2021 State of Independent SaaS Survey is Now Open

Last year, we launched the first, most comprehensive look at the Independent SaaS landscape through our survey and report that’s helping founders understand the data behind the successes and downfalls of an often underserved industry.

Many of the assumptions that we have made over the last decade were confirmed in last years State of Independent SaaS Report, while many were challenged.

Key Observation #1: The Democratization of SaaS Entrepreneurship

Founders from over 350 cities from across the globe have proven that starting a business has never been more accessible. Not being tethered to startup hotspots like Silicon Valley, more and more founders are finding their footing across the globe.

Key Observation #2: The Majority of (Mostly) Bootstrapped Companies Have a Solo Founder

This is not too surprising. The world of Indie SaaS is made up of hundreds of products that are reaching life changing revenues levels - for a single founder.

The idea that you need to chase after unicorn level revenues and the likelihood for you to fall off the rails in that pursuit are just not that appealing to the majority of founders. With over 50% of respondents earning less than $10K MRR, it is clear that many solo founders have found a path to financial freedom through these micro-SaaS businesses.

Key Observation #3: Free Trials Are the Go-to Strategy for a Majority of Bootstrapped SaaS Businesses

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that they offer a free trial as a part of their offerings. Of that group, a vast majority (73%) do not ask for a credit card up front. This number was a bit surprising, but completely understandable - from a customer perspective, the frictionless process of signing up for a no credit card free trial helps to create a positive first impression of the product.

But… that free plan rarely lasts forever. Only one in five founders said that they offer a forever-free plan on their pricing tiers. This is not much of a surprise - once you have hit escape velocity and a critical mass of active users, you may consider offering a forever free plan. Since many bootstrapped founders are not building products that can sustain that type of customer relationship, these findings line up with expectations.

So why are we discussing a 9 month old report?

Because it’s time to dive back into the data and see how the last year has changed the State of Independent SaaS. We’re excited to announce that the 2021 State of Independent SaaS Survey is now open.

2020 has been a year of change. We want to see how those changes have impacted the greater indie SaaS industry, what comparisons we can make to last years results, and to learn even more about how the bootstrapped SaaS community is forging ahead.

Since launching in 2011, MicroConf’s mission has been to help bootstrapped and mostly bootstrapped startup founders launch and grow their companies. We’ve done this by building a community of like-minded founders who encourage one another and share knowledge to the benefit of everyone.

Why gather and share this data?

This journey is long, and as founders we often have to make difficult decisions with incomplete information. Our goal is to give you more data to help you make better decisions as you grow your company. Once the survey is complete we will anonymously analyze the responses to create a report covering topics from idea validation to marketing approaches to SaaS benchmarks, and more. You can view last year's report here.

How long will this take?

The survey is about 40 questions and should take you between 6 and 10 minutes. Founders who complete the survey will receive the bonus Marketing Extras section of the report that will not be available to the public when the report is released.