Seven key findings from the 2024 State of Independent SaaS report

Executive overview

Independent SaaS founders lack benchmarks relevant to their context — most industry data covers venture-backed companies. This report, based on ~700 responses from the bootstrapped/indie SaaS community, provides directional data on growth models, team structures, funding appetite, and marketing channels.

Three-founder teams outperform all other team sizes; opt-in free trials produce 2x the LTV of credit-card-required trials despite slower initial growth.

Free trial model vs. freemium: growth, churn, and LTV

• Freemium averaged ~10% month-over-month growth but ~11% monthly churn — effectively flat.
• Free trial, credit card required had the highest growth: ~14% MoM average; churn ~5.5%.
• Free trial, no credit card required had the lowest growth: ~7.6% MoM; churn ~6.3%.
• LTV flips the story: no-CC free trial averaged $6.5K LTV vs. $3.6K (CC required) and $3K (freemium).
• No-CC free trial trades faster early growth for roughly 2x lifetime revenue per customer.
• Freemium high churn likely reflects founders using it without understanding how to convert or monetize.
• CC-required higher growth may reflect better-filtered trial cohorts, not better monetization.

Founder count and growth rates

• Solo founders and two-founder teams show similar, moderate MoM growth.
• Three co-founders produced 2–3x average MoM growth and 2x median growth vs. one or two founders.
• Four or more founders showed a sharp drop-off in growth efficiency.
• ~70% of respondents are solo founders; ~15% are two-founder teams — together ~85% of the sample.
• Hypothesis: a third founder breaks decision deadlocks and creates forward momentum.

Target market and growth rate

• Enterprise and mid-market targets averaged ~26% MoM growth — highest in the sample.
• NGOs also ranked near the top, likely because they behave similarly to enterprise buyers.
• SMBs averaged ~12% MoM growth — squarely in the middle.
• Consumers averaged ~5%; government ~1.75% — slowest segments.
• Market choice sets baseline growth expectations; B2C founders should calibrate accordingly.

Credit card requirement trend over four surveys (2020–2024)

• 2020: 73% of respondents asked for a credit card upfront.
• 2022: rose to 78%.
• 2024: declined to 71% — a ~10% drop from peak.
• Shift reflects a growing communal preference toward opt-in (no CC) free trials.
• Context matters: if the end-user differs from the buyer (e.g., a developer trialling without budget authority), CC-required is often impractical.

Funding appetite: 2022 vs. 2024

• In 2022 (surveyed fall 2021, peak funding environment): 30% planned to seek outside funding within 12 months.
• In 2024: dropped to ~23.5% — a ~22% relative decline.
• Reflects tighter funding conditions, less favourable terms, and a strengthening bootstrap-first culture.
• Roughly one-third of Tiny Seed portfolio companies go on to raise additional funding — consistent with this range.

Advertising channels that drive revenue

• Google AdWords ranked first at ~65% of respondents citing it as a top revenue-driving channel.
• Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ranked second at ~30%.
• "Other" ranked third — likely includes podcast sponsorships, event sponsorships, and display ads.
• LinkedIn ranked fourth; noted for poor ad tooling relative to Meta and AdWords.
• Twitter/X ads remain negligible despite repeated expectation that they would improve.

What this report is and isn't

• Based on ~700 usable responses — statistically meaningful, but directional rather than prescriptive.
• Data can be read to support multiple conclusions (e.g., both CC-required and no-CC models have defensible arguments).
• Primary value: replaces gut-feel benchmarks with community-specific data on growth, churn, LTV, team structure, and operations.
• Full report available at stateofindysas.com.