How to Buy a SaaS Business Without VC: A Step-by-Step Guide

Short answer: To buy a SaaS business without VC, choose a small, profitable product you can pay for with savings plus seller financing (or, in the US, an SBA 7(a) loan), price it off verified profit rather than the asking price, and close through escrow with a signed asset purchase agreement. Flippa's H1 2026 data puts smaller owner-operated SaaS at roughly 2.5x to 4.5x profit, so a product making $2,000 a month in profit typically lands somewhere between $60,000 and $108,000.

Every fee, multiple and loan rule below comes from the marketplace's, lender's or regulator's own page, checked on 8 Nov 2026. The advice in between is ours and is marked as such.

TL;DR#

• Finding deals costs little. Flippa is free to browse ($49 a month or $490 a year for Premium early access), Microns Premium is $299 a year or $40 a month, Acquire.com Premium is $390 a year, IndieExit Premium is $9 once, and Sell Micro SaaS charges buyers nothing.
• Price off profit and say which multiple you used. Flippa reports approximately 2.5x to 4.5x profit for smaller owner-operated SaaS (H1 2026 deals), Empire Flippers lists at 1.7x to 5x+ net profit, and TrustMRR reports a 1.4x average on annualised revenue.
• Fund it without VC. Savings plus a seller note is the default for micro deals. Acquire.com's LOI builder requires at least 10% of the price at closing when the rest is deferred. In the US, SBA 7(a) loans cover changes of ownership up to $5 million.
• Diligence at the source. Get read-only payment provider access, bank statements, a code walkthrough and a data inventory. Acquire.com says plainly that "Due diligence is your and the seller's responsibility."
• Close safely. Sign an LOI, then an asset purchase agreement, fund escrow, transfer assets against a checklist, and release funds only after inspection. Escrow.com's standard fee is 2.4% from $5,000.01 to $50,000 (fee calculator); Acquire.com covers it for deals closed there.
• Do not change much for 90 days. Learn the product, the customers and the support load before you raise prices or rewrite code.

Disclosure: ZeroRaised publishes this guide and is a launch site for bootstrapped products. ZeroRaised is not a marketplace or broker, has no commercial relationship with any company named here, and earns nothing if you buy through them. This is not legal, tax or financial advice; use a lawyer and an accountant for any real deal.

Why buy a SaaS instead of building one?#

Building and buying solve different problems. When you build, the hard part is finding a product people will pay for; our guide on funding a product without venture capital covers how founders pay their way through that stage. When you buy, someone else has already done that part. You pay for a product that works, customers who already pay, and a channel that already brings some of them in.

Our read on when buying makes sense:

• You are better at running and growing than at zero-to-one. Buyers with marketing, sales or operations skills can often grow a neglected product faster than they could find a new idea.
• You want income sooner. A profitable SaaS produces cash from the first month you own it. A new product usually does not.
• You have capital or a seller willing to finance. Buying costs money up front. Building mostly costs time.
• You want to learn the business of SaaS. Owning a small product teaches churn, pricing, support and payments faster than reading about them.

When building is the better call, in our view:

• You have an idea and a distribution channel already, and no capital.
• The products for sale in your niche all depend on one platform you do not trust.
• You enjoy the zero-to-one stage and would be bored maintaining someone else's code.

There is no sourced, universal answer on which is faster or cheaper. The trade is cash and diligence risk (buying) against time and product risk (building).

What can you afford? Valuation multiples in 2026#

Small SaaS businesses are priced as a multiple of something, usually profit for owner-operated products and revenue or ARR for larger ones. The basis matters more than the number. A 3x profit multiple and a 3x revenue multiple can mean very different prices for the same product.

These are the multiples published on each source's own page, checked today:

Flippa's same guide gives realised profit multiples by deal size for all digital businesses in H1 2026: an average of 2.24x for $10K to $100K deals, 1.85x for $100K to $250K, 1.82x for $250K to $1M, and 2.43x+ for $1M and up. That is a broad market, not SaaS alone, but it is a useful reminder that small deals often close well below the headline SaaS ranges.

