Report · 15 min read

2026 Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies

Nick Perry · SaaS Capital Free Advanced

Median marketing spend around 8 percent of ARR and sales around 15 percent, split by funded versus bootstrapped, from a survey of over 1,000 private B2B SaaS companies. Numbers to anchor a brand versus demand budget argument.

• Median total spend is 96 percent of ARR for bootstrapped companies and 101 percent for equity backed ones.
• 83 percent of bootstrapped companies are at or near breakeven versus only 52 percent of equity backed.
• Median selling cost is 15 percent of revenue, up from 13 percent the year before, and R&D holds at 22 percent.
• Equity backed companies spend roughly 70 percent more on sales and about double on marketing and customer success.