Software companies often provide discounts and free trials to startups, as they recognize the potential of these young businesses to become significant clients in the future.

Goes without saying that money is usually tight for startups. These juicy deals can help startups use professional tools to up their product and marketing game while keeping costs low in the initial launch days. 16% of startups fail due to financial issues and in the early stages, cash flow management can be a particularly difficult task and many struggle to afford some of the tech tools needed to help them succeed, which is a difficult catch-22 to be in. By getting discounts or trial periods, you can test new kinds of software in your business without having to worry about a significant financial burden. Then, if it doesn't work- you can move on more easily.

Startups, especially those struggling to secure funding, greatly benefit from discounted top tools offered by companies. These tools help improve essential business functions, which, in turn, increases profitability. It enables startups to leverage technology without incurring high costs.

1. Zendesk For Startups - Free For Six Months

Zendesk is a leading tool for managing all customer touchpoints. It provides two distinct services. The first is a customer support platform that allows for seamless communication with customers through various channels such as email, web chat, and SMS. It also includes a customizable help center and community hub for self-service, and AI chatbots to handle basic queries and boost efficiency.

The second component is a sales support platform, which includes a CRM that seamlessly integrates with the customer support functions. This unified platform enhances prospecting, lead generation, and engagement in a single location, making it easier for teams to leverage technology. Within the first six months of using this platform, two out of three teams have reported a significant return on investment.

Zendesk is widely regarded. This is evidenced by the fact that they are trusted by companies such as Dropbox, Zoom, Spotify and Uber.

Key Features:

• Create an easy environment for customers to get support.

• Increase productivity through walkthroughs and automation.

• Improve operational visibility to your support channels for better management.

Cost:

Plans range between $49 to $150 per user, per month with four different pricing tiers offering various specialist functionalities.

2. CrazyEgg - 30 Days Free

CrazyEgg is the perfect platform for you if you want to know exactly what's going on with your website. Heatmaps allow you to see what users are and aren't interacting with, which makes identifying the need for changes to your site much easier.

Recordings also give you maximum visibility into the snags your customers hit when using your website. Users get full visibility into how errors are impacting their website, along with rapid A/B testing to minimise issues. Most importantly, you will get detailed analysis of your traffic, where it comes from and compare campaign performance.

The quality of CrazyEgg's offering has led to it being used by hugely successful companies such as Accenture, Uber and Stackshare.

Key Features:

• Track useful insights into user behaviour on your website.

• Find opportunities to improve your online conversions.

• Create more streamlined workflows for a better user experience.

Cost:

Subscriptions for CrazyEgg have four tiers, starting from $29 per month and the most expensive being $249 per month. They also offer a free trial.

3. Commando.io- 20% Off on Annual Billing

Commando.io is a software platform that helps you to manage servers online. The web-based SSH platform eliminates bottlenecks by enabling everyone in the engineering team to run commands on servers in parallel. In addition, you'll have a full audit trail so you can be sure of who is executing commands and for what purposes. Users of the platform save hours of engineering time each week with the increased efficiencies, making server management much easier and far less costly.

Key Features:

• Increase productivity by giving everyone distributed commands on servers.

• Get setup incredibly quickly with no external dependencies.

• Keep full audit trials of who has executed what commands and why.

• The platform is very reasonably priced.

Cost:

Plans starting at $12 per month and coming up to $199 per month to add up to 6 users. Annual billing offers 20% off.

4. Proofhub - 41% Off Ultimate Control Plan For Three Months

Proofhub is a platform created to improve every aspect of your project management. The effectiveness comes from having all project-related functionality under one roof. Tasks and reports are visually represented, where people can be assigned and collaborate within the platform, with internal chats and announcements.

The platform's organisation suite empowers you with pre-designed project templates, calendars, file sharing and note taking. Critical reports on project progress and daily agendas can be created, with this all culminating in improved project delivery, at lower cost.

ProofHub rubs shoulders with some of the world's most renowned organizations, powering project management for the likes of Netflix, Google and NASA.

Key Features:

• Improve collaboration with communication tools in an easy working environment.

• Generate timely and informational reports to adapt to new changes.

• Create better project results with improved task planning.

Cost:

Plans come in two tiers, with the basic version priced at $45 per month and the premium version costing $89 per month. They also offer a two-week trial.

5. FullContact - 20% Off For One Year

FullContact is an advanced solution for data and intelligence with security and compliance at its core. You can identify anonymous website visitors securely, which makes it easier to create more personalized user experiences to increase your website conversions. You can also increase the accuracy and performance of your fraud prevention models, using real-time identity resolution without creating an annoying user experience. You can also use the company's data storage service to securely store and encrypt your data, whilst ensuring it's still easy for you to access.

FullContact has a large number of clients. Among them are some big names like Intercom, Zapier and Hubspot.

Key Features:

• Identify and prevent fraud attempts in real time and find out who's behind it.

• Create better customer experiences and improve your media targeting strategy.

• Keep up with regulatory changes with privacy and permission solutions.

