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Ask HN: SaaS Service Without Logins or Signup

1 points by _pdp_ 10y ago

Does anyone know a payed for SaaS service that does not rely on logins and signups but users can still pay for and use somehow? I am looking at restructuring a project I am currently working on but I want to make sure that the user experience is as simplified as possible and as such I would rather not ask people to signup and login.

mattbgates 10y ago
It does not seem like it would be a plausible model. If it was not SaaS and you were just charging "to get more" of something, than it could work. I will just use one of my websites as an example: https://mypost.io/ https://mypost.io/ does not require a login, email, or account to use it. All you need to do is enter in a headline and a password. For a SaaS, you would need to at least require the user to have some type of "account" in which you could identify them. There are "alternative" things you can do, but I think you would still need that "prospect" of an account. An alternative method is to obtain an email address, which is used to know this user is trying to log in. Upon login, the user would be stopped because they technically haven't identified themselves yet. Your app would send a link to the email address, which the user would then click and be able to login. The unique link makes up for the password. So no password is required. Another way you could do it is by offering the user a way to sign by entering a pin unique to them, but again: you would want to require some email address so in case they forget, you could send them the details. Another way in which I'm also experimenting is to just get their phone number as a username. Upon entering it, they are sent a text message, to which they must reply with whatever alphanumeric ID combination is in the text and compare it to the ID you sent. A new way I am also doing things is.. I actually looked at what Hacker News does. You need a username and a password to register, but no email. However, if you ever lose your password, how do they know where to send it? By asking you for your email in the profile, but I don't think they really care if you don't care.. if there is no email to send it to, your sol. What I used to do: Require a username, password, and email address. Why 3 fields? I eventually narrowed it down to just the username and password, so the user could immediately login, but upon landing on the Settings page, an email address would required in order to continue. These are just some clever ways of doing things that you could possibly use, but as far as having random people come and use the web app without any affiliation at all would make it hard to track them down without some sort of identifier and commitment.
- _pdp_ 10y ago
  Traditional model for selling software is based on licenses which is in a way anonymous. Yes it can be defeated but the point is that there is little to no overhead to the company providing the software or the user - i.e. additional sign ups and login. I was looking for something like this and I believe I am close to achieving it but I wanted some additional opinion before I pull the trigger. In terms of licensing the SaaS offering, I am planning to use licenses which the client-side software validates. Obviously this is not going to work for server-side stuff. However, I am thinking that down the line I can always validate users through their emails as you suggested in your comment. Thanks for this. It is an interesting problem to crack and although not very conventional it should provide the user with more flexibility. Obviously, some types of SaaS companies will never be able to adopt this type of model maybe due to huge upfront cost.
forgottenacc57 10y ago
All you need is their email address and you get send a login link. Search for passwordless login.
brudgers 10y ago
Maybe there is a business there. I mean, one advantage Amazon has is that there is only one account and one bill for all those services and this reduces administrative overhead for customers. A company that stands up a single service creates a significant fraction of administrative overhead for customers relative to Amazon. A clearing house for SaaS billing might be analogous to a payroll service. Or not. And SaaS billing as a service is not your current problem directly. Good luck.
- _pdp_ 10y ago
  Billing is not exactly the hardest problem to crack. I think it is harder to market your product and for that you will need to allow customers to try it first in the easiest possible way and only when they are happy and can afford to - buy it. I am thinking that by eliminating the login it will be quicker to get to that point.
  - brudgers 10y ago
    Getting people to pay is the critical element of the critical path for a business. Most businesses don't provide free products/services. The hard part psychologically is the risk that people will not find software worth paying for. In general parlance, 'customers' are exactly the set of people who pay.
    - _pdp_ 10y ago
      Maybe I am misunderstanding the comment. Many big and successful businesses provide free product/services. Besides if the user is tricked to pay for a service they do not find worth paying for it will have a rather negative effect in the long run - personal experience. Hence, forcing their hand is not the goal but making the software useful to them and only then asking for payment. I know that some types of software are immediately useful and if you are lucky to have created one then good but often it takes time for the software grow and nurtured hence why eliminating any obstacles is a key to long-term success imho.

