Subscription based business models in 2023

I think subscription models are not going anywhere. There's always going to be products that fare better with it and those that don't, but it's very useful for most tech companies. They're a good source of recurring revenue, so I think they'll only continue to grow, with one time payment products being phased out.

I don't think SaaS will ever die off, simply because it the recurring revenue business model helps sustain the business and allow the business to continuously improve the product. And because of that, SaaS products will be far superior to off-the-shelf software that is sold once. Customers will also receive better support because businesses are incentivised to keep you around. This also makes SaaS businesses more competitive, because customers can easily switch to competitor if there is a equivalent product with a lower subscription price. What I think will change in the SaaS model is how trials are designed now. We are increasing moving away from time-limited trial to usage-limited trial (e.g. Slack caps you at 2000 messages). And we are also seeing a move towards reverse trials, where premium features are ungated during trial to let you experience the full potential of the product first.

Enterprises are set to reduce their SaaS spends if you look into the current trends. So a subscription would make sense if your SaaS is helping them generate revenue, if it is something that is a good to have product, automations... you can choose to go with the Pay as you go model as this will help you retain the customers. I feel a combination of subscription(a lower price) and PAYG should be the way to go for everyone. What do you think?? Do let us know about the event, would love to join in and hear your thoughts!

I think the subscription businesses still have a lot of potentials. However you need to keep a look at inflation: subscription businesses tend to have less flexible pricing, which is an issue with inflation.