The rise in the demand for micro-SaaS apps has created lots of opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses alike. Gartner predicts user spending in micro-SaaS services to reach $243 billion in 2024. So there’s no better time to build a micro-SaaS startup than now. If you plan on quitting your 9-5 or just want to have a go at entrepreneurship, maybe starting up a micro-SaaS business may be a brilliant move.
But what’s a micro-SaaS business?
We’ll take a deep dive into these niche software solutions which cater to the needs of businesses and people looking for better-quality and tailored experiences.
Based on the micro-SaaS startups listed on the Microns marketplace, I’ll give you 20 of the best, profitable micro-SaaS ideas you can develop with minimal to no programming skills and bootstrap without needing huge cash injection.
Let’s dive in.
What Is A Micro-SaaS Business?
Micro-SaaS products, unlike full-sized SaaS products, are small, specialized software solutions developed to solve niche problems for a defined audience. Unlike traditional SaaS businesses, micro-SaaS focuses on doing more with less: this minimalist design improves their efficiency in offering higher-quality solutions to under-served niches and businesses that don’t require bloated software offered by traditional SaaS products.
What are the benefits of building a micro-SaaS startup?
If you’re not sure building a micro-SaaS startup is a great idea, here are some of the top benefits that’ll make you reconsider.
Low barrier to entry
One of the key features that makes the micro-SaaS business model attractive for many budding entrepreneurs is the low startup costs and overheads. It’s easy and almost risk-free to build: if you’re a software developer, designer, marketer, etc., you can independently develop a micro-SaaS product as a side project (without losing much if it fails).
You can build a microsaas product or service and take it to market within a weekend and a month. Also, you don’t need a team to develop one.
Highly profitable
While traditional SaaS startups offer generic solutions for a wide range of audiences, micro-SaaS founders seek to understand their target audience’s core pain points to provide targeted solutions.
Offering sought-after, niche solutions coupled with micro-SaaS founders taking a lean development approach, makes developing a micro-SaaS software/app highly profitable. You can earn a predictable monthly recurring revenue from your small software business.
Also, micro-SaaS businesses don’t run on external funding, so they’re built for profitability from the onset.
Lower competition
As a micro-SaaS startup, you serve a niche, making your solution more targeted, less competitive, and more profitable.
Faster decision-making
Having investors and a larger team can sometimes make running a business complicated. Being run solely by the solopreneur, micro-SaaS startups are easier to scale as they can easily adapt to customer needs and market trends.
Also, with micro-SaaS, you can go to market and quickly determine if people are willing to pay for your product as opposed to developing a full-blown SaaS product for months or years only to discover no one wants it.
Flexibility
Everyone wants freedom: building a profitable micro-SaaS product offers you the freedom to quit your 9-5. You could build the product/service from the comfort of your home or become a digital nomad if you love to travel. You could also remain a small business or add more features and grow. And whenever you feel like moving on to other adventures, you can sell the project and keep all the proceeds from the sale.
2024 micro-SaaS startup development trends
Before we get into the best and most profitable micro-SaaS startup ideas, here are some market trends and platforms worth noting to increase your chances of developing a profitable micro-SaaS product.
- Micro-SaaS acquisition
Why spend a month or more developing a product rather than buying one with an existing customer base? This is the beauty of micro-startup acquisition. Dev Shah, a 22-year-old guy, has been sharing his experience buying micro-startups cheaply and scaling them. He reportedly bought Sourcely.ai for $4000 and scaled it to $100K in less than a year.
Source: Devlikesbusiness
Online startup marketplaces like Microns.io afford you the opportunity to buy software businesses and a wide range of other online businesses; ranging from ecommerce brands to Shopify apps, content businesses (blogs and newsletters), web and mobile apps, plugins, etc., at the best prices. You can buy a business for as low as $300 and get free support from the founder for a month. As Dev Shah puts it, “Startup marketplaces are a cheat code.”
- No-code, low-code tools
With the advent of micro-SaaS startup marketplaces, non-technical folks no longer bother about developing software from the ground up. However, it’s not every time you’ll be able to find a micro-SaaS product that suits your needs. This is why no- and low-code tools have become so popular that even programmers now use them to build MVPs to test their concepts.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Since the viral release of ChatGPT in late 2022, AI has become the buzzword in the tech space. By incorporating AI capabilities into your microsaas startup, you can deliver more efficient products to solve your prospective customers' problems; hence, capturing a larger segment of your market and making more profit.
