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04Software & products

We design and engineer subscription-based software products delivered through the web — from a clear product definition, through an architecture built for many customers and users, to a production-ready SaaS product that keeps evolving release after release.

  • 10Services
  • 4Disciplines
  • 1Method
  • 5Languages
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  • SaaS product strategy
  • Multi-tenancy
  • Accounts & roles
  • Plans & access
  • Onboarding
  • Product analytics
  • Continuous releases
  • Iteration

[ DEFINITION ]

What SaaS development means here.

A SaaS product is software many customers subscribe to and use through the web, each with their own accounts, users and data. For us, building one means defining the product, designing an architecture that keeps customers separate, shaping the workflows the subscription model depends on, and engineering a product that can be released and improved continuously. At ELIXIR it covers four capabilities: SaaS product definition, multi-user architecture, subscription & product workflows, and SaaS engineering & iteration.

  • SaaS or a digital product?

    A digital product can be a tool or experience used on its own terms. A SaaS product serves many customers on a recurring basis — each with their own accounts, users and data. When a product doesn't need that model, it belongs to Digital Products.

  • SaaS or custom software?

    Custom software is built for one organization and how it works. A SaaS product is built once and used by many customers, so the architecture has to keep each one's data and settings separate. Broader business systems belong to Custom Software Development.

[ IN SHORT ]

  • Many customers, one product — each customer has its own accounts, users and data within the same product.
  • Architecture first — the tenant and role model is decided before features are built on top of it.
  • Built around the subscription model — sign-up, onboarding, plans and access are part of the product, not afterthoughts.
  • Released continuously — engineered to ship and improve in steps, without disrupting customers.
  • Separate, connected services — digital products, custom software and AI stay their own services, linked when a SaaS product needs them.

[ WHERE SAAS PRODUCTS STRUGGLE ]

Most SaaS products don't struggle with features — they struggle with foundations decided too late.

Where they struggle

  • One customer's product — a product built around a first customer, hard to open to the next.
  • Tenancy added late — customer separation bolted on after the data model is set.
  • Roles as an afterthought — who can see and do what, decided screen by screen.
  • Onboarding left out — sign-up and first use treated as marketing rather than product.
  • Releases that disrupt — every change risks breaking something for every customer.
  • The wrong frame — a single organization's system or a one-off product treated as SaaS.

How we approach it

  • SaaS product definition — who the customers are, what each plan offers and what the first release must do.
  • Multi-user architecture — customer separation and roles designed into the data model from the start.
  • Subscription & product workflows — sign-up, onboarding, plans and access designed as part of the product.
  • SaaS engineering & iteration — a product built to release in steps and improve without disruption.
  • Measured use — product analytics that show how customers actually use the product.
  • The right frame — single-organization systems point to Custom Software; standalone products to Digital Products.

[ SCOPE ]

Subscription software — defined, architected and engineered to evolve.

SaaS Development at ELIXIR covers four capabilities: SaaS product definition, multi-user architecture, subscription & product workflows, and SaaS engineering & iteration — multi-tenant products engineered for subscriptions, scale and continuous release.

  • 01

    SaaS product definition

    The customers, the problem the product solves for them, what each plan offers and what the first release must do.

  • 02

    Multi-user architecture

    A tenant and role model that keeps each customer's data and settings separate within one product.

  • 03

    Subscription & product workflows

    Sign-up, onboarding, plans, access and account management designed as part of the product.

  • 04

    SaaS engineering & iteration

    A production-ready product engineered to be released and improved in steps.

  • 05

    Accounts & roles

    Organizations, users and permissions, so each person sees and does what they should.

  • 06

    Product analytics

    Visibility into how the product is used, to guide what gets built next.

[ WHAT IT CAN BE ]

Kinds of SaaS products we build — examples, not client work.

  • 01

    B2B SaaS products

    Software businesses subscribe to, each with its own organization, users and data.

  • 02

    Internal SaaS-style platforms

    One platform serving several teams, branches or entities, each kept separate.

  • 03

    Multi-user web applications

    Applications where many users work in shared spaces with their own roles.

  • 04

    Subscription-based products

    Software offered through plans, with access that follows the subscription.

  • 05

    SaaS MVPs

    A first version of a SaaS product, scoped to test the model with real customers.

  • 06

    Workspaces

    Shared workspaces where each customer organizes its own people and work.

[ FOUR CAPABILITIES ]

Four capabilities behind every SaaS product.

Product definition decides who the product serves and how it's offered. Multi-user architecture keeps every customer separate, subscription workflows shape how they join and use it, and engineering keeps it shipping.

01SaaS product definition

The product and its model, clearly defined.

  • Customers and their problem named
  • What each plan offers
  • What the first release must do

[ IN EVERY SAAS PRODUCT ]

What every SaaS product includes.

  • Product definition

    The customers, the plans and what the first release must do, written down first.

  • Tenant & role model

    How customers, users and permissions are structured, decided before features.

  • Account workflows

    Sign-up, onboarding and account management designed as part of the product.

  • Product architecture

    The data model and structure the product is built on, designed to grow.

  • Production-ready release

    A first release engineered to serve real customers, not a throwaway prototype.

  • Iteration

    Releases guided by how customers use the product, as part of the ELIXIR Method.

[ RANGE ]

What a SaaS product looks like from the outside.

A SaaS MVP, a B2B platform, a multi-user workspace and a subscription-based web product each show a different side of SaaS development. These layouts illustrate the kinds of products the work involves — they are archetypes, not client work.

