Tarun Nagar 
Mobile application development companies have something very alluring to building and selling SaaS products. Determining the SaaS Software development cost is dependent on multiple factors. Here, we have assembled the guidance of industry experts to determine the cost of development beforehand.
Before building any software, it is essential to give it a second thought. Is your investment worth it? Many stakeholders might be facing the same concern. To satiate the craving here is a quick view of the stats.
SaaS trends are doing great and SaaS development companies have taken a major part of online B2B business. The overall market for cloud-based operations is going higher by hundreds of billion. Around 78 percent of the businesses are running their 80 percent of business operations over SaaS.
SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS are surprising the market collectively. There is huge competition in the market, and so are the opportunities. The innovative thinkers are working to build a sustainable niche, where a whopping amount is already running there in the market.
Here in this blog, you would get to know the SaaS software development cost and influencing factors irrespective of the size of the application.
Table of Contents
Cost to Consider Before Starting the Development
The biggest misconception for a mobile application development company is that the product can be created and brought in the marketplace. Your SaaS product is like a toddler and you have to clean the mess to get it run smoothly.
The benefit alongside is that just like a toddler, your SaaS application will take less time and attention later. Building and maintaining the SaaS product needs some ongoing support. The budget involves the cost of SaaS hosting, SaaS software development cost and bug removal. The influencing factors of variable expenses are:
1. Hosting
For the website, you will need hosting. You may contact some hosting service provider and the cost varies.
2. Team of Developers
A successful project demands a great level of expertise. For the same, you need a team of developers that can support you all through the ongoing development.
3. Software
This involves the entire suite of required software and not limited to the tracking, billing and CRM software.
4. Ongoing Development
As we mentioned earlier, SaaS application development is not a one time task. To leave it running in the marketplace, you need to give constant support and regular updates. Continuous development not only keeps your software updated but also helps to stay the competitor away.
5. Scope of SaaS
Determining the scope of enterprise mobility services through SaaS is important beforehand. If you want to build your own saas app the first time, we will highly recommend you to keep your scope limited. Building the tool is cheaper than the development of a fully-fledged platform. Determine the scope of ideas and then try to start with MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
The SaaS software development cost more than the coding for SaaS Development Company. The major part of the money is spent on the team. Also, the cost of staff varies depending on the experience level of staff. Here is a quick guide for the costing according to the multiple phases of development.
6. Validation
It might take 10 to 50 hrs of validating your idea. Getting your concept approved is essential. This introduces in-depth concepts and potential competitors. If you are working for the B2B project sitting with the business owner can let you learn what exactly they want. The process cannot be bound in time and roughly take 10 hrs.
7. Planning
It seems easy, but a crucial phase. Here the end goals are finalized and the most efficient route is decided. Though it takes time and few developers underestimate the power of planning, the businesses who invested more time in planning tend to take less time overall.
8. UX Design
The step is closely related to the development, it may seem like the extension of planning for enterprise mobility services but it is, in fact, deeper than the planning. The best SaaS projects try to make things intuitive for the users. It does mean anticipating the user needs and incorporating the simple methods for the implementation of validated ideas. The process might take 100 hrs.
9. Project Handling
Project management takes almost 20 percent of the total hours of project development for mobile app Development Company, keeping the skills of developers and designers in mind.
What are the Hidden Costs of SaaS Software Development?
Want to know how much SaaS software development costs? Knowing about hidden costs is crucial, then. As a company entrepreneur, you may not immediately see these overhead expenses, but they are necessary for your application’s survival and long-term ability to compete in the target market.
1. Maintenance
Maintenance tasks are typically overlooked when calculating costs, yet they account for about 25% of your overall expenditures. The list is extensive and includes everything from hosting services to domain names, SSL certificates, email services, cloud services, and more.
These are the activities required to maintain your platform functional. Calculating the precise cost is difficult since it involves many variables, including real-world components like outdated software and hardware, inexperienced engineers, engineering turnover, and software-end features of the external environment and programme structure.
2. Marketing
An effective marketing team is crucial for a new firm since it increases brand awareness and consumer attraction. The marketing costs are often two to three times more than the development costs.
These include SEO, email marketing, product scouting, social media marketing, PR, content marketing, etc. Successful SaaS products share a solid and focused marketing approach, which is one thing in common with them.
3. Legal Compliances
For every SaaS product, adherence to federal and state legislation is crucial. No matter what kind of application you are creating—finance, healthcare, banking, or finance—you must adhere to strict regulations like HIPAA, PCI-DCS, GDPR, etc., for which you must pay a large fee.
4. Updates
Due to the fact that the majority of SaaS solutions employ cloud storage, which is a susceptible target for attackers, you must regularly upgrade your corporate software to prevent security or user experience concerns. Additionally, to maintain a high retention rate as the user base expands, new features must be added. Each of these duties requires time and money to do.
5. Customer Support
The next stage is to build up a customer support site when you launch your items on the market. You may assist clients in selecting the optimal plan, which they will ultimately pay for, by responding to their questions. However, assembling a whole new team entails additional expenses.
Whom Should You Hire For SaaS Software Development?
The thing to consider is the development cost also includes hiring a good SaaS development company. If you hire any SaaS software development company from your local area, the cost is always less while if you hire a good and experienced SaaS development company, the cost goes a little higher. However, the agency offers security for the project.
