SaaS Isn’t Dead. The Old SaaS Model Is.

And Platforms Like Kajabi, Circle, Mighty Networks, Thinkific and Podia Are the Proof.

For a long time, SaaS followed a simple playbook:

One tool.
One job.
One monthly fee.

Need courses? One platform.
Email? Another.
Community? Something else.
Coaching calls? Yet another login.

Over time, stacks grew. Costs crept up.
And many founders found themselves managing software instead of building their business.

Then AI lowered the barrier to building basic tools.

Simple workflows.
Light dashboards.
One-off internal systems.

That doesn’t kill SaaS.
It forces SaaS to evolve.

The Shift: From Single Tools to Outcome Platforms

This is where platforms like Kajabi, Circle, Mighty Networks, Thinkific and Podia come in.

They are not just “tools for one thing”.
They are platforms designed around outcomes.

Not:
“Here’s some software.”
But:
“Here’s the system to run your digital business.”

That distinction matters.

When you are building something real, you do not want five disconnected tools that barely speak to each other.
You want one place where your content, audience, and offers work together.

Why All-in-One Still Wins (Even in an AI World)

I pay for Kajabi every month.

Not because I enjoy subscriptions.
But because it replaces a stack.

In one platform, you can run:

• Courses

• Coaching

• Communities

• Memberships

• Newsletters

• Downloads

• Podcasts

The course builder interface makes it easy to create and organise online courses in one place.
Not hacked together.
Not duct-taped.
Built for the job.

Could parts of this be recreated with AI and custom tools?
Probably.

Would most founders want to maintain it, secure it, update it, and keep it reliable while trying to grow a business?
Unlikely.

That is the real value of modern SaaS now.
Not just features.
But reliability, integration, and momentum.

Community Is the Moat (And Part of the Product)

Circle and Mighty Networks put community at the centre of the experience.

Kajabi also has a community product.
It is getting there.
It is still in development.
And it has a long way to go to match community-first platforms.

But the direction matters.

Because when community becomes central, the platform becomes harder to replace.

Now the value is not just the interface.
It is the people inside it.

Tools can be swapped.
Belonging cannot.

Outcomes Beat Features

Kajabi, Circle, Mighty Networks, Thinkific and Podia do not win because of one killer feature.

They win because they help people:

• Launch faster

• Package knowledge clearly

• Build recurring revenue

• Stay connected to their audience

• Actually ship something into the world

This is the shift SaaS has to make.

Stop selling dashboards.
Start selling progress.

Higher Touch in a Higher Tech World

As AI makes software easier to build, human guidance becomes more valuable.

Education built into the product.
Clear examples.
Templates that remove friction.
Communities where people can see what “good” looks like.

This is where modern platforms win long term.

Not by racing to add more features.
But by helping customers move forward faster, with less complexity.

The New SaaS Moat

The future of SaaS is not:

“Look how clever our software is.”

It is:

“Look how far our customers get when they use it.”

Software is becoming easier to build.
Progress is still hard.

The platforms that help people make progress – and feel part of something while doing it – will still be here in five years.