SaaS Industry Overview: Stats, Trends, Companies

According to Statista, the global public SaaS market size is projected to reach $145 billion in 2022 compared to only $31.4 billion in 2015.

These numbers speak for themselves motivating more and more SaaS startups and companies to build next-level products, increase investments, and boost the overall SaaS market size.

Today, we’re going to get deeper into the topic and highlight the following aspects:

• The SaaS market size growth for the last years
• Mind-blowing SaaS industry statistics
• The latest SaaS trends and tendencies
• The largest SaaS companies dominating.

Hope you will find this post valuable and informative. Let’s get down to business.

SaaS Market Segmentation

The CardConnect Report states that there were 15,5 thousand of SaaS providers globally as of June 2020. Where are these companies from?

According to Getlatka, the United States is a SaaS market top performer with over $14 billion in revenue and $16.2 in total funding.

What’s more, Gartner stated that US-based SaaS companies and startups have the largest number of users around the world compared to other regions by margin.

The following countries have been catching up and showing a boom in the software-as-a-service industry recently:

• Canada with $725 million revenue
• The UK with $282 million revenue
• India with $67 million revenue
• Germany with $60 million revenue.

How COVID-19 Influenced the SaaS Market?

Now you may be wondering how Covid-19 influenced the SaaS market, right?

The Open View 2020 Report states that:

• 30% of SaaS companies provided customers with extra functionality
• 30% of SaaS products reduced their pricing plans’ fees
• 40% of providers are going to offer buying incentives.

SaaS Marketing and Sales Statistics

The software-as-a-service model has become a top choice for large enterprises and small businesses to boost their sales activities and marketing strategies.

The matter is that the largest SaaS companies provide feature-rich and easy-to-scale marketing and sales software products out-of-the-box.

It means that organizations can save much time and funds as they avoid building tailor-made functionality.

For sure, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, as large corporations still tend to develop custom infrastructure and features for each department based on their needs and regional demands.

Let’s now overview the key numbers that point out the latest tendencies and approaches companies tend to implement while using top-notch cloud-based solutions.

According to the Tom Tunguz report, an average startup spends over 90% of initial investments on sales and marketing activities. This way, startups get approximately 11 months for a payback period on CAC (customer acquisition cost).

KBCM Technology Group stated that top SaaS products offering marketing and sales software with upselling strategies can help companies decrease the customer acquisition cost (CAC) by 2 times from $1,32 to $0,71.

The SaaStr report mentioned that SaaS marketing and sales software can help companies increase credibility by having a popular brand on board thus generating substantial revenue from second orders via referrals.

SaaS Market: Key Statistics and Numbers

As we’ve already mentioned, the current SaaS market size is growing at a rapid pace showing mind-blowing numbers like a 5x boost since 2015.

For the exact statistics, just take a look at the graph by Statista showing the 2015-2022 SaaS market overview with a growth forecast.

This enormous growth of the SaaS market size speaks for itself and motivates hundreds of SaaS startups and companies to create new products yearly.

SaaS Churn Rate Statistics

Churn rate is among the most crucial metrics for the largest SaaS companies to evaluate their success, market growth, and customer lifetime value (CLTV).

Simply put, it indicates the percentage of users who stopped using their service within a specific period of time.

For these reasons, let’s briefly discuss the SaaS market churn rate statistics.

The KBCM Technology Group 2018 report states that the average churn rate for SaaS companies is over 13%.

In the meantime, an acceptable annual churn rate lies between a range of 5% and 7% according to Sixteen Ventures.

Tom Tunguz, a venture capitalist at Redpoint, states that the annual customer churn rates can vary from 6% to 10% for large enterprises, but can reach up to 60% for small and medium businesses.

SaaS Pricing Statistics

SaaS pricing models are among the most talked-about topics within both startups and customers.

Now, we want to shed light on some key numbers that provide transparency to the pricing strategies followed by the largest SaaS companies.

