Most companies don't know if they're spending the right amount on SaaS — because there's no obvious reference point. Your CFO hasn't seen a peer company's software line items. Your accountant sees the total but not the breakdown. And SaaS vendors aren't going to tell you if you're overpaying.
Here's what the data actually says. The numbers below come from Gartner, Zylo, and Flexera's 2024 reports — the most comprehensive public benchmarks on SMB software spending. Use them to find out where your company sits, and where the gap might be hiding.
Sources: Gartner 2024 SaaS Optimization Report · Zylo State of SaaS 2024 · Flexera State of ITAM 2024
Average SaaS Spend by Company Size
Total annual SaaS spend scales roughly linearly with headcount — until it doesn't. Small companies tend to spend more per employee than large ones (fewer buying options, higher relative overhead). Midsize companies see the most waste because they're big enough to have tool sprawl but small enough to lack formal procurement.
| Headcount | Total Annual SaaS Spend | SaaS Spend / Employee | Typical Tool Count | Efficiency Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | $12,000 – $30,000 | $2,000 – $4,500 | 8–20 | Good |
| 11–50 | $40,000 – $150,000 | $3,000 – $5,000 | 20–45 | Watch |
| 51–100 | $150,000 – $450,000 | $2,500 – $5,500 | 35–70 | Watch |
| 101–250 | $400,000 – $1,200,000 | $3,000 – $6,000 | 60–120 | Audit Now |
| 251–500 | $900,000 – $2,500,000 | $3,500 – $6,500 | 100–200+ | Audit Now |
If your company is spending more than the top of the range for your headcount, or you're using more tools than the typical count, that's a signal — not a verdict, but a reason to look closer.
SaaS as a Percentage of Revenue
Headcount-based benchmarks are useful, but revenue-normalized benchmarks are where the interesting comparisons live. The SMB sweet spot is 2–5% of annual revenue on software subscriptions. This range accounts for the fact that SaaS intensity grows with operational complexity.
Take your last 12 months of total SaaS spend (from credit card/bank transactions), divide by your annual revenue, and multiply by 100. If the number is above 5%, you're in the overpaying range. Above 7% and you're almost certainly paying for waste.
| Company Stage | Typical Annual Revenue | Typical SaaS Spend | % of Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early-stage startup | $500K – $2M | $30,000 – $100,000 | 4–8% |
| Growth-stage SMB | $2M – $10M | $80,000 – $400,000 | 3–6% |
| Scale-up | $10M – $50M | $300,000 – $1,500,000 | 2–5% |
| Established mid-market | $50M+ | $1M – $5M+ | 1.5–4% |
Software as a percentage of revenue decreases as companies scale — large enterprises typically land around 1–2%, while fast-growing startups with lean headcounts can easily hit 6–8%. The key question isn't whether you're above average — it's whether your spend is producing value in proportion.
Number of SaaS Tools by Company Size
The number of SaaS subscriptions a company runs is one of the most underappreciated benchmark signals. Most people are surprised by the actual count — Zylo's data shows the average 100–200 person company has 60–80 active subscriptions, with most having no idea how many are running.
| Headcount | Median SaaS Tools | High-End Range | Tools Nobody Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | 14 | 8–25 | 2–5 |
| 11–50 | 32 | 20–55 | 5–12 |
| 51–100 | 54 | 35–90 | 10–20 |
| 101–250 | 78 | 60–140 | 15–35 |
| 251–500 | 110 | 90–200+ | 25–60 |
Flexera's IT Asset Management data is consistent: at least 20–30% of a company's SaaS licenses are inactive at any given time. At a 200-person company, that's 30–60 unused seats across your most common tools — Slack, Zoom, Figma, GitHub, and Microsoft 365 are the usual suspects.
See how your benchmarks stack up — free
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Upload CSV → Run Free Audit → No CSV? Try with sample data →Hidden Costs Most Benchmarks Miss
Published benchmarks capture your active subscription spend. They almost always miss three categories of waste that can represent an additional 10–20% on top of the headline number:
🔥 Phantom Seats
Paid licenses for employees who left, contractors who wrapped up, or test accounts never cleaned up. Common in Slack, Zoom, GitHub, and Adobe.
