A SaaS agreement is the contract between a software vendor and a customer for access to software the vendor hosts, paid for as a subscription. What is a SaaS agreement, as distinct from a software license, is a question of what the customer gets: not a copy of the software to install but a right to use a service, with the vendor's obligations about uptime, data and security carrying the weight the license's grant used to carry. A small vendor writing its own software as a service agreement needs a dozen clauses, and this page walks the ones that decide the money and the risk: the subscription and its fees, renewal, service levels, the customer's data, security, suspension and ending, with the free services agreement worksheet on this site for the figures.
The subscription, the fees and the renewal
The grant is a right to access and use the service for the subscription term, for the number of users or the usage the plan allows, for the customer's internal business. The fees are per user or per plan per period, billed in advance, with the price change rule stated. Renewal is the clause a customer reads later: automatic for a further term unless notice is given by a stated date. A SaaS subscription agreement that leaves the renewal notice undated renews on a date nobody can name. Where a customer pays annually with a deposit or in installments, the services agreement worksheet on this site works the schedule and the late charge from your figures.
Service levels, data and security
The service level is what the vendor promises about availability, stated as a share of the month, with the remedy a credit rather than damages. Data is the clause the customer's lawyer reads first: the customer owns its data, the vendor processes it only to provide the service, and on ending the customer can export it within a stated period before it is deleted. Security states the measures in general terms and the breach notification duty. A small vendor should promise what it actually does, because SaaS agreements are read most carefully after something has gone wrong.
Suspension, ending and the record
The vendor may suspend for non-payment or misuse after notice; either party may end for breach after a cure period; the customer's data is exportable for a stated period after ending. Warranties are limited, liability is capped, usually at the fees paid in a period, and the governing law is named. After signing, each customer's agreement is a record with a renewal date and a user count that changes. Termslane Pro keeps every SaaS agreement against the customer with its terms, its renewal date and its versions, and exports the lot.
Questions people ask about SaaS agreement
What is a SaaS agreement?
A contract for access to software the vendor hosts, paid as a subscription: the grant of access, the fees and renewal, service levels, the customer's data and security, suspension, ending and the limits on liability.
How is a SaaS agreement different from a software licence?
A license grants a copy to install and use; a SaaS agreement grants access to a hosted service, so uptime, data handling and security obligations replace the license's grant and delivery clauses.
What should a SaaS subscription agreement say about renewal?
The term, that it renews automatically for a further term unless notice is given by a stated date, and how fees may change at renewal. An undated notice clause is the commonest dispute in the category.
What clauses does a software as a service agreement need?
About a dozen, and the ones that decide the money and the risk are the subscription and its fees, renewal, service levels, the customer's data, security, suspension and ending, with warranties limited and liability capped.