SaaS development is building a software product that many customer companies use from one codebase, each seeing only its own data. We design and build B2B SaaS products for founders and product leads: the first MVP, the multi-tenant architecture under it, sign in and SSO, billing, admin tools, the integrations customers ask for, and the rebuild when the first version stops scaling.
This page covers the decisions before a build: what the work includes, which path fits your stage, and what drives the cost. If you need a web application for your own staff rather than a product sold to many accounts, start with our web development services page.
What does SaaS development with us include?
The core screens are the visible part of a B2B SaaS product. Most of the engineering time goes into the parts below, and so do most of the bugs that reach customers.
- Discovery. We turn your problem statement into a written scope, a data model and a release plan. If the idea is not validated yet, our product discovery services come first.
- MVP. The smallest product your first paying accounts will use, built on foundations that survive the first enterprise deal.
- Multi-tenant architecture. How tenants are isolated in the database, how a new account is provisioned, and how schema changes reach every tenant.
- Authentication and SSO. Email sign in or magic links for small accounts, SAML or OIDC single sign on for enterprise buyers, roles and permissions per tenant, and audit logs.
- Billing and plans. Subscriptions, seats, usage metering, trials, plan limits enforced in code, invoices and failed payment handling, usually on Stripe Billing.
- Admin and analytics. A back office for support and operations, plus product analytics that show which accounts use which features.
- Integrations. Webhooks, a public API, and connectors to the CRM, data warehouse or identity provider your customers already run.
- Scaling and rebuilds. Query performance, background jobs, caching, and moving a live product to a new tenancy model while paying customers keep working.
MVP or rebuild: which path are you on?
Most SaaS teams come to us at one of two points. Each one starts from a different question.
Building a SaaS MVP
A founder with a validated problem and a deadline needs a product that pilot customers can sign up for and pay. The main risk is scope. We agree a hard MVP definition in week one and defer what the first buyers will not miss. The time saved goes into the parts that are expensive to change later: tenant isolation, roles and the onboarding flow.
A US-based seed vertical-SaaS founder came to us after other agencies had scoped six months of work above the seed budget. We cut the scope to what five pilot buyers needed, deferred analytics, advanced reporting and integrations, and shipped the multi-tenant product in 12 weeks. Pilot onboarding completion was about 80% with no support needed, and merge to production stayed under 4 minutes. Read the vertical SaaS MVP case study. For MVPs outside SaaS, see our MVP development services.
Rebuilding a SaaS that has outgrown its first version
A growth-stage product starts to hurt in predictable places. Shared tables slow down as accounts grow. An enterprise prospect asks how its data is isolated. Engineers spend sprints on per-tenant hotfixes. A rebuild at this point is rarely a rewrite from scratch. We change the layer that is failing, usually the data model and provisioning, and keep the rest running.
A European Series-B B2B SaaS had outgrown its shared-table data model. We moved several hundred live tenants to per-tenant PostgreSQL schemas in batches, using a resumable backfill and an atomic provisioning API. Provisioning went from several hours to under five minutes, p99 query latency improved by about 55%, and per-tenant support tickets fell by roughly 40% in the quarter after. Read the multi-tenant rebuild case study.
When the question is wider than one layer, for example whether to split a monolith, we start with a software architecture review and a written plan.
Which multi-tenancy model fits your product?
Tenancy is the hardest decision to reverse, so we make it early and write down why. There are three common models.
| Model | How it works | Fits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared schema | All tenants share the same tables and each row carries a tenant ID; PostgreSQL row-level security can enforce the filter | MVPs and products with many small self-serve accounts | One missing filter can expose another tenant’s rows; large shared tables need careful indexing |
| Schema per tenant | One database with a separate PostgreSQL schema for each tenant | B2B products where enterprise buyers ask how their data is kept apart | Every migration runs once per schema, so you need a migration runner and version tracking |
| Database per tenant | Each tenant gets its own database, sometimes in its own region | Enterprise or regulated customers who require physical separation or data residency | Highest hosting and operations cost; provisioning, backups and upgrades must be automated |
Many products mix models: a shared schema for self-serve accounts and a dedicated database for the few enterprise customers whose contracts require one. Our seed MVP used row-level isolation from the first migration. The Series-B rebuild moved to schema per tenant once enterprise accounts and compliance audits made shared tables a liability. If you are unsure at MVP stage, we usually advise a shared schema with row-level security. Moving to schema per tenant later is real work, but we have done it on a live product without a hard cutover.
What stack do we build SaaS products on?
We choose the stack for the product, but most of our SaaS work runs on the same core.
- Frontend. React with Next.js for the app and the marketing site, TypeScript throughout.
- Backend. Node.js, often with NestJS when the domain has many modules and a team will grow around it. Python with Django or FastAPI when the product leans on data processing or machine learning. Our backend development page covers the API side.
- Database. PostgreSQL, for row-level security, schemas, JSON columns and mature migration tooling.
- APIs. REST for most public APIs, GraphQL when clients need flexible queries across many related objects. We compare the two in REST vs GraphQL.
- Content. When marketing pages, docs or in-app help need editors, we add a headless CMS such as Payload next to the app instead of hard-coding copy.
- Delivery. CI from the first week, a preview environment for every pull request, and integration tests that run tenant provisioning before each release.
How we run a SaaS engagement
- Discovery and scope. You walk us through the product, the buyers and the deadline. We come back with questions, then a written scope that lists what is in and what is deferred.
- Architecture and data model. We settle the tenancy, auth and billing models and record each decision with its reason, so your next hire can see why.
- Build in short iterations. Every pull request gets a preview environment. You review features in context instead of waiting for a release.
- Launch with real accounts. We onboard pilot or migrated accounts in batches and watch errors, latency and onboarding drop-off.
- Hand over or stay. Your team gets documentation and access to everything. Then we hand over, or keep working inside your process.
If you need people rather than a project, you can hire SaaS developers who join your sprints, or a dedicated development team that owns delivery with its own lead.
What drives the cost of SaaS development?
We do not publish a single price, because two SaaS products rarely cost the same. These are the drivers we scope against:
- Roles and permissions. Two fixed roles cost far less than a permission model each tenant can configure.
- Tenancy model. A shared schema is the cheapest to build. A database per tenant adds provisioning, backup and upgrade automation.
- Enterprise requirements. SAML SSO, SCIM user provisioning, audit logs, data residency and security questionnaires each add build and review time.
- Billing. Flat plans are simple. Seats, usage metering, proration and several currencies are not.
- Integrations. Each external system adds build, test and maintenance work, more so when the vendor API is poorly documented.
- Starting point. A new MVP, a rebuild of one layer, and a migration of live tenants with zero data loss are three different budgets.
Every engagement is scoped after a short discovery. You get a written scope and a price before you commit to the build.
Talk to a SaaS team
Tell us where your product is: an idea with first buyers, an MVP that now needs enterprise features, or a growing product that is starting to strain. Book a discovery call and we will come back with the questions the scope needs to answer.