A few definitions so you read listings correctly:

• SDE (seller's discretionary earnings) is profit before the owner's own pay. It is the right number for a business you will run yourself, because the owner's salary is effectively your return.
• Annualised revenue is a recent period multiplied up. TrustMRR, for example, uses the last 30 days times 12. A good month inflates it, a bad month deflates it.
• ARR is annual recurring revenue from subscriptions. It excludes one-off payments.

Our read: for a sub-$100k micro SaaS, anchor on SDE from the last 12 months, check it against the payment provider, and treat anything above roughly 4x profit as a price that needs a strong reason (fast growth, low churn, little owner time, clear pricing headroom). Our guide to SaaS metrics for bootstrapped founders explains the churn, ARPU and growth numbers that justify a higher or lower multiple.

What moves the price up or down, in our view:

Where to find SaaS businesses for sale (buyer fees compared)#

Our guide to where to sell a SaaS business covers seller fees. This table covers what you pay and get as a buyer. Every figure was checked on the platform's own page today.

Notes on each:

• Acquire.com is SaaS-focused and the most structured for small buyers. Its pricing page shows buyer membership "Starting at $390"; the help article gives Premium at $390 a year and Platinum at $780 a year, both billed annually. The LOI and APA builders support seller financing and holdbacks, and its escrow help article says "we cover your escrow fee" when you use Escrow.com.
• Flippa is the broadest marketplace, with every kind of online business, so filter hard. Browsing is free. Premium's main feature is "First Access. Receive new deals and listings 21 days before the rest". Flippa's escrow page also mentions Flippa Finance, which "offers SBA loans, 401(k) rollovers, and other acquisition financing options" through partners. The same page shows two different fee tables for FlippaPay and Escrow.com, so confirm the fee on your own deal.
• Microns is built for small startup deals, with seller fees that start on projects from $1K. Buyer Premium adds "Access private details of all listings" and "30 days post-sale support from our sellers". Microns says "We don't do refunds. Only for serious buyers."
• TrustMRR is the strongest for revenue you can trust, because it reads figures directly from the connected payment provider. The trade-off for buyers: you pay half the 3% closing fee and half the escrow fee, and there are no earn-outs or seller notes. Its fees page puts the all-in closing cost at "typically 4-6% total" across both sides.
• IndieExit and Sell Micro SaaS are the cheapest places to look, with smaller and earlier products. Sell Micro SaaS says "Revenue figures are self-reported by the seller", so verification is your job.
• Empire Flippers is curated and built for larger, profitable businesses. Its buyer FAQ says "The URL will not be shown unless you unlock the listing" and "All sales are final". Its sell page charges sellers "a flat 15% on the sale price" between $66,666.66 and $700,000, which hints at the deal sizes it is built for.
• Tiny Acquisitions would not load when we checked today, so we have left it out.

Our read: for a first deal under $100k, set up alerts on Acquire.com, Microns and TrustMRR, browse Flippa with tight filters, and check IndieExit and Sell Micro SaaS once a week. Pay for one premium membership, not four, and only once you are ready to make offers.

How to fund a SaaS acquisition without VC#

Most micro SaaS deals are funded by some mix of the buyer's savings and the seller's patience. Larger deals in the US can add an SBA-backed loan. Our guide to funding without venture capital covers the wider set of options; these are the ones that matter for buying.

1. Savings (all cash at closing)#

The simplest structure. You pay the full price through escrow at closing, and the seller has no ongoing stake. Sellers like it, and it can win you a lower price or a faster close. TrustMRR only supports this structure: "a single lump-sum payment through escrow" (FAQ).

Our read: do not put every dollar you have into the purchase. Keep at least several months of the business's operating costs plus your own living costs in reserve, because the first months of ownership often bring surprises (a payment migration, a churn spike, a broken integration).

