25 Must-Attend SaaS Conferences in 2020
There are a TON of SaaS conferences out there. Which ones will you attend in 2020? This list of top 25 SaaS conferences will help you decide!
SaaS (short for software as a service) conferences are some of the most popular business gatherings on the planet. Some of them focus on the industry as a whole. Others cater to certain niche topics. And still, others delve deep into specific software solutions and how to use them.
In this article, we’ll explore the top 25 SaaS conferences happening in 2020. By the end of this article, you’ll have a much better idea of which get-togethers are worthy of your time and why.
Ready? Let’s get to it!
1. SaaStr Annual
Source: SaaStr
Date: March 10 – 12, 2020
Location: San Francisco, California
SaaStr is one of the biggest, most popular events in the SaaS industry. The annual gathering brings together 12,000 people and features over 300 sessions designed to help you scale your SaaS business and improve LTV. Can’t make the March gathering? Don’t fret! SaaStr is also hosting a similar event in Paris, France in June.
Why You Should Attend: Whether you plan to attend SaaStr’s mega event in March or wait for the Paris gathering in June, you’ll be in for a treat. Attendees learn how to scale their startups, have the opportunity to network with their peers, and even get the chance to be mentored by industry professionals. The speaker list is always amazing too. 2019’s slate included execs from Dropbox, HubSpot, Twilio, and Intercom.
2. SXSW
Source: SXSW
Date: March 13 – 22, 2020
Location: Austin, Texas
No SaaS conference list is complete without mentioning South by Southwest (SXSW). This event is absolutely massive. In fact, it’s one of the most well-known events in the world — regardless of topic or industry. The 2019 event discussed things like blockchain, startups, marketing tactics, art, sports, and more.
Why You Should Attend: The 2019 slate of keynote speakers included the Beastie Boys, the founders of Instagram, a successful politician, and award-winning writers and musicians. There was so much knowledge to be gleaned from these folks! The conference also gives attendees the chance to network with thousands of others. Plus, there’s so much going on. If you need a break from the sessions, you can always listen to live music or catch a film screening. Definitely consider attending in 2020.
3. Adobe Summit
Source: Hero Digital
Date: March 29 – April 2, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Adobe puts on a great many events throughout the year, but Summit is always one of the best. 2019 attendees dove deep into experience marketing and learned from speakers like Super Bowl champion Drew Brees, Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon, Best Buy’s CEO Hubert Joly, Suntrust Bank’s CMO Susan Johnson, and many more.
Why You Should Attend: In SaaS, creating great customer experiences is essential. It’s what will separate your tool from the myriad of others on the market. And that’s exactly what you’ll learn how to do at Adobe Summit. You’ll also have the opportunity to network with others in your industry. And if that’s not enough, just look at the positive reviews. 99% or previous attendees say the conference exceeded their expectations.
4. MicroConf
Source: Bootstrapped.fm
Date: April 19 – 23, 2020
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
MicroConf takes a different approach than many of the other events listed in this article. It focuses exclusively on small, self-funded companies. If that’s the kind of business you own or work for, this conference is a must-attend.
Why You Should Attend: MicroConf offers two distinct conferences, which will happen back-to-back in 2020. The Growth conference is aimed at those currently earning a full-time income from their digital products. The Starter conference is for those not currently making a full time income from their startup. Both events will help attendees further their careers by giving them access to world-class performers and speakers.
5. Dublin Tech Summit
Source: Explore Group
Date: April 22 – 23, 2020
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Dublin Tech Summit is Europe’s fastest growing tech conference. It features more than 200 speakers and 10,000 attendees — nearly half of which are women! This event does a great job of making sure everyone feels welcome and included. Speakers in previous years included leaders from Amazon, Google, and NASA.
Why You Should Attend: DTS brings together world-class innovators to share knowledge and cover the latest trends. And attendees have a chance to network with other event-goers from 70 different countries and with industry leaders.
