Types of SaaS Software: Categories and Examples

As a profitable software licensing model, SaaS attracts more companies’ attention. About 45% of small and medium-sized businesses use various software as a service solutions. For comparison, this figure was only 24% in 2017.

Large companies have gone even further. For example, organizations with over 10,000 employees use an average of 447 SaaS applications in their business processes. At the same time, companies with up to 750 workers employ about 59 SaaS products.

With such an increased demand for SaaS, the market for this software is rapidly growing. From more than $130 billion in 2021, it will reach an incredible $717 billion in 2028.

If you want to integrate software as a service solution into your business processes or create your own, then today’s article is just for you. Here you will learn about the main types of SaaS products and the advantages of this model.

Arounda has prepared this article relying on its profound expertise in the software as a service niche. For more than five years in the tech market, our team has successfully delivered multiple SaaS projects. So let’s explore this topic together.

What Are the Benefits of SaaS Solutions?

Do you want to learn about the main advantages of software as a service? Let’s first make sure you understand the SaaS definition.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a software distribution strategy where customers can access products via the Internet on a subscription basis. This model eliminates the need to install desktop applications, as SaaS solutions use cloud computing technology and are available to users on a remote server.

Let’s now look at the main advantages of SaaS:

Suitable for All Niches

Any industry can benefit from integrating at least one SaaS product into its processes. Such software offers various functions, from personnel administration to customer relationship management. As a result, every business will find something to suit its needs.

Cost-Effective

Companies can choose the SaaS subscription plan that fits them best, and it’s usually cheaper than buying traditional software. Plus, businesses don’t need to spend money on hardware and infrastructure.

Accessible

Since SaaS products are in the cloud, anyone with internet access can use them. Such programs do not need to be specially installed on the computer. It is enough to have only a web browser.

Scalable

The company can change the subscription model anytime and expand the number of services it needs from one or another SaaS product. In addition, the cloud environment, which is among the key components of SaaS, allows businesses to scale as quickly and profitably as possible.

Secure

Cloud technologies offer a high level of data security because they are more decentralized. Therefore, SaaS product users can be sure of their private information safety.

User-Friendly

You don’t need to be a tech expert when employing SaaS solutions. As a rule, the suppliers of such products have already taken care of their intuitiveness and ease of use.

These are only the main advantages of software as a service products that we could mention. But in reality, there are much more of them. For example, such software easily integrates with third-party services, or you can get significant benefits from free trials, etc.

What Are Horizontal and Vertical SaaS?

Another thing you should know about SaaS products is that they are divided into two B2B SaaS categories: horizontal and vertical. Let’s discuss each of them separately.

Horizontal SaaS

The horizontal SaaS model combines software as a service products that are suitable for use by businesses in various industries. Organizations can scale their services or distribute products easily since horizontal SaaS enables them to serve a broad audience from different niches.

Vertical SaaS

The vertical SaaS, in contrast to horizontal, offers software as a service solutions specifically for individual niches. For example, it can be separate products for trade, marketing, finance, or other industries. Such SaaS solutions focus on the problems of a specific niche and help to solve them.

To recap the distinction, horizontal SaaS is multipurpose software for various industries, and vertical SaaS is products developed for specific niches.

Types of SaaS Solutions and Examples

Vertical and horizontal categories are the key SaaS types. However, there are numerous different software as a service products that we have to discuss. So let’s take a look at some tools from the SaaS industry you can pay attention to:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

CRM software is one of the most used SaaS applications. Such products allow businesses to easily and conveniently communicate with their customers.

CRM solutions enable companies to collect customer data, analyze it, and, based on this, significantly improve relations with their clients. Thanks to such software, businesses gain customers’ loyalty, increase sales, and promote their products and services.

Some CRM SaaS examples include such services as Zendesk, Salesforce, and Mailchimp.

Human Resources (HR) Software

HR is also one of the SaaS industry segments. These are products designed for personnel management to help businesses streamline this process.

Thanks to HR tools, companies can easily manage employees’ work schedules and assign vacations or sick leaves. Other functions of such software include administration of salaries or benefits, monitoring employee performance, the appointment of interviews, etc.

HR software also allows you to store all employee data on one platform, and easy access to this information helps significantly improve the work of the human resources department.

The most used SaaS applications for HR include Bullhorn, People HR, and Breathe HR.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software

Such SaaS products are best suited for large companies. This software allows you to monitor business processes and plan organizations’ resources.

Among the functions of ERP software, we can highlight financial management, production, inventory, risk administration, invoicing, and even marketing.

An example of such software is Oracle NetSuite.

Project Management (PM) Software

Project management tools are designed to manage tasks effectively for one or several projects. This software allows you to plan tasks, monitor their execution, and communicate with team members.

The list of SaaS software for project management includes Trello and Confluence.

Analytics Software

Analytical SaaS software enables businesses to study input and output data better to help improve their overall processes. For example, for eCommerce website owners, these can be tools for analyzing user flow.

Some analytics SaaS software includes Google Analytics, NapoleonCat, and Heap.

AI Data Software

Another type of SaaS solutions rapidly gaining popularity is AI tools for data analysis. They differ from conventional analytical apps as they offer deeper insights and faster analysis of large data sets.

An example of such a digital product is TensorFlow.

Communication Software

Some SaaS solutions aim at fostering collaboration. They enable convenient online communication between colleagues, students, etc.

Examples of such software include Slack and Zoom.

Content Management Systems (CMS)

Content management systems are another example of SaaS products. These tools help edit and add content to websites easily and quickly. Such solutions are best suited for eCommerce businesses.

The most popular examples of CMS are WordPress, Magento, and Joomla.

Accounting and Billing Software

Any business needs software to process payments and manage finances in general. It is where SaaS for accounting and billing will come in handy.

Such software enables businesses to conveniently monitor money flow, conduct and receive transactions, and maintain financial reporting. In addition, such SaaS tools will make it possible to streamline some processes within the company, such as administrating salaries, calculating benefits, or paying taxes.

Examples of such software include QuickBooks and Chargify.

Arounda’s Experience with SaaS Products

Arounda is a digital product agency with extensive experience of more than five years in the tech market. We provide strategy, design, and software development services.

During our company’s operation, we implemented over 130 projects, over 20 of which are SaaS products in various niches. Our expertise includes creating HR management software, AI data tools, CRM, and analytics products.

By cooperating with us, you will get numerous advantages, the first of which is our in-depth background in developing SaaS solutions. We also offer you a flexible team committed to long-term collaborations and highly qualified specialists.

Final Thoughts

SaaS is a prominent niche, so unsurprisingly, such software is in high demand among businesses. Implementing software as a service solution will give companies more flexibility, scalability, data security, and cost efficiency.

If your way is to integrate such software into your processes or create your own, then we hope our article clarifies SaaS for you. If you still have questions about developing such digital products, do not hesitate to contact our experts.

Arounda has an extensive background in SaaS, so we’ll help you build the best solution for your business.