You built a SaaS product. It works. It solves a real problem.

But you have zero users.

You know paid ads are expensive and risky when you're pre-revenue. You need traction first. You need proof that people actually want what you built before you spend money acquiring them.

The good news is that every successful SaaS started the same way. Notion got their first users from one Product Hunt launch. Superhuman spent months doing 1-on-1 onboarding calls. Linear grew entirely through word-of-mouth and developer communities.

This guide shows you exactly how to get your first SaaS users without spending a dollar on ads. These are the strategies that work in 2026, focused specifically on SaaS products with recurring revenue models.

The SaaS First-User Playbook

Getting your first users for a SaaS product is fundamentally different from launching a mobile app or e-commerce store. Your goal is not just downloads or one-time purchases. You need users who will stick around, ideally pay monthly, and become advocates.

Here's what makes SaaS user acquisition unique:

Free tier economics matter. Unlike a mobile app where free means ad-supported or freemium with IAP, your SaaS free tier is a calculated business decision. You're betting that 2-5% of free users will convert to paid, and that the customer acquisition cost of getting free users is lower than the lifetime value of paid conversions.

Onboarding determines retention. A SaaS user who doesn't reach activation (completing their first workflow, inviting a teammate, or getting their first result) in the first session has an 80%+ churn rate. Your first-user strategy must include white-glove onboarding.

B2B vs B2C changes everything. If you're building B2B SaaS, your first users will come from thought leadership, direct outreach, and community credibility. B2C SaaS can leverage viral loops, content SEO, and platform launches more effectively.

Let's break down the five highest-ROI strategies for getting your first 10, 50, and 100 SaaS users.

Launch with a Strategic Free Tier

Your free tier is not a charity. It's your primary acquisition channel.

Most founders get this wrong. They either make the free tier too restrictive (nobody signs up) or too generous (nobody upgrades). The goal is to let users experience real value while creating natural upgrade pressure.

How to Design a Free Tier That Converts

Use one of these proven free tier models:

Usage-based limits. Give full feature access but cap usage (Postiv's 5 posts/month, Notion's 1000 blocks, Loom's 25 videos). This works when your product has a natural usage curve and power users hit limits organically.

Feature-based restrictions. Limit advanced features on free plans (team collaboration, integrations, analytics). This works for products where basic functionality is still valuable but pros need the advanced stuff.

Time-based trials. Offer 14-30 days of full access, then convert to a limited free tier or require payment. This works best when your product has high activation rates and users see value fast.

Here's what worked for successful bootstrapped SaaS:

The pattern is clear: give enough value that users integrate your product into their workflow, but create natural friction that makes upgrading obvious.

Free Tier Launch Strategy

Do not soft-launch your free tier. Treat it like a product launch event.

Here's the 2-week pre-launch sequence:

Week 1: Build your waitlist. Create a simple landing page with the problem you solve, a demo video or screenshots, and an email signup. Share this in communities where your target users hang out. Goal: 50-100 emails.

Week 2: Onboarding preparation. Write your welcome email sequence (3-5 emails covering activation steps). Create in-app tooltips for your core workflow. Set up a feedback form or Typeform for user interviews.

Launch day. Email your waitlist with early access. Post in the same communities where you built your list. Offer to onboard the first 20 users personally via Zoom or Loom.

The personal onboarding part is critical. You'll learn what's confusing, what's missing, and what delights users. This intel is worth more than 1000 analytics events.

Build Thought Leadership on LinkedIn

If you're building B2B SaaS, LinkedIn is the highest-leverage channel for your first 100 users. Not LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn content.

The strategy is simple: become known for solving the exact problem your SaaS addresses. When people think of your problem space, they think of you.

The LinkedIn Content Framework for SaaS Founders

Most founders post about their product. "We just shipped feature X." "Check out our new integration." This doesn't work. Nobody cares about your features until they trust you.

Instead, post about the problem space. Share frameworks, behind-the-scenes building, lessons learned, and tactical how-tos.

Here's the content mix that drives signups:

Problem breakdowns (40%). Take a common pain point your SaaS solves and explain why it's hard, what most people get wrong, and a framework for thinking about it. Example: if you built a customer feedback tool, write about "Why most B2B companies collect feedback but never act on it."

