Top 12 SaaS spend management software to cut costs and boost efficiency

Imagine tracking every software subscription, renewal, and license usage across your company – sounds overwhelming? SaaS spend management tools can change that.

As businesses rely on more and more SaaS applications, managing every subscription cost, usage, and renewal deadline has become a serious challenge. 

Without a solid system, costs can spiral, and compliance risks can creep up unexpectedly. 

In this article, we’ll explore how SaaS spend management tools simplify software expense tracking and transparency. These tools automate renewals, streamline licenses, and help finance, IT, and procurement teams get a grip on even the most complex SaaS portfolios.

We’ll walk through top tools, highlight key benefits, discuss a few challenges, and outline what to consider when picking the right fit for your business. 

Whether you’re aiming to cut costs, boost compliance, or simply keep track of every app in use, a SaaS spend management tool might be exactly what you need.

What is SaaS spend management software?

Imagine trying to track every subscription, renewal, and software usage pattern across your entire organization. 

Feels overwhelming, right? 

A SaaS spend management tool fixes this all for you. 

They are designed to do the heavy lifting,  from monitoring, managing, and streamlining all of your SaaS expenses. 

Think of it as a control center for all things SaaS: software costs, user engagement, and contract renewals are all under one roof. 

They transform chaos into clarity and make tracking and optimizing spend easy. 

When you integrate a SaaS spend management tool, you can:

• Eliminate waste. Cutting down on unused licenses.
• Automate renewals. Unexpected charges become a thing of the past.
• Ensure compliance. Simplifying how contracts and user access are managed.

Key functions include:

• Expense tracking. Keep a close eye on every subscription’s costs and find any underutilized licenses.
• License management. Simplify renewals and cancellations with ease.
• Usage analytics. Spot patterns to reduce redundancy and get the most out of each tool.
• Compliance and security checks. Strengthen data integrity with clear access controls, cutting down risks.

Benefits and challenges with SaaS spend management tools

Investing in a SaaS spend management tool can bring big advantages, but it’s not without a few hurdles.

Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons to help you decide if it’s the right choice.

Benefits of SaaS spend management platform

With a good SaaS spend management tool, you can streamline how your organization manages software. Some of the benefits include:

• Real-time visibility. Get a live view of every active subscription. Know exactly what’s being used and where costs are going.
• Cost control and optimization. Save by spotting underused tools or redundant licenses. It’s budgeting, made smarter.
• Identify unused subscriptions. These tools flag inactive or redundant software automatically, freeing up the budget for what really matters.
• Streamlined renewals and purchases. Take the hassle out of renewals. Automate approvals so nothing goes unnoticed.
• Accurate expense tracking. Keep all SaaS spending in one place. No more surprise charges popping up in your budget.
• Compliance and security. Stay ahead of regulations. Track licensing and access controls to maintain security and compliance with ease.

Challenges of SaaS spend management platform

Of course, no tool is perfect. Here are some of the challenges you might face:

• Implementation complexity. Setting it all up can be tricky, especially if your organization has many tools already.
• High costs.  The upfront investment can be a lot, particularly for advanced features.
• Learning curve. There’s an adjustment period. Training may be needed to get the full value.
• Ongoing updates and audits. Regular checks and data updates are essential to keep everything accurate and relevant.

Key considerations for selecting SaaS spend management solution

Choosing the right SaaS spend management tool is a big decision. You want a tool that’ll give you the clarity and control needed to optimize costs and keep every subscription in check.

Here’s what to look for.

Primary considerations

• Visibility, control, and cost efficiency. Find a tool that offers full visibility into every SaaS app in use across your organization. You’ll be able to monitor costs, spot underused licenses, and cut out redundancies. 

• Risk and compliance. Keep your organization secure and compliant. A solid tool will flag unauthorized apps, ensure licensing is always current, and support any regulatory requirements in your industry.

Key features to look for

• Automated discovery. Don’t let any app slip through the cracks. Choose a tool that automatically detects every SaaS app your team is using.

• Usage tracking and analytics. Insights are key. With the right analytics, you’ll see exactly how each app is used across teams, eliminating redundancy and getting the most out of every subscription.

• Contract and renewal management. Stop surprise renewals in their tracks! Look for tools with strong contract management that track renewal dates, help you negotiate terms, and avoid unwanted auto-renewals.

Ease of use and support

• User-friendly interface. A clean, intuitive dashboard makes navigation a lot easier. Pick a tool that prioritizes ease of use and is quick to onboard.

• Customer support and training. Don’t overlook support. Look for a tool with responsive customer service and accessible training resources.

12 best SaaS spend management software

1. Spendbase

Spendbase is a powerful, all-in-one SaaS management platform backed by Google. It’s built to give you control over software spending, providing real-time insights for finance and IT teams to make smarter decisions.