• Half of the biggest SaaS companies still utilize user-based pricing along with the most common free trial period of 1 month (Cobloom)
• One in two SaaS companies follow a value-based approach to set pricing models for their cloud-based products (OpenView Venture Partners)
• One-third of SaaS startups and companies provide usage-based pricing (OpenView Venture Partners)
• The most efficient and frequently used number of pricing plans is 3 due to the fact that providing too few or too many products can lead to confusing or even loosing a customer. (2checkout).

SaaS Business and Customer Statistics

We’ve already mentioned that the SaaS market is currently booming and motivating more startups and customers to build or use cloud-based software solutions.

SaaS business becomes a win-win strategy for both sides as it helps to reduce costs, automate tons of operations, and save much time.

Let’s now dive into the key numbers and statistics on SaaS business:

According to BetterCloud, almost 40% of companies reported that they are already using SaaS technologies.

What’s more, enterprises running entirely on SaaS applications reported to spot a higher employee engagement along with almost 90% of customers stating that SaaS software helps them succeed more than any other alternative.

In 2017, companies stated that they have increased SaaS software usage on average by 33% compared to the previous year.

By the end of 2021, over 70% of companies submitted that almost 90% of their software applications will be SaaS-based.

According to the Fortune report, Salesforce, one of the largest SaaS companies in the world, was ranked the #1 organization to work for in the US.

Besides, 2 out of 3 active free trial users are likely to proceed to a paid subscription after testing the service during the free period.

On average, organizations operating entirely on SaaS technologies utilize 34 apps which is twice the amount of the typical workplace.

The Largest SaaS Companies & Market Leaders

Along with the leading regions, let’s discuss what SaaS companies are leading the market and tend to grow even more.

Mike Sonders has published and is regularly updating the list of the top 50 SaaS companies and startups by the market cap.

NOTE: the data below were valid at the moment of writing (15.10.2021).

Here are the statistics of the most popular and sought-after software-as-a-service functional markets with top examples:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – Salesforce
• Human Capital Management (HCM) – Infor
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) – NetSuite by Oracle
• Human Resources (HR) – BambooHR
• E-commerce – Shopify
• Email marketing – HubSpot.

Let’s overview the leading 10 organizations and briefly discuss their business niche and key triggers that made them successful.

 

1. Adobe, Inc.

Established back in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, Adobe Inc. tops the list as the leader among the largest SaaS companies in the industry.

Generally, Adobe is an American multinational computer software company building next-level technology solutions for multiple niches including:

• Creativity and design
• Marketing and commerce
• Business-oriented PDF and E-signatures.

 

Since 2005, traditionally known as one of the biggest SaaS companies, Adobe’s annual revenue has significantly grown from $2.5 bln to $15.1 bln, according to the MarcoTrends review.

 

Fast Facts About Adobe

• Adobe Photoshop and Ligthroom are the most popular digital products of Adobe Inc.
• According to Statista, there were 12 million active users in 2017 and the number is projected to grow up to 20 million by 2024.
• The company has gathered over 22,000 employees who want to improve the existing digital products and build new ground-breaking solutions across the globe.

 

What Brands Trust Adobe

Coca-Cola, Lenovo, Bridgestone, Land Rover, Allianz, and T-Mobile make the list of the most well-known companies that leverage the benefits of digital experience with Adobe Inc.

 

 

2. Salesforce

Salesforce was established in 1999, California, the U.S., by Marc Benioff and Parker Harris, and currently is one of the largest SaaS companies.

The provider offers next-level technology solutions in such niches as:

• Customer relationship management
• Customer service
• Marketing automation
• Analytics
• Application development.

 

According to Statista, the leader of top SaaS companies in California has shown a mind-blowing growth in annual revenue starting at $1.31 bln in 2010 and $21.25 bln in 2021.

 

Mind-Blowing Facts About Salesforce

• In an interview, Marc Benioff, CEO at Salesforce, said that he invented and gifted the term “App Store” to Steve Jobs in 2008.
• Salesforce was named as the most innovative company 4 times in a row by Forbes from 2011 to 2014
• The company has been conducting one of the largest community-specific events, DreamForce, since 2002
• Salesforce acquired ExactTarget for $2.5 bln in 2013 which later became the popular Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• Demandware, currently known as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, was acquired for a huge sum of $2.8 billion in 2016 by Salesforce.

