SaaS platforms have boomed in recent years. Now– a happy consequence –SaaS marketplaces are on a similar trajectory of growth. As a result, developers are taking the opportunity to solve unique customer challenges by extending the capabilities of the platform or product with marketplace apps.
For developers, SaaS marketplaces provide access to a large customer base, reduced marketing costs, and streamlined billing and payments. All of which provide greater money-making opportunities. And let’s face it, the demand for SaaS products is not going to decline anytime soon, so developing in this area provides oodles of opportunity for years to come.
In this guide, we’ll look at the leading 20+ SaaS marketplaces so that you can find your next development opportunity and expand your business in 2023. You can find out more about monday.com app marketplace or keep reading to discover more.
Start buildingTypes of SaaS marketplaces: At a glance
Given the rapid rise of SaaS marketplaces, there’s an abundance of options to choose from. So, where do developers start? To help you figure out where to begin, we have listed the top use cases below. If you’re new to these, we’ve provided a brief description.
Why’s this good to know? Because knowing where potential customers are is often where the greatest revenue opportunities lie.
Types of SaaS marketplaces:
- CRM and help desk: A software tool designed to make it easier for businesses to manage interactions with customers and prospects. Essentially, it’s one central database for storing and accessing customer information, like purchase history, preferences, and communication history.
- Workplace and productivity: These apps support productivity. This can be anything from time tracking, to project and work management tools, to managing a remote workforce.
- Cloud services and infrastructure: This covers a lot of bases. Think servers, storage, payments, and networking.
- E-commerce: These are designed specifically for retail businesses to sell online. Features include things like product cataloging, payment gateway integration, and order tracking and management.
- Communication and collaboration: These make it easier for businesses to communicate and collaborate in real-time. So, file sharing, instant messaging and updates, as well as tools like calendars, task lists, and timelines.
Now we understand the different types of marketplaces, let’s dive into the ultimate list of SaaS marketplaces for developers.
The ultimate list of SaaS marketplaces for developers: A deep-dive
Here are the top apps used for these most popular use cases. There are quite a few to get through so we’ll provide a whistle-stop tour, starting with CRM and help desk marketplaces.
CRM and help desk
1. Salesforce AppExchange
Salesforce provides businesses with a suite of cloud-based solutions – from CRM, to marketing automation, and analytics. Its marketplace, Salesforce AppExchange has thousands of ready-built apps and integrations which bring additional functionality to the Salesforce platform to solve users’ needs.
- Target audience: Better suited to large enterprises, across any sector. But it’s predominantly used in job roles including sales, marketing, customer service, finance and HR
- Number of apps: 7,000+ apps. These range from free to paid solutions and include Salesforce-native and third-party apps
- App categories: Finance, HR, ERP, sales, customer service, IT & admin, marketing, integration, Salesforce Labs, analytics
- Number of platform customers: Salesforce has 150,000 and 91% of its customers use AppExchange apps
- App marketplace founded date: 2006
- Platform founded date: 2005
2. HubSpot App Marketplace
HubSpot is software that provides sales, marketing, and customer service solutions – for example, it has a popular email-sending functionality. The HubSpot App Marketplace provides multiple integrations that help customers to unlock additional functionality.
- Target audience: Scaleups to large enterprises, across multiple sectors – and similar to Salesforce the key job roles include sales, marketing, and customer services
- Number of apps: 1,000+ apps – free and paid
- App categories: Marketing, sales, customer service, productivity, and finance
- Number of platform customers: HubSpot has 177,000+ customers across more than 120 countries
- App marketplace founded date: 2011
- Platform founded date: 2005
3. Pipedrive Marketplace
Pipedrive is predominantly used by sales teams as it helps them to manage their processes to improve sales performance – like automating sales emails and viewing engagement analytics. Its marketplace, Pipedrive Marketplace, offers apps to help businesses seamlessly sync business data in one place.
- Target audience: Small to medium-sized businesses and job roles are predominantly sales and marketing
- Number of apps: 400+ apps – free and paid. Some are native to Pipedrive and others are created by third parties
- App categories: Accounting & invoicing, analytics, bots & messaging, contacts & calendar sync, customer support, data management, email marketing, marketing automation – and more
- Number of platform customers: Pipedrive has 132,000+ customers
- Platform founded date: 2010
4. Zoho CRM Marketplace
Zoho CRM is a CRM solution that supports a range of roles like finance and HR. Its marketplace, Zoho CRM Marketplace, aims to integrate Zoho applications with all the tools a business needs.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes, but it tends to be used by small to medium-sized corporations
- Number of apps: There are 1,000+ apps available on Zoho Marketplace
- App categories: CRM, recruitment, sales, analytics, projects, campaigns, inventory, invoicing, and more
- Number of platform customers: Zoho CRM has 250,000+ customers.