2. Seller financing (a seller note)#

The seller lets you pay part of the price over time, usually with interest, after you take ownership. Acquire.com's LOI builder offers "Additional payment terms post-closing" with two options, "Seller financing or Conditional holdback", and sets a floor: the closing payment must be a "minimum 10 percent of the purchase price." The seller financing fields include "The interest rate percentage."

Why sellers agree: it widens the pool of buyers, it can support a higher price, and it signals the seller believes the revenue will hold. Why it helps you: you need less cash up front, and the seller has a reason to help with the handover.

What to agree in writing, in our view:

• Amount, interest rate, number and size of payments, and start date.
• What happens if you miss a payment, and whether the seller can take the business back.
• Whether the seller note is secured on the business assets.
• Whether payments can be reduced if revenue falls (this makes it closer to an earn-out).

3. Earn-outs and holdbacks#

An earn-out ties part of the price to future performance, for example a further payment if MRR stays above an agreed level for six months. A holdback keeps part of the price back for a period and releases it if the business is as described. Both protect you if the numbers were rosier than reality.

Platform support varies. Flippa's escrow page lists earn-outs as supported on FlippaPay "In accordance with the APA or SPA" and "Not supported" on Escrow.com. Acquire.com's escrow article asks whether you agreed "a seller holdback, earnout, or some other conditional payment post-closing". Acquire.com also says "Don't add a holdback if you're financing the acquisition with an SBA loan."

4. SBA 7(a) loans (US businesses only)#

The US Small Business Administration guarantees loans made by private lenders. The 7(a) page lists "Changes of ownership (complete or partial)" among eligible uses and says "The maximum loan amount for a 7(a) loan is $5 million."

The basics, all from sba.gov:

• Eligibility. The business must "Be an operating business", "Operate for profit", "Be located in the U.S.", "Be small under SBA size requirements" and "Be creditworthy and demonstrate a reasonable ability to repay the loan". It must also "Not be able to obtain the desired credit on reasonable terms from non-federal, non-state, and non-local government sources" (7(a) page).
• Loan types. According to the SBA lenders page, 7(a) Small loans are $350,000 or less, with an 85% guarantee up to $150,000 and 75% above. Standard 7(a) loans run from $350,001 to $5 million with a 75% guarantee. SBA Express goes up to $500,000 with a 50% guarantee.
• Rates. "Lenders and borrowers can negotiate the interest rate, but it may not exceed the SBA maximum."
• Term. "10 years or less, unless financing or refinancing real estate or equipment with a useful life exceeding 10 years" (SBA lenders page).
• Finding a lender. Lender Match says "More than 800 lenders participate", but "using Lender Match doesn't guarantee that you'll get matched or be offered a loan. Lender Match isn't a loan application".

Acquire.com's SBA article adds the point many first-time buyers miss: "You must invest in the business yourself." The SBA's detailed lender rules live in SOP 50 10 (version 8.1, effective 1 October 2026); ask your lender how its equity injection rules apply to your deal rather than relying on a summary.

Our read: SBA loans are built for larger, steadier businesses with a track record and real assets. For a micro SaaS under about $100k, the paperwork, lender appetite and personal guarantees may outweigh the benefit, and savings plus a seller note is usually simpler. For a profitable US SaaS in the several-hundred-thousand range, it is worth a conversation with an SBA lender who has financed software deals before.

5. Revenue-based financing#

Revenue-based financing lends against a company's recurring revenue and is repaid from future revenue. We checked four providers today, and none of their pages said they fund acquisitions. Founderpath, for example, says its eligibility starts at "at least $500K in last-year revenue" (Founderpath), and Lighter Capital offers "up to $10M" with "Longer payback terms (up to 4 years)" (Lighter Capital) but does not mention acquisitions on its home page.

Our read: treat revenue-based financing as a tool for growing a business you already own, not a way to buy a micro SaaS. If you want to use it for a purchase, ask the provider directly before you count on it.

