SaaS White Label and Reseller Models
White labelling lets partners resell your SaaS under their own brand. Three distinct partnership models compared, the Bubble.io technical requirements for true white labelling, and common pricing structures for wholesale and commission-based programmes.
Letting Partners Sell Your Product Under Their Own Brand
SaaS white labelling is a business model where a SaaS company allows partners (agencies, consultants, or other businesses) to resell the product under the partner’s own brand name, often with custom domains, custom logos, and sometimes custom colour schemes, while the underlying product and infrastructure remain owned and operated by the original SaaS company. A reseller model is closely related but does not always involve rebranding: resellers sell the original product under its own brand but earn a commission or margin on sales. White label and reseller programmes allow a SaaS company to dramatically expand distribution by leveraging partners’ existing customer relationships and trust, in exchange for sharing revenue.
White label and reseller programmes are particularly common in SaaS categories where agencies and consultants act as trusted advisors to end customers: marketing agencies reselling a white-labelled reporting tool to their clients, web development agencies reselling a white-labelled website builder, or accountants reselling a white-labelled bookkeeping tool. The agency’s existing trust relationship with the end customer accelerates adoption far beyond what direct sales could achieve at the same cost.
Three Distinct Partnership Models
| Model | Branding | Revenue Mechanism | Partner Relationship to End Customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| White label | Partner’s brand entirely; SaaS company invisible to end customer | Partner sets their own pricing; pays wholesale rate to SaaS company | Partner owns the customer relationship completely |
| Standard reseller | Original SaaS brand visible; partner sells on behalf of vendor | Partner earns a commission or margin on sales they generate | Shared relationship; partner often handles support, vendor handles product |
| Affiliate/referral | Original SaaS brand visible; partner only refers customers | Partner earns a one-time or recurring commission per referred customer | Vendor owns the entire customer relationship; partner has no ongoing role |
The Technical Requirements
Custom domain support per partner
Each white label partner needs their own custom domain or subdomain pointing to your application, displaying their brand rather than yours. Bubble.io supports custom domains at the application level; true multi-domain white labelling (different partners on different domains, all served by the same underlying app) requires careful architecture using Bubble’s custom domain configuration combined with dynamic content based on the requesting domain.
Dynamic branding (logo, colours, name)
Store partner branding configuration (logo URL, primary colour, company name) on a Partner data type. Application elements (header, email templates, login page) dynamically reference the current partner’s branding configuration rather than hardcoded values, determined by which domain or partner account the current session belongs to.
Partner-level reporting and billing
White label partners need visibility into their own sub-customers’ usage and billing without seeing other partners’ data. This requires an additional layer in your multi-tenant data model: Partner sits above Workspace in the hierarchy, with privacy rules ensuring partners only see their own sub-customers’ workspaces.
🔗 Related reading on Simple Automation Solutions
SaaS Multi Tenant Architecture Explained
The foundational multi-tenant architecture that white label models build an additional partner layer on top of.
Common Structures
White label programmes typically use a wholesale pricing model: the partner pays a fixed wholesale rate per end customer (often 40-60 percent of your standard retail price) and sets their own retail price to their customers, keeping the margin. This requires the partner to take on billing relationship management with their own customers, which is more complex to implement than partner-billed models where you handle billing directly and pay the partner a revenue share.
Standard reseller and affiliate programmes typically pay a percentage commission (15-30 percent of the first year’s revenue, or a smaller percentage of ongoing recurring revenue) calculated against revenue you bill directly to the end customer, with the partner’s role limited to referral and sometimes basic support rather than full billing ownership. This is significantly simpler to implement in Bubble.io because billing remains centralised through your own Stripe account.
🔗 Related reading on Simple Automation Solutions
How to Integrate Bubble.io With Stripe, Zapier, and SendGrid
Stripe Connect architecture for managing partner commission payouts.
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Q: Is white labelling a good growth strategy for an early-stage SaaS?
White labelling is generally a better fit for a SaaS product that has already validated strong product-market fit directly and is looking for a scalable distribution channel, rather than an early validation strategy. Building and maintaining a white label programme adds meaningful technical and operational complexity that is better absorbed once your core product is stable.
Q: How is white label SaaS pricing different from regular SaaS pricing?
White label SaaS is typically sold at a wholesale rate (often 40-60% of standard retail pricing) directly to the partner, who then sets their own retail price to their end customers and keeps the difference as their margin. This is fundamentally different from standard SaaS pricing where you set the retail price directly to the end customer.
Q: Can a Bubble.io SaaS support true white labelling?
Yes, with deliberate architecture. Custom domain support, dynamic branding based on the requesting domain or partner account, and a partner-level data hierarchy above your standard Workspace model are all achievable in Bubble.io, though they require more careful planning than a standard single-brand multi-tenant SaaS.
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