🔄 Tool Overlap
Two or three tools covering the same job — project management, video, CRM, design. Each looks small; together they add up fast.
📅 Forgotten Trials
Annual trials, freemium upgrades that auto-converted, or sandbox accounts that migrated to paid. Usually discovered by audit, not memory.
📦 Tier Overpayment
Business plan features nobody uses because Starter would cover the use case. Classic with Notion, Figma, HubSpot, and Intercom.
A company benchmarking at the median isn't necessarily efficient — they might just have median-scale waste hidden in the same bills they stopped reading.
What "Normal" Looks Like in Practice
Benchmarks are averages. The real target depends on your industry and operating model. Here's how different company types typically score:
Technology / SaaS companies
Software companies spend more on SaaS per employee than any other sector — they're heavy users of their own tools plus productivity infrastructure. A 50-person SaaS company might spend $5,000–$7,000/employee comfortably because they live in tools all day. High spend is justified here; the risk is duplication, not overspending per se.
Professional services / consulting
Lower per-employee spend — $1,500–$3,000 is the norm. The risk is different: tools proliferate by partner or team, creating a patchwork of overlapping subscriptions with no one owning the total picture.
Retail / e-commerce
Moderate spend with a different risk profile: heavy usage of a few tools (Shopify, Klaviyo, ShipStation) but often multiple vendors across payment processing and logistics that go unconsolidated.
Healthcare / finance (regulated)
Higher per-employee spend is justified due to compliance requirements, but this sector has the most overlap — separate tools for separate compliance layers that duplicate general productivity tools underneath.
How to Benchmark Your Own Stack
Comparing yourself to the numbers above is a start. But the real question is: what's actually running in your bank statements right now? Here's a three-step process to turn benchmarks into action:
- Get your baseline. Export 90–180 days of transactions from your bank, credit card, or accounting software. You need the raw feed — not a categorized summary, not a budget report. The raw export.
- Count your vendors. Before running any analysis, make a rough estimate: how many SaaS subscriptions do you think you're paying for? Write it down. Most people underestimate by 30–50%.
- Run a benchmark audit. Drop your transaction CSV into TrimStack's free audit tool. It will identify every SaaS vendor, count your total spend, flag duplicates, and surface the gap between what you expected and what's actually billing. That's your real benchmark — not the industry average.
The fastest win is comparing your count against the tool count table above. If you're running 2× the median for your headcount, you have overlap. If you're spending above the top of the revenue-percentage range, something is worth investigating. TrimStack's audit tells you which tools are the duplicates.
What to Do With the Numbers
Benchmarking without action is just curiosity. Once you know where you stand, here's how to use it:
- If you're in the "Audit Now" range: Run a full transaction CSV audit immediately. You're likely leaving $50,000–$200,000+ on the table at this scale. The work to find it is an afternoon; the savings are real and compounding.
- If you're in the "Watch" range: Pull your renewal calendar. List every tool with a renewal date in the next 90 days. For each one, ask whether it's still worth the cost. Set calendar alerts for the rest.
- If you're in the "Good" range: Run the audit anyway to confirm. Self-reports are always rosier than reality. Better to find out from a CSV than at your next board meeting.
The benchmark that matters most is your own number — not the median for your headcount. If you don't know your actual SaaS spend, the industry benchmarks are just context for a problem you haven't quantified yet. Running a free audit takes 60 seconds and turns your numbers into a plan.
Run a free benchmark audit today
See exactly what you're paying for — total spend, tool count, duplicate flags, and savings ranked by dollar impact. No signup required for the instant scan.
Upload CSV → Start Free Audit → Or start a free trial to track your stack over time →📖 Continue reading: Not sure whether you're overpaying? 5 Signs You're Overpaying for SaaS walks through the specific warning signs to watch for. Or learn how to audit your SaaS stack in 60 seconds with just a transaction CSV.
About TrimStack: TrimStack is a SaaS spend intelligence platform for SMBs. Upload your transaction CSV and get an instant audit showing duplicate tools, underutilized licenses, and cheaper alternatives — ranked by savings potential. Learn more →