked Social’s features include:
- Drag ‘n’ drop visual planner to perfect your grid
- Queue for set and forget posts that will go live at your best time to post
- Hashtag and creator search to instantly find trends and UGC
- Built in customizable link in bio tool, so your links are always on brand
- Workflows and collaboration for agencies and freelancers that make it easy to work across teams and with clients
- In-built canva and image editing so you create and post without leaving your dashboard
- 7+ other social media channels to cross-post to
InVideo
InVideo is a video-making platform that has 1.5 million users from 190 countries. It provides the convenience of online video editors directly to your browser. It’s perfect for making video advertising, promo videos, and social media videos, among other things. 4000+ designs, quality stock media, text boxes, and more are included with InVideo. The absence of an InVideo watermark on the free plan is a great way to start.
Features of InVideo Editor include:
- 4,000+ customized pre-made templates including the social media calendar
- 8M+ iStock and 1M+ Shutterstock Photos
- Easily convert articles to Video
- Easily cut, crop, crop, composite, and brand your work.
- Text-to-speech for accent free voiceovers
- Live chat support and online community
Available for: Windows, Mac, and iPad (on popular desktop-based browsers)
Hubspot
HubSpot is a solution for automating marketing and sales tasks. It is a service that covers all the areas of Internet marketing, and it is a universal solution in this area.
The service includes tools for blogging, social media, SEO, email marketing automation, 8 Best Free Digital Marketing Tools for Businesses in 2021content management, and landing pages. So instead of hiring an SEO consultant or content marketer to do everything for you, you can use this tool and it will be of great help. Hubspot can also help you conduct surveys but you can opt for an omnichannel survey software instead.
HubSpot offers the company to work in several directions simultaneously: attracting attention, converting leads into sales, and generating reports.
HubSpot features:
- Integrated CRM system;
- Form and landing page designer;
- Detailed reporting;
- Tracking of leads;
- Collaborative work.
- SMS automation via integration
Cost: free, premium version is required when connecting with the site. Many people find Huspot’s free offering is too limited so it may be worthwhile to check Hubspot Alternatives to find lower priced options.
Antavo Loyalty Management Platform
Antavo is an API-centric, no-code loyalty technology provider that creates complete, enterprise-grade loyalty programs for brands, merchants, and shopping malls to nurture brand love and impact customer behavior. Antavo supercharges omnichannel and eCommerce organizations’ marketing strategies with a scalable and holistic loyalty logic that offers a next-level shopping experience with best-in-class in-store capabilities.
Antavo is a ‘pure-play’ loyalty service provider that has been recognized by Gartner and Forrester for its strong emphasis on a comprehensive, but complex loyalty system. The firm is a great innovator, not just generating new features for its software but also producing new products for the retail space.
Antavo features a simple and smooth integration with corporate solutions thanks to the API layer. Its system provides a robust set of tools for managing all aspects of a sophisticated loyalty program in a consistent manner. Customers may design their own program, manage membership categories, provide rewards, use gamification and non-transactional components, and ultimately boost customer lifetime value.
Service now
The popularity of the ServiceNow platform is gaining momentum every year. It is like a snow avalanche: good applications and new technologies raise the interest of users and spur developers to make their product even better.
This is a service that supports all key ITSM (Information Technology Service Management) processes. Importantly, the architecture of the solution is designed for high loads, so it works without interruptions.
Cost: by subscription (there is a trial period).
SelfCAD
SelfCAD is an easy to use 3D modeling software for beginners and professionals. Though it’s main target is freelance designers, professionals and hobbyists, it’s also a great tool for businesses for creating advertising 3D materials and realistic renders much easily without even having to hire professionals to do it for them. There is also the interactive tutorial feature that businesses can use to bring their new employees onboard much quickly and easily.
Costy: by Subscription (there is a trial period)
Stripe
Stripe is an international system for secure Internet payments with plastic cards, in other words, a good counterpart to PayPal. Although it took some time for Stripe to catch up to PayPal, it now has millions of customers. Stripe meets international security standards, with PCI Level 1 certification, which is the highest level of certification in the payments industry. A convenient service is gaining popularity among giants as well (SAP, Kickstarter, Facebook, UNICEF, and others).
Features:
- Subscription features are simple;
- Reports are clear and transparent;
- Fixed price;
- Advanced reporting features to help you track your sales.
Cost: 2.9% + USD $0.3 per transaction.
Shopify
A Canadian platform that allows you to create your own online stores.
Since its launch, the platform has quickly grown from a small player to one of the leading eCommerce solutions next to BigCommerce, Volusion, Magento, or WooCommerce.
It’s easy to work with, requires no knowledge of code, so suitable for private entrepreneurs as well.
Cost: by subscription, from USD $29 per month. There is a trial period of 14 days.