  • 01SaaS MVP

  • 02B2B SaaS platform

  • 03Multi-user workspace

  • 04Subscription-based product

Case studies are published here only with our clients' permission.

[ STACK ]

The building blocks of a SaaS product.

Payment providers and hosting are chosen per product, so none are listed here. These are the building blocks we design and engineer SaaS products with most often.

  • Multi-tenant data model
  • Authentication & roles
  • Next.js
  • TypeScript
  • PostgreSQL
  • Background jobs
  • Product analytics

[ WHY ELIXIR ]

SaaS products from a studio that also designs and builds what grows around them.

SaaS Development is one of ten ELIXIR services. Next to it sit Digital Products, Custom Software Development and AI Development — separate services, each with its own scope — so a SaaS product can draw on them when it needs to, without blurring what each one does.

  • Foundations first

    Tenancy, roles and data decided before features are built on top of them.

  • Clear boundaries

    SaaS, products, custom software and AI are each scoped as their own service.

  • One method

    The ELIXIR Method guides every SaaS product, from the first definition to each new release.

  • Multilingual by design

    Our own site runs in five languages, right-to-left included.

[ THE METHOD ]

The ELIXIR Method, applied to SaaS development.

Every SaaS product moves through the same five phases — the method behind all of our work.

Explore the ELIXIR Method
  1. 01

    DISCERN

    We look at the customers the product should serve, the problem it solves for them and how it would be offered.

  2. 02

    DEFINE

    We define the product: its customers, its plans, its tenant and role model and what the first release must do.

  3. 03

    DESIGN

    We design the product and its architecture: the workflows customers go through and the structure that keeps them separate.

  4. 04

    DEVELOP

    We engineer a production-ready first release, built to ship and improve in steps.

  5. 05

    DISTILL

    We learn from how customers use the product, refine what doesn't serve and plan the next release.

[ WHERE WE WORK ]

US roots. Working internationally.

ELIXIR Creative is a digital innovation and technology studio operating internationally. Our work began with clients in the USA and Canada; today we are expanding into Morocco, the UAE, Germany and other international markets — and this site is itself built in five languages, right-to-left included.

  • casablancamorexpansion
  • new yorkusapresence
  • torontocanpresence

Languages

[ ENGAGEMENT ]

Scoped to the product, not to a package.

Every project starts with the audit: we look at the SaaS product you want to build or grow and come back with a scoped plan. Most SaaS work takes one of three shapes.

  • 01

    A SaaS MVP

    A first version defined, architected and engineered to serve real customers.

  • 02

    An existing product

    A product extended, restructured for many customers, or made ready to grow.

  • 03

    Ongoing releases

    Continued engineering and iteration as the product and its customers grow.

SaaS development at ELIXIR

ELIXIR Creative is a digital innovation and technology studio. Our SaaS Development service covers subscription-based software products delivered through the web, through four capabilities: SaaS product definition, multi-user architecture, subscription & product workflows, and SaaS engineering & iteration.

A SaaS product serves many customers from one product, so the decisions that are hardest to change — how customers are kept separate, who can do what — come first. Getting them right early is what lets the product keep releasing without being rebuilt.

Where SaaS Development meets ELIXIR's other services

When a product doesn't need the SaaS model, it belongs to Digital Products; when the work is a system built for one organization and how it runs, it is Custom Software Development; when it is an online store, it is E-commerce Development; and a marketing or content website around the product is Web Development.

When the product needs an AI capability built in, that is AI Development — or AI Agent Development when it needs agents that take action across tools; fixed, repetitive workflows belong to Automation, and business-wide change to Digital Transformation.

[ FAQ ]

What people ask before building a SaaS product.

01

What does SaaS Development cover?

Subscription-based software products delivered through the web — multi-tenant products engineered for subscriptions, scale and continuous release. At ELIXIR it covers SaaS product definition, multi-user architecture, subscription & product workflows, and SaaS engineering & iteration.

02

What makes a product SaaS?

It serves many customers from one product, usually on a recurring basis, and each customer has its own accounts, users and data. That is why the architecture has to keep them separate from the start.

03

How is SaaS Development different from Digital Products?

Digital Products covers standalone products built around a user problem. SaaS Development covers products that serve many customers through subscriptions, with the architecture and workflows that model needs. A digital product can grow into a SaaS product; when it does, the work continues here.

04

How is it different from custom software?

Custom software is built for one organization and how it works. A SaaS product is built once and used by many customers. Systems for a single organization are handled as Custom Software Development.

05

Do you handle payments and billing?

Subscription workflows — plans, access and account management — are part of the product we build. Payments themselves are processed by a payment provider chosen per project, which the product connects to; we don't process payments.

06

What is multi-tenancy?

An architecture in which many customers share one product while each customer's data, users and settings stay separate. It is designed into the data model from the start rather than added later.

07

Can you start with an MVP?

Yes. A SaaS MVP is scoped to test the model with real customers, and engineered so it can keep growing rather than be rebuilt.

08

Can a SaaS product include AI?

Yes, as its own service: AI features are built through AI Development, or AI Agent Development when the product needs agents that act across tools — linked to the SaaS project, not merged into it.

09

How much does a SaaS product cost, and how long does it take?

It depends on scope: the customers, the plans, the architecture and what the first release must do. We don't sell fixed packages — the audit comes first, and it leads to a scoped plan with cost and timeline.

[ RELATED SERVICES ]

Often paired with SaaS development.

[ START A CONVERSATION ]

Have a SaaS product to build — or one that needs to grow?

Tell us who it serves and how it's offered. We'll map where to start.

Start the audithello@elixircreative.pro