 

What Companies Use Salesforce

Spotify, Amazon Web Services, U.S. Bank, Toyota, Macy’s, T-Mobile, Aldo, and The New York Post made the list of the most well-known companies that trust Salesforce daily.

3. Shopify

Shopify is among the largest SaaS companies founded in 2006, Canada, by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand, and Scott Lake.

It’s an open secret that Shopify is one of the e-commerce market leaders with over 1,700,000 businesses in approximately 175 countries by May 2021.

The MacroTrends report states that one of the biggest SaaS companies, Shopify has shown rapid growth in annual revenue from $0.105 bln in 2014 and over $3.853 bln in 2021.

 

Fast Facts About Shopify

• Over 44 million customers purchased from Shopify merchants in 2020
• Over 58 million unique users visited the official Shopify website in 2020
• Shopify invests much funds into their website mobile optimization as over 80% of its traffic is from mobile devices.
• The average official Shopify website conversion rate is 1.6%.

 

What Companies Trust Shopify

Anheuser-Busch InBev Sa Nv, PepsiCo Inc., Nestlé, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Tesla Inc are among the most popular brands using Shopify.

 

 

 

4. Intuit, Inc.

Intuit is a leading financial software provider and one of the biggest SaaS companies founded in 1989 in Palo Alto, California, the U.S. by Scott D. Cook and Tom Proulx.

The company provides cloud-based financial software – mainly their own products: TurboTax for tax preparation processes and QuickBooks for accounting purposes.

Commonly recognized as one of the top SaaS companies in California, Intuit has shown a tremendous annual revenue growth with $2.044 bln in 2005 and $9.633 bln in 2021.

 

Fast Facts About Intuit

• TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, ProConnect, and Mint are the most popular Intuit’s subsidiaries
• The company has over 9,000 employees across the globe
• Intuit has over 50 mln active product users.

 

 

5. ServiceNow

ServiceNow is an American-based software company founded in 1993, California, the U.S., by David Loo, Bow Ruggeri, Fred Luddy, and Don Goodliffe.

Being one of the largest SaaS companies, ServiceNow provides a subscription-based cloud platform that helps organizations manage their digital workflows and operations.

According to the MacroTrends report, ServiceNow – one of the biggest SaaS companies – has increased its annual revenue from $0.187 bln in 2010 to $5.172 bln in 2021.

 

Fast Facts About ServiceNow

• In Q2 2021, the company had a 97% product subscription renewal rate
• Over 15,000 employees work in ServiceNow as of 2021
• ServiceNow ranked #1 on the FORTUNE Future 50 list of companies with the best long-term growth potential
• The company declared about $1.330 bln subscription revenues along with 31% YoY growth.

 

What Brands Trust ServiceNow

Deloitte, Infosys, NTT Data, and Wesleyan University are among the most well-known giants using ServiceNow daily.

 

6. Square, Inc.

Established in 2009, California, the U.S., by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, Square makes its way into the list of top 10 SaaS products as a leading digital payment provider in the market.

The company specializes in financial services and digital payments and offers top-notch subscription-based software products for:

• Commerce
• Banking
• Customers
• Developers
• Staff.

Since 2013, the 6th leader on the list of the largest SaaS companies has shown a rapid annual revenue growth from $1.267 bln to $15.931 bln in 2021.

 

7. Atlassian Corporation Plc

Atlassian Corporation Plc was founded by Mike Cannon-Brookes, Scott Farquhar in 2002, Sydney, Australia, and is currently among the leading and biggest SaaS companies in the market.

The company focuses on developing software products for project managers (Jira, Trello), engineers (Bitbucket, SourceTree, Bamboo), and cloud security purposes (Atlassian Access, Crowd).

Atlassian, one of the top B2B SaaS companies, has picked up pace showing a significant increase in annual revenue starting from $0.320 bln in 2013 and having currently over $2.090 bln in 2021.