- Platform founded date: 2005
5. Zendesk Marketplace
Zendesk is a customer service software solution. It tracks engagement and allows businesses to provide customer support directly through the platform. Its app marketplace, Zendesk Marketplace, aims to increase agent productivity and streamline workflows.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes that need customer services software. Job roles are predominantly customer-facing roles, such as customer service, customer success, and community management
- Number of apps: 1,200+ apps are available
- App categories: Productivity & time-tracking, e-commerce & CRM, analytics & reporting, email & social media, marketing & lead generation, quoting & billing, and more
- Number of platform customers: Zendesk has over 100,000 customers, covering a multitude of industries in over 30 languages
- App marketplace founded date: 2012
- Platform founded date: 2007
6. Freshdesk Marketplace
Freshdesk is a customer service management tool that makes it easier for businesses to track engagement, manage support, and boost sales. Its marketplace, Freshdesk Marketplace, aims to help businesses to get more out of Freshworks products.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes who need customer service solutions. Job roles include customer-facing roles, such as customer services, customer success, and community management
- Number of apps: 500+ apps on its Freshworks marketplace
- App categories: Agent productivity, issue tracking & alerts, bots & workflows, knowledge & content management, social media & channels, surveys & feedback, and more
- Number of platform customers: Over 50,000 companies use Freshdesk
- App marketplace founded date: 2017
- Platform founded date: 2010
7. Atlassian Marketplace
Atlassian is a suite of tools – including Jira, Confluence, Trello, and Bitbucket – that allow businesses to collaborate, develop, and track issues associated with project management. Its marketplace, Atlassian Marketplace, aims to boost the effectiveness and efficiency of Atlassian products.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes, and across multiple sectors. Job roles are mainly customer management and project management
- Number of apps: 5,300+ apps – free and paid
- App categories: Admin tools, CRM, dashboard gadgets, project management, charts & diagramming, design tools, messaging, IT & helpdesk, and more
- Number of platform customers: Over 200,000+ customers
- App marketplace founded date: 2012
- Platform founded date: 2002
Workplace and productivity
8. monday apps marketplace
monday.com is a customizable work management platform where anyone can create tools for every aspect of their work using building blocks like items, columns, views, automations, integrations, and widgets. Its marketplace, app marketplace, aims to help businesses discover powerful apps and integrations to perfectly customize your workflow any way you want.
The monday.com app marketplace hosts a range of apps that plug into the platform to boost productivity for users, we’ve a large customer base of 186,000+ users that sit across a variety of industries. Our marketplace is relatively new and so there’s plenty of opportunity to address use cases with high demand and less competition.
Plus, there’s a developer hub designed specifically to help entrepreneurs to capitalize on new app ideas for the monday.com platform – all the information and tools you need are literally at your fingertips.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes. It’s commonly used by marketing, product management, business owners, and HR teams – so there’s plenty of opportunity.
- Number of apps: 250+ apps – free and paid.
- App categories: CRM, marketing, project management, software development, team management, productivity & efficiency, reporting & analytics, and more
- Number of platform customers: monday.com has over 186,000+ customers across 200+ countries
- App marketplace founded date: 2022
- Platform founded date: 2012
If you’re ready to explore our developer portal, you can get started now.
Start building9. Google Workspace Marketplace
Previously known as G Suite, Google Workspace is a collaboration tool that connects multiple Google solutions like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in one place. Its marketplace, Google Workspace Marketplace, aims to help businesses to work smarter and save time.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes.
- Number of apps: 5,000+ apps – free and paid. These are primarily developed by third-party developers and can be used to automate tasks, integrate with other tools, and streamline workflows
- App categories: Business tools, productivity, education, communication, and utilities
- Number of platform customers: Over 6 million+ paying business customers worldwide
- App marketplace founded date: 2010
- Platform founded date: 2008
10. ServiceNow Store
ServiceNow is a cloud-based solution for businesses that need to streamline and automate workflows across departments including: HR, IT, customer service, and more. Its app marketplace, ServiceNow Store, aims to help make the workplace work for everyone.
- Target audience: Medium to larger-sized businesses
- Number of apps: 800+ apps on its app marketplace
- App categories: Analytics, intelligence and reporting, automation, customer service management, financial services operations, governance, risk and compliance – and more
- Number of platform customers: ServiceNow has over 1,500+ customers with more than $1 million in annual contract value
- App marketplace founded date: 2015
- Platform founded date: 2003
Cloud services and infrastructure
11. Cloudflare Apps
Cloudflare is a solution that allows businesses to optimize websites and other online applications, including content delivery. The aim is to increase speed, security, and reliability of websites. Its app marketplace, Cloudflare Apps, aims to increase the speed, security, and reliability of websites.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes. Job roles tend to be quite technical
- Number of apps: 200+ apps and integrations from various developers and partners, including popular services like Google Analytics, Salesforce, and GitHub.
