They say it takes money to make money. This isn’t necessarily true when it comes to developing your SaaS. All you need to do is find free and cheap tools to help you get the job done.
Thankfully, there are a whole host of resources that are available for free or have long free promotional periods. You can take advantage of this and use the time to develop your SaaS. That way, you can leverage your available budget while you build your SaaS startup.
Secure Your Domain
Once you decide on a name for your SaaS, you’ll need to secure a domain name. Look for a domain registration service that provides affordable rates and plenty of additional features. Google Domains is known for having some of the best rates available.
Hosting
Look for a hosting company that offers shared and cloud hosting plans. You can invest in a secure individual hosting plan when your SaaS has grown and warrants the investment.
When deciding on a hosting service, look for special promotions that offer several months free. This will give you time to get your SaaS up and running. That way, when it is time to start paying, you are in a prime position to start paying.
You should also consider their scalability. Hopefully, your business will grow, and you’ll need to scale up in the near future.
Storage
Look for a storage service that offers scalability, security, performance, and data availability. You want to choose a service that is designed to work with a small startup. But it also needs to be able to scale up as you grow.
Database
You will also need to secure a database service. It needs to be easy to use, fast, and reliable. Many services are free to start with. For most people, they don’t need anything beyond the limits of the free plan.
A great option for your database is Dynamodb. They offer a fast and scalable service that gives you up to 25GB of free storage.
Content Management and Design
WordPress is the leader in content management. By using it, you’ll never have to worry about needing to pay for your website building. Plus it’s full of free plugins that you can integrate into your website.
Then when it comes to building your website, you can use a free theme. This will save you time and money when designing your website.
Payment Gateway
Processing payments manually is a waste of time and not appealing to your customers. Install a payment gateway on your website and automate the process. There are plenty of free services available through WordPress.
There is no avoiding a fee for transaction processing. If you want the biggest bang for your buck, then look into Stripe. They will give you the most features for the cost.
API Gateway
One of the biggest draws that pull users to SaaS products is that they allow users to seamlessly integrate their applications for a streamlined workflow. If you want to offer this service as a part of your SaaS product, then you need to select an API gateway.
Both API Gateway and AWS Lambda both offer free API gateway calls for the first year. Then their pricing is favorable after that.
User Management
You need a way to manage user’s permissions, so they have a way to log in and manage their profile. You need one that gives you the ability to create login and signup modules.
For the highest security, you want to offer two-factor authentication to your users. You should also be able to define roles and access for users clearly.
A free option for user management is AWS Cognito. You can have up to 50,000 users before you need to start paying.
Security and Performance
Content delivery services are typically meant for high traffic websites that need to cache and deliver content quickly to visitors. But you can use it for security purposes. Cloudflare is a great free CDN.
Use Free Services to Bootstrap your SaaS development
You don’t have to invest thousands of dollars to develop your SaaS. All you need to do is get creative in how you leverage your resources. This will let you affordably develop your SaaS and hold off investment until you have paying customers.
One place you shouldn’t scrimp on investment is protecting your work. It is vital that you speak with an intellectual property attorney to ensure your hard work and investment stay safe.
Contact us today and let us help you create a protection plan for your SaaS.
