10+ Most Useful SaaS Tools for Businesses in 2024

The digital age is characterized by the vast amount of software that individuals and businesses have at their fingertips, but a certain kind of software stands out: Software-as-a-Service. SaaS tools are a lifesaver for many companies. They make complex problems easier to solve and streamline various processes, plus the payment and subscription schemes are flexible to fit your business.

When we look at the numbers, we see that as much as 70% of the total software that a company uses is SaaS. The primary motivator for this is the fact that SaaS apps reduce costs while increasing productivity and efficiency.

From fraud prevention to communication platforms to tax automation, there are SaaS tools to help you improve every area of your business. This article breaks down some of the most useful products in their respective categories.

SaaS tools explained

SaaS tools are applications hosted via another company's cloud-based system. There are SaaS companies for various industries, each catering to a specific type of business or individual.

These tools come as an alternative to on-premise software, delivering numerous advantages. Because SaaS tools are hosted on the cloud, they can be accessed remotely regardless of your location. This feature improves collaboration between employees and allows remote work.

Besides SaaS tools, companies can opt for software they developed on their own or on-premises software. SaaS is subscription-based, allowing companies to pay for plans that suit them the best. They often have trial opportunities.

SaaS pricing ranges from a couple of dollars per month up to thousands of dollars. The price depends on the SaaS company that develops it, but it’s much cheaper than developing your own software. Furthermore, it allows your company to scale up or down depending on the situation in the market.

Here are some of the most valued benefits of SaaS tools:

• Better scaling
• Reduced costs
• Easy onboarding
• Easy implementation
• Customer support in case of setbacks

1. Communication SaaS tools

As mentioned earlier, the human element in the remote work landscape is often missing. A great solution to that is finding a centralized SaaS tool that will allow you to send instant messages and conduct voice and video calls, while also providing collaboration features and integrations.

One such platform is Element. But besides the mentioned features, Element is also incredible at protecting data and security. You can find advanced security features that are rare in this category such as ID management and access control using SSO and ACLs.

For virtual meetings, you could try a streaming video call tool such as Whereby.

2. Fraud prevention systems

Each company that operates on line is exposed to some degree of online threats. These threats can be anything from denial-of-service attacks on your website to individual hacking attempts on individual employees.

If you’re running an e-commerce platform, you’re going to become an even more attractive victim, as your website is a place where numerous transactions occur. Thankfully, fraud prevention systems can significantly help with reducing the chances of cyber attacks succeeding.

This type of SaaS serves as real-time protection against troublesome people. Whether these are blacklisted individuals or hackers, fraud prevention software helps you recognize alarming traffic and transactions.

3. Travel optimization software

Although there are a lot more remote companies than there were a couple of years ago, business trips are still a common occurrence. These trips can be solo, or include a couple of decision-makers, or be getaways for entire teams!

Regardless, this can be a significant expense for a company, yet finding the optimal solution can be a tedious task. Travel optimization SaaS helps you find better opportunities for your company’s business trips.

A company such as TravelPerk supports team travel, ensuring an enjoyable traveling experience for your company. Such tools help streamline numerous aspects, from booking hotels and travel to invoicing and expense reports.

If you’re running a transportation company, travel optimization software should be your best friend. With the power of AI and cloud, you can find travel SaaS that will help you find ideal routes and optimize the fuel consumption of your vehicles

4. Transcription and Translation SaaS tools

The number of video channels and podcasts is growing in millions each year. Companies have recognized the importance of podcasts as a form of marketing and a way of growing brand awareness, and this trend will only increase.

There are plenty of tools to help your business take the content you create in video, audio or text form and make it available across even more channels! That could mean transcribing speech to text or translating the text into another language.

Video to text tools such as HappyScribe can help you make transcriptions of your videos and podcasts, and then use the content however you like. You can use the transcription to create subtitles for your videos and podcasts, increasing the accessibility for viewers. From a content marketing perspective, transcriptions can be used to create articles or social media posts.

If you’re operating in different language markets, you might want to use a tool like Weglot to translate your website and reach new audiences!

5. HR and employee engagement software

When managing a remote business, you will have to rely a lot more on technology than in an office environment. One of the largest differences between the two is the lack of engagement with employees and communication.