- App categories: Insights, performance, security, special & communication, UI & design, and widgets & plugins
- Number of platform customers: Cloudflare has over 4.1 million users on its platform, including over 100,000+ paying customers
- App marketplace founded date: 2017
- Platform founded date: 2010
12. Stripe App Marketplace
Stripe is a global payment platform making online payment management simple and secure. Stripe’s app marketplace aims to integrate all the tools you use to run your business.
- Target audience: Typically, it’s used by e-commerce businesses. But, any mobile payments business can benefit. And any size, in any sector
- Number of apps: 100+ apps in its marketplace. Third-party apps usually hone in on anti-fraud, analytics, and accounting
- App categories: Accounting, billing, climate, compliance, data & analytics, financial services, marketing & sales, and productivity
- Number of platform customers: Over 2 million websites use Stripe worldwide
- App marketplace founded date: 2022
- Platform founded date: 2010
E-commerce
13. Shopify App Store
Shopify is a cloud-based e-commerce solution. It allows businesses to build online stores to sell products. Its app marketplace, Shopify App Store, aims to help brands to do more, sell wider, and ship faster.
- Target audience: Small merchants through to large enterprises. And it’s particularly popular with entrepreneurs looking to launch their products online
- Number of apps: 8,000+ apps and integrations on its marketplace
- App categories: Finding products, orders & shipping, marketing & conversion, selling & products, store design, and store management
- Number of platform customers: Shopify has over 4 million users
- App marketplace founded date: 2009
- Platform founded date: 2006
14. WordPress Plugins
WordPress is one of the most popular content management tools that allow you to build websites. Its app marketplace, Plugins, aims to extend users’ WordPress experience with over 60,000 free plugin apps.
- Target audience: A range of business types – covering blogging consumers, through to large businesses and even e-commerce sites
- Number of apps: There are 60,000+ plugins to improve functionality and security, and optimize websites
- App categories: Marketing, e-commerce, events, media, design elements, communication, and content
- Number of platform customers: WordPress is used by 810 million
- Platform founded date: 2003
15. Wix App Market
Wix is a cloud-based website builder that doesn’t require advanced web development skills. Plus, it has tools that allow you to integrate e-commerce, email marketing and SEO. Its marketplace, Wix App Market, aims to further power Wix users’ websites.
- Target audience: Small to medium businesses across multiple sectors, job roles include business owners, marketing, and digital
- Number of apps: 300+ apps, including social media and design tools
- App categories: Marketing, sell online, services & events, media & content, design elements, communication
- Number of platform customers: Wix has over 200 million users
- App marketplace founded date: 2012
- Platform founded date: 2006
16. Magento marketplace
Magento is an open-source ecommerce platform that makes it easier for merchants to manage online stores thanks to payment, shopping and order management tools. Its app marketplace, Magento Marketplace, aims to help businesses to extend the capabilities of the platform.
- Target audience: Mid-large-sized ecommerce businesses
- Number of apps: 1000+ apps, including payment gateways, shipping providers, marketing tools, and more
- App categories: Customer support, payments & security, marketing, accounting & finance, shipping & fulfillment, site optimization
- Number of platform customers: Magento has 167,000+ users
- App marketplace founded date: 2016
- Platform founded date: 2008
17. Woo Marketplace
WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin built for WordPress so that customers can sell products online through that website builder tool. Its marketplace, Woo Marketplace, aims to solve all its customer’s logistical, technical, and marketing needs.
- Target audience: Small to medium-sized businesses that use WordPress. Plus, it’s popular among developers and agencies that build e-commerce sites for clients
- Number of apps: 5000+ apps like marketing and payment tools
- App categories: Themes, payment solutions, marketing, customer service, merchandising, and more
- Number of platform customers: Over 225 million use WooCommerce
- App marketplace founded date: 2011
- Platform founded date: 2008
18. BigCommerce apps
BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform that allows businesses to more easily customize and manage online stores. It provides a range of features like web design, payment processing, shipping integrations, and more. Its app store, BigCommerce Apps, aims to provide powerful enterprise integrations and ecommerce apps.
- Target audience: Small to large e-commerce enterprises with job roles including business owners, founders, and marketing
- Number of apps: 1000+ apps – like marketing tools, accounting software, fulfillment services, and more
- App categories: Accounting, analytics, B2B/wholesale, catalog/order management, checkout, CMS & hosting, data transfer/migration, ERP, financing, marketing, merchandise, mobile, payments/security, POS/in-store, and more
- Number of platform customers: BigCommerce has 60,000+ registered users
- Platform founded date: 2009
Communication and collaboration
19. Slack app directory
Slack is an instant-messaging solution that allows customers to share files, join group meetings, and quickly search for key information in chats. The Slack App Directory provides a range of integrations that improve collaboration.
