
Ask HN: Every SaaS startup needs this but no one built it yet, why? - InGodsName
Think Shopify but for subscription products.<p>I just want to get a subscription product out there fast, not spend three months building yet another user registration database with oauth and payments.
What I really need is something like shopify - but allowing subscription payments via Stripe. I also need Shopify to provide an API so I can query my user database and do stuff with it.<p>Writing it on your own is too much trouble. You are responsible for backups, bugs and everything. It&#x27;s lot more work and it&#x27;s not even the core feature of our start-up. We want to spend time solving unique problem not redundant one.<p>VAT compliance, taxes etc... Different kind of reports like churn rate etc... Building all this will require domain expertise and is prone to errors in understanding.<p>GDPR is also one big headache.<p>I want someone else to be taking care of user interface stuff. I should be able to pay and get a gorgeous looking site that works well on mobile and desktop, facilitates user signin via oauth, allows me to set up products and prices, lets people purchase my services on a recurring basis, doesn&#x27;t try to own my user base and lets me write code to access all the relevant user and account and product data.<p>Is there a SAAS handling user registration, oauth signin and Stripe subscriptions?<p>I don&#x27;t want to write all that stuff yet again.
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ckluis
I'd go further its a shame that projects like Ruby-on-Rails, Laravel, Phoenix,
etc do not have a "SaaS" bundle with an idiomatic way to have a SaaS business.

There are all kinds of nuances to running a good SaaS business that the
platforms could provide a good starting ground for if the people who built
their businesses on those platforms re-invested into it.

For instance: including separate DBs for users so they can be pseudo-
anonymized throughout the application and deleted from the user table (GDPR
request for instance). This allows your primary DB to be un-affected and
doesn't require you to remove that person from all back-ups with surgical
precision. Unless you're aware of those types of concerns - you're unlikely to
build it on your own.

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InGodsName
Good points, i forgot about the GDPR entirely.

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llampx
Do you mean something like www.chargebee.com ?

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borplk
I think those services exist as other people named a few.

Another issue is Shopify may not have that today, but it may have it tomorrow!

It's dangerous to build a missing feature of a giant because they may
invalidate you overnight.

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OafTobark
A quick Google search came up with Subbly and Cratejoy. Do those not satisfy
the criteria?

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entity345
What happens when that service closes down at short notice?

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InGodsName
Maybe there would be some Opensource project like Discourse with hosted
product as business model.

