5 ms·

Ask HN: SaaS Covers Too Much?

I see and think traditionally of SaaS as business services delivered as software; recurring, sometimes yearly, and part of processes, or process automation; focused on QoL for higher ups, or solving direct on the line problems. However since about 2019 and especially 2022, I notice more times than not SaaS is actually being used in reference to a Subscription model B2C startup - GPT wrappers, for example. What gives? Did the term change meaning? Should there be an encompassing of both these ... rather different... models under the same name? Don't business/seat pricing models have much greater compliance/finance issues?

ad404b8a372f2b9 3y ago
The SaaS term has included B2C companies since the very beginning. There are talks on Youtube as early as 2013 about B2C SaaS companies.
- james-revisoai 3y ago
  But why did people go from introducing their startups as "subscription" "freemium" or "B2C" to mostly all saying "SaaS"? I definitely feel this was not the case before 2013... there was a period when SaaS became terminology before it swept up these other terms... I feel it might be like machine learning/AI - ML may be a better phrase for the situation, but people just say AI now as it is trending...
  - ajeet_dhaliwal 3y ago
    These are all different things. Subscription vs one-time payment (+ maintenance/updates payments) are two ways off offering to pay. Freemium just means offering a free tier to let users try the software and offering a way to upgrade to unlock features on paid plans. B2C vs B2B is business to customer vs business to business. SaaS is software as a service, as opposed to say installing an application on premise in a data center. A startup could be offering a fremium B2C SaaS for example, or a freemium B2B SaaS.
    - james-revisoai 3y ago
      Thanks for clarifying. I think I am just misremembering how terms were used because of the cohort of people I was amongst and our focus on business models, perhaps.
joshxyz 3y ago
i think it qualifies. as long as it's a software and a service, regardless if it's b2c b2b b2e, regardless if it's intended for end-users or developers, regardless if it's intended for individuals, teams, smbs, and enterprises.
codingdave 3y ago
"Software as a service". That is all it has ever meant. No more, no less. If you provide software via a model where they access it online (as a service), it is a SaaS. You seem to be thinking of it the opposite way: "Services as Software". That simply isn't what the term means.

ad404b8a372f2b9 3y ago

The SaaS term has included B2C companies since the very beginning. There are talks on Youtube as early as 2013 about B2C SaaS companies.

james-revisoai 3y ago
But why did people go from introducing their startups as "subscription" "freemium" or "B2C" to mostly all saying "SaaS"? I definitely feel this was not the case before 2013... there was a period when SaaS became terminology before it swept up these other terms... I feel it might be like machine learning/AI - ML may be a better phrase for the situation, but people just say AI now as it is trending...
- ajeet_dhaliwal 3y ago
  These are all different things. Subscription vs one-time payment (+ maintenance/updates payments) are two ways off offering to pay. Freemium just means offering a free tier to let users try the software and offering a way to upgrade to unlock features on paid plans. B2C vs B2B is business to customer vs business to business. SaaS is software as a service, as opposed to say installing an application on premise in a data center. A startup could be offering a fremium B2C SaaS for example, or a freemium B2B SaaS.
  - james-revisoai 3y ago
    Thanks for clarifying. I think I am just misremembering how terms were used because of the cohort of people I was amongst and our focus on business models, perhaps.

joshxyz 3y ago

i think it qualifies. as long as it's a software and a service, regardless if it's b2c b2b b2e, regardless if it's intended for end-users or developers, regardless if it's intended for individuals, teams, smbs, and enterprises.

codingdave 3y ago

"Software as a service". That is all it has ever meant. No more, no less. If you provide software via a model where they access it online (as a service), it is a SaaS. You seem to be thinking of it the opposite way: "Services as Software". That simply isn't what the term means.