- Target audience: Mainly B2B businesses of all sizes and multiple job roles
- Number of apps: 2,4000+ apps – free and paid
- App categories: Pre-approved, analytics, communication, customer support, design, developer tools, file management, health & wellness, HR, marketing, office management, finance, productivity, project management, and much more
- Number of platform customers: Slack has 20 million+ users
- App marketplace founded date: 2015
- Platform founded date: 2009
20. Zoom App Marketplace
Zoom is a video conferencing solution that supports audio calls, instant messaging, and screen sharing. Its app marketplace, Zoom App Marketplace, aims to help users to maximize the use of Zoom through apps and integrations.
- Target audience: Small to medium-sized businesses across a wide range of job roles
- Number of apps: 2,445
- App categories: Analytics, broadcasting & streaming, business system integrator, CRM, carrier provider exchange, collaboration, customer service, e-commerce, education, event management, financial services, games, government, and much more
- Number of platform customers: Zoom has over 300 million+ users
- App marketplace founded date: 2018
- Platform founded date: 2011
21. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that focuses on communication – through chat, virtual video meetings, and file sharing. As well as integrating with other services like Office 365, SharePoint and OneDrive, the Microsoft Teams marketplace has plenty of additional integrations to improve project management and communication. And its aim is to help users to add their favorite app.
- Target audience: Businesses of all sizes and sectors, but predominantly B2B focused
- Number of apps: 1905+ apps
- App categories: Analytics, collaboration, content management, CRM, customer service, finance, HR, IT, learning & training, marketing, news & weather, operations, productivity, project management, sales, and utilities
- Number of platform customers: Microsoft Teams has 300 million+ users
- Platform founded date: 2017
In summary, as we’ve just seen, there’s a huge range of SaaS marketplaces to consider. So how do you narrow down your options? Let’s take a look below.
Checklist: How developers choose the best SaaS marketplace
With so many SaaS marketplaces for developers to choose from, how do you decide which to develop with?
To help you to figure this out, here are some things you should consider when narrowing down your options:
- User base: The ideal marketplace provides 3rd-party developers with opportunities to address a wide range of industries and use cases. So looks at how many customers the SaaS platform already has. And ask key questions such as do they readily use the app? And are they in your target demographic?
- Developer support: Look for SaaS marketplaces that provide support for developers – like resources and documentation.
- Integration: Make sure the app provides robust and readily available API access, with strong documentation. Plus, check out the types of building blocks (or components) the platform allows you, as a developer, to interact with – this can help identify the scope of the solutions you can create.
- Reviews: Platforms with strong and positive customer feedback are your best bet because they’ll likely stand the test of time, and capture a greater market share.
- Competition: Consider how crowded the current marketplace is. If the marketplace is already saturated with apps, it makes competition harder. On the other hand, less crowded marketplaces may offer you the opportunity to be the first one to offer various solutions and enjoy the prime.
In light of all this, it’s worth considering which marketplaces particularly stand out as potential opportunities. Make a short list of your top platforms and their user base, and see which best aligns with your target audience.
Grow your business with the best SaaS marketplace for developers
So, to wrap up, SaaS marketplaces have huge potential with myriad industries and use cases primed for the entrepreneurial developer. They’re particularly great for developers because they tend to offer APIs that make it easy to develop apps that integrate. And they have large existing customer bases, which provides a regular revenue stream.
Plus, it makes developers’ apps easy to discover, all of which make it easy to see why SaaS marketplaces are so popular with developers today. And there’s one particular platform that stands out – monday.com app marketplace. Here’s why:
- Huge audience: Over 186,000 existing, subscription-based customers – from small businesses to large enterprises across multiple sectors.
- Wide range of job titles: Including marketers, sales, project managers, HR, IT, and more.
- Developer support: An abundance of supporting documentation and a dedicated developer website.
- Ripe for development: As our marketplace is relatively new and untouched by developers so plenty of opportunity. This equates to high demand and low competition.
In short, there are some pretty amazing opportunities for developing and launching SaaS marketplace apps. If you are ready to follow in the footsteps of developers like Jetpack Apps and Omnidea – who have already embraced the movement to SaaS marketplace apps – you can get started here.
Looking for more?
Take a look at some further reading on SaaS marketplaces for developers here:
- How to build a SaaS marketplace app: 6 steps to revenue-generation
- SaaS app analytics guide: tools, tips, and metrics to track
- A marketplace app success story: VLOOKUP Auto-link