The Product Analytics Stack for SaaS Under $100/Month

Introduction: Why a Sub 100 Stack Matters for Early SaaS

Every early stage team wrestles with the same tension. You need real insight today, but you cannot light your budget on fire. Fancy tools promise clarity, then ask for enterprise money. That trade looks cute in sales demos and ugly on your card statement. I prefer stacks that start small and still grow with ambition. Your first wins should not depend on a procurement miracle.

A sub $100 monthly stack sets a useful constraint. It forces decisions that favor speed to value and low maintenance. It rewards tools that reduce setup and push insight to the surface. It punishes bloat and drama in the interface. I like this constraint because it protects momentum. You keep shipping while the data gets sharper each week.

The trade off: speed to insight vs burning cash

Speed wins if the data is good enough to guide action. Cash wins if the data gap delays launches and growth. Your job is balancing those forces without losing sleep. I have lost sleep here. I now choose tools that reduce friction and excuses.

What good enough looks like for the first six months

Good enough means you can see sources, funnels, and retention. It means you can tie signups and revenue back to campaigns. It means dashboards open fast and show the truth. It also means teammates can use them without tutorials. That is the bar for this stack.

Ground Rules and Pricing Assumptions

What counts toward the 100 cap

Only software with a monthly fee counts toward the cap. Free tiers count as zero if they meet your needs. Self hosting can count as zero if your team already runs servers. Add real costs like storage if they apply. Stay honest so you avoid surprise creep.

Team stage this stack targets and what we exclude

This stack suits seed stage and scrappy growth teams. We exclude advanced data warehousing and heavy modeling. We skip custom pipeline tools and complex orchestration. We focus on clear product and marketing insight. You can always expand when the signal is stable.

Evaluation criteria: clarity, setup time, privacy, extensibility

We score tools on ease of use and time to value. Privacy posture matters for consent and regional rules. Extensibility keeps the door open for future growth. I like tools that feel obvious on day one.

The Essential Stack Overview at a Glance

Core web and product analytics: PrettyInsights as the hub

PrettyInsights sits at the center and simplifies your analytics life. You get web analytics, product analytics, and funnels in one place. Events and cohorts stay readable and fast. Real time views help with launches and campaigns. I enjoy how the dashboard tells a clean story.

Session replay and heatmaps: free or near free options

Session replay helps debug confusing drop offs and broken flows. Start with a free tier from a trusted vendor or a light self host. Use heatmaps to gauge attention on landing pages. Keep it simple and avoid loading heavy scripts. Your pages and users will thank you.

Feature flags and light experimentation on a budget

Feature flags help you ship safely and learn without chaos. Choose a free tier that supports basic flags and small experiments. Aim for easy setup and a clean audit of changes. Complex testing can wait until you have scale. Early experiments should feel boring and safe.

In app surveys and NPS without breaking the bank

Short surveys reveal friction that metrics hide. Pick a free plan for targeted prompts and quick templates. Ask about activation, value, and one feature at a time. Keep questions short and respectful of focus. I still smile when a user writes a helpful sentence.

Error and performance monitoring to close the loop

Track errors and slow pages before users rage quit. A free plan can capture the top issues. Pipe alerts to your chat tool and fix the obvious fast. This keeps product and analytics aligned. Healthy apps produce cleaner data.

Recommended 99 Per Month Stack Quick Pick

Line items and approximate monthly costs

• PrettyInsights starter plan for core web and product analytics.  Roughly thirty to forty dollars monthly
• Session replay on a free tier with sane limits.  Zero dollars if usage stays within the cap
• Feature flags with a free developer plan.  Zero dollars for small scale teams
• In app surveys using a free tier or basic monthly plan. Around ten to twenty dollars monthly.
• Error and performance monitoring on a free tier.  Zero dollars if volume stays modest
• Buffer for unexpected volume spikes.  Twenty to thirty dollars monthly headroom
• Tracking events in mobile apps and in any type of app

What you get on day one: funnels, cohorts, sources, recordings

You get a single place for events, funnels, and cohorts. You see source and campaign performance without wrestling the interface. You watch real sessions to debug activation hurdles. You flag risky features without fear. Most of this runs within an afternoon.

Where to trim or swap if you are over budget

If costs creep up, pause surveys during quiet weeks. Downgrade replay volume while you fix the big issues. Keep PrettyInsights as the anchor since it carries the story. Swap premium add ons for free options when volume dips. Flex the buffer rather than cutting the core.

Alternative Mixes by Use Case

Content led SaaS and SEO heavy sites

Lean on PrettyInsights for traffic and content outcomes. Add replay only on key templates and top landing pages. Use a light survey for search intent checks. Keep flags minimal. Spend saved budget on content production.

