What is the difference between SaaS and a perpetual license?

SaaS is a recurring subscription for access to software the vendor hosts. You pay monthly or annually. A perpetual license is a one-time purchase. You own it. With SaaS, you lose access when you stop paying. With a perpetual license, the software stays yours.

Why are SaaS prices increasing so fast?

SaaS pricing rose 11.4% in 2025, roughly four times the rate of general inflation. 73% of SaaS companies raised prices that year. Vendors push these increases through because switching costs are high, especially for platforms where customers have built workflows, integrations, and business processes. Many vendors also bundle AI features to justify premium pricing.

Is a perpetual license cheaper than SaaS long-term?

For development platforms and tools you plan to use for years, a perpetual license is significantly cheaper.

m-Power is a low-code development platform built by mrc. It installs on your infrastructure, connects to your existing databases, and lets your team build web applications, AI tools, reports, dashboards, and portals. mrc has been helping businesses build custom applications since 1981, with over 1,500 customers.

How does low-code platform pricing typically work?

Most low-code platforms charge per-user, per-month, with costs that scale as your team grows. Some add per-app or per-workflow charges. m-Power uses a one-time perpetual license with no user, app, or data limits, making total cost predictable from day one.

Can you avoid vendor lock-in with a low-code platform?

Yes, but it depends on the platform. Look for: code you own and can run independently, deployment on your own infrastructure, direct connection to your existing databases without migration, and no per-user pricing that penalizes growth. m-Power is built so your applications and data remain yours regardless of your relationship with the vendor.

software licenses – mrc's Cup of Joe Blog

What software should NOT be SaaS?

By Sal Stangarone / software licenses

What types of business software should NOT be used on a SaaS model?

That’s something I’ve been thinking about lately as I read more and more cases of rising SaaS costs. The fact is, most businesses are paying more for their SaaS tools than they were last year. Same tools and users, just a bigger bill.

73% of SaaS companies raised prices in 2025, averaging 14.2% increases. SaaS inflation is running at roughly five times the general rate. CIOs now spend about 9% of their IT budget just absorbing price hikes on software they already have. According to Zylo’s 2025 SaaS Management Index, SaaS spending per employee hit $4,830 last year, up 21.9% from the year before.

For mid-market companies, per-employee spend jumped 40%. Gartner estimates 25% of all SaaS spend is wasted or underutilized. And 78% of CFOs say they’ve been blindsided by hidden fees or price hikes baked into their contracts.

The vendors aren’t subtle about this anymore. A few examples from the last two years:

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