Build-in-public updates (30%). Share what you're working on, decisions you're making, and challenges you're facing. This builds narrative and gets people invested in your journey. Example: "We're debating whether to build Slack integration or email digests first. Here's how we're thinking about it."

Tactical how-tos (20%). Teach something useful related to your problem space. This can mention your tool as one solution, but the post should be valuable even if readers don't use your product. Example: "How we reduced churn by 15% by changing our onboarding email sequence."

Social proof and wins (10%). Share testimonials, usage milestones, or customer success stories. Do this sparingly and only when you have real traction.

If you're not sure how to write LinkedIn posts that get engagement, check out our guide on how to write LinkedIn posts.

How to Convert LinkedIn Followers to SaaS Users

Content alone doesn't drive signups. You need a conversion path.

Every 3-4 posts, include a soft CTA to your product. Don't be salesy. Offer value first.

Examples:

• "If you're dealing with this problem, we built [Tool] to help. Free tier at [link]."
• "I wrote a longer breakdown of this framework in our docs: [link to docs/blog that has signup CTA]."
• "We're looking for 5 teams to test this. DM me if you're interested."

The DM strategy is underrated. When someone engages with your content consistently (likes, comments), send them a short DM: "Hey, I noticed you've been engaging with my posts about [topic]. Are you dealing with [problem] at [their company]? I'd love to hear how you're thinking about it."

This is not cold outreach. This is warm relationship-building with people who already know you from your content.

Tools like Postiv help you stay consistent with LinkedIn content without spending 2 hours per day writing. You can create and schedule a month of posts in one session, which is critical when you're also building product and doing customer support.

Launch on Niche Communities (Not Product Hunt)

Product Hunt is great for visibility. But for SaaS products, niche communities drive higher-quality users.

The strategy: find 3-5 communities where your ideal users already hang out, provide value for 2-4 weeks, then share your product when it's genuinely helpful.

Where to Find Your SaaS Communities

Reddit. Look for subreddits related to your problem space, not your product category. If you built a customer support tool, join r/startups, r/SaaS, r/customerservice. Participate in discussions. When someone asks a question your tool solves, mention it.

Discord/Slack groups. Many industries have active Discord servers (devtools, design, marketing, SaaS founders). Join 3-5, introduce yourself, and be helpful. When you launch, post in the #show-and-tell or #shameless-plug channel.

Indie Hackers. Post your launch in the "Show IH" section. But more importantly, engage with other founders' launches, answer questions in the forums, and build relationships. IH users are SaaS-savvy and will give you honest feedback.

Twitter/X niche communities. Find the hashtags and accounts your target users follow. Example: if you're building for SaaS marketers, engage with #SaaSMarketing, follow top SaaS marketing accounts, and reply to threads with genuinely helpful insights.

Niche Slack/Circle communities. Many industries have paid or invitation-only communities (SaaS Growth, Demand Curve, agencies, verticals like healthcare tech). If your target users are there and you can add value, join.

The Community Launch Formula

Do not just drop a link and ghost. That's spam.

Here's the approach that works:

1. Contribute first. Spend 2-4 weeks answering questions, sharing insights, and being genuinely helpful. Build credibility.

2. Soft launch with context. When you're ready to launch, write a thoughtful post explaining what you built, why you built it, and who it's for. Be specific about your ideal user. Example: "I built this for B2B SaaS founders who need to create LinkedIn content but don't have time to write every day."

3. Ask for feedback, not signups. Frame your launch as "I'd love feedback from this community" rather than "Sign up now." This lowers resistance and gets more people to actually try it.

4. Follow up in comments. Reply to every comment, answer questions, and take feedback seriously. This shows you're a real person who cares, not a drive-by marketer.

5. Offer exclusive perks. Give the community something special (extended trial, lifetime deal, early access to new features). This rewards the community for supporting you.

For a more general framework on getting users across different channels, see our guide on how to get users for my app.

Run a Private Beta Program

A private beta is one of the most effective ways to get your first 20-50 users who actually care about your product.

The psychology is simple: exclusivity creates desire. When you tell someone "We're only letting in 50 beta users and we'd love your feedback," they feel chosen. They're more likely to engage, provide feedback, and become advocates.

