:: Services / SaaS development
SaaS development for products that scale with your customers
A SaaS product needs more than features: sign-up, billing, roles, tenant data kept apart, an admin console and the monitoring that keeps it all running. We build SaaS platforms with those foundations in place, so you can focus on what makes your product different.
Multi-tenant from day one
Subscriptions and billing
Built-in admin and analytics
:: What we do
What our SaaS development covers
New products, or existing ones that need to grow up.
01
SaaS architecture
Multi-tenant data design, authentication, roles and permissions that hold up as customers grow.
02
Subscriptions and billing
Plans, trials, usage-based pricing, invoices and dunning with Stripe or Chargebee.
03
Product development
The core features of your product, built in sprints with weekly demos.
04
Admin and customer success tools
An internal console for support, impersonation, feature flags and account health.
05
Integrations and public API
Webhooks, a documented API and integrations your customers ask for, such as Salesforce or Slack.
06
Scaling and reliability
Monitoring, performance work, backups and cloud cost control as usage grows.
:: Multi-tenant architecture
Three ways to structure a multi-tenant SaaS
How you separate customers’ data affects cost, security reviews and how hard it is to scale. Most products start with the first option and move some customers to the others later.
Pool
Shared database, shared tables
Every customer’s data sits in the same tables, separated by a tenant ID and row-level security. Cheapest to run and simplest to update.
Bridge
Shared database, separate schemas
Each customer gets their own schema in one database. Easier per-customer backups and exports, with moderate running cost.
Silo
Separate database per customer
Each customer gets their own database or environment. Highest isolation for enterprise and regulated buyers, and highest cost.
:: SaaS examples
SaaS products we have planned
These blueprints show the architecture, features and launch plan for SaaS products in different markets.
Education
School management SaaS
Multi-school platform for attendance, grades and parent messages, with per-school billing.
Read the blueprint
Training
Corporate learning platform
Courses, assessments and reporting sold to companies by seat.
Read the blueprint
Property
Build-to-rent management
Leasing, maintenance and resident apps for rental operators.
Read the blueprint
:: How it works
How a SaaS build runs
A first sellable version usually takes 3 to 5 months.
Weeks 1 to 3
Architecture
Tenancy model, data design, pricing model and a fixed quote for the first release.
Months 1 to 4
Build
Foundations first, then product features in two-week sprints.
Month 4
Beta
Private beta with design partners, monitoring and fixes.
Launch
Grow
Public launch, then a steady release cycle driven by usage data.
:: SaaS launch checklist
What a SaaS product needs before launch
Paying customers expect more than features. These are the parts that are easy to forget until the first enterprise deal asks for them.
Build in from the start
Self-serve sign-up, onboarding and billing
Roles and permissions per customer account
Audit logs for important actions
Automated backups and a tested restore
Usage analytics and error monitoring
A status page and a support channel
Expensive to add later
Tenant separation bolted on after launch
Hard-coded pricing plans
No API for customers who want to integrate
Single sign-on for enterprise buyers
Data export and deletion on request
:: Cost and timeline
How much does SaaS development cost?
Typical prices for our SaaS projects, based on a senior team at $25 to $35 an hour. Every project starts with an architecture phase.
SaaS MVP
$15k – $40k
8 to 14 weeks
Sign-up, billing, the core workflow, admin tools and multi-tenant foundations, ready for first paying customers.
Version 1.0
$40k – $100k
3 to 6 months
Roles, integrations, public API, onboarding, analytics and the reliability work paying customers expect.
Scale-up platform
$100k – $250k+
6 to 12 months
Enterprise features such as SSO and audit logs, multiple regions, performance work and ongoing releases.
What it costs to run
Cloud hosting for an early SaaS often costs a few hundred dollars a month and grows with customers. We design for cost per tenant from the start, so margins hold as you grow.
What moves the price
Tenancy model and data isolation
Billing and pricing complexity
Integrations and public API
Compliance such as SOC 2 or HIPAA
Mobile apps alongside the web app
:: Why Sterling
What you get
A multi-tenant architecture that scales
Billing and subscriptions working on day one
Admin tools for your support team
Automated tests and deployment
Code and IP you own
:: Tools we use
Next.js
Node.js
Python
PostgreSQL
Redis
Stripe
AWS
Docker
Terraform
4.9
Average rating on Clutch · 350+ projects since 2019
:: Questions
Questions about SaaS development
How much does SaaS development cost?
What is multi-tenant architecture?
Can you add AI features to our SaaS product?
Can you take over an existing SaaS product?
SaaS or MVP: where should we start?
How do you build a SaaS product?
What tech stack do you use for SaaS?
How do you handle subscriptions and billing?
How long does it take to build a SaaS product?
Can you help us prepare for SOC 2?
Do you build the marketing website too?
:: Related services
Other ways we can help
Send us your brief. We’ll help turn it into reality
A senior engineer replies within one business day with questions or a first plan: approach, team, timeline and estimate.