 

Fast Facts About Atlassian

• The company has gathered over 5,750 employees in more than 6 countries around the world
• Over 150,000 active users utilize Atlassian digital solutions daily
• Atlassian Marketplace numbers almost 4,000 apps in 2021
• More than $100 mln were donated in Atlassian community licenses.

 

Brands That Trust Atlassian

The top companies using Atlassian digital products on a daily basis include HubSpot, Optimizely, Dropbox, Delta, VISA, and Costco Wholesale.

 

8. Snowflake, Inc.

Snowflake Inc is a cloud computing-based data warehousing company founded in 2012 by Benoit Dageville Thierry Cruanes Marcin Żukowski in Montana, the U.S.

Commonly ranked as one of the largest SaaS companies, Snowflake provides technology solutions for such industries as:

• Financial Services
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Retail & CPG
• Advertising, Media & Entertainment
• Technology
• Public Sector
• Education.

Snowflake is among the most successful software products, offering next-level solutions for:

• Data Warehouse
• Data Lake
• Data Engineering
• Data Science
• Data Applications
• Data Sharing.

Snowflake Inc never fails to catch up with other top B2B SaaS companies having shown huge growth since 2012 having over $852 mln annual revenue in 2021.

 

Fast Facts About Snowflake

• The company has over 20 offices in 18 countries along with more than 3,200 employees in 2021
• Snowflake has lots of strategic partners including Salesforce, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, NTT Data, Deloitte
• According to Forrester’s Total Economic Impact Study, Snowflake customers can expect up to 600% ROI and total benefits of over $21 mln over three years
• The company currently has over 250 PB customer data under management which is more than 250,000 terabytes of data.

 

Popular Companies Using Snowflake

Adobe, Age of Learning, Blackboard, BlackRock, Brex, Capital One, Cona Services, ConAgra Foods, Deliveroo, Doordash, Dropbox, and Electronic Arts make the list of top brands using Snowflake on a daily basis.

 

9. Zoom Video Communications, Inc.

Zoom Video Communications Inc is an American-based communications technology company founded by Eric Yuan in 2011, California, United States.

Being one of the leading B2B and B2C SaaS companies, Zoom provides technology solutions for the following industries:

• Education
• Finance
• Government
• Healthcare.

What’s more, the company offers top-notch software products for:

• Meetings
• Marketplace
• Video Webinars
• Phone System
• Events
• Chat
• Rooms and Workspaces
• Developer Platform.

According to the MacroTrends report, Zoom Video Communications Inc, one of the largest SaaS companies, has shown a rapid market growth starting at only $0.331 bln in 2018 and having over $3.636 bln annual revenue in 2021.

 

10. Workday, Inc.

Workday Inc is an American financial and human capital management software company founded in 2005 by Aneel Bhusri and David Duffield.

One of the biggest B2B SaaS companies, Workday provides multiple software products for such industries as:

• Communications
• Education
• Energy and Resources
• Financial Services
• Healthcare
• Hospitality
• Life Sciences
• Manufacturing
• Media and Entertainment
• Nonprofits
• Professional and Business Services
• Public Sector
• Retail
• Technology.

Moreover, the company offers diverse subscription-based cloud technology solutions that cater to tons of users’ needs in the following fields :

• Financial Management
• Human Capital Management
• Enterprise Planning
• Spend Management
• Talent Management
• Payroll and Workforce Management
• Analytics and Reporting
• Student management
• Professional Services Automation
• Platform and Product Extensions.

 

One of the top SaaS companies in California that shows no signs of slowing down, Workday Inc has reported a tremendous market growth starting at $0.275 bln in 2011 and $4.673 bln in 2021.

Wrapping Up

The SaaS market is currently booming which stimulates new entrepreneurs and startups to invest much funds in building their own platforms.

We hope our SaaS market overview will help you get lots of insights and eliminate any ifs and buts in terms of the popularity and rapid growth of the SaaS market.

In case you are looking for a SaaS product development company to build a new product or improve your existing solution, Ascendix Tech will be glad to be on duty for your project.

Check our case studies and contact us to get a ball-park estimate for your project within 24 hours.