Hey Indies,
I come in great need of an advice.
I am almost done with building MVP for my project, it is a No-Code platform for UI testing. You can Create -> Debug -> Run -> Schedule UI tests without a single line of code.
Link: https://testnot.com
Live demo you can try here: https://demo.testnot.com/dashboard
It is like programming but with code blocks.
Now, the question is how should I offer this product?
If I go with SaaS approach:
Pros:
- Recurring Revenue
- No maintenance for my users
Cons:
- If they want to test the apps on not publicly available websites they will need to allow access from my app - security is concern to them here
If I go with PaaS approach:
Pros:
- Well I don't have to host anything by myself
- Users will be able to run the app on their computers
- I won't have to worry about network traffic
Cons:
- Missing out recurring revenue
- I provide them with all the code
If I go with Desktop app:
Pros:
- As above, I don't have to host anything by myself
- Users will be able to run the app on their computers
- I won't have to worry about network traffic
Cons:
- Also I am giving them my code
- I will probably need to organize paying per license
Any suggestion on how to offer this product will help me a lot!
For the SaaS approach, I don't think anyone would be happy to open a network connection to your app and it would typically need a lot of approvals in orgs.
For Desktop app also, most orgs need a lot of security approvals.
Go with PaaS approach. You may miss traditional SaaS recurring revenue but you can still charge 'License fee', may be license for every 1 year.
Thank you for advice!
Last night I was calculating the pricing for PaaS approach and I will go this way. Offering one time payment which would get you docker images, also fee for additional yearly support of updates and maintenace.
That's what most SaaS Starter Kit players do. This is no different.