6. Other non-VC routes#

• A partner or small group of friends splitting the purchase. Put the ownership, decision rights and exit terms in writing before you make an offer.
• Retirement account rollovers are mentioned by Flippa Finance as an option it offers through partners (escrow page). This has tax and legal consequences; get specialist advice before considering it.
• Buying smaller first. A $5,000 to $20,000 product teaches you the whole process with less at risk.

Step-by-step: how to buy a SaaS business#

Step 1: Write your buy box#

A buy box is the short list of what you will and will not buy. It stops you wasting weeks on listings that were never a fit. Ours would include:

• Price range you can fund, including reserves and deal costs.
• Profit range that pays you enough to be worth the time.
• Owner hours per week you can give it.
• Skills fit: a stack you can maintain, and a market you understand.
• Model: B2B or B2C, subscription or one-time.
• Deal-breakers: for example, no single customer above a set share of revenue, no products that depend on one marketplace's goodwill.

Step 2: Source deals and set alerts#

Create accounts on the platforms above, set saved searches that match your buy box, and turn on alerts. Read many listings before you contact anyone, so you learn what normal looks like in your niche. If you are a builder, also look at products you already use; some of the best small deals are found by emailing a founder whose product has gone quiet.

Step 3: Screen in 15 minutes#

Most listings fail a quick screen. Use this checklist before you ask for anything private:

Step 4: First call and NDA#

On the first call, ask open questions and listen. Good ones: why are you selling, what would you do with another year, what breaks most often, which customers would you worry about losing, and what do you spend each week on support. Sign an NDA before the seller shares private data; most marketplaces offer templates.

Step 5: Make an offer with an LOI#

A letter of intent (LOI) sets out the price, structure and main terms before either side spends money on lawyers and full diligence. It is usually non-binding on price but may bind you on confidentiality and exclusivity. A typical LOI covers:

• Price, and how much is paid at closing versus later.
• Structure: asset purchase (most small SaaS deals) or share purchase.
• Seller financing, earn-out or holdback terms, if any.
• What is included: code, domain, payment account, customer list, content, social accounts, trademarks.
• Diligence period and what access you need.
• Exclusivity: how long the seller agrees not to negotiate with others.
• Handover support from the seller after closing.
• Conditions: for example, diligence confirming the stated revenue.

Acquire.com's LOI builder walks you through these choices on the platform, including "All cash, due at closing" or deferred terms with a 10% minimum at closing.

Step 6: Due diligence#

Diligence is where you confirm that what you were told is true. Acquire.com's due diligence article puts it plainly: "Only proceed in acquiring a business if you're sure of the risks."

Financial

• Read-only access to the payment provider (Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, App Store Connect), or a screen share where you click around yourself.
• Bank statements that match the payouts.
• Monthly revenue, refunds, chargebacks and failed payments for 12 to 24 months.
• Cohort retention: how many customers from each signup month are still paying.
• An itemised monthly cost list, including hosting, email, AI and API usage, and contractors.
• Any annual plans that will need serving after you take over, and whether that revenue was already paid to the seller.

Customers and market

• Revenue by customer, to check concentration.
• Support inbox and ticket volume for the last few months.
• Reviews, complaints and public mentions.
• Contracts with any business customers, and whether they can be assigned to a new owner.

Product and code

• A walkthrough of the codebase, deploy process and infrastructure.
• Someone you trust (yourself or a paid contractor) deploying the app from scratch in a test environment.
• A dependency list: third-party APIs, libraries, licences, and anything near end of life.
• Security basics: where secrets live, who has access, past incidents.

Legal and IP

• Proof the seller owns what they are selling: code written by contractors should be assigned to the seller in writing.
• Domain registration in the seller's name.
• Trademarks, if any.
• Terms of service and privacy policy, and whether they allow the customer data to pass to a new owner.

Data protection (GDPR and UK GDPR)

If the business holds data on UK or EU users, data protection is part of diligence. The UK ICO's guidance on mergers and acquisitions says "you must consider data sharing as part of the due diligence you carry out", and lists steps including to "identify the purposes for which the data was originally obtained;", "establish your lawful basis for sharing the data;", "establish what data you are transferring;" and "consider when and how you will inform data subjects about what is happening." After the deal it says to "check that the data records are accurate and up to date;" and "document the data sharing;". The ICO notes this guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act.