How to Structure Your Beta Program

Define your ideal beta user. Don't accept anyone who signs up. Be selective. You want users who:

• Have the problem your SaaS solves (not tire-kickers)
• Are willing to give feedback (not just free users)
• Represent your target customer (same industry, company size, role)

Set clear expectations. Tell beta users exactly what they're getting into:

• The product is not finished and may have bugs
• You'll ask for feedback via surveys, interviews, or in-app prompts
• They'll get exclusive perks (lifetime discount, early access to features, direct access to founders)

Create a feedback loop. Set up a dedicated Slack channel, Discord server, or email group for beta users. Post updates, ask questions, and make them feel like insiders. This builds community and turns users into stakeholders.

Onboard personally. For your first 20-30 beta users, do personal onboarding calls. Walk them through the product, watch them use it, and ask questions. You'll learn more in 10 onboarding calls than 1000 analytics dashboards.

How to Recruit Beta Users

Use these channels:

Your existing network. DM people in your industry who have the problem you're solving. Be direct: "Hey, I'm building [product] to solve [problem]. You're exactly who I built this for. Would you be interested in being one of our first beta users?"

LinkedIn outreach. Find people with the right job title at the right companies. Send connection requests with a note: "I'm working on something for [their role] at [their company size]. If you have 15 minutes, I'd love to show you." Once connected, pitch the beta.

Community posts. Post in relevant communities: "We're looking for 25 [specific user type] to beta test [product]. If you're dealing with [problem], I'd love to have you. DM me for access."

Email your waitlist. If you built a waitlist during pre-launch, email them with beta access. Segment by fit (if you collected job title or company data) and prioritize ideal users.

The goal is not to get 1000 beta users. The goal is to get 20-50 engaged users who will tell you what's broken, what's missing, and what's working.

Create Content That Captures Search Intent

Most SaaS founders ignore SEO because it takes months to see results. But if you're building for the long term, content is the highest-ROI channel for sustainable user acquisition.

The strategy is not to write generic blog posts. It's to create content that targets bottom-of-funnel search intent, where people are actively looking for solutions to the problem your SaaS solves.

How to Find SaaS Content Opportunities

Start with problem-based keywords, not product-based keywords.

Problem-based keywords are searches like "how to schedule LinkedIn posts," "best way to manage customer feedback," or "how to automate invoicing." These are people who have the problem but haven't decided on a solution.

Product-based keywords are searches like "Notion alternatives" or "best project management software." These are people comparing solutions. Harder to rank for, and visitors are further along in the decision process.

For your first 10-20 content pieces, focus on problem-based keywords with these criteria:

• Search volume: 100-1000/month (enough traffic to matter, not so much that you can't rank)
• Keyword difficulty: < 20 (you can rank without backlinks)
• Intent: informational or commercial investigation (not purely navigational)

Use free tools like Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic, or Google's autocomplete to find these. Or just think about the questions your users ask during onboarding.

The SaaS Content Format That Converts

Your content should follow this structure:

Introduction (problem validation). Start by acknowledging the reader's pain point. Show you understand the problem. Example: "You built a SaaS product, but getting your first users feels impossible. Paid ads are expensive and you need proof of concept first."

Framework or step-by-step guide. Give actionable, specific advice. Use numbered steps, bullet points, and examples. This is the meat of the article. Make it genuinely useful even if the reader doesn't use your product.

Tool mentions (natural CTAs). Mention your SaaS 2-3 times in context. Example: "If you need to create consistent LinkedIn content without spending hours writing, tools like Postiv let you generate and schedule posts in minutes."

Internal links to related content. Link to other relevant guides on your blog. This keeps readers on your site and improves SEO. Example: link to guides like how to get customers for my startup or SaaS marketing for beginners.

Bottom-line summary. End with a quick recap and a soft CTA to try your product or read another article.

The conversion path is subtle. You're not hard-selling. You're building trust and authority, then offering your product as one solution among many. Over time, readers who see your content repeatedly will remember you when they're ready to buy.

If you're new to content marketing, start with our content marketing for startups guide. And if you're a developer building in public, check out vibe coding marketing for a more technical approach to growth.

The First-User Activation System

Getting users to sign up is only half the battle. If they don't activate (complete their first meaningful action), they'll churn before you even get a chance to convert them to paid.

For SaaS products, activation is the single most important metric in your first 90 days. More important than signups, more important than revenue.

What Activation Means for Your SaaS

Activation is not "completed onboarding" or "clicked around the dashboard." It's the moment a user experiences real value from your product.

