Best SaaS Tools For Startups

Around 81% of businesses use SaaS tools for a modern digital workspace and to improve employee and organizational productivity.

Whether you have just started your business or are an experienced player in the industry, improving productivity for business growth is always essential. 

Considering the fast-paced technological developing society, using SaaS tools for your business is the need of the hour to sustain in this highly competitive world.

However, as a startup, you need to be careful in choosing which SaaS tools to invest in, as there might be some budget constraints in starting the business.

This article will help you select the best SaaS tools for your budding business to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your startup.

Let’s begin!

What Are SaaS Tools?

SaaS tools, also known as software as a service tools, are online products that can be accessed through a cloud-based system. These tools help streamline single or multiple business functions.

These tools require a subscription fee based on the purpose they serve, the number of users, and the features they offer. The subscription is offered monthly, quarterly, and yearly.

Key Features Of SaaS Tools

Here are the top features of SaaS tools:

• Subscription-based billing: SaaS tools usually offer subscription-based fees to start and continue using them. You can modify or cancel your subscription at any time during usage.
• Remote access: You only require a digital device to use SaaS tools from anywhere in the world.
• Easy implementation: The set-up process is simple and time-saving. It only requires signing up for the software.
• Easy to use: The steps to use these tools are easy, and generally, there are no specific operating system or browser requirements.
• Scalability: These tools are easy to upgrade as your startup grows.
• Compatibility: SaaS tools are compatible with multiple automation tools and devices.
• Security: Generally, SaaS service providers ensure data security with encryption.

Also read: 31 Best SaaS Tools For Businesses

Top SaaS Tools For Startups 

Here are the top SaaS tools that can do wonders for startups:

1- Google Workspace

Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite, developed and marketed by Google, offers a collection of communication and productivity tools for individuals, established businesses, and startups.

These tools have various features suited for both in-office and remote working requirements.

Implementing Google Workspace in your organization helps manage various tasks, including emailing, scheduling meetings and appointments, and maintaining documents on a single platform.

Here are the top features and services of Google Workspace that you can leverage for managing your work operations in a startup:

• Gmail: Launched in 2004 by Paul Buchheit, Gmail is a free service provided by Google that allows sending and receiving mail over the internet. You can send multiple emails to multiple recipients with a single click. It can be accessed through a web browser, mobile application, or third-party programs. Gmail allows you to sort or group your work emails into various categories including promotions, social, primary, spam, important, trash, drafts, and more.
• Google Drive: Google drive is a file storage and synchronization tool launched by Google in 2012. It is a safe tool to back up your files and access all your business files in one place. It offers up to 15 GB of free storage, which can be upgraded to 100GB and more. The files stored on Google Drive can be accessed on all devices, including phones, tablets, and computers.
• Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides: Initially released in 2006, Google docs editor is similar to Microsoft Office but a web-based productivity office suite that includes docs, slides, and sheets. It can be accessed through any device using an active internet connection and all the team members can work at the same time on a particular document.
• Google Calendar: Fully released in 2009, Google Calendar is one of the best time management services offered by Google. This productivity tool allows you to create and edit your important business events. You can set events, invite team members, and set notifications for these events for a smooth workflow.
• Google Meet: It is a video-communication tool that allows up to 100 members per call for Google Workspace starter users. You can record meetings, conduct two-way or multi-way audio and video calls with high resolution. You get shared whiteboards, reactions, polls, voting and Q&A depending on your license. For smooth and remote workflow it offers screen and browser tab sharing options as well.
• Google Form: Using Google Form, you can create and analyze surveys and quizzes to know and serve your customer better. It gives you instant customer feedback results, which you can summarize in the form of charts and graphs.
• Work Insights: It is a reporting tool for Google Workspace built explicitly for startups and other businesses to measure, understand and analyze the deployment of Google Suite.

Pricing:

Google Workspace’s pricing plans start with a free trial. Further, you can upgrade your plan based on the number of employees in your company. 

Also read: SEO for Bootstrapped SaaS: Tips to Boost Your Online Visibility

2- Trello

Trello is a web-based visualization tool that empowers your team to smoothly manage all kinds of projects, workflow, and task tracking. 

Released almost a decade ago, Trello allows you to create task boards and organize every task. Here is the information you can find using Trello:

• Which task is currently worked on?
• Which employee is working on which project?
• What’s the progress on a particular project?

Here are the top features of Trello that you can leverage for better organizational efficiency:

• Aligns your tasks with advanced checklists: Many times, your project cards may get cluttered, Trello helps divide your tasks in the form of subtasks. These subtasks can further be divided into checklists and boards. 

• Helps build better workflow with butler automation: Another attractive feature of Trello is that it automates your workflow. The butler automation feature of Trello allows for setting up automation, rules, calendars, and commands to cut down on repetitive work. It is efficiently created using your natural language. It helps to sort your work lists, spread the workload, remind deadlines, and even create a simple bot.

• Offers dark mode: To protect your employees’ eyes from straining on screens and your team is at its peak productivity, you can turn on the dark mode.