Real quick, here's a list of the some of the most profitable AI-powered micro-SaaS startup ideas for solopreneurs.
- Martech tools
Martech tools are some of the most popular tools in the micro-SaaS space because every business needs marketing. There are several keyword research tools, SEO tools, cold email tools, content creation tools, etc. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel: developing any of these by incorporating new features can give you a winner.
20 Best, Profitable Micro-Startup Ideas with Model Examples
Now to the meat of this article. Here are the 20 profitable micro-SaaS ideas (with examples) you should consider building.
1. Email marketing micro-SaaS
Source: timetoreply
Idea: Email marketing for small teams
Do you know anyone who doesn’t have an email? Exactly! No one!
Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for businesses to connect with their audience. A micro-SaaS email marketing tool could offer features like email templates and automation, making it easy for small teams and solo entrepreneurs to manage their email marketing campaigns.
MVP: Email marketing campaign builder
An ideal tool can focus on providing users with a user-friendly campaign builder for creating and sending professional-looking email campaigns without having extensive design or coding knowledge. This feature should include a drag-and-drop interface, customisable templates, and integration with popular email service providers.
Micro-SaaS Examples: timetoreply, SMTP2GO
2. Recruitment platform
Source: Polymer
Idea: Streamlined Hiring for Remote Teams
By 2025, 32.6 million Americans will be working from home, making up 22% of the workforce. The rise of remote work has led to an increased demand for efficient hiring tools. Micro-SaaS hiring apps can streamline the entire hiring process, from applicant tracking to interview scheduling, you name it: even handling candidate assessments.
MVP: Applicant tracking system
You can create a platform for recruiting graduates for a particular industry, maybe tech, legal, or marketing talents from around the country. It will provide employers with job description templates, help screen candidates based on certain presets like skills, qualifications, etc., and schedule interviews.
Micro-SaaS Example: Polymer
3. Niche SEO tool
Source: Nightwatch
Idea: SEO for small businesses
Monitoring search engine rankings is important for businesses looking to optimize their SEO efforts: however, not every business needs large software like Semrush or Ahrefs. A micro-SaaS SEO tool can offer ranking updates, keyword research, and a bit of competitor analysis, all in a compact and user-friendly package.
MVP: Analytics tool
Many people find tools like Semrush and Google Analytics as cumbersome. Creating a more comprehensive tool that’ll offer insights into improving search rankings, performing keyword research, and spotting trends in an industry will be a fantastic idea.
Micro-SaaS Example: Nightwatch
4. Startup growth app
Source: Momentum
Idea: Data-driven growth for startups
People in general often have difficulty tracking their key growth indicators. A micro-SaaS startup growth app that can provide features like goal setting, growth-hacking strategies, and performance tracking will be a no-brainer as it’ll help users stay on top of their progress.
MVP: Goal-setting dashboard
Build a goal-setting dashboard that allows users to set daily, weekly, and/or monthly targets and track their performance. For better engagement, the experience can be gamified. This will help users receive actionable insights to drive growth. There should be customizable goal templates and integration with popular analytics tools.
Micro-SaaS Example: Momentum
5. Journaling app
Source: Penzu
Idea: Mindfulness in a digital world
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a renewed interest in personal reflection and self-care, deepening interest in journaling apps. A profitable micro-SaaS idea could be a journaling app that can offer features like daily prompts and mood tracking, catering to the needs of individuals looking to document their feelings and experiences will be a smart idea.
MVP: Mood tracking feature
Build a journaling micro-SaaS that can allow users to summarize their experiences using an emoji. The mood tracking feature will allow users to monitor their emotions, identify patterns, and receive personalized recommendations for improvement. Users should also be able to save names (and possibly pictures) of people they’ve just met. An added feature like being able to rate people and places will be interesting.
6. Cookery and recipe software
Source: Cookbook
Idea: Meal planning for busy home cooks
Since the advent of the lockdown, more people have started spending more time in the kitchen which has surged the demand for cooking and recipe apps. In fact, the recipe apps market is expected to reach $2.09 billion in 2029. A good micro-SaaS cookery and recipe app can provide features like meal planning and grocery lists, making it easier for home cooks to manage their culinary endeavors.
MVP: Meal Planning Calendar
The micro-SaaS app should include a meal planning calendar that allows busy professionals to plan and organize their meals for the week, generate grocery lists, and keep track of nutritional information. The meals should be easy and quick to cook, and the software should include customizable meal-planning templates. It could also include good integration with popular grocery delivery services.
