Ask HN: What's your total monthly SaaS spend? What products are you using?

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49 points by tanmaydesai89 2482 days ago

Recently I was looking at how much we spend on SaaS, and it made me wonder -

For those who don't mind sharing, what's your total monthly SaaS spend? Where?

Here're some SaaS expenses that I can share off the top of my head: (amount in USD)

- Video Calling/Screensharing: 60

- Internal Docs: 80 (docs, spreadsheet)

- Emails: 60

- Team Communications: 60

- Customer Success: 90

- Survey/Feedback: 35

- Calendar Scheduling: 30

- CRM: 90

- Email Client: 60

- Lead Enhancement: 50 (get more details about given email/domain)

- Accounting: 70

- Private Beta Launch: 75

- Project Management: Free

- Analytics: Free

Total -> ~750 USD

+ PLUS Few hundred dollars every month, while testing out a few SaaS, that requires credit card upfront, which you forget to cancel. (Q2 - Does this happen to you often?)

PS. • This does not include tech expenses. I'll sync up with our tech team and update soon.

8 comments

aidanlister 2482 days ago

We spend ~$7k/month on SaaS relating to employees.

  Google 20.90
  Travis C 1,494.96
  InVision 150.73
  Base CRM 452.46
  1password 209.78
  Rsync.net 15.27
  Abstract 50.91
  Adobe 79.29
  Balsamiq 12.40
  StatusPage.io 44.38
  Github 10.68
  Balsamiq 0.00
  Zendesk 904.57
  Chart.io 303.21
  Github 157.42
  Hubspot 1,536.15
  Google - GSuite 373.68
  Intercom 155.60
  Xero 141.25
  Browserling 28.98
  Microsoft 26.40
  Slack 337.40
  Open Test 15.30
  Atlassian 628.60
  BuildKite 46.30

We spend a further $8k/month on SaaS relating to customer hosting, eg SaaS subscriptions like SendGrid but not including AWS spend.

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tanmaydesai89 2481 days ago

Thank you for sharing this. I've 2 follow-up questions:

Q1 - I see some overlapping as well? ie. Base vs Hubspot? Is it the case or false assumption? Q2 - (If you're comfortable) How big is the team?

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codingdave 2482 days ago

This data would be easier to put into context if anyone who replies also includes the number of employees that are supported by their SaaS budget.

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tanmaydesai89 2481 days ago

Completely agree with you. I'm trying to ask this in a follow-up question if one is comfortable.

We're a 10 people team.

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johnmarcus 2482 days ago

Yup, about the same amount for about the same set of tools.

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tanmaydesai89 2481 days ago

Thanks for sharing. How do you manage SaaS expenses? human/sheet/accounting s/w?

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johnmarcus 2481 days ago

accounting software is used for formal bookkeeping, but i don't think it categorizes in this way.

good'ol spreadsheet is how we keep track of them. the spreadsheet also allows input for the terms/renewal period, purpose, and whom owns the relationship.

There probably is a small product to be created here, but im not sure people would pay for it in itself, maybe as a bonus feature with something of more utility.

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tanmaydesai89 2478 days ago

Thanks for the info! The spreadsheet is a way to go!

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cm2012 2481 days ago

Around $1000 per month and the best money I spend.

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tanmaydesai89 2481 days ago

Thank you for sharing. I've 2 follow-up questions:

Q1 - (If you don't mind sharing) how many people does $1K supports? Q2 - how do you manage SaaS expense? human/sheet/accounting s/w?

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ericb 2481 days ago