Your First Paying User in a SaaS Application

Is your product truly valuable? The best way to find out is simple — ask for payment. It may sound harsh, but don’t be afraid to monetize from day one. If your SaaS provides real value, users should be willing to pay for it. Sure — you can offer a free trial, but avoid the “forever free” model for everyone. As an independent creator, you don’t have the backing of a big corporation or investors to fund hordes of free users. So, give people a trial period, but when it ends, make it clear: to continue using the product — you need to pay.

Getting your first paying customer is a milestone you should aim for as soon as possible. Even if it’s just a small amount (say, 50 or 100 PLN for early access), what matters is validation — proof that your product solves a problem well enough for someone to take out their wallet. That first bit of revenue, though small, is incredibly powerful: it confirms your project makes sense. You now have an engaged user who relies on your app in their daily work — giving you honest feedback and a valuable case study.

Many beginner founders hesitate to charge money — “is my app good enough to ask people to pay for it?” The answer is: find out by asking for payment. The only way to know if users will pay is to actually invoice them. Don’t be afraid of hearing “no” — it’s better to learn that early than to live in an illusion. Even if your early earnings are lower than a regular job, treat it as an investment in market knowledge. A paying customer is more engaged and more likely to share meaningful feedback. You can also offer an early-bird discount in exchange for testimonials and patience with missing features. But what’s crucial is to introduce money into the model as soon as possible — because the goal is business, not an open-source hobby.

In summary

Don’t be afraid to monetize from the very beginning. If you deliver value — you have every right to charge for it. Customers understand that. And if they don’t want to pay, that’s a signal you need to improve something or target a different audience. Your SaaS isn’t just a hobby — it’s a potential business. Treat it as one from day one.

If you’d like to learn more about how to launch your own SaaS application, consider joining my complete online training — SaaS Application School, where I show step by step how a developer can build a profitable SaaS business (from the first line of code to the first 100 paying customers).