Example: Cookbook
7. Billing and invoicing micro-SaaS
Source: Invoicy
Idea: Financial Management for Freelancers
Efficient billing and invoicing are essential for businesses to manage their finances and get paid. Micro-SaaS billing and invoicing tools can offer features like automated invoicing, recurring payments, and expense tracking, helping small businesses and freelancers streamline their financial operations.
MVP: Automated Invoicing
The billing and invoicing MVP should focus on automated invoicing, allowing users to create and send professional-looking invoices, track payments, and set reminders for overdue invoices. This feature should include customizable invoice templates and integration with popular payment gateways.
Examples: Free Invoice Builder, Square Invoices
8. Staff management platform
Idea: Productivity for Remote Teams
The shift to remote and hybrid work models has increased the demand for workforce management tools. Micro-SaaS workforce management apps can provide features like employee scheduling and time-tracking, helping businesses maintain productivity and efficiency.
MVP: Time Tracking Feature
The app should focus on a time-tracking feature that allows users to track employee work hours, monitor productivity, and generate detailed reports.
Examples: Paycor
9. Content Management System (CMS) micro-SaaS startup
Idea: Simplified Content Creation
Content management systems are crucial for businesses to create, manage, and publish content. Micro-SaaS CMS tools can offer features like collaborative editing and SEO optimization, making it easier for small teams and solo entrepreneurs to manage their online presence.
MVP: Collaborative editing
The MVP for this CMS should focus on collaborative editing that allows multiple users to work on content simultaneously, track changes, and manage different versions. This feature should include customizable workflows and integration with popular content creation tools.
Example: Sanity.io
10. Analytics
Source: ChartMogul
Idea: Data-driven decision making
Data-driven decision-making is essential for businesses of all sizes. You can develop micro-SaaS analytics software that can provide features like real-time data tracking, custom dashboards, and user behavior analysis, empowering small businesses and entrepreneurs to make informed decisions.
MVP: Real-time data tracking
The MVP for this analytics app should focus on real-time data tracking that allows users to monitor their website traffic, track user behavior, and receive actionable insights. This feature should include customizable dashboards and integration with popular data analytics tools.
Examples: ChartMogul, Ilo
11. Freelancer ecosystem tools
Source: Incomee
Idea: Streamlined project management
The gig economy has given rise to a growing number of freelancers and agencies. An ideal micro-SaaS freelancer ecosystem tool can offer project management and invoicing features to help these professionals manage their work and clients more efficiently.
MVP: Project management dashboard
The MVP for this freelancer ecosystem tool should be a project management dashboard that allows users to manage multiple projects, and track progress, whilst being able to collaborate with clients seamlessly.
Example: Incomee
12. Mental health app
Source: Ollie
Idea: Mindfulness for Modern Life
59.3 million American adults suffer from mental illness, 42.5 million people suffer from an anxiety disorder, and a whopping 22.5 million people suffer major depression every year.
This data has highlighted the importance of mental health, leading to an increased demand for mental health apps. Micro-SaaS mental health apps can provide features like guided meditations and mental health resources, helping individuals prioritize their well-being.
MVP: Guided meditation feature
The MVP for this mental health app should provide guided meditation and offer users a variety of customizable meditation plans as well as tracking features to monitor progress. It should also include a library of guided meditation sessions.
13. Testimonial management tool
Source: Testimonial
Idea: A testimonial tool for businesses to get reviews and share on their websites and social media pages.
93% of internet users say they made a purchase decision based on online reviews. Nothing builds more trust with a brand than customers watching or reading the experiences of other customers. Testimonials are some of the most impactful social proofs businesses use to supercharge their marketing: hence, a testimonial tool is one of the most profitable micro-SaaS ideas you can run.
MVP: Build a colorful testimonial template with features like branding (brand colors, fonts, watermarks, etc.), questions, messages, and ratings that businesses can share with their customers or users. Users should be able to choose which testimonial to share on their websites or social channels with a click.
Examples: Testimonial, Shoutout
14. Personal finance tracker app
Source: Fina
Idea: Build a personal finance app for students to plan their finances by tracking their income and spending.
Personal finance is one of the hottest niches in the fintech space, and there’s a reason – people want financial freedom but struggle to manage and keep track of their spending. Personal finance YouTube channels are some of the most followed, which means lots of people are interested in getting their finances together.
MVP: The personal finance app should help students save toward various goals. The goals could be for travel, birthdays, etc. The app can have a weekly/monthly reminder to save a certain amount set by the student. There can also be a budgeting tool within the app so students can keep track of their spending and set weekly thresholds.
