The SaaS Websites of 2021: Design Inspiration & Practices

Here is a quick overview of great SaaS websites, SaaS design inspiration, and SaaS best practices. Brought to WANDR, an award-winning product strategy, and UX design firm. If you’re looking for a SaaS website – it’s our specialty! Ask about our services. Some of these products were also featured on our list of  The Best SaaS Websites of 2021. Check it out!

SaaS – or Software as a Service – has become a hot property in recent years. The old software model where we pay for a license is being quickly replaced by the subscription-based software model, which the likes of Adobe have eagerly embraced. While this is a controversial subject, it’s also beneficial for customers.

What is SaaS?

The traditional model of software licensing has always been about selling a perpetual license to a customer and then charging every year or two for upgrades and major releases. This is now the old way of doing things.

One of the problems with the traditional model is that there is so much competition, that finding and retaining a paying customer base has become very difficult. Not to mention, as the cloud has become easier to access and internet speeds have increased, more and more software is now residing in the cloud.

It would be too simple to describe SaaS as being all about the cloud. But the truth is that the cloud is at the core of how it works.

How Does SaaS Work?

Where normally one would have a piece of software on a local computer, SaaS places the same software in the cloud. This means that it’s accessible from any web-enabled device. For customers, the benefit is that they have access to it at any time. They also have access to upgrades as soon as an update is released.

For software vendors, it means that they have an ongoing subscription-based revenue stream. They also often have less overhead.

SaaS website best practices demand that software vendors are transparent about their subscription-based business model and how it benefits customers. Since the software itself is accessible through an online portal and the software service itself is the dominant product, it also places greater emphasis on UI design and usability.

Great SaaS websites speak clearly to the user without drenching them in too much information. Great SaaS websites are laser-focused on a goal and harness the power of brilliant web design to deliver that goal to the end-user. These websites are able to adapt and offer the user a service they need and are willing to pay a subscription for.

The Best Examples of SaaS Websites 2021

The best way to understand what SaaS is and how it can benefit us is to look at great SaaS websites and why they work.

What design variables and factors go into great SaaS websites? In the spirit of finding examples of SaaS website design inspiration and generally excellent SaaS sites, here are the 10 best SaaS websites 2021.

1. MailChimp

Mailchimp is an all-around SaaS star. It immediately quantifies its customer value.  

With a great name and even better mascot, MailChimp has been the go-to site for people who want to manage large mailing lists for years now. It works because it’s easy to navigate, places great emphasis on a fun and bold design philosophy, and offers a really useful service for bloggers, businesses, and anyone who has a pressing need to manage hundreds or even thousands of mailing list subscribers.

Of course, there are premium-level services, but the free service pulls in new customers every month without them. This ensures that MailChimp remains in the number one spot for mailing list management. In terms of SaaS website design inspiration, MailChimp is one of the best SaaS websites in 2021.

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2. Slack

Once upon a time, project management teams relied on AOL messenger and dated protocols for staying in touch internally. For a while now, Slack has provided a better messaging service that’s squarely aimed at working teams.

The interface is clean and inviting. The team behind Slack understands exactly how to sell their service. Slack embraces a minimal design aesthetic and provides everything a customer needs to know on the landing page, making it one of the great SaaS websites of 2021.

3. Evernote

Evernote has been around for years and has only become better with time. A note-taking application that sits in the cloud, its uses are multifold.

Evernote allows you to save just about anything from the web, including video. With deep roots in the smartphone application market, Evernote provides an essential service to journalists, writers, academics, students, and more. Evernote is one of the best SaaS websites in 2021.

4. Typeform

Typeform is a great example of SaaS website design inspiration. Simple, bold, and to the point. Typeface allows users to make easy work of designing engaging polls, quizzes, and even shopping carts. It’s certainly one of the best SaaS websites in 2021.

5. Lambda Test

If you want an example of SaaS website best practices, Lambda Test provides it. It’s easy to use, easy to look at, makes great use of space, and sticks to a minimal aesthetic. Despite this, it provides everything a customer needs to know on the front page.

Designing responsive websites used to be a pain, but Lambda Test makes it easy to do cross-browser and cross-platform testing for websites. It’s definitely one of the best SaaS websites in 2021.

6. Drift

Following in the footsteps of catchy one-word names for SaaS services, Drift allows businesses to easily capture leads. The landing page design is arresting, but still simple enough not to distract from the core message.

They nail establishing credibility, with over 50,000 customers and case studies for more information.

Drift is a great example of SaaS website best practices. This makes it one of the best SaaS websites and is ideal for SaaS website design inspiration.

7. Bench

Why is Bench one of the best SaaS websites in 2021? They take an experience that is typically boring and overwhelming (booking) and make it warm, friendly, and digest-able.

Bench is simple, they offer a free trial, and more importantly, they differentiate themselves from their competition — Quickbooks.

Bench is full of SaaS website design best practices and uses engaging images, trustworthy colors, and the right messaging to tempt new customers to sign up.

8. Kissmetrics

It’s important that every business has easy access to analytics when they need it to drive growth and strategy. Kissmetrics helps businesses access metrics that tell them exactly what their customers are doing, how they behave online, how they engage, and more.

Kissmetrics is one of the great SaaS websites of 2021 because it doesn’t try to do too much on one page. It presents all of the information you need clearly and concisely. This is complemented by the use of bold and simple graphics with softer colors that aren’t too distracting. It was a 2021 trend for great SaaS websites to use this graphic style.

What are your favorite examples of great SaaS Websites?

Drop us a comment below, or on social media.

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