Make the call
One-Person SaaS Valuation
Estimate what your solo SaaS is worth with indie/micro-SaaS multiples: revenue, SDE, and profit methods, adjusted for growth, churn, track record, and how much the business depends on you.
Result
Valuation methods
- Revenue Multiple$60,000 ARR3x$180,000
- SDE Multiple$48,000 SDE2.5x$120,000
- Profit Multiple$48,000 Annual Profit3.5x$168,000
Valuation factors
- Growth rateNeutral
5% monthly growth is modest. Higher growth commands premium multiples.
- Churn rateNeutral
3% monthly churn is within the typical 2-5% micro-SaaS band. Reducing it would directly increase valuation.
- Owner dependencyNeutral
15h/week is moderate. Automating or documenting processes would improve valuation.
- Track recordNeutral
2 years is early. More history increases buyer confidence.
Key insight
A $5,000 MRR SaaS with 3% monthly churn and 5% monthly growth lands at roughly $120,000 to $180,000 on this tool's heuristic indie/micro-SaaS multiple bands.
How to use it
- Enter your ARR and annual profit (revenue minus all business costs, before anything you pay yourself). If you already pay yourself a salary before profit, enter it under owner pay already deducted so SDE adds it back. Buyers assess both top-line and bottom-line multiples, so the gap between revenue and profit matters.
- Set your monthly growth rate and monthly churn rate. In this model they are the two biggest levers: monthly growth above 10% adds 1.5x to the revenue and profit multiples, and churn above 5% a month takes up to 1.0x off.
- Enter years in operation and owner hours per week. Longer track records and lower owner dependency both increase multiples because they reduce buyer risk.
- Read the three valuation methods — Revenue Multiple, SDE Multiple, and Profit Multiple — along with the blended estimate and range.
- Review the valuation factors (positive, negative, neutral) to understand what drives your multiple up or down. In this model, lower churn and faster growth move the estimate most; owner hours change only the SDE multiple, by 0.5x either way.
Questions people usually ask
What multiples does this use?
Indie/micro-SaaS multiples, not VC multiples. Revenue: 2-5x ARR, SDE: 2-4x, Profit: 3-6x. The bands and their adjustments are editorial heuristics for small software sales, not a model fitted to a deal dataset; compare them with current listings on marketplaces such as Acquire.com before you set a price.
What is SDE?
Seller's Discretionary Earnings = annual profit + any owner pay that was already deducted to reach that profit. For a solo founder whose profit is their whole take, SDE equals the profit. If you pay yourself a salary first, enter it under owner pay already deducted and the tool adds it back.
What drives the multiple up or down?
In this model, monthly growth above 2%, 5% and 10% raises the revenue multiple (by up to 1.5x), and growth above 5% and 10% raises the SDE and profit multiples. Monthly churn above 3% and 5% lowers the revenue multiple (by up to 1.0x), churn above 5% lowers the SDE and profit multiples, and churn under 2% adds 0.5x to the profit multiple. Three and five years of operation add to the revenue multiple and three years to the profit multiple. Owner hours under 10 a week add 0.5x to the SDE multiple; over 30 take 0.5x off.
How is the blended estimate calculated?
The blended estimate weights Revenue Multiple at 30%, SDE Multiple at 40%, and Profit Multiple at 30%. This balances top-line potential, owner-adjusted earnings, and bottom-line profitability.
Is this tool free and private?
Yes. All calculations run in your browser. No data is sent anywhere. No signup required.
Is this a professional valuation?
No. This is a planning estimate using editorial indie/micro-SaaS multiples. For a formal valuation tied to a sale or investment, engage a business broker or M&A advisor.
Related calculators
- Make the call Build vs Buy Decision Engine
Compare building infrastructure yourself versus buying managed services with per-component build/buy verdicts.
- Make the call Ship-or-Kill Decision Score
Get a brutally honest SHIP, ITERATE, or KILL verdict on your side project based on traction and market signal.
- Make the call LLM Vendor Lock-In Cost
Engineering, downtime, and payback when migrating between LLM providers.
- Make the call Pricing Model Picker
Flat monthly, per-seat, usage-based, or hybrid? Compare projected revenue side-by-side.
Articles
- 7 min read How to Value a Small Business: SDE vs EBITDA Multiples
How to value a small business: choose between SDE and EBITDA multiples, anchor to BizBuySell sale data, and adjust for growth, owner pay, and earn-outs.
- 9 min read Free SaaS Unit-Economics Calculators, No Signup (2026)
Free, no-signup calculators from this hub for SaaS unit economics, pricing and valuation, and how they differ from ProfitWell, ChartMogul and Baremetrics.
- 9 min read Bootstrapped Software Valuation Multiples
Bootstrapped software valuation: Damodaran's software EV/EBITDA by year (28.43x in January 2024, 24.48x in 2026) and the private multiples it sells at.
More in Bootstrapped growth
See when cash runs out, what you need to break even, and how to grow without funding.
- Startup Runway Calculator
- Monthly Burn Rate Calculator
- Break-Even Units Calculator
- Sales Forecast Calculator
Use it from code
The same calculation as a JavaScript module you can import. It runs where you import it, with no request, key or rate limit.
import { compute } from "https://aibizhub.io/engines/one-person-saas-valuation.js"; Input and output contract, TypeScript types and the guide for agents.