6. Recurring Revenue Conference
Source: Recurring Revenue Conference
Date: April 28 – 29, 2020
Location: Marina Del Rey, California
The Recurring Revenue Conference is put on by Sutton Capital Group and is Southern California’s only event wholly dedicated to the subscription economy. Each year, over 700 business leaders come together to discuss ways to improve LTV and keep a steady stream of dollars funneling into SaaS companies like yours.
Why You Should Attend: RRC teaches you exactly what you need to know as a SaaS company leader: how to reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC), improve LTV, manage explosive growth, and more. Learn what works and what doesn’t from executives at some of the world’s leading companies.
7. Technology & Services World
Source: YouTube
Date: May 4 – 6, 2020
Location: San Diego, California
Technology and Services World (TSW) is “where technology and service executives talk business.” Intrigued? Then secure your tickets for this event and learn about customer success, revenue generation, selling tactics, artificial intelligence, professional services best practices, and more.
Why You Should Attend: To succeed in the modern business world, you need to stay on the cutting edge of technology. At TSW, you’ll learn everything you need to about the topic. You’ll also have ample opportunity to network with colleagues. Lastly, the expo will expose you to new tools and solutions that will make your work life easier.
8. Think
Source: IBM
Date: May 4 – 7, 2020
Location: San Francisco, California
Think is the combination of IBM’s top conferences — World of Watson, Amplify, Interconnect, Edge, and Connect. In 2018, the technology giant decided to create one mega-conference that delivered the “quintessential IBM experience” rather than host multiple get-togethers. So, as you can imagine, Think is huge. Attendees learn about a range of technology topics and sharpen their skills.
Why You Should Attend: In previous years, Think’s list of speakers has included professional athletes like Joe Montana and Tony Hawk, the CEOs at companies like AT&T and Red Hat, and a Harvard research specialist. That’s quite a collection of top performers. Since you work in the technology field, why not attend a conference hosted by a company that’s been pushing technological boundaries for decades?
Bonus: You can learn more about THINK and other IBM events on this episode of the IN-PERSON Podcast featuring Colleen Bisconti.
9. HYPERGROWTH
Source: VentureFizz
Date: May 6, 2020
Location: London, United Kingdom
HYPERGROWTH empowers its attendees to “discover your breakthrough”. The event brings together innovative business leaders to share their insights on business growth, selling tactics, marketing strategies, and more. Keynote speakers in 2019 included an award-winning filmmaker, a best-selling author, and Adobe’s CMO. And don’t worry if the London date doesn’t jive with your schedule. HYPERGROWTH will also be held in Boston and San Francisco later in the year. Just know that the lineup of speakers will change for each location.
Why You Should Attend: Join 2,000 other game changers for this exciting conference focused on sales techniques, marketing strategies, and general growth tactics. While not strictly a SaaS conference, HYPERGROWTH is a collection of innovators and provides plenty of learning and networking opportunities for professionals in a wide variety of industries. Plus, the tickets are very affordable when compared to many other high-quality conferences.
Bonus: You can learn more about Drift and HYPERGROWTH on this episode of the IN-PERSON Podcast featuring Janna Erickson.
10. Pulse
Source: Gainsight
Date: May 12 – 14, 2020
Location: San Francisco, California
Gainsight’s Pulse is the biggest B2B event in product experience. Those charged with ensuring customer satisfaction should definitely consider attending this stellar get-together. The 2020 conference will feature tons of educational sessions, numerous networking opportunities, and a legendary afterparty.
Why You Should Attend: First of all, the speaker list is always great and includes leaders from top companies. Second, the numbers don’t lie. 97.3% of past attendees reported finding Pulse helpful for their careers. And third, the Pulse afterparty is always a roaring good time.
11. SaaS Monster
Source: YouTube
Date: June 22 – 25, 2020
Location: Toronto, Canada
SaaS Monster stands apart from the rest of the conferences on this list. Mostly because it’s not its own conference. Rather, it’s a SaaS-specific track within one of the world’s fastest growing technology events, Collision Conference. But don’t let that deter you from attending. SaaS Monster will focus on four main pillars of content related to SaaS: cloud computing, big data, enterprise technology, and security.
Why You Should Attend: SaaS Monster will bring together SaaS professionals to discuss the industry, share valuable insights, and network with each other. And the best part? A ticket to SaaS Monster allows you to attend the full Collision Conference experience!
