7 types of white label SaaS products & mistakes to avoid

Are white-label SaaS products and white-label software the same?

The difference between white-label SaaS products and white-label software is the service component. In both cases, the end-user of white-label products usually does not know that they are using software developed by a third-party SaaS company which owns the IP.

Advantages of white labeling 

White-labeling is the best way to provide a software solution without having to build it from scratch. It can save you money, time, and it doesn’t require any expertise. Depending on a company’s focus and/or goal, choosing not to build a solution may just make more sense for the reasons listed below.

No expertise needed

Creating a software product with excellent customer experience takes developer and designer skills. In contrast, white-labeled products require only a bit of learning on how to use them. Most developers provide customer support and already have materials to help you.

Lower barrier to entry

Developing a solution from scratch takes a large amount of resources, money, and time. As mentioned before, using a white-label eliminates the need to spend money and time on R&D, testing, and engineering. The only expense that comes into play is the licensing fee. 

A solution built in-house might feel like it’s the way to go when building a company or organization, but you may quickly find that the effort can derail internal business processes and exceed budgets. It’s important to factor in time and cost—can you afford to allocate a good amount of both? If you don’t, white-labeling is a great option.

Expand your product offering

By investing in white-labeling, companies are able to increase the scope of their offerings which can then make them more attractive to new customers, as well as existing ones. Adopting a white-label solution will accelerate responsiveness to a customer and meet their demands. Rather than spend all that time building their own solution, they instead can use that time to deploy a white-label solution, acquire customers, and then continue to delight them with their own branded, working platform. 

More streamlined brand recognition 

End users can easily recognize your brand as they are presented with the colors, logo, and identifying markings. Also, since you're attaching your own brand to a quality product, it increases trust and awareness. 

The white-labeling process explained

Customizable solutions for your SaaS tech stack can lower costs, save time, and create that branded look your business needs to stand out. There are several checkpoints you need to go through in order to start selling and using your white-labeled product.

Find your needed product

Once you’ve decided the direction your company is going to take, and you’re indeed going with a white-label product, you’ll need to research to see if there are any businesses willing to white-label that product for you. Let’s say you want to provide a social media management platform, but don’t want to build it. You’ll need to find a business that is not only building a social media platform, but that is also willing to white-label it for you. 

Test the product

It's absolutely essential to test the white-label product you will be reselling to customers. Whether it’s through a freemium model, a free trial, or even if you have to invest a small amount to get a prototype. You’ll want to give the product a test run to see if it’s worth using and putting, not only your branding on it, but also offering it to your customers. 

Pay licensing fees

The licensing fees are the costs associated with using a white-label product. When it comes to SaaS, license fees are on a subscription basis just like any other SaaS product or tool. You're paying an annual or monthly subscription to use the product, brand the product, and resell the product as your own. 

Adjust logo

Once you’ve agreed to the terms with your provider and paid the license fees, you can adjust the platform with your own design, and colors to match your brand. Adding your own logo is crucial, but other things, like changing the font and its size, will also help embed your organization's brand onto the product.

Sell to customers or give to clients

Whether you’re using this software to make sales, or resell to your clients, you can use this software as you please. The choice is yours.

7 types of white-label SaaS products & real-world examples

In some cases, although there can be some limitations in terms of control over an app’s features, design, and functions, it can be a way to get a profitable SaaS business out on the market quickly, with minimal financial investment. Whether it’s SaaS, a mobile app, a manufacturer, or even a service as niche as a virtual luxury concierge (there is), white-labeling is incredibly prevalent. 

Social media management software

This is software you can use to help manage, post, and respond to social media interactions. Used often by agencies and social media companies, a white-label social media platform allows companies to brand an already functioning system rather than building it themselves. Either they use it as their own, or they resell said platform to another company. Companies will invite clients to a limited interface, so they won’t be able to peek into other dashboards and any tools you would use to do your job better. Vendasta and socialbakers are two great examples of social media management platforms.

Mobile applications

There are many mobile apps that do more or less the same thing, just with a different skin and different brand names. A great example is LevelUp. It not only develops its own mobile payment and loyalty program app, but they also white-label it for restaurants like Sweetgreen and Dig Inn, so they can market and promote it as their own. 

SEO and SEM management software

If companies don’t have the time to provide SEO services to customers operating small to medium-sized companies, they consider hiring a white-label SEO partner to help generate revenue and expand reach to their clients. Re-sellable SEO services are more popular than SEO software, simply because most business owners don’t have the time to research how to do SEO professionally. Large brands like Serpstat offer SEO and SEM dashboards, as well as management software for their clients. Check out HubShout’s white-label SEO capabilities.

Email marketing software

Email marketing is a must for any business. Being able not only to send, but also track email campaigns, is vital for marketing efforts. Companies are able to add their own branding to the software and create customized dashboards that they can then reference or have clients reference. The key selling point to white-labeling is being able to completely customize the solution to look and feel as if it’s yours. HubSpot, for example, is not your typical white-label email marketing software — they offer the ability to join the HubSpot Partner Network. The network offers perks like exclusive access to support, events, and even being able to publish on the HubSpot blog. It’s a great option for agencies. 

E-learning platform

E-learning platforms enable creators to share their expertise with others hungry for knowledge. In addition, you can build and nurture a thriving online community. Examples of e-learning white-label SaaS platforms include Stream LXP, Thinkific, Teachable, and TalentLMS. 

E-commerce platform 

A full-featured ecommerce platform requires extensive resources to build. But with a white-label ecommerce SaaS solution, marketing agencies can quickly open and launch online businesses for their clients. Magento, Ecwid, and of course, Shopify, offer white-label services. 

CRM software 

Businesses are built on good customer relationships, meaning every company needs a good CRM. Digital marketing agencies can offer their clients this service by leveraging white-label software. AllClients and GreenRope offer this software solution. 

Real-world examples:

LevelUp

LevelUp originated as a mobile payment/loyalty program mobile application. At first the app was designed for people to use as a form of payment at small quick-serve restaurants, but has now moved into the website and app development space. LevelUp has designed the mobile app and online payment portal for restaurants like Sweetgreen, Pret A Manger, and Zaxby’s. Most of these restaurants don’t have the capacity to build and create their own website or mobile app, so using a white-label product is a great option. 

Stream LXP

Stream LXP, formerly known as Curatr LXP, is a fully customizable eLearning SaaS platform. Developed by the team at HT2 Labs, a Learning Pool company, Stream LXP is a social learning platform that allows license holders to brand the platform with their unique look and feel, as well as upload company-specific learning content. It can also be licensed and then resold to a third party. So, not only can the entire platform be redesigned to fit your brand’s look and feel, the actual content that is used in the platform, can be curated from your own resources. 

Mistakes to avoid when white-labelling SaaS

While you can argue that it is easier to opt for a white-label solution than to build one from scratch, you do give up some control. Here are some common challenges of SaaS white-label products.

Non-optimized pricing

If you plan on selling a white-label product, you’ll need to do some serious research to find out exactly how to price it. Without building the product from the ground up, you lose touch of how much time, effort, and manpower went into actually developing it. 

You don’t want to spend time guessing and settling on a price because it feels right. Growing a subscription business isn’t easy, so ensuring your pricing is adequate is crucial for your success. But developing a pricing strategy can be overwhelming. There’s a lot that needs to be evaluated—we can help with that. Price Intelligently makes pricing easy by partnering with our team of pricing specialists and our proprietary software to ensure your pricing strategy is driven by the most accurate data.

Lack of metrics

How are companies using white-label services keeping track of key metrics like churn rate, usage, and even revenue? If you’re not keeping an eye on these things, you could lose customers at a rapid rate. You also have to ask how robust and accurate is the reporting you’re getting from your white-label product? It may be designed to work well for your branding and its overall functionality for the customer, but what metrics are you able to track?

ProfitWell Metrics can provide all of your subscription reporting in one place with absolutely accurate, real-time subscription reporting analytics. Get a high-level view or dig deeper to see trends from new customers, existing customers, upgrades, downgrades, and churn.

Over-valued products

The biggest pitfall is buying into a white-label product that isn’t resellable. If you buy into something that doesn’t translate in the marketplace then you’ve wasted time and money. There are a lot of free options available for your customers to try, so find a solution that stands out and offers value that customers are willing to pay for. Not to mention, being transparent and building trust with the customer will also go a long way.

SaaS white-label FAQs 

What does SaaS stand for? 

SaaS stands for software as a service. 

What are white label providers? 

A white label provider creates tools and services that other companies rebrand for sale as their own. 

What is the difference between a white label and a private label? 

In white-label, the product or service is sold to multiple buyers, while in private-label, the buyer is exclusive.