Questions to Ask SaaS Vendors Before Buying
The questions that separate credible vendors from ones who will disappoint you after signing.
About reliability and uptime
What has your actual uptime been over the past 12 months, not the SLA target? Where is your status page and how far back does your incident history go? What was the longest incident in the past 12 months, what caused it, and what changed afterward? Can you provide your p95 response time for the endpoints we will use? These questions reveal whether the vendor has operational discipline. A vendor who cannot answer with specifics has not been tracking these numbers — which is itself a signal.
About data and portability
In what formats can we export our data, and what fields are included? Is data export available at all tier levels or only on paid tiers? How long after contract cancellation is our data retained and accessible? Do you charge for data exports? Are there API rate limits that would affect a full data export? These questions matter at the end of the relationship, which is exactly when you need the answers. Get them in writing before the start.
About the product and roadmap
Can you share a changelog from the past 12 months so I can see what has shipped? Are there features on the roadmap that are still in development that we are being told will be available? When a feature ships later than planned or not at all, how do you communicate that? These questions reveal whether the roadmap is a sales tool or an operational commitment. A vendor who will not show you the changelog has not been shipping.
About pricing and contract terms
What notice do you give before price increases, and what is the maximum percentage increase per renewal? What happens to our data and access if we are more than 30 days past due on a payment? What is the minimum notice period to cancel, and do you require a reason? Is there a termination-for-convenience clause? These questions define the exit terms, which are the hardest to think about when signing but the most important to have settled.
About support
What is the actual first response time for support tickets at our tier — not the SLA target, but the median? Do we get a dedicated account manager and if so, what is the average number of accounts they manage? Is there a support tier with phone access and if so, what does it cost? What is your escalation process for critical issues? Support quality during the trial is the best preview of support quality after signing, so also ask these questions about your trial experience specifically.