15. Micro-Influencer Marketing Campaign Tool
Source: Creator
Idea: Build a marketplace app where businesses can find micro-influencers, manage their marketing campaigns, and get detailed analytics.
Influencer marketing is huge. It’s one of the most effective ways brands increase their sales. However, only a few brands can afford celebrities and A-list influencers, making micro-influencers a hot niche as the market is large. You can build a micro-SaaS startup that connects brands to micro-influencers and helps manage influencer marketing campaigns.
MVP: The app should have a directory of micro-influencers where users will be able to apply filters to search for influencers based on industry, location, social channels, number of followers, etc. Users can then organize and launch marketing campaigns from your platform by setting goals and metrics to measure the impact of the campaign. Also, include analytics for users to know content performance.
Examples: Upfluence, Creator.co
16. CRM For Small Ecommerce Brands
Source: GumCRM
Idea: Develop a WooCommerce or Shopify CRM for ecommerce brands to improve their marketing and sales by storing important information and tracking customer behavior.
There are lots of CRMs, so building a niche CRM for ecommerce business owners will be a great idea. An ecommerce CRM can help small ecommerce businesses manage and organize customer data such as contact information, order history, etc. This way, ecommerce brands will be able to serve their customers better.
MVP: Your micro-SaaS CRM should give ecommerce business owners access to their customer activity logs, invoicing tools, and messaging tools. The user should also be able to save customer contact and conversation history and browse through customized sales and marketing reports.
Example: GumCRM
17. Resume Builder
Source: ResyBuild.io
Idea: Resume builder for jobseekers to highlight their skills and achievements.
One of the best ways people sell themselves (experienced professionals and entry-level jobseekers) and their skills is by crafting meaningful resumes. Writing an excellent resume is both a skill and an art form, and many people make a living out of this. Building a resume tool to help people stand out sounds like a great micro-SaaS idea.
MVP: Build resume templates with sections like name, contact, profile summary, work experience, education, hobbies, etc. Within the work experience, color-code sections for users to use action verbs, showcase hard skills (tools used), soft skills, impact statements, impact metrics, etc. Then add a score based on the impact of the resume.
Examples: ResyBuild.io
18. X (Twitter) Content Idea Generator
Source: HyperWrite
Idea: Create an app that helps users generate content ideas to grow their Twitter accounts.
X, formerly known as Twitter is one of the most widely used social networks today. Unlike Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram where people mostly share pictures and videos, Twitter has become an educational platform for creators to build their audiences. It has also become a channel for communities to debate global issues. The app’s algorithm also makes it easy for content to go viral. However, many users struggle to create viral content.
MVP: Build a Twitter app that can pick topical ideas from different niches and a wide range of platforms. The app should be able to search the web and pick the most viewed videos on YouTube, read/liked/shared content from blogs, and engaging content both on Twitter and LinkedIn. The app may also have an editor to help users create content and a tool (like a content scorer) to gauge its virality tendency.
Example: HyperWrite AI
19. Habit Tracking Tool
Source: Habits Garden
Idea: Create an engaging micro-niche productivity tool for writers to adopt new writing habits and schedules and stick to them.
Everyone knows that creating habits is great for leading a successful and fulfilled life, but only a few people start a habit and stick to it. There are several habit trackers out there, indicating the market is large.
MVP: We’re picking the writing niche because these days, virtually everyone writes either social media content, books, application letters, etc. Users should be able to use the app to block a special time to write. But to do so, you’ll have to gamify the experience. There can also be some form of reward for consistency and an analytics tool to track progress and see days they’re failing.
Examples: Habitica, Habits Garden
20. Employee Learning Micro-Saas
Source: eduflow
Idea: A remote micro-learning software with educational content for employees to develop their professional skills.
An organization is only as productive as the quality of employees it hires. So companies are looking for ways to train their employees to fill skill gaps, so they can reach their full potential.
MVP: Develop a platform where companies can recommend skills and tools like content marketing, project management, copywriting, design, etc., for their employees to learn. The platform can also integrate AI so that each user (employee) can get personalized recommendations to improve their development. The platform can have quizzes to assess users' understanding. You can gamify the experience for more engagement.
Example: eduflow
Factors to Consider when Finding Profitable Micro-SaaS Ideas
Building a profitable micro-SaaS product is no walk in the park – even big tech companies struggle to come up with great ideas: hence, they buy smaller tech companies. Finding that big idea comes down to these major factors – the demand for the product, target audience, and business model – you can find out more about the factors for micro-SaaS startup success.