Tax (US)

In the US, the IRS says "Both the seller and purchaser of a group of assets that makes up a trade or business must use Form 8594" when goodwill or going concern value attaches and the purchaser's basis is determined only by the amount paid. How the price is split between assets matters for both sides, so agree it with an accountant before you sign.

Step 7: The asset purchase agreement (APA)#

Most small SaaS deals are asset purchases: you buy the code, domain, customer relationships and other assets, not the seller's company. That usually means you do not inherit the seller's company debts or liabilities, though a lawyer should confirm this for your jurisdiction. The APA is the binding contract. It should include:

• A full asset schedule: every repository, domain, account, trademark, content file and customer list, by name.
• Price and payment terms, including any seller note, earn-out or holdback, and what triggers each payment.
• Representations and warranties: the seller's written statements that the revenue, ownership and other facts are true, and what happens if they are not.
• Non-compete and non-solicit: the seller will not build a competing product or poach customers for an agreed period.
• Transition support: how many weeks of help, by which channel, and how many hours.
• Closing mechanics: escrow, inspection period, and the order of transfers.

Acquire.com's APA builder repeats the 10% minimum at closing for deferred payments and recommends "closing with Escrow.com wherever possible." Our read: for any deal you would be upset to lose, pay a lawyer to review the APA. It costs far less than a dispute.

Step 8: Escrow and closing#

Escrow protects both sides: the buyer's money is held by a neutral party until the assets arrive. Escrow.com's website sale process runs in five steps: buyer and seller agree terms, the buyer pays Escrow.com, the seller transfers the website once payment is verified, "When the buyer indicates they have possession of the website the inspection period begins", and funds are released "When Escrow.com can verify the website has been transferred to the Buyer or the inspection period has ended".

Escrow.com's fee calculator lists these standard fees today:

The calculator also lists a card or PayPal surcharge of "Standard or Concierge fee + 3.05%" on the smallest tier, and an extra $25 for wires from non-US buyers. Who pays depends on the deal: Acquire.com covers the Escrow.com fee for deals closed there, and TrustMRR splits it 50/50 between buyer and seller.

On Acquire.com, the inspection period "defaults to 24 hours (minimum), but you can change this". Our read: 24 hours is too short to check a SaaS handover properly. Ask for enough days to deploy the code, confirm the domain, and see at least one billing cycle's worth of payments land in your account if the timing allows.

Step 9: Transfer the assets#

Work through a written checklist with the seller, and tick items off together on a call. The order we would use: code and hosting first, then domain and DNS, then payments, then email and everything else. Release escrow only when every item on the APA schedule is confirmed.

Transfer checklist#

Stripe detail worth knowing: Stripe's business-sale article says not to send the new owner's details to Stripe by email; after contacting Support, the owner can update the payout bank account, statement descriptor, receipt details, owner email, legal business name and tax ID in the dashboard. Plan this for a quiet day, and check the first payout lands in your account.

The first 90 days after you buy#

Our read on a sensible first 90 days. None of this is sourced data; it is the plan we would follow.

Days 1 to 30: keep it running and learn

• Confirm every asset is in your name and every secret is rotated.
• Read every support ticket yourself. Answer them yourself.
• Email customers a short, honest note: new owner, same product, how to reach you. Follow the data protection steps you agreed.
• Set up your own dashboards for MRR, churn, failed payments and signups.
• Do not change pricing, branding or the tech stack yet.

Days 31 to 60: fix what is leaking

• Turn on or tune failed-payment retries and dunning emails.
• Fix the top three support issues.
• Talk to five to ten customers, especially the largest and the newest.
• Write down the deploy process, incident steps and a list of every account.

