Marketplace vs. Self-Hosted SaaS Launch (A question of Control?) Help needed.

[circleme]

Dear Community,

lately I could only participate a little in the forum, because I was very engrossed in my product development. I am now nearing the end of my MVP creation (SaaS) and am facing a challenge that I would like to hear your opinion on. Maybe even people like @eliquid find time, but of course I am happy about any input.

My "problem"/initial situation:

I am currently facing the decision WHERE I should launch my MVP. On the one hand I would have the possibility to launch my software solution via the Chrome Marketplace (as Chrome Extension). On the other hand, I could offer the app as a quasi standalone web app / SaaS, where the app would run under "my" hosting.

I have already talked to a forum member (@Tau Ceti ) who has chosen the Chrome Marketplace as an entry point, but would like to gain more control as time goes on by developing a separate standalone SaaS solution (please correct me here if I have understood this differently/wrongly).

I am now faced with the question of which option to choose and I think it is quite obvious that the Chrome Extension route ignores the need for control. (Variant 1) Of course it would be different if I would choose the standalone variant. (Variant 2) However, I would immediately have eyeballs with variant 2. With variant 1 I would have to provide on top for my own traffic. I think that the probability of success with variant 1 is higher than with variant 2. However, there would also be the possibility that Google kicks me from one day to the next and I would lose my user base.

I would be happy about your feedback and thank you in advance!

Greetings

 

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[eliquid]

Dear Community,

lately I could only participate a little in the forum, because I was very engrossed in my product development. I am now nearing the end of my MVP creation (SaaS) and am facing a challenge that I would like to hear your opinion on. Maybe even people like @eliquid find time, but of course I am happy about any input.

My "problem"/initial situation:

I am currently facing the decision WHERE I should launch my MVP. On the one hand I would have the possibility to launch my software solution via the Chrome Marketplace (as Chrome Extension). On the other hand, I could offer the app as a quasi standalone web app / SaaS, where the app would run under "my" hosting.

I have already talked to a forum member (@Tau Ceti ) who has chosen the Chrome Marketplace as an entry point, but would like to gain more control as time goes on by developing a separate standalone SaaS solution (please correct me here if I have understood this differently/wrongly).

I am now faced with the question of which option to choose and I think it is quite obvious that the Chrome Extension route ignores the need for control. (Variant 1) Of course it would be different if I would choose the standalone variant. (Variant 2) However, I would immediately have eyeballs with variant 2. With variant 1 I would have to provide on top for my own traffic. I think that the probability of success with variant 1 is higher than with variant 2. However, there would also be the possibility that Google kicks me from one day to the next and I would lose my user base.

I would be happy about your feedback and thank you in advance!

Greetings

Why not both?

Chrome Extension, say has... 10 features.

The standalone ( an upgrade potentially ) offers users 27 features at a higher price.

No reason you cant have both.

Use the chrome extension for eyeballs, use the self hosted for upsells and move into your own funnel.