
Ask HN: Is an open source SaaS model viable? - adtac
I recently created an open source project [1] (a tracking-free comment engine) that was well received. However, it requires setting up your own instance. Some users suggested that I should offer this as a SaaS and charge with a subscription model. The reason why the commercial closed-source solution (Disqus) exists is because it&#x27;s easier - they charge money and offer this as a convenient service.<p>The entire project will always be open source. It&#x27;s MIT license, so you can always fork your own copy. However I&#x27;m wondering if I should create a SaaS out of this that offers more advanced features (like comment moderation that works way better if offered as a SaaS)?<p>And if so, how should I figure out what should be the price? Does the open source SaaS model work? Any examples?<p>I&#x27;ve had a couple of people from venture firms reaching out to me about this. This is all very new to me, so I&#x27;d really appreciate some help here :)<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;adtac&#x2F;commento
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codegeek
Yes, why not. Do it. Here are some suggestions:

1\. Put up a landing page asap explaining what commento does. Add 2 Call-to-
Action buttons on it. One for "Download Free" which should take them to the
github page. Second for "Host it for me" where take them to a signup page and
get their credit card but offer a FREE trial for 7-30 days (you can experiment
with this). Regardless of whether self hosted or saas, collect email address
from everyone.

2\. Show a simple table on the landing page explaining the difference between
self hosted and SAAS versions including feature differences. Remember that
there will be 2 types of audience that you are targeting. One: developers who
don't mind self hosting vs the second: non technical bloggers etc who just
want a simple commenting system.

3\. Have a subscribe form somewhere that is not too intrusive. Manage your
email list using this but don't spam please.

4\. Start writing blog posts on topics related to the pain points with
comments including competitor's horror stories. Don't directly attack them but
show why you are better.

5\. Go on twitter and type "disqus sucks" or "I hate disqus" etc. From the
results, talk to those people and ask them if they are willing to try your
free service.

6\. Google "disqus alternatives" and visit the top 10 articles that show up.
See if there are any discussions on those articles that you can leverage. Find
some adopters from there as well.

7\. Listen to your users carefully. But don't worry about haters. Ignore them.
Only focus on constructive criticism and feedback.

8\. Get product hunted if you can (I never really cared about this but heard
this can give you a temporary traffic spike)

Don't forget. You built something cool. But to turn it into a SAAS, you will
have to do a lot more including the steps I mentioned to turn it into
something sustainable and worth. You built it but they won't come unless you
make an effort.

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michaelflux
Absolutely. The value is in the service you provide, not in the code.

Lets assume a potential competitor takes all your code and makes a carbon copy
of what you're offering.

\- Will any of your customers jump ship? Probably not, there is no incentive
if the service that you offer is good. \- Will 50% of new customers
automatically go to them? Probably not, not unless they are better at
marketing than you, are offering a better service, at a lower cost, etc. \-
Will all of your customers that would pay for your service use your code and
host it themselves? Probably not. The people who would host it themselves are
probably a completely different demographic from those who are looking for a
hosted solution.

Ultimately it all comes down to how good of a service you offer. If you charge
$10 and give me a hosted solution that I can set up in minutes, there is no
reason for me to spend hours of my own time setting up and configuring it only
to have the exact same thing, just based on how much my time would be worth,
if you're charging $10-15 dollars per month for this service, I would have to
keep paying you every month for 2-3 years before I even break even on how much
money I sacrifice by doing it myself.

There are dozens of products I pay for and use every day where the vast
majority of what makes them up is completely open source. I can take all the
code, and create everything that that product is, but why? I'm perfectly happy
using that service. The creator keeps it updated, secure, takes care of the
hosting etc. And I'm more than happy to support them financially.

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brudgers
In general, business to business (B2B) open source can be viable. Perhaps the
oldest company is Redhat - it is certainly the most widely known. For SaaS,
there are a number of companies in B2B with open source: Docker, Discourse,
Wordpress, MongoDB...and many others. So maybe a viable business can be built.

My random internet advice:

1\. Listen to your customers. They _say_ they want hosting. Ask for money to
see if they really want it. Business's charge money. Viable businesses seek
profits and do not rationalize charging less.

2\. Read and listen to Patrick "patio11" Mackenzie's back catalog of blogs and
podcasts about building SaaS services. His advice is better than mine (the
best of mine is mostly parroting him).

3\. In terms of investors, read Graham's essays. I'm not saying apply to YC. I
am saying that they provide a take on startup landscape and founder friendly
investment.

4\. Pricing:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1639712](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1639712)

Good luck.

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claudiulodro
Yes. That's a good idea. I would focus on on making it easy for customers to
get up and running with the service before going crazy with the new features.

Here's some examples:

WordPress -> WordPress.com (For a monthly fee, you get an already set-up WP
site instead of having to do it yourself or shop around for hosts)

Puppet -> Puppet Enterprise (For a monthly fee, they can manage your puppet
stuff in their cloud)

Git -> GitHub (Slightly different in that GitHub didn't invent Git. For a
monthly fee, you get private git repos)

If I was in your shoes, I'd start with $10/mo for essentially what Disqus
does: a snippet you can add to your site to have comments without having to
set up your own instance.

------
vc_throw
> I've had a couple of people from venture firms reaching out to me about
> this.

Wow. Indian VCs or VCs from the US? What was their pitch like?