Zoho
A set of useful office tools: free online document editors, a set of integrated business applications, a user administration, data analytics, and a data backup system. It is the choice of those who need everything at once.
Cost: free trial period of 15 days (then custom).
Many people are familiar with this corporate messenger.
The purpose of the service is to optimize team communication and facilitate interaction between departments. Slack is suitable for companies from different spheres: creative agencies, development teams, education, financial services, production, sales, and other areas. Thanks to Slack integration with many programs and services, it allows a company to create a full-fledged working environment.
Integrated with Google Drive, Office 365, and other useful business platforms.
Cost: from USD $6.67 per month.
Friday
Looking to work asynchronously and buid a better culture at work? Friday helps you make the office optional. Add daily standups, weekly check-ins, and one-on-ones in a regular way without having another meeting. You can now embrac flexible work without the fatigue of more video calls. It’s a perfect complement to Slack. You can also add the Friday planner and be productive as an individual employee, too.
Integrates with Zoom, Slack, Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Trello, Asana, and more.
Cost: Free to $9 per month/person
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a marketing optimization platform, but its most useful function for businesses is free email newsletters and their further analytics. Everything a marketer needs, from recipient segmentation and click maps to spam checking.
Cost: free (a basic package), other packages from USD $9.99 per month.
Intercom
A successful service for communicating with customers (Intercom collaborates with Slack, so you won’t lose anyone). Targeted and delayed messages, A/B tests, integration with Hubspot, Shopify, and others.
Cost: after a trial period (14 days) from USD $49 per month.
Docusign
One of the most popular services for creating electronic signatures. With just a few clicks, you can sign and submit any document for signature directly from Gmail and Chrome. No need to print, fax, scan, or send documents via express mail.
Docusign is trusted by millions of people in 188 countries. It’s used in virtually every field, including finance, law, recruiting, sales, real estate, healthcare, etc.
Cost: From USD $10 per user.
Zoom
The COVID-19 forced many organizations to move to a remote-first model. Companies quickly realized that a video-conferencing platform was no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have.
From standard conference calls, to virtual lunch and learns, and even hosting virtual holiday parties, Zoom has proven to be the best-in-class video conferencing software for organizations operating in a remote-first or hybrid model.
Cost: Free then starting at $14.99 USD per month per license.
UserGuiding
UserGuiding is an all-in-one user training and onboarding tool for web products and websites. Without any coding, you can create a wide range of interactive UX elements such as product tours, tooltips, checklists, resource centers and more.
You can group users with custom segmentation and analyze the performance of your user onboarding material with in-depth analytics.
And not just for new users too, with UserGuiding’s newest extension UG Now, you can create interactive tutorials for your employees on all your tech stack.
Cost: after a trial period (14 days) from USD $99 per month.
WiseStamp Signature Manager
If your business has an email output in the tens or more daily, then you should be using WiseStamp. This email signature management software lets businesses of any size create a great looking business email signature and assign it to any number of employees with just a few clicks.
Email signature management will allow your business to control your branding in all your email campaign communication. You can choose to create unique signatures by job post or department. Another useful feature is the possibility to assign editing privileges to team leaders. This lets them run email signature marketing campaigns that target the specific goals of their department (such as recrutement link for HR, and Demo signup link for Sales).
WiseStamp is integrated with cloud based information processing tool providers like Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace.
WiseStamp features:
- Email signature generator
- Office 365 signature management
- G Suite signature management
- User directory integration
- Signature segmentation
- Email signature click tracking
Cost: 14-day free trial, then $2/user per month.
Flatlogic Generator
The future is in low code. Cloud-based web applications just like any web service tool can be built without wasting time with custom code or extra syntax, but with the help of Flatlogic generator. Web app generator gives you the real toolkit to create your fullstack apps.
How it works: you define the appropriate model of your software creating a skeleton with the right stack, front-end and back-end, and an appropriate database. Flatlogic handles deployment and hosting for you. There is no need to download and install the final result, because everything is available online.
Cost: From USD $19 per project.
Timely
Timely is an automated time-tracking tool that also lets you track projects, monitor budgets, and view team performance all in one software. With Timely, you can examine past costs, tasks and turnarounds to set competitive rates and improve future project profitability and efficiency. Timely prioritizes privacy in its functionality, giving each team member their own private work timeline so they can control what information is displayed publicly. And with automatic time-tracking and timesheet drafts, your team can focus less on daily admin tasks — and more on the work itself.
Cost: Starts at $8 per user per month when billed annually.
Conclusion
In these times of information overload, choosing effective channels of communication with job candidates, working on resumes, growing teams of remote employees, partners, or even potential clients is a key to improving team productivity and overall project success.
We hope these SaaS solutions will be useful to your business and justify their popularity.