• Provides efficient keyboard shortcuts: To save time and employee efficiency, Trello allows lesser-known keyboard shortcuts. For instance, you can use B to access the board menu, N to add a new card to the list, Q to see only your cards, C to archive a card, and more.
• Offers free sign-up option: Trello is free to sign up, and most of its features are free. 

Pricing:

The pricing plan of Trello starts with a free package of $0/mo and goes up till Enterprise package of $17.50/mo if billed annually. They also have a standard pack ($5/mo) and a premium pack ($10/mo) when billed annually.

Also read: 10+ Best SaaS Content Marketing Agencies

3- HubSpot

Hubspot aims to bring the best marketing and sales technology to attract the target customers who are the best fit for your business. It helps to convert visitors into leads and then nurture opportunities for sales.

They stand out with their best-in-class SEO tools and outrank other tech companies. They automate and accelerate your sales in less time. They believe businesses can grow with a conscience, and succeed with a soul. 

They have created an ecosystem uniting software, education, and community to help businesses grow better every day. Hubspot was founded on “inbound”, the notion that people don’t want to be interrupted by marketers or salespeople, they want to be helped.

Their CRM platform makes it easy to work together from marketing, and customer services, to sales and customer services. Their features include a free Website Builder, Chatbot Builder, Online Form Builder, Web Hosting, Landing Page Builder, and Meeting Scheduler App. They have several free tools, including Brand Kit Generator, Blog Ideas Generator, and a Software Comparison Library.

Pricing:

The pricing plans of HubSpot is divided for two kinds of users: 

• For Business and Enterprise: It comprises two plans including professional ($800/ mo) and enterprise ($3600/mo). 
• For Individuals and Small Teams: It comprises three packages that includes a free tool at $0/mo, a starter pack at $18/mo and a professional pack at $800/mo.

Also read: Questions To Ask A SaaS SEO Consultant

4- Hootsuite

Recent times have witnessed that social media is the secret weapon to increase your brand awareness and customer generation for your startup. 

As a startup, it might be overwhelming to manage everything manually.  Here comes the use of an effective social media management tool. 

Choosing Hootsuite is one of the best ways to manage your social media marketing. Founded in 2008 by Ryan Holmes, Dario Meli, and David Tedman, this social media management tool helps plan, schedule, and syndicate social media posts.

Here are the top features of Hootsuite, which include scheduling, monitoring, reporting, and managing various tasks:

• Publishing and scheduling: It helps plan and create great social media posts using Canva templates, Grammarly check, and AI-generated hashtags. You can also schedule the bulk of posts in advance for various social media channels.
• Engaging customers: For improving your customer engagement rate, Hootsuite lets you stay updated with the hot topics, manages all the incoming messaging easily and efficiently, ensures accurate and timely responses to prospective customers, integrates seamlessly with top CRM tools, and implements chatbots with a personalized touch.
• Monitoring activity: Hootsuite is a management tool that monitors and tracks your posts, brand mentions, and competitor activities from a single dashboard.
• Advertising content: This SaaS tool seamlessly advertises your content with a multi-channel paid and organic approach. Your Hootsuite dashboard can save you time and effort by boosting and marketing your posts across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to your target audience.
• Analyzing result: You can quickly analyze your social media performance and create custom reports to show the impact on your brand awareness and bottom line. 

Pricing:

The professional and team package of Hootsuite comes with a 30 day free trial. Their plan starts with the professional pack of $23.14/mo and goes up till a business pack of $543.76/mo. You can also customize your pricing plan under the enterprise pack.

Also read: How To Develop B2B SaaS Sales Process

5- Typeform

Created in 2012 by Robert Muñoz and David Okuniev, Typeform is a Spanish SaaS tool that creates fun, engaging, visually attractive surveys and customer forms. 

Other than creating online survey forms, Typeform is also used to create contact lists, shopping carts, and quizzes to help understand your customers better.

Here are the key features that describe Typeform better:

• Unlimited type forms and surveys
• Drag and drop template design
• Compatible with desktop and mobile
• Free API
• Hidden fields
• Multiple ending screens
• Integrations with multiple platforms, including Zapier, Automate.io, Slack, Mailchimp, and HubSpot.

Here are the top use cases offered by Typeform:

• Collecting billing information for your store
• Submitting tickets through your website
• Creating a conversational welcome pack
• Getting new visitors to sign up for a program or newsletter
• Creating interactive quizzes to engage visitors
• Collecting marketing and customer information through surveys
• Automating recruiting process 
• Measuring satisfaction with a customer feedback form
• Learning why the churn rate is increasing through surveys
• Creating surveys for your team to measure employee satisfaction

Pricing:

Typeform’s pricing plan is divided into three packages that starts from a basic pack of $25/mo and goes up till business pack of $83/mo.

Also read: Essential Guide To B2B SaaS Product Strategy

Conclusion

For a successful business, you need to pour the secret sauce of productivity, efficiency, and profitability by using these software as a service tools in your startup.

Looking to promote your SaaS startup leveraging these tools? Schedule a strategy call with the top marketing agency, Brenton Way and we will help your brand stand out from the crowd by creating a powerful marketing strategy.

Implementing these tools will not only improve business growth but also helps in smoother project management by understanding customer behavior, managing sales, measuring metrics, monitoring the team, and tracking timely business progress.