Building a SaaS in 2026: From Idea to First Users

Between the idea for a SaaS and its first users, the technical part is the shortest. Time goes mostly into making the product visible, understanding who really uses it and measuring what happens. Here is what we observed with our own products, with figures, nothing dressed up.

This is the first episode of a series on building a SaaS in 2026. No miracle recipe: an account of what happens after going live. The figures cited date from late September 2026; we will update them as the series goes on. For a neighbouring angle, read why a SaaS can have users but no sales.

Building is the part that depends on you: you can move alone, you see the result, you fix things. It is also the most comforting, which is why we often spend too much time on it. A working product is only the starting point: it does not prove anyone needs it.

A useful rule: define early a precise action that proves a user got value. For VoxCut, it is the first export of a cleaned file. For VidScope, it is a tools report read to the end. Without that definition, you do not know what to measure.

Launch is often followed by silence. For VidScope, between 13 and 23 September, about 83 unique visitors came to the site in ten days, and only 3 analyses had been run in total, for no orders. Yet more than fifteen directories had been submitted, articles published and emails sent. The problem was not the volume of actions but the choice of channels and how well the product fits an occasional use.

This silence is not a failure in itself: it is information. It says to measure before adding actions.

On 29 September, VoxCut passed 1,000 cumulative downloads across all channels: 579 from GitHub, 282 from Google Play, 104 from Softpedia, 36 from the Microsoft Store and 5 from the Snap Store. On Android, 118 active installs and a rating of 4 out of 5 from 9 reviews.

What we take from it: downloads come from unexpected channels, and a download is not an active user. Look at where people actually arrive, not where you expected to find them.

• Where visitors come from (channel, country)

• How many reach the first action of value

• How many return the next day, then the following week

• At which point they leave the journey

Set up these measures before launch, not after: a hole in the data cannot be filled in. For us, VidScope tracking only started on 13 September, which makes any comparison with the earlier period impossible.

• Pick a precise audience rather than "everyone": a technical creator does not have the same needs as an occasional viewer

• Focus on one or two channels and measure before opening a third

• Talk to your first users: one detailed reply is worth more than a hundred anonymous visits

• Decide in advance what will make you change direction

On pricing, our thinking is detailed in how to price a SaaS product.

A SaaS does not start at go-live: it starts when you understand who uses it and why. Our products, VoxCut at voxcutpro.com and VidScope at vidscope.fr, are at that stage. In the next episode, we will talk about monetisation: freemium, trial or subscription.

How long does it take to get your first users? It depends on the channel and the product. First visitors can come within days, but active users, and even more so customers, often take much longer.

Which figures should you track at launch? The source of visitors, the share that reaches the first action of value, return at day 1 and day 7, and the step where people leave.

Should you launch on Product Hunt? It is one channel among others. It brings one-off traffic, not necessarily active users. Measure what it really brings.

Is a download a user? No. A download is not an active user: look at active installs and next-day return.

Should you measure before or after launch? Before. Data missing at launch cannot be rebuilt.