Category
SaaS case studies
3 sourced case studies in SaaS. Every number links inline to the page it came from; self-reported figures are labelled as such.
- Tally: a free form builder that grew to $5M ARR, fully bootstrapped
- Plausible Analytics: $1M ARR with no ads, by picking a fight with Google
- GummySearch: 140,000 users, then shut down by a platform's API policy
SaaS2 sources · 2 min
Tally: a free form builder that grew to $5M ARR, fully bootstrapped
Tally launched in 2020 with a generous free tier and a 'Made with Tally' badge. Five years later it passed $5M ARR with 11 people.
saasfreemiumviral-loop
SaaS2 sources · 2 min
Plausible Analytics: $1M ARR with no ads, by picking a fight with Google
A two-person open-source analytics tool took 324 days to reach $400 MRR, then grew to $1M ARR through blog posts that hit the Hacker News front page.
open-sourcesaascontent-marketing
SaaS2 sources · 1 min
GummySearch: 140,000 users, then shut down by a platform's API policy
A solo-built Reddit audience-research tool earned a large following, then closed in 2025 after failing to get a commercial Reddit API license. A lesson in platform risk.
platform-riskredditapi