Stop Forcing Subscriptions on your SaaS. Do this instead.
Not every product earns monthly rent. Sometimes selling your code once — and letting users host it — makes for a saner, more profitable business. Here’s how to pull it off sustainably.
For the past decade, “SaaS” has been almost synonymous with “subscription.”
Monthly plans. Recurring revenue. The holy grail of predictability.
But let’s be honest — not every product justifies being billed every month.
Some tools solve a short, sharp problem. They’re used heavily once, and then only occasionally, if ever, after that.
Forcing that into a subscription model doesn’t create a loyal customer base. It creates churn.
So, let’s talk about an alternative: a one-time license model that’s installed on the user’s own infrastructure.
They buy it once. You give them the code. They run it wherever they want.
It’s not just a throwback to the old “software license” days — it’s a modern, lean, developer-friendly way to build a business without the overhead of hosting, scaling, and endless retention tactics.
When Subscriptions Don’t Fit
Imagine you’ve built a tool that helps teams migrate their customer data from one CRM to another.
Most companies only do this once. They just want it done right.
You could sell this as a $49/month SaaS, but that’s immediately awkward:
Your users might only need it for a few weeks.
You’ll end up with tons of churn.
You’ll need to support inactive users forever because “they’re still subscribed.”
Now imagine instead you sell it as a one-time installable tool.
They pay $499 upfront. You send them the source (or a compiled binary) and a license key. They run it on their own infra — AWS, GCP, their laptop, whatever.
No ongoing hosting costs for you.
No surprise bills for them.
No monthly churn charts haunting you.
Just a clean, value-aligned exchange: they pay for the outcome; you deliver it.
But Isn’t That Giving Away the Code?
Yes — and that’s not as scary as it sounds.
For technical customers (especially startups or agencies), self-hosted + licensed software can be a big selling point. They get control, compliance, and peace of mind.
And for you? You skip the DevOps, uptime monitoring, and scaling headaches.
You can even open-source a limited version and sell the “Pro” edition with additional features, integrations, or automation. That approach builds trust and lowers the barrier to entry — a model proven by countless successful tools (think Plausible, Sentry, or PostHog).
How to Make It Profitable (Without Recurring Revenue)
Let’s be real: one-time payments can kill you if you don’t plan for longevity.
You can’t promise lifetime updates for $49 and expect to survive.
The trick is to price for sustainability and design smart upsells.
Here’s a simple structure:
Base License (One-Time Purchase)
The core product, installable and self-managed. One license per company, priced based on business value — not your costs.
Example: $499 for the migration tool.Pro or Enterprise Tier
Unlocks advanced features like API access, audit logs, or multi-user setups.
Example: $1,499 for the “Enterprise Migration Suite.”Done-for-You Setup
Not everyone wants to fiddle with YAML files or AWS permissions. Offer to set it up for them — fast, clean, and guaranteed to work.
Example: $1,000 for installation and configuration.Support Retainer (Recurring)
For customers who do want ongoing help, offer an optional support plan — monthly or yearly — that they can cancel anytime.
Example: $200/month for priority support and updates.Fixed Support Packages
For those who prefer predictability, offer prepaid support hours.
Example: $800 for 10 hours of support, usable anytime within a year.
The combination of these makes your business sustainable.
You get upfront cash flow from licenses and setups, and optional recurring revenue from support — but without forcing subscriptions on everyone.
A Real Example: Indie Data Migration Tool
Let’s run the numbers.
You sell a self-hosted data migration tool.
You price it at $499 for the standard license.
In your first month, 10 teams buy it. That’s $4,990 upfront.
Out of those, 3 ask for the done-for-you setup at $1,000 each.
Now you’re at $7,990 total.
Two of those teams also sign up for your support retainer at $200/month.
That’s an extra $400 MRR — but it’s optional, not forced.
You’ve built something simple, useful, and profitable — without ever worrying about churn graphs, Stripe retries, or feature bloat to “increase stickiness.”
Actionable Takeaways
Match pricing to value, not format.
Don’t just copy the subscription playbook because everyone else does. Ask yourself: how often will people actually use this thing, and how much pain does it remove? If it’s a one-time fix, charge like it.
Design for autonomy.
Developers love control. Let them host it, own it, and plug it into their stack. You’ll end up with happier customers and fewer support tickets than you’d think.
Price like it matters.
If you’re selling a one-time license, it needs to cover your runway. Don’t shy away from bigger numbers. $499 for something that works beats $49/month for something people cancel in two.
Offer optional continuity.
You don’t have to force subscriptions, but you can still offer them. A support retainer or yearly update plan gives your best customers a way to stay connected — and gives you breathing room.
Keep it simple.
No servers, no churn dashboards, no “engagement loops.” Just build a tool, sell it, and support the people who need it. That’s still a business — and a pretty good one.
In a world obsessed with “monthly recurring revenue,” it’s refreshing to remember you can still build a sane, sustainable business by selling software the old-fashioned way — for a fair, one-time price.
Sometimes, the best “recurring” part of your business isn’t the billing.
It’s your reputation for shipping solid tools that solve real problems.