Product led SaaS focused on activation and retention

Double down on events, funnels, and cohorts in PrettyInsights. Run small experiments with flags to improve the first session. Use replay on onboarding flows and billing. Add a brief NPS after activation. Let the numbers shape your weekly work.

Sales led B2B with CRM reporting needs

Use PrettyInsights for web and product behavior. Pass key events to the CRM through simple webhooks. Keep replay for troubleshooting demos and trials. Run surveys inside accounts near renewal. Feed sales with clear activation signals.

Forty Eight Hour Implementation Plan

Day one: install scripts, define events, wire basic funnels

Install PrettyInsights and confirm events fire with correct names. Define signup, activation, and a key success action. Add UTM tracking and a clean campaign map. Set up a simple three step funnel. Turn on session replay for the onboarding paths.

Day two: build dashboards, alerts, and a weekly reporting ritual

Create a north star dashboard with traffic, signups, and activation. Add an activation by source view for campaign spend. Set alerts for error spikes and conversion drops. Book a weekly review with owners and decisions. I bring coffee and a short agenda.

Minimum Viable Event Schema Copy This

Identity model: accounts, users, sessions

Use a stable anonymous id and upgrade to a user id on login. Track an account id for team contexts and billing. Capture session id for replay joins. Keep names dull and clear. Dull names prevent arguments.

Core product events: signup, activation, aha, retention loop

Define signup when a user completes registration. Define activation as the first time value clearly appears. Pick an aha moment tied to your promise. Track a loop event that repeats with value. That loop predicts retention.

Revenue events: trial started, subscription upgraded, churned

Fire trial started when access begins. Capture subscription upgraded with plan and amount. Mark churned when access ends. These events connect product work to revenue. They also stop endless debates.

Must Have Dashboards Under 100

North star and weekly health metrics

Show visits, signups, activation rate, and active accounts. Keep the cards readable and fast to scan. Add a small trend chart for each metric. Share this view before the weekly standup. Keep the focus on action.

Activation funnel by source and campaign

Break activation by source, campaign, and landing page. Flag outliers for investigation during the week. Pair this with notes from replay and surveys. Spend follows clarity. Clarity likes tidy charts.

Retention cohorts with feature usage overlays

Build cohorts by first month and measure active use. Overlay key feature adoption on each cohort. Identify features that correlate with long life. Plan tests that push users toward those features. I call this growth with manners.

Data Quality and Governance on a Budget

Naming conventions and versioning for events

Write a one page naming guide and share it widely. Use lower case and clear words that match the product. Version event properties when you change meaning. Archive old names rather than silent edits. Future you will send a thank you email.

QA checklist before you trust the numbers

Check event fire, property types, and identity joins. Compare dashboard totals against a simple export. Review consent state and cookieless behavior. Validate UTM parsing on organic and paid. Then relax a little and ship.

Privacy, Consent, and Cookieless Options

CMP integration basics and consent modes

Connect your consent tool to your analytics script. Respect the mode when consent is missing. Fallback to cookieless when allowed by policy. Keep the banner calm and honest. Users notice when you play fair.

EU hosting and lightweight scripts to keep pages fast

Prefer EU hosting if your audience lives there. Favor lightweight scripts that avoid page jank. Measure performance after install and adjust. Fast pages convert better and reduce support. Speed is both kindness and profit.

When to Upgrade Beyond 100

Clear signals you are outgrowing the starter stack

You hit limits on events, seats, or data retention. Reporting lags when traffic spikes hard. Teams request deeper modeling or custom pipelines. Leadership needs contracts and audits. These are good problems to have.

How to migrate without losing continuity

Snapshot core dashboards and export key tables. Raise limits on PrettyInsights before a full move. Add a warehouse or pipeline where it counts. Keep the old setup read only for history. Migrations feel lighter with a simple core.

Conclusion: Ship the Stack, Not a Science Project

A sub 100 monthly stack lets you move with confidence and speed. You get the visibility that matters without a committee. You build a habit of weekly review and small bets. You learn faster than teams that chase perfection. That discipline pays off in calmer quarters.

PrettyInsights anchors the plan with a single source of truth. You get web analytics and product analytics without juggling tabs. Funnels and cohorts stay close to the surface and fast to read. The interface invites adoption across roles. That alone can change how your team makes choices.

Start with this stack and add power only when signals demand it. Keep your event schema tidy and your alerts respectful. Let replay and surveys explain the numbers with context. Protect performance and respect consent by default. The result is a stack that works for you, not the other way around.

Final thought from a recovering tinkerer. Fancy stacks impress friends, simple stacks grow companies.