Days 61 to 90: plan growth

• Pick one growth lever: pricing, a new channel, or an obvious missing feature customers keep asking for.
• If the product is underpriced, read our guide on how to raise prices without losing customers and grandfather existing users where it makes sense.
• Review the seller note or earn-out schedule against real numbers.
• Decide what you will not do this year.

Red flags and scams#

• Revenue only in screenshots. Images can be edited. Ask for read-only payment provider access or a live screen share where you control the clicks. Sell Micro SaaS says "Revenue figures are self-reported by the seller"; TrustMRR, by contrast, reads revenue "directly from your connected payment provider" (FAQ).
• Payouts that do not match the bank. Payment provider revenue should match bank deposits after fees and refunds.
• A recent spike. A launch, a one-off promotion or a burst of annual plans can inflate annualised revenue. Look at 12 months, not 30 days.
• Customer concentration. One account paying a large share of revenue is a business that ends with one email.
• Platform dependence. A product that lives inside one marketplace, API or app store can lose its distribution overnight.
• Hidden owner work. A seller who claims two hours a week but has hundreds of support tickets a month.
• Code only the seller can run. If they cannot deploy it in front of you, assume you cannot either.
• Unassigned IP. Code written by contractors without a written assignment may not be the seller's to sell.
• Pressure to move off-platform or skip escrow. Keep the deal where the platform's rules and escrow protect you. Check the escrow site's URL yourself rather than clicking a link the seller sends.
• Refusing a non-compete. A seller who will not agree to stay out of the market for a period may plan to compete with you.
• "All sales are final." Empire Flippers says this in its buyer FAQ, and it is broadly true across the market. Your protection is diligence and the APA, not a refund.

Worked example: buying a $3,000 MRR micro SaaS#

Illustrative example. The business, numbers and terms below are invented to show the arithmetic. Fees and multiples come from the sources cited above.

The business: a B2B scheduling tool with $3,000 MRR, $600 a month in costs, so $2,400 a month ($28,800 a year) in seller's discretionary earnings. Revenue has been flat to slightly up for 12 months, no customer pays more than 5% of revenue, and the seller says it needs about five hours a week.

Valuation: on Flippa's approximately 2.5x to 4.5x profit range for smaller owner-operated SaaS, that is $72,000 to $129,600. On TrustMRR's 1.4x average annualised revenue multiple ($36,000 a year), it would be $50,400. The seller asks $110,000. You offer $85,000 (about 3x SDE), citing flat growth and the five weekly hours, and settle at $90,000.

Structure:

The note payment uses the standard loan formula: $45,000 at 8% a year (0.667% a month) over 36 months comes to roughly $1,410 a month. Over three years you pay about $50,760 on the note, around $5,760 of it interest.

Buyer deal costs on Acquire.com: Premium membership $390 a year (trailing revenue is $36,000, under the $250k Premium limit), no buyer closing fee found, and the Escrow.com fee covered by Acquire.com. Add a lawyer to review the APA (quote varies).

The same deal on TrustMRR: not possible as structured, because TrustMRR only supports a single lump-sum payment. All cash at $90,000 would cost the buyer 1.5% ($1,350) plus half the Escrow.com fee. At 1.9% for $50,000.01 to $200,000, the escrow fee is $1,710, so your half is $855. Total buyer fees: about $2,205.

What the example shows: a seller note lets you buy with half the cash, but it also takes most of the profit for three years. If MRR falls 20% to $2,400, SDE drops to $1,800 a month and you are left with about $390 after the note. That is why the screening and diligence steps matter, and why some buyers ask for the note payments to step down if revenue falls.

Buyer checklist#

1. Write a buy box: price, profit, hours, stack, model, deal-breakers.
2. Set aside reserves for operating costs and living costs before deciding your maximum price.
3. Create accounts and alerts on two to four marketplaces; pay for one membership.
4. Screen listings with the 10-point table above.
5. Sign an NDA and hold a first call.
6. Value on 12-month SDE and state which multiple you used.
7. Send an LOI with price, structure, inclusions, exclusivity and diligence period.
8. Run financial, customer, code, legal and data protection diligence at the source.
9. Have a lawyer review the APA, including the asset schedule, warranties, non-compete and transition support.
10. Agree escrow, who pays the fee, and an inspection period long enough to check the handover.
11. Transfer assets in order and rotate every secret.
12. Spend 90 days learning before you change pricing or rewrite code.