Unique features:

• Automated procurement workflows to streamline purchase approvals
• Shadow IT detection for improved security and control over the app stack
• Savings Calculator to instantly see how much you can save on SaaS and cloud

Ideal for: If you’re part of a medium-sized organization wanting a comprehensive solution for optimizing SaaS expenses, Spendbase is a top choice. It’s especially useful for teams that want automation and expert-backed vendor negotiations to keep costs down and operations streamlined.

2. Mesh Payments

Mesh Payments is a powerful SaaS spend management tool. It’s designed to simplify B2B payments and give you detailed spend tracking. If you’re looking for flexibility in managing expenses, this tool has you covered.

Unique features:

• Automated payments
• Virtual cards
• Real-time spend analysis

Ideal for: Mesh Payments is best if you’re a company with high volumes of B2B transactions. If you need a flexible, all-in-one tool to track and optimize spend, this is a great choice.

3. Cledara

Cledara is a SaaS management platform built for finance teams. It gives you visibility into your entire software stack, helping you cut down on excess spending and streamline those tedious admin tasks.

Unique features:

• Visibility into SaaS stack
• Data-driven insights
• Automated admin

Ideal for: Cledara is ideal if you’re part of a finance team or a small to mid-sized business looking for a user-friendly way to centralize and optimize your SaaS spending.

4. Torii

Torii is a SaaS management tool built to give you real-time visibility and control over every application. Track, analyze, and optimize your software usage with ease.

Unique features:

• Real-time SaaS tracking
• Strong analytical tools
• Extensive integrations with SSO, finance, and HR systems

Ideal for: Perfect if you’re an organization looking for data-driven insights and complete oversight of your SaaS ecosystem.

5. Vertice

Vertice is a powerful spend optimization platform built for finance and tech leaders. It’s designed to help you take control of SaaS and cloud costs with advanced forecasting and automation.

Unique features:

• Granular visibility into expenses
• Reserved instance optimizer that can reduce compute costs by up to 60%
• Customizable workflows and negotiation tools to simplify cost management

Ideal for: Made for companies of any size wanting a unified, automated approach to SaaS and cloud spend management.

6. Spendflo

Spendflo is a SaaS spend optimization platform built to simplify purchasing and management. Perfect for high-growth companies, it’s designed to help you manage SaaS expenses with ease.

Unique features:

• AI-driven recommendations
• Workflow optimization for approvals
• Centralized contract management

Ideal for: Spendflo is your go-to if you’re part of a fast-growing company looking to cut down on SaaS costs and boost efficiency with advanced AI and automation.

7. Tropic

Tropic is a SaaS management platform designed to make procurement and renewals effortless. If you want smoother, more efficient SaaS purchasing, this tool is for you.

Unique features:

• Step-by-step procurement workflows
• Automated renewal management
• Integrations with finance and HR systems

Ideal for: Tropic is best if you’re a company looking to streamline SaaS purchasing and keep renewal processes efficient with a focus on procurement management.

8. Zluri

Zluri is a SaaS management platform built to give you complete control over your SaaS ecosystem. It’s designed to make discovery, optimization, and compliance a breeze for IT teams.

Unique features:

• Automated SaaS discovery
• License management and cost control
• Compliance and security management

Ideal for: If you’re focused on gaining visibility, optimizing costs, and ensuring compliance across your SaaS stack, Zluri is a great fit.

9. Zylo

Zylo is a powerful SaaS management tool that gives you deep insights into your enterprise software usage. It’s all about visibility and analytics for managing software investments.

Unique features:

• In-depth usage analytics
• Comprehensive SaaS discovery tools
• License optimization to reduce waste

Ideal for: Zylo is perfect if you’re a large enterprise needing strong oversight across a complex software stack, helping you manage costs and boost ROI.

10. Spendhound

Spendhound is a 100% free renewal management platform built to help you stay on top of vendor renewals. It’s simple, effective, and saves both time and money.

Unique features:

• Free software renewal management
• Vendor tracking with renewal alerts
• Easy-to-navigate interface

Ideal for: Spendhound is best for small to mid-market businesses looking for a no-cost solution to manage renewals without added complexity.

11. Vendr

Vendr is a SaaS purchasing platform that redefines software buying. The software includes a mix of data-driven insights and expert negotiation, helping you save more on SaaS spending.

Unique features:

• Smart savings insights
• Renegotiation support
• Intuitive, user-friendly interface

Ideal for: Vendr is great if you’re part of a fast-growing company needing an efficient, cost-effective way to handle SaaS procurement.

12. Volopay

Volopay is an all-in-one financial management platform that combines corporate cards, automated expense tracking, and easy accounting integrations.

Unique features:

• Corporate cards for simplified spending
• Automated expense tracking and reporting
• Direct accounting integrations

Ideal for: Volopay is perfect for small to mid-sized businesses wanting a streamlined approach to managing expenses and vendor payments.