12. MozCon
Source: Element-360
Date: July 6 – 8, 2020
Location: Seattle, Washington
At MozCon, attendees experience exceptional speakers, learn actionable tactics, and leave with endless possibilities around executing SEO and inbound marketing strategies. Sounds pretty good, right? This three-day conference will take you deep into the world of marketing as you learn from some of the brightest minds in the industry.
Why You Should Attend: Want to know how your SaaS brand can rank higher in Google search results? Wondering why your email marketing efforts are falling flat? Need help developing your company’s brand? Go to MozCon. The folks at Moz have been leading the SEO and general marketing community for a while now. They really know their stuff!
13. Traction Conference
Source: Alacrity Canada
Date: August 5 – 6, 2020
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Ready to supercharge your company’s growth? Then you need to seriously consider attending Traction where you’ll learn the top growth tactics from leaders at mega-companies like Google, LinkedIn, and Slack. The list of 2020 speakers includes CEOs, marketing experts, and customer success leaders.
Why You Should Attend: Traction gives attendees the chance to both learn from and network with SaaS industry leaders. Oh, and apparently the food at this conference is amazing. At least that’s what the COO of Intercom thinks.
14. INBOUND
Source: Media Junction
Date: August 18 – 21, 2020
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
INBOUND is a marketing conference by HubSpot that takes place in Boston, MA every year. Over 24,000 people attended the 2020 event to learn inbound marketing and sales tactics from best-selling authors, hit TV producers, and leaders at major corporations. But it’s not all education at INBOUND. From the tasty food trucks to the world-class entertainment, INBOUND is a ton of fun too.
Why You Should Attend: If you want to learn how to get customers to come to you rather than chasing them around the internet, INBOUND has a lot to offer. The slate of 2019 speakers included Katie Couric, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Jason Blum (an award-winning producer), and Alex Ohanian (the founder of Reddit). We’re excited to see who HubSpot brings in this year!
15. Business of Software
Source: Alpha Gamma
Date: September 21 – 23, 2020
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
The Business of Software Conference (BoS to the cool kids) is for software leaders, entrepreneurs, and decision makers that want to scale up their companies. The event covers a range of topics relevant to SaaS professionals such as marketing, hiring, and even mental health — but coding and finance topics are specifically NOT on the agenda.
Why You Should Attend: BoS is an intimate event that encourages learning. As an attendee, you’ll be taught by industry experts, be able to easily network with other SaaS pros, and have a great time while enjoying the beautiful city of Boston in the fall.
16. SaaStock
Source: Irish Times
Date: October 12 – 14, 2020
Location: Dublin, Ireland
3 days, 40 hours of content, 250 exhibitors and 4,000 people? Sounds like SaaStock, an annual SaaS conference in Dublin Ireland. Just about everyone who’s anyone in the world of SaaS will be at this highly-rated conference to share and learn the strategies that work best in the industry.
Why You Should Attend: Whether you’re a founder, exec, or investor, SaaStock has something to offer you. The speaker list for 2019 included leaders from Stripe, SurveyMonkey, and Vidyard. We have no reason to believe the 2020 speakers will be any less amazing. There are also plenty of hands-on workshops to attend, and the networking opportunities are abundant. Not to mention, the conference is in Dublin, so you’re sure to have a great time.
17. Ascent
Honored to be the winner amongst so many great startups today at @AscentConfNYC! Thanks for having us and hearing how Perksy is building the future of feedback! #MarketingStrategy with @nadiagenmasri pic.twitter.com/60h5cKjuP4
— Perksy (@getperksy) October 4, 2018
Source: Twitter
Date: October 28 – 29, 2020
Location: New York City, New York
What do you get when you combine 3,000 attendees, 300 exhibitors, and 4 unique conference tracks? Ascent, New York City’s prominent tech conference. The 4 tracks include: “Startup Grad School”, which will teach you the keys to entrepreneurship, “VC and Investing”, which covers investment strategy and networking, “Growth and Marketing”, which shares the latest business growth insights