Frequently asked questions#

How much does it cost to buy a small SaaS business?#

It depends on profit and the multiple you agree. Flippa's valuation guide, based on deals closed on Flippa in H1 2026, puts smaller owner-operated SaaS at approximately 2.5x to 4.5x profit. On that range, a SaaS making $24,000 a year in profit would price at roughly $60,000 to $108,000. Add buyer costs: marketplace access ($0 to $780 a year on the platforms we checked), your share of escrow, and a lawyer.

Can I buy a SaaS business with no money down?#

Not on most structured deals. Acquire.com's LOI and APA builders require a minimum of 10% of the purchase price at closing when the rest is paid later through seller financing or a holdback, and Acquire.com's SBA article says you must invest in the business yourself. A seller may accept a large seller note, but expect to put real cash in.

Can I use an SBA loan to buy a SaaS business?#

Possibly, if the business and you meet SBA rules. The SBA's 7(a) page lists changes of ownership as an eligible use and sets a $5 million maximum. The business must be an operating, for-profit business located in the US that meets SBA size standards, and you must show you can repay. Lenders make the decision; SBA Lender Match can introduce you to lenders but does not guarantee a loan.

Which marketplace is best for buying a micro SaaS?#

For verified revenue, TrustMRR reads figures from the seller's payment provider, but it only supports a single lump-sum payment through escrow and buyers pay half of its 3% closing fee. Acquire.com covers the Escrow.com fee and supports seller financing in its LOI builder, for $390 or $780 a year. Microns ($299 a year) and Flippa (free to browse) are also strong for small deals.

What are the biggest red flags when buying a SaaS?#

Revenue you can only see in screenshots, a seller who will not give read-only payment provider access, one customer paying a large share of revenue, a product that depends on a single platform's API or store, a codebase only the seller can deploy, and any request to pay outside escrow or skip the marketplace.

Bought it? Launch it again#

A new owner is a good reason for a relaunch: new features, a new pricing page, a fresh story. ZeroRaised is a launch directory for products built without institutional VC, and acquired bootstrapped products qualify. Submit your product for free when you are ready. For more guides on building, buying and growing without investors, join the ZeroRaised newsletter.

Sources#

All sources last checked 8 Nov 2026.

• Acquire.com pricing, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Acquire.com: how do I upgrade from the free plan, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Acquire.com: how does escrow work, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Acquire.com: how to use the LOI builder, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Acquire.com: how to use the APA builder, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Acquire.com: how to do due diligence, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Acquire.com: how to finance your acquisition with an SBA loan, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Flippa pricing, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Flippa escrow and payments, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Flippa: digital business valuation multiples, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Empire Flippers sell page, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Empire Flippers buyer FAQ, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• FE International: SaaS metrics that drive value, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Microns pricing, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• TrustMRR fees, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• TrustMRR FAQ, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• TrustMRR why sell, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• IndieExit buy page, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Sell Micro SaaS pricing, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• SideProjectors, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• SBA 7(a) loans, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• SBA lenders: loan program comparison, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• SBA Lender Match, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• SBA SOP 50 10, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Founderpath, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Lighter Capital, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Escrow.com fee calculator, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Escrow.com: how to buy and sell a website, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• ICO: due diligence when sharing data following mergers and acquisitions, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• IRS: about Form 8594, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Stripe: change the owner of a Stripe account, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Stripe: transfer an account after a business sale or acquisition, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• GitHub: transferring a repository, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Apple: overview of app transfer, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• Google Play: transfer apps to a different developer account, last checked 8 Nov 2026
• ICANN: FAQs for registrants on transferring a domain name, last checked 8 Nov 2026