One question · four sources
Why SaaS multiples online look higher than real offers
Most multiples you find online are correct. They just tend to describe a different company, or to divide the price by a different number than the buyer across the table will.
- Private SaaS, as quoted on Flippa's blog3x to 10x ARR
- SaaS sold on Flippa, first half of 20262.47x profit, average
- Apps sold on Flippa, first half of 20262.62x profit, average
- SaaS sold on Acquire.com, 20253.9x profit, median
- Under $1M ARR (FE International)2x to 3x ARR
- Public enterprise SaaS, March 2026 (PitchBook)3.3x revenue, median
The same price, divided two ways
A multiple is the price divided by something, and the something changes from source to source: ARR, trailing revenue, profit, SDE, EBITDA. Acquire.com reports only profit multiples, while FE International prices small businesses on SDE and switches to ARR from about $3M.
Illustration with Acquire.com's 2025 median SaaS profit multiple (3.9x) and the 71% average margin of SaaS businesses listed there, from its January 2026 report.
So when one founder hears "3.9x" and another reads "2.8x", they may be talking about the same deal.
Other companies, and other moments
Public software is priced differently from a private business with one owner. FE International cites NYU Stern's figure of 11.4 times revenue for listed software companies, and PitchBook's median of 3.3x for public enterprise SaaS at the end of March 2026. The first is an aggregate that a handful of trillion-dollar companies pull up, the second describes the company in the middle.
Venture rounds add another layer, and so do listings. Acquire.com notes that asking prices on its marketplace often sit above where deals close.
The numbers you find online, translated
Lines from pages about SaaS multiples published in 2026, with what each one leaves out.
-
01
In 2026, factors like ARR growth, customer retention, and market trends are key to securing higher multiples, typically ranging from
3x–10x ARRfor private companies and 7x–12x for public ones.SaaS actually sold on Flippa, first half of 2026: 2.47x profit on average -
02
Across the 309 listed system and application software companies in NYU Stern's January 2026 dataset, enterprise value works out to
11.4 times revenue.an aggregate the giants pull up; the median public company was 3.3x in March -
03
The same company can carry a
12x round multipleand a 5x exit multiple simultaneously, and both are real.a round prices a slice with preferences, a sale prices all of it -
04
In many cases,
asking pricesare higher than final outcomes.the listing is the ask, not the price -
05
ARR is not revenue. […] In a business growing 30% a year those two numbers can differ by
15% or more.ask which one the buyer divides by
Where a business at $20K a month sits
$20K a month is $240K a year. FE International puts businesses under $1M ARR at 2.5x to 4x SDE, about 2x to 3x ARR, with a top quartile at 4.5x SDE. FE lists the buyers at that size as individuals and micro-acquirers, search funds among them, and says they price on the cash one operator can take out.
The marketplaces land in the same place. SaaS sold on Flippa in the first half of 2026 averaged 2.47x profit, and SaaS sold on Acquire.com had a median of 3.9x profit in both 2024 and 2025. From $1M to $3M ARR, FE's range moves to 3x to 4.5x SDE.
What moves a business up the range
FE's top-quartile numbers assume a business that clears the Rule of 40 and keeps net revenue retention above 110%, with low customer concentration on top. Flippa found that the top quartile sold for at least 1.6 times the category average in every business model it tracks. Its report says what sellers usually lack is proof, and lists what counts as proof: clean financials, documented operations, revenue a buyer can forecast and an honest account of AI exposure.
Deals Tonic sells apps and SaaS businesses from $20K a month off-market, to buyers who already know how they price. Send the link and the monthly revenue, and we come back with the range that fits and the multiple it is based on.
Questions people ask next
What is a normal multiple for a SaaS business in 2026?
For SaaS businesses mostly under $10M in enterprise value, Acquire.com reports a median of 3.9x profit for deals closed in both 2024 and 2025. SaaS sold on Flippa in the first half of 2026 went for 2.47x profit on average, 4.06x in the top quartile. FE International puts businesses under $1M ARR at 2.5x to 4x SDE, which is about 2x to 3x ARR.
Why do some articles say SaaS sells for 10x ARR?
Most of those numbers are real, but they describe something else: public companies, an aggregate pulled up by a few giants, a venture round, or an asking price. Flippa's own blog quotes 3x to 10x ARR for private SaaS, while SaaS actually sold on Flippa in the first half of 2026 averaged 2.47x profit.
Is a small SaaS business valued on ARR or on profit?
At this size, mostly on profit. FE International says that under about $1M ARR pricing runs off SDE, between $1M and $3M it is SDE or ARR, and revenue-based pricing becomes standard from about $3M. Acquire.com's report uses profit multiples only, because buyers anchor on profit unless a business has exceptional scale, growth and retention.
How do you turn a profit multiple into a revenue multiple?
Multiply it by the profit margin. At the 71% average margin of SaaS businesses listed on Acquire.com, their median of 3.9x profit works out to about 2.8x revenue. Same price, two multiples.
Do apps sell at different multiples than SaaS?
On Flippa in the first half of 2026, apps sold at 2.62x profit on average and 5.46x in the top quartile, against 2.47x and 4.06x for SaaS. The averages are close; the best apps pulled further ahead.
What gets a SaaS business into the top quartile?
FE International's top-quartile ranges assume a business that clears the Rule of 40, keeps net revenue retention above 110% and has low customer concentration. Flippa found that top-quartile assets sold for at least 1.6 times the category average in every business model it tracked.
Sources: Flippa, "SaaS Valuation Multiples in 2026", updated 10 September 2026, and Flippa's H1 2026 Digital M&A Insights Report, covering deals sold from 1 January to 30 June 2026. Acquire.com Biannual Acquisition Multiples Report, 11 February 2026, covering 2024 and 2025 deals. FE International, "SaaS Valuation Multiples in 2026: Private Deal Benchmarks by ARR, Growth, and Retention", 2026, including its figures from NYU Stern and PitchBook. All checked 23 September 2026. The napkin is arithmetic on Acquire.com's published median and average margin, not a valuation.
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Andrew Levenko
I run off-market M&A for online businesses: fintech, martech and consumer apps. Operator before that, scaled payments to $50M GMV. Based in the UAE.