SaaS is Dead, Welcome SaaC

We’re entering an era where software is as cheap and easy to produce as canned beans on a grocery shelf—and that’s shaking up the entire Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry. The moment code becomes near-free to generate, custom development is no longer a luxury for mega-corporations. It’s getting accessible to just about everyone. Hence the new paradigm: Software as a Commodity (SaaC).

For years, SaaS was my hero. Instead of wrangling big dev teams and expensive servers, I could just subscribe to a cloud-based service. No fuss, no updates to manage—just log in and go.

Lie many others, I embraced it because custom software was historically a massive endeavor. Hiring armies of developers, building out QA processes, and maintaining everything? That was a job for deep-pocketed tech giants or the bravest of startups. Most normal companies weren’t equipped to handle it, except for mission critical purpose.

Custom Software: Once Too Pricey

Conventional wisdom says building tailor-made software is expensive. You need:

1. Expensive Dev Talent: Software engineers don’t come cheap.

2. Project Management Overhead: Timelines stretch, budgets balloon.

3. Maintenance Nightmares: Nobody likes on-call duty at 3 a.m.

That’s why we all happily paid for off-the-shelf solutions. We’d settle for 80% fits and awkward workarounds rather than start a custom build we’d never finish on time or budget.

Near-Free Code: Meet the AI Revolution

Now, a wave of AI coding tools—ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and countless others—are turning development on its head. They can generate production-ready code from simple prompts, slashing the cost and effort once tied to human labor.

Want to build a CRM that’s perfectly tailored to your unique sales pipeline? A few smart prompts could produce a working prototype in hours—or less. Sure, it’s not guaranteed to be flawless, but it’s often close enough that a minimal dev team can refine it quickly.

Suddenly, the reason we defaulted to SaaS—that custom coding was too expensive—doesn’t hold up the same way.

SaaC: Software Becomes a Commodity

Welcome to Software-as-a-Commodity. Code itself is a dirt-cheap resource, like wheat or, yes beans. The real bottleneck isn’t coding but rather figuring out what to do with the software once it’s spun up:

• Integration & Security: Your brand-new AI-coded system still needs safe hosting, data protection, and compliance checks.

• Architecture & Orchestration: Someone has to decide how everything fits together.

• Maintenance & Strategy: Software is never “done.” It’s a living entity requiring updates and new features over time.

Still, the actual creation of the code is no longer the wallet-breaking part. That’s a huge shift in who holds the power and how we think about building solutions.

Still, the reason SaaS companies won’t vanish in a single blow is that running software at enterprise-grade reliability isn’t trivial. Global uptime, compliance, redundancy—those are complex. Some SaaS vendors also often specialize in handling regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and financial compliance. For many businesses, that’s worth a subscription fee. Major SaaS products come also with partner networks, user communities, and training resources—services that can’t be replicated by a single AI coder overnight.

However, with their core value (the software itself) becoming a commodity, SaaS companies will have to evolve or risk losing relevance.

The Freelance & Boutique Boom

One of the most exciting ripple effects is how near-free code empowers smaller players:

• Freelancers can build sophisticated tools rapidly, delivering niche solutions without giant price tags.

• Boutique Agencies can focus on verticals (healthcare, finance, logistics) or functionalities (AI chatbots, dashboards) and leverage AI coding to turn projects around with unprecedented speed.

• Domain Experts who know their industry’s quirks can design software that’s a perfect fit, letting AI do the heavy lifting of coding.

This means companies big and small can get exactly what they want—no more settling for rigid, off-the-shelf features. Businesses want software aligned with their workflows, not forced to adapt their processes to someone else’s design. Until now, they paid more for that privilege. Soon, they might pay less.

The Commodity Pricing Problem

Commodities are cheap and low-margin. If code itself is free, how do software providers make money?

1. Service & Expertise: Consulting, architecture, and integration become the premium offerings.

2. Hosting & Infrastructure: Cloud providers still control data centers and networks.

3. Unique Data & Algorithms: Owning specialized datasets or finely tuned models can remain a profitable edge.

In other words, the profit center moves away from code and toward everything that surrounds it.

SaaS Giants: Evolve or Fade

So, how will Salesforce, Adobe, or similar giants respond?

• Become Platforms: Less about fixed features, more about letting users (or AI) build custom modules on a secure backbone.

• Double Down on Ecosystems: Provide integrations, compliance, and best practices so companies feel safe customizing.

• AI & Data: Offer advanced models and analytics services that go beyond simple code generation, leveraging massive user data to deliver powerful insights.

SaaS companies that can’t pivot to this “platform + service + data” model risk becoming obsolete, relegated to the history books as code itself becomes too cheap to justify a premium subscription.

As success stories spread—“We replaced a big monthly subscription with a cheaper, customized system built in days!”—the shift will accelerate. Still, it won’t be chaos-free. Some AI-coded projects will backfire, unveiling bugs or security flaws. Over time, best practices will emerge, risk will be managed, and custom solutions will flourish.

The Wild West of SaaC

Picture a “gold rush” for software creation:

• Instant Apps: Sales managers spin up micro-tools for campaigns on a whim, discarding them just as quickly.

• Perpetual Iteration: If your CFO hates a dashboard’s layout, you fix it with a new AI prompt, deployed by lunchtime.

• Security Fiascos: Expect a learning curve as folks discover AI code can be just as vulnerable as human-written code— if no one’s double-checking.

In other words, it’s both thrilling and nerve-wracking. We’ll likely see a surge in devops, QA, and security roles specifically designed to keep AI-coded software on track.

Is SaaS Really Done For?

SaaS’s main advantage—being cheaper and simpler than building in-house—faces competition now that code is fast, cheap, and easy to generate.

We might still rely on SaaS for certain functions, especially where compliance, uptime, or standardized processes are paramount. But for areas that differentiate a business—unique workflows, proprietary logic, customized user experiences—organizations are likely to embrace custom builds.

The Age of Custom Code

SaaS—we won't miss you. Software development, once a high-stakes, high-cost endeavor, might soon become so accessible that we’ll forget queuing up for updates that never quite satisfied us.

This will let businesses tailor software around their unique DNA. While it won’t happen overnight, the shift is already underway. Freelancers, small agencies, and even in-house teams will produce solutions once reserved for big budgets.

It’s not all sunshine, of course. There will be pitfalls—security oversights, compliance challenges, and half-baked features. Still, it’s hard not to be excited. The days of “good enough” SaaS might give way to truly customized systems that reflect each company’s identity. And with code turning into a commodity, the power dynamic shifts, favoring those who can quickly harness AI and integrate solutions intelligently.