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OnceStack — Curated Buy-Once Software Marketplace for the SaaS-Fatigued

The "SAASpocalypse" is real. B2B software ETFs have plunged over 21% year-to-date. Forbes reports companies are "shifting away from SaaS." The Guardian covered it. Saastr analyzed it. This isn't a fringe complaint — it's a structural market correction.

Score81/100
Apr 1, 2026
TAM
€380B — Global SaaS market spending (Gartner 2026), with growing portion seeking alternatives.
SAM
€12B — Estimated spend on perpetual-license, open-source, and buy-once alternatives by SMBs and individuals globally.
SOM
€1.2M — Year 1-2 capture via 500+ listed products × avg $200 price × 15% commission × 800 sales/month.
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The Problem

The "SAASpocalypse" is real. B2B software ETFs have plunged over 21% year-to-date. Forbes reports companies are "shifting away from SaaS." The Guardian covered it. Saastr analyzed it. This isn't a fringe complaint — it's a structural market correction.

Businesses are cutting 30-50% of their SaaS subscriptions. The average U.S. household dropped nearly one-third of paid subscriptions in 2025. And the driver isn't just cost — it's AI. Vibe coding lets teams build internal tools. AI agents compress seat counts. Why pay $50/user/month for a CRM when Claude can build you one in a weekend?

But here's the gap: there's no trusted, curated marketplace where buyers can discover high-quality buy-once alternatives to their SaaS stack. AppSumo does "lifetime deals" but they're mostly discounted SaaS with uncertain longevity. Open-source directories exist but are developer-focused and fragmented. Nobody has built the "Wirecutter for buy-once software" — a trust-first marketplace with real reviews, head-to-head comparisons against SaaS incumbents, and a "Total Cost of Ownership" calculator that shows the 3-year savings.

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