After building over 50 SaaS platforms, we've distilled our experience into a set of architectural patterns that consistently deliver scalable, maintainable products.
The Foundation
Multi-Tenancy Done Right
The #1 decision in SaaS architecture is your multi-tenancy strategy. We recommend a shared database with row-level security for most startups, moving to database-per-tenant only when compliance requires it.
Event-Driven Architecture
Decoupling services through events allows independent scaling and resilience. We use Apache Kafka or AWS EventBridge depending on the scale.
Key Patterns
- . API-First Design: Every feature starts as an API
2. Feature Flags: Ship code before enabling features
3. Horizontal Scaling: Design stateless services from day one
4. Observability: Structured logging, distributed tracing, and metrics from the start
Common Mistakes
- Over-engineering for scale you don't have yet
- Ignoring database indexing strategies
- Building custom auth instead of using proven solutions
- Skipping automated testing in the name of speed
SaaSArchitectureScalabilityBackend