Growing market
The market you choose to develop your products in is a major factor in determining if your product will be a winner or not. Developing products for the wrong market can spell its death even before development. On the other hand, picking a growing market can see you getting customers in a short while – the AI and no-code builder markets are two such growing markets.
Target audience
As stated earlier, micro-SaaS is different from traditional SaaS startups in that it has a defined audience which puts you in a good position with a lot less competition. For example, there are many CRMs, but you can choose to develop software for freelance content writers to draft invoices for clients. You could decide to create a library of design resources/inspiration or a tool for divorce attorneys to scale their marketing – that’s having a defined audience.
Revenue potential
There’s no point putting time, money, and human resources into a project that won’t fetch you an income unless you’re building a non-profit. So when developing your product, consider what users will be willing to pay. Factor in both the business’s and your livelihood’s expenses when targeting a market. Then you can focus on a niche where less than 10% of the market pool can sustain you. For example, if you’re going to price your product at $10/month and you’re spending $2,500/month, you’ll need 250 customers – you’ll want to target a market where your potential 250 customers are under 10% of the market. Make sense?
How to Find Profitable Micro-SaaS Ideas
Knowing the factors to look out for when finding a profitable micro-SaaS idea is on one end of the spectrum, knowing how and where to look is on the other.
Here are some ways to get inspiration for your first (or next) micro-SaaS idea.
SaaS marketplaces
Source: Microns
One of the first places to check when building a micro-SaaS app or software is marketplaces like the Microns marketplace. There are 100s of listings that you can draw inspiration from. Plus you may just find a micro-SaaS startup for sale that fits your needs: so instead of building one from scratch, you could buy it at a bargain and leverage the existing customers the software already has.
App Store marketplaces
Another place to get great micro-SaaS ideas is on app stores like Google and Apple’s app stores. There are millions of ideas you can get from these places.
Niche versions of existing large SaaS companies
Is there a CRM or email marketing software that’s not satisfying the needs of a particular niche? You can make a cheaper and smaller alternative that solves the problem for that niche.
Create a solution to your problem
Do you run a service-based business where you find it difficult to get or close leads? Chances are many other similar businesses have the same problem. When you find a strategy for getting clients, you can develop it into a product/service that addresses this problem.
Productized service
While this might not be SaaS, you can modify a part of your service (where you keep getting recurring requests) into a product and sell it. You can also create a solution to your clients’s problems and turn it into a product.
How to market your micro-SaaS startup
Now you’ve gotten that big profitable idea and probably built it. So it’s launch time; how do you market it? Let’s go through some free ways to get your first set of customers.
- Pricing strategy
The very first step in marketing your software product is working on your pricing strategy. First, your product is a small app or piece of software with limited features, so you’ll definitely want to price it cheaper than traditional SaaS products in your industry.
Second, traditional SaaS products can get away with a freemium pricing strategy due to external capital injection: I can’t say that for micro-SaaS startups. With a freemium option, you can get more users quickly - most of which are tyre-kickers. But if you plan on going this route, you’ll want to ensure you either gate some of your most important features, create a window of not more than 30 days, or ask users to upgrade once they reach a usage threshold.
With micro-SaaS, the goal is to be profitable from day one. So the best pricing strategy for micro-SaaS is setting a flat price - the pricing model where everyone pays the same amount regardless of usage.
- Cold emails & DMs
Sending cold emails and DMs remains one of the most effective strategies solopreneurs use in getting their first set of customers. Ensure you’re reaching out to people who clearly need your product/service, and you’re clearly communicating the benefits of using your tool.
- Content marketing
As usual, content is king. So you need to get your word out there by creating content on social media. A common trend for indie hackers these days, especially on X, is “build in public,” where the founder/developer constantly talks about their product, creates videos showing the product’s benefits, and creates educational content around it. You can also invest in SEO, but that’s more long-term.
- Promote it on forums
Another popular trend among indie hackers is launching products on Product Hunt - a platform for launching digital products. I’ve launched Microns.io on Product Hunt twice, won product of the day, and acquired new users for my platform. So you may want to give it a try. You can also promote your micro-SaaS on subreddits and Facebook groups related to your niche. There have been testimonies of people getting some users through these channels.
Conclusion
These 20 micro-SaaS ideas cover a wide range of opportunities available on the market. And of course, you may need a guide to building one of these ideas into profitability. And if starting from scratch isn’t your thing, you can always buy one on Microns.io.
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