1 points by _pdp_ 10y ago

mattbgates 10y ago

It does not seem like it would be a plausible model. If it was not SaaS and you were just charging "to get more" of something, than it could work. I will just use one of my websites as an example: https://mypost.io/ https://mypost.io/ does not require a login, email, or account to use it. All you need to do is enter in a headline and a password. For a SaaS, you would need to at least require the user to have some type of "account" in which you could identify them. There are "alternative" things you can do, but I think you would still need that "prospect" of an account. An alternative method is to obtain an email address, which is used to know this user is trying to log in. Upon login, the user would be stopped because they technically haven't identified themselves yet. Your app would send a link to the email address, which the user would then click and be able to login. The unique link makes up for the password. So no password is required. Another way you could do it is by offering the user a way to sign by entering a pin unique to them, but again: you would want to require some email address so in case they forget, you could send them the details. Another way in which I'm also experimenting is to just get their phone number as a username. Upon entering it, they are sent a text message, to which they must reply with whatever alphanumeric ID combination is in the text and compare it to the ID you sent. A new way I am also doing things is.. I actually looked at what Hacker News does. You need a username and a password to register, but no email. However, if you ever lose your password, how do they know where to send it? By asking you for your email in the profile, but I don't think they really care if you don't care.. if there is no email to send it to, your sol. What I used to do: Require a username, password, and email address. Why 3 fields? I eventually narrowed it down to just the username and password, so the user could immediately login, but upon landing on the Settings page, an email address would required in order to continue. These are just some clever ways of doing things that you could possibly use, but as far as having random people come and use the web app without any affiliation at all would make it hard to track them down without some sort of identifier and commitment.

_pdp_ 10y ago
Traditional model for selling software is based on licenses which is in a way anonymous. Yes it can be defeated but the point is that there is little to no overhead to the company providing the software or the user - i.e. additional sign ups and login. I was looking for something like this and I believe I am close to achieving it but I wanted some additional opinion before I pull the trigger. In terms of licensing the SaaS offering, I am planning to use licenses which the client-side software validates. Obviously this is not going to work for server-side stuff. However, I am thinking that down the line I can always validate users through their emails as you suggested in your comment. Thanks for this. It is an interesting problem to crack and although not very conventional it should provide the user with more flexibility. Obviously, some types of SaaS companies will never be able to adopt this type of model maybe due to huge upfront cost.

forgottenacc57 10y ago

All you need is their email address and you get send a login link. Search for passwordless login.

brudgers 10y ago

Maybe there is a business there. I mean, one advantage Amazon has is that there is only one account and one bill for all those services and this reduces administrative overhead for customers. A company that stands up a single service creates a significant fraction of administrative overhead for customers relative to Amazon. A clearing house for SaaS billing might be analogous to a payroll service. Or not. And SaaS billing as a service is not your current problem directly. Good luck.

_pdp_ 10y ago
Billing is not exactly the hardest problem to crack. I think it is harder to market your product and for that you will need to allow customers to try it first in the easiest possible way and only when they are happy and can afford to - buy it. I am thinking that by eliminating the login it will be quicker to get to that point.
- brudgers 10y ago
  Getting people to pay is the critical element of the critical path for a business. Most businesses don't provide free products/services. The hard part psychologically is the risk that people will not find software worth paying for. In general parlance, 'customers' are exactly the set of people who pay.
  - _pdp_ 10y ago
    Maybe I am misunderstanding the comment. Many big and successful businesses provide free product/services. Besides if the user is tricked to pay for a service they do not find worth paying for it will have a rather negative effect in the long run - personal experience. Hence, forcing their hand is not the goal but making the software useful to them and only then asking for payment. I know that some types of software are immediately useful and if you are lucky to have created one then good but often it takes time for the software grow and nurtured hence why eliminating any obstacles is a key to long-term success imho.