How to Sell a Micro SaaS: A Step-by-Step Plan

A micro SaaS is usually run by one founder or a very small team, which makes selling it different from selling a venture-backed company. There is rarely a banker, the buyer is often an individual or a small holding company, and most of the work of getting ready falls on you. Here is the order that keeps a sale moving.

Step 1: Get a realistic number

Start with what comparable businesses have sold for. Acquire.com reports a median profit multiple of 3.9x for SaaS sold on its marketplace in 2024 and 2025, and FE International puts SaaS under $1M ARR at roughly 2.5x to 4x seller's discretionary earnings (sources and detail in how much is my SaaS worth).

The free valuation calculator turns your MRR, growth, margin, retention, churn and customer concentration into a range in about a minute, and shows which numbers are pulling it down.

Step 2: Prepare what a buyer will ask for

Buyers will ask for the same records in almost every deal. Have these ready before you list:

Twelve months of revenue and earnings, ideally reconciled to your payment processor and bank statements.
Customer and churn numbers: active customers, monthly churn and, if you can, retention by signup cohort.
Your technology stack: hosting, third-party services, and what each costs a month.
Ownership of code and accounts: who holds the repository, domain, app store, payment and email accounts, and whether any contractor has a claim on the code.
How much depends on you: the hours you put in each week and which tasks only you can do.

The SaaS due diligence checklist lists 48 items across financial, customer, technical, legal, operational and market diligence. Working through it before a buyer does means gaps surface while you still have time to fix them.

Step 3: Choose how to sell

You have three broad routes:

A self-serve marketplace. Lower fees, but you screen buyers, negotiate and run diligence yourself.
A broker or advisor. Higher fees, with buyer sourcing, screening and negotiation handled for you.
A direct sale to someone you already know, such as a competitor, partner or customer. No listing fee, but you have one buyer and no price competition.

Fees differ a lot by route and price. Our breakdown of SaaS broker fees works through published schedules, and the broker fee guide runs them at your price.

Step 4: Protect confidentiality

Customers, staff and competitors should not learn about a sale from a public listing. Ask any route you consider what a buyer sees before signing an NDA, whether buyers verify who they are, and whether you approve each buyer before full details are released.

Step 5: Plan for the timeline

Acquire.com reports an average of 81 days on market across reported SaaS deals, with most completing within the first 90 days (Acquire.com multiples report). Keep running the business normally through that period: a drop in revenue during diligence is one of the fastest ways to lose a buyer or a price.

Sell with SaaSClose

On SaaSClose, nothing about your business is published and there is no public directory. Buyers confirm their email and phone number before seeing a limited summary with identifying figures hidden, and full details are released per business only after an NDA is signed and you approve. Listing does not commit you to selling, and you can stop at any stage.

Value your business to start, or see how selling works. To check your weakest metrics first, take the free sellability score.