When you Hire SaaS Developers, the SaaS software development cost comprises the assurance of task completion and code security. A renowned IT company never leaves the project abruptly, leaves the task at mid and is stuck with a half-made SaaS system, which is such a nightmare.
Factors Affecting The Development Cost of SaaS
Let’s discuss how software development teams calculate the cost of building a Software-as-a-Service application.
Factor 1: Business Logic of the SaaS Products
The business logic describes the general workings of the app and its purpose. It also describes the results users get by using the platform. This is how you determine the product’s functionality and which features it offers.
These attributes are determined by the business logic:
- Complexity of the solution
- This tech stack can be used on both frontend and backend.
- The number of integrations with external parties.
- The number of team members.
- The application’s size, etc.
For example, you’d like to build a CRM. The development cost can reach $20,000. If you copy existing competitors, it could be costly. It will save you money on MVP development if you start with a small set of features and scale up the solution. This illustration illustrates the first factor that influences the cost of SaaS software development: the business logic for the SaaS product.
Factor 2: Technological Architecture of the Product
A SaaS product’s technological architecture is the arrangement and interaction between entities in accordance with business and technical requirements.
The technological architecture is what determines app development cost and the process of developing apps.
- Numerous API integrations
- Multi-tenancy,
- Scalability and more
This means that engineers will have to put in more effort and integration work to make your idea a reality. SaaS development is expected to increase in price. Illustration of the second factor that influences the cost of creating a SaaS product is the technological architecture. Another factor affecting the saas development costs is the UX/UI design. Let’s talk about this in more detail.
Factor 3: UX/UI for the Product
The User Experience and the User Interface design are key to all functionalities and pages of the application. This directly influences both the development activities and business logic.
These designs are a guide for developers, who know which functionality they should create and what the founder expects to receive. Complex SaaS UX/UI designs will increase the complexity of the design process for front-end developers and increase the costs of building the app.
Actionable Ways to Reduce SaaS Software Development Cost
1. Automation
Software testing and quality assurance generally take about 1/3 of total development time. If you plan to manually test your SaaS product it will take you a lot of time and cost you a lot. If you choose to use test automation, it will reduce the amount of repetitive tasks and thereby require less effort. This significantly reduces development costs.
2. Third-party Services
Third-party APIs can be used for many functions, such as login, payment processing, subscription management, and more. Third-party APIs can be used instead of you writing code from scratch to implement these features. This will allow you to reduce your overall cost.
3. Hosting Flexibility
Hosting is an essential component of SaaS platforms and consumes a lot of resources. You can make an informed choice and choose a hosting provider that offers flexible, customizable plans to suit your needs. This will help reduce waste and unnecessary services.
4. Outsourcing
Startups often have limited resources and budgets. Startup founders are often limited by their resources and budget. Outsourcing can help them create a saas application at a lower price, where developer rates may be cheaper than in their local market.
SaaS Software Development Cost
The cost of developing a software for a SaaS startup should typically range from $15,000 to $30,000. However, it can vary widely depending on a number of factors, such as the complexity of the application, the size of the development team, the location of the development team, and the development methodology used.
However, other factors determine the exact cost, among which include:
- The complexity of the solution
- The type of product
- Development Methodology
- Development Team
- Technology Stack
- Features and Functionality
- The location of the developmental team.
Verdict
The cost of developing the SaaS system ultimately depends on the choices mobile application development companies make. With the right set of information, you are able to judge where you should spend the money safely and to recognize the cutting corners.
The information given above can help the business owners in determining the cost, researching, and planning and calculating the ongoing expenses. You can save the money by investing over the right place, but our recommendation is not to glue over some fixed budget.
Most of the fantastic SaaS projects are made out of passion and released to make an astounding impact on the way business works. If you have any amazing ideas, go for it.
However, cloud applications are not a solution for every business case, but the SaaS model has quickly gained popularity due to its benefits to both consumers and application developers.
If you want to build a SaaS platform, then it would be better to hire a custom software development company who are proficient in building SaaS apps with the latest technologies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How to Build a SaaS Application?
To build a SaaS application, you need to follow these steps:
- Identify your target audience and their needs
- Choose a technology stack that suits your requirements
- Design a user-friendly interface and develop the application’s core features
- Implement a subscription-based payment system for users to access the service
- Ensure the application is secure and reliable by implementing necessary measures such as data encryption, regular backups, and user authentication.
- Deploy the application to a cloud server and monitor its performance using analytics tools.
Q2. How do I Ensure that My SaaS is Secure?
Industry-standard security measures should be put in place by your development team with ease. Whether this is for a permissions system, cross-site scripting, SQL injection, or payments.
We advise hiring a technical adviser (or CTO) if you are a non-technical SaaS startup to make sure your team is meeting code and security requirements. Early-stage problems can be quite expensive to fix later on.
Q3. How many Developers and Designers are Needed to Develop a SaaS?
Usually, one UI/UX interface designer, a front-end developer, and a back-end developer work together on SaaS development projects. To make sure the SaaS is solid, dependable, and matches the initial criteria and objectives, we often advise hiring a project manager and quality assurance professional as well.
Q4. How long does it take to Develop a SaaS Software?
Since no two SaaS applications are the same, there is no set timeframe for developing a SaaS. For the first product development, we normally recommend a timetable of three to six months. (the MVP, or version 1.0).