Examples:

• Project management tool: User creates their first project and adds a task
• Email marketing tool: User imports their email list and sends their first campaign
• Analytics tool: User installs tracking code and sees their first data point
• Content tool: User creates and schedules their first post

Define your activation metric based on user behavior data. Look at users who became paying customers. What action did they all take in their first session?

How to Increase Activation Rate

Most users who don't activate simply don't understand what to do next. Your job is to make the path to activation obvious and frictionless.

Use progressive onboarding. Don't dump 10 tooltips on users the moment they log in. Guide them through one action at a time. Example: "Let's create your first project. What are you working on?"

Reduce time-to-value. The faster a user gets their first win, the more likely they'll stick around. If activation requires importing data, integrating with another tool, or inviting teammates, you're adding friction. Can you let them activate with dummy data first?

Send activation-focused emails. If a user signs up but doesn't activate within 24 hours, email them with a specific next step. Example: "You're one step away from creating your first LinkedIn post. Click here to get started."

Offer live onboarding. For your first 50-100 users, offer to walk them through the product on a 15-minute call. This doesn't scale, but it's the fastest way to learn what's confusing and fix it.

Use in-app messaging. Tools like Intercom or plain JavaScript can trigger messages based on user behavior. Example: if a user hasn't completed activation after 5 minutes, show a message: "Need help getting started? Here's how to [activation action]."

Track your activation rate weekly. If it's below 40%, focus on improving onboarding before you acquire more users. There's no point driving traffic to a leaky bucket.

The Compound Strategy: How to Stack These Tactics

The mistake most founders make is trying one channel, not seeing immediate results, and switching to another. Growth doesn't work like that.

The highest-performing SaaS user acquisition strategies compound over time. Your LinkedIn content builds an audience that sees your community launches. Your blog content ranks in search and drives signups months later. Your beta users become testimonials that you share on LinkedIn.

Here's how to stack these tactics for maximum impact:

Weeks 1-2: Launch your free tier and private beta. Get your first 20-30 users from your network, direct outreach, and warm intros. Focus on personal onboarding and feedback collection.

Weeks 3-4: Start posting on LinkedIn 3-5x per week. Share build-in-public updates, frameworks, and lessons learned. Mention your beta program and offer access to engaged followers.

Weeks 5-8: Launch in niche communities. By now you have beta users, testimonials, and some traction. Post in 3-5 communities with context and feedback requests. Drive 50-100 new signups.

Weeks 9-12: Publish your first 5-10 blog posts. Target bottom-of-funnel keywords related to your problem space. Link to your free tier in each post. These won't rank immediately, but they'll drive compounding traffic over 3-6 months.

Ongoing: Optimize activation and retention. As you acquire users, obsess over getting them to activate. Send onboarding emails, offer personal calls, and iterate on your in-app experience.

This is not a 30-day growth hack. It's a 90-day system that builds momentum. By month 3, you'll have:

• An engaged LinkedIn audience (500-2000 followers who know your name)
• A library of content that ranks in search (driving 100-500 monthly visitors)
• A community reputation (people in your niche communities know your product)
• A core group of activated users (20-100 people who actually use your product)

From there, you can layer in referral programs, partnerships, or paid ads. But you'll have traction first.

For a broader view of launching your SaaS, check out our guide on how to launch a SaaS product.

The Bottom Line

Getting your first SaaS users without paid ads is not about growth hacks or viral loops. It's about being present where your users are, providing value first, and making it easy for them to try your product.

The five strategies that work:

1. Launch with a strategic free tier that lets users experience value while creating natural upgrade pressure
2. Build thought leadership on LinkedIn by posting helpful content 3-5x per week and converting engaged followers
3. Launch in niche communities where your ideal users already hang out, contribute first, then share your product
4. Run a private beta program with 20-50 ideal users who give feedback and become advocates
5. Create content that captures search intent targeting problem-based keywords with actionable guides

Stack these tactics over 90 days. Focus on activation, not just signups. Talk to your users, iterate based on feedback, and build in public.

And if you're building a B2B SaaS where LinkedIn is a key channel, use Postiv to stay consistent with content without burning out. The $1 trial gets you 30 days to test whether LinkedIn content actually drives signups for your product.

Your first users won't come from a single viral post or launch. They'll come from showing up consistently, helping people solve problems, and proving your product works. Start today.