One tool that helps bridge the gap between employees and management is CharlieHR. This HR software allows you to streamline the onboarding process while also giving HRs and managers a centralized place for tasks such as booking time off, tracking time, and giving feedback.

On the other hand, Marker.io is more targeted toward analyzing results from individual users, clients, or employees. In the era where data is becoming quite important, such software can significantly boost your internal effectiveness.

6. Payment and reward services

SaaS tools are incredibly handy for automated payroll, accounting, and other business processes. While salary height should always compensate for the employee’s role and responsibility, some companies, especially startups, want to give additional incentives.

One method for this is virtual share option plans. This interesting method of providing employees with value is becoming more popular among startups. While virtual shares don’t give real business ownership, they can be converted to money in situations such as public listings and acquisitions.

You can read a guide to VSOPs to understand whether such an incentive is applicable to your startup or a company. Of course, there are also exciting reward services that can grant your employees virtual or physical gift cards or salary bonuses.

7. VPNs

One of the best ways to protect yourself and your employees on the internet is through the use of virtual private networks. Companies can use VPNs to ensure a secure connection with the company’s internal network.

Furthermore, VPNs are also used to surf the internet safely. VPNs such as SurfShark combine numerous security features that ensure a more secure experience for both individuals and enterprises when using the internet.

8. Marketing SaaS tools

Marketing is one of the main areas where SaaS tools can really help you out. Professionals within SEO and marketing teams are often masters of SaaS tools for their role.

SEO

In the SEO sphere, a reputable software that many SEO experts use is Screaming Frog. While Screaming Frog itself isn’t a SaaS, it has some cloud-based features and tools, such as the Log File Analyser tool. Screaming Frog is used to crawl a website’s URLs, analyze key elements, and help website owners identify technical issues.

UX Design

Marvel is a SaaS tool targeted toward UX designers and website developers. It’s used for assembling website interfaces, creating prototypes, and conducting user testing. Marvel is a handy tool for design teams, allowing them to collaborate on projects together and deliver products quickly.

Email Marketing

Email has always been one of the most important marketing methods. However, email providers rarely have all the required tools to excel in your marketing campaigns. SaaS tools such as Mailsuite (https://mailsuite.com/en/) are there to fix this problem and improve the effectiveness of marketers.

To start off, Mailsuite can help you track each email and gain insight into the individual behavior of the recipient. Furthermore, you can organize campaigns that include sending thousands of emails with optimal deliverability and time.

Another option could be MailerLite, which not only offers automated email marketing but a whole suite of digital tools for landing pages, websites, sign-up forms and more.

9. Retail operations services

Compared to digital companies, retail businesses need to keep in mind both offline and online products and operations. This can sometimes lead to confusion and problems with inventory management, staffing, or sales.

SaaS services that deal with retail operations can help vastly in improving the processes of such companies. They can help you automate time-consuming tasks and help you focus on more important business aspects.

Retail operations software helps you by providing you with a centralized place where you can understand the internal processes of your company and solve problems as they occur.

10. Tax compliance software

Tax compliance for online businesses doesn’t need to be a burden. Yes – VAT, GST, and sales tax laws are confusing and always changing. But in an age where almost everything is automated, shouldn’t consumption taxes be automated, too?

A tax compliance software should do the following for you:

• Automatic tax calculation based on your customer’s location and product category.
• Automatic invoices, receipts, and credit notes with every order from your website or online store, in multiple languages and currencies.
• 100% customizable invoices to reflect your brand or add a personal touch.
• Manage all your invoices and revenue sources in one easy-to-use dashboard.
• Real-time reports of your revenue. Track profits, losses, and patterns in the data to identify where your business is going strong and where it may need some TLC.
• Alert you when your business has tax liabilities in a new location, so you can register on time!

There are a handful of tools on the market that you can compare. Read about how Quaderno, TaxJar, Avalara and Stripe Tax compare for your business!

SaaS tools can help your business skyrocket

While there are many gurus on the internet who will tell you about the magical properties of a certain tool or a trend, there aren’t any. SaaS applications require adequate implementation and meaningful use for their benefits to shine through. Each tool mentioned in the article will truly help you improve your business.

Thanks to Veljko Petrović for sharing his expertise and contributions to this article!