Cost:

Pricing starts at $499 per month. Additional charges apply for extra features. You can also request a demo before purchasing.

6. GitHub Enterprise - One Year For Free

GitHub Enterprise is a support platform to empower developer success. Users are able to embed security controls into their pipelines from the start of coding, to ensure security and compliance. Workflow automation also decreases the amount of developer hours spent on your pipeline, which accelerates your timeline to delivery significantly. Built-in collaboration tools allow you to work seamlessly and back your operations with best-in-class KPIs. GitHub is also the world's largest developer community, which you can take full advantage of to get the support you need.

GitHub is one of the most well-known companies in the world and helps out some of the world's leading tech companies, such as Shopify, Airbnb and Robinhood.

Key Features:

• Automate your workflows for better efficiency.

• Keep all of your applications safe and secure.

• Use enhanced collaboration tools to drive product innovation.

Cost:

$19.25 per user, per month. There are also a range of additional add-ons that can be purchased for a better experience.

7. Slack Pro & Business+ - 30% Off Subscriptions

Slack is one of the most well-known collaboration tools there is. It takes the form of an instant messaging app, where you're able to create multiple chat rooms with your employees, and third-party agencies that can be set to private and public as needed. Files and tools can also be shared in these channels and video-calls with screen sharing creates instant collaboration. 85% of users believe Slack has helped them to improve their internal communication, with integrations with multiple software platforms available.

Slack has seen huge client growth since it was founded and includes many leading businesses such as Pinterest, Zendesk and Time.

Key Features:

• Experience faster case and task resolution with increased efficiency.

• Keep all of your comms secure with the latest security frameworks.

• Integrate Slack with your tech stack for an improved experience.

Cost:

Slack Pro costs $7.25 per active user, per month and Business+ costs $12.50 per user, per month. The enterprise tier is custom built to your needs, so prices can vary depending on your choice of features.

8. HubSpot - Up To 90% Off For The First Year

HubSpot CRM is a leading product in the SaaS market. You will get full visibility into your pipeline and track your sales performance through a range of KPIs that can be adjusted to fit your needs. By integrating your email, social media and calls, sales activity can be automatically logged as it happens for improved efficiency. With all of your information about a lead being in one timeline, you can easily find where you left off with that contact in seconds. The company also offers marketing automation software, a customer support solution and operations management support.

HubSpot is one of the most well-known SaaS companies in the world, so it stands to reason that they'd work with companies like Accenture, TrustPilot and Strava for their CRM support.

Key Features:

• Unify your pipeline, log sales activity and keep key contacts all in one place.

• Make sure everything gets done by creating tasks and setting reminders.

• Get a better understanding of the success of your email marketing campaigns.

Cost:

The CRM and its basic features are free. Access to the company's Marketing Hub, Sales Hub and Service Hub are payable. Pricing is done in tiers, ranging from $20 per month to $3600 per month.

9. AWS Web Hosting - $100,000 in AWS Hosting

Hosting with AWS is incredibly simple and effective, as the main benefit. With global data centres, you can easily host your website in any country that you could need to with a few simple mouse clicks. Another benefit is that your infrastructure can be made flexible as your demand increases and decreases on your website. This also means that as you grow larger, you will be able to maintain the same hosting platform, minimising migration headaches.

AWS is one of the most popular hosting providers on the market, which makes it obvious that they would have some world-renowned names on their client list, like Pfizer and Airbnb.

Key Features:

• Support your website on any CMS system or coding language.

• Choose a data centre anywhere in the world to meet your customers needs.

• Flexible scaling to grow and shrink in line with your demand.

• No need for lengthy contracts; just pay for what you use.

Cost:

The cost of hosting a single static website will be around $3 per month.

10. SendPulse - 20% off Annual Subscriptions

SendPulse is a unified sales platform that helps you to connect with your customers in the most effective ways. The platform has functions for email marketing to your contracts, reaching them through SMS, the use of chatbots and pushes from your website. This allows all of your sales and marketing workflows to pool in one place, with the built-in CRM making it easy to track deal progress and your lead generation success. Automation also allows you to save time on certain emails and CRM management tasks.

SendPulse have built such a brilliant product that they're able to work with some famous names like PwC, Radisson Blu Hotels and many more.

Key Features:

• Use a multichannel technology approach to reach your prospects.

• Streamline your internal sales and marketing processes.

• Create fast and personalised responses for increased customer satisfaction.

Cost:

Due to the blend of products offered by the company, pricing varies wildly. But they do offer free versions of some of their products for businesses with smaller budgets.

11. TestRigor.ai - One Year Free QA Testing

TestRigor is a platform that allows startups to deploy stable tests quicker, by utilising automation to remove the busywork of test maintenance, removing the burden by 99.5%. This allows team members to focus on more value-adding tasks, which allows test coverage progress to pick up at a faster pace. Another benefit of the platform is that it is no-code, which makes things simpler for teams using it. Users are seeing 90% more test coverage in less than a year.

Key Features:

• Get a more stable end-to-end testing for faster deployment with automation.

• Adapt to new changes and functionality with a few button clicks.

• Improve the manual QA testing process for your team by removing busywork.

Cost:

They have a Free mode and a Premium mode charged at $900 per month. They also offer a free trial of their paid subscription.

12. NinjaOutreach - Lifetime 20% Off

The way NinjaOutreach works is incredibly simple, if you need a specific type of influencer to capture the mind of your audience, you can find them. With their search engine, you can find influencers based on keywords and then reach out to them via social media or through their email address. You can also filter by geographical location as required. The tool has an in-built CRM, which allows you to manage multiple influencer marketing campaigns at once.

Key Features:

• Create new leads with an extensive email outreach tool.

• Find and connect with the best influencers to push your brand.

• Improve your backlink strategy and boost your online rankings.

Cost:

Pricing ranges from the low end of $155 per month to $459 per month at the high end. There is also a variable pricing plan for businesses with more specific needs. Yearly plans offer a huge 60% discount.

13. Userlike - 20% Off Two Year Plan

Userlike helps companies to improve their live chat capability. Customers can come through your website to start the conversation, which can then be moved to online messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook, SMS and more. You can also include chatbots into the equation if you don't have the physical staff to man your live chats for you. Your agents can switch from chatting over text, to talking over a video call which is effective when more in-depth and personal conversations are needed.

Userlike has built its brand to the point where it's trusted by dream clients like BMW, Allianz and Samsung.

Key Features:

• All your multichannel contacts are stored in one place for easy access.

• Switch things up by video calling your customers to stay in touch.

• Automate your customer touchbase functions for better operational efficiency.

Cost:

Services start from $100 per month but can increase depending on use. There is also a free version for smaller companies. They also offer added discounts for longer-term subscriptions.

14. InVision - Annual Plan Discount

InVision is a high-quality collaboration tool that takes the form of your online whiteboard. Users can enter a new whiteboard and drop in critical information, tasks and ideas for teams to get stuck in and collaborate on. You will have a central hub of all of your whiteboards so you can have full visibility of your progress and easily segment the messy work of planning and brainstorming. You can integrate the platform with your everyday work tools to pull critical information and assets instantly.

Having more than 7 Million customers means they're going to have some massive names on their books, with IBM, Slack and Starbucks included in that list.

Key Features:

• Share and collaborate on designs in real time meeting environments.

• Create code-free design UI prototypes with a range of design tools.

• Export your whiteboards to your integrated software platforms.

Cost:

There is a free version for up to ten users with limited features. The Pro version has more features and supports up to 15 users at $7.95 per user, per month. There is also an Enterprise plan for larger businesses.

15. Userback - 50% Off Annual Plans

Userback is a platform that helps you to collect critical feedback from your users on your website and web apps. Feedback is collected through a range of methods, including in-app feedback, customer-side screen annotation, video recordings and a feedback portal. The platform can be easily integrated with a range of other software to sync your workflow and save time. This helps you to see what your customers are getting frustrated with and rapidly fix it before it becomes a problem.

Key Features:

• Get key real-time feedback from customers still on your website or app.

• Get improved customer feedback by offering visual on-screen annotations.

• Understand exactly what causes bugs with full session replay and video capabilities.

Cost:

Prices range from $59 per month to $217 per month. You can also use a free-trial. Annual subscriptions offer a 25% discount.

Conclusion

The best startups are constantly looking for the best ways to improve their processes and get an edge. As a result of this, successful startups are using more software tools than ever before, with the tools you've just seen having some amazing initial offers.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Deal

Startup bundles:

While there are a lot of discounts and deals out there for various tools, it is important to look for the ones that are specifically designed for startups. Some companies bundle their products together in a package catered only to startups, which offers discounted pricing and features that are tailored to the needs of a startup.

Reviews and feedback:

Research and read reviews and feedback from other startups that have used the discounts to gain insights into its effectiveness and reliability.

Support and maintenance:

Check if the discounted offering comes with support and maintenance services. This is important to ensure that you can troubleshoot any issues that may arise while using the tool.

FAQs

Why Do SaaS Companies Offer Discounted Deals For Startups?

SaaS companies offer discounts to help innovative startups to grow faster with the help of technology. These discounts can represent a huge cost saving to startups, which need to effectively manage their cash flow; particularly in the early stages.

Are There Barriers To Entry For Availing Such Deals?

Each company will have different requirements, for example HubSpot CRM has eligibility criteria for its discount. Companies have to have been associated with a funding or VC partner of HubSpot and have raised up to $2 Million in funding. Always check whether you're eligible first.

Why Should I Use Software Tools For My Startup?

There are many reasons you should use software tools in your startup. The general main reasons are the time-savings you'll receive and the potential improvements to your profitability from using said software.

What Are The Most Popular Kind Of Deals For Startups?

Deals offering freemium models and open-source tools are the most popular among startups. Models where the basic version is free and you only have to pay additional fees for the extra features, which you pick based on your utility, work well with limited budgets. Open-source tools are also popular among startups, as they allow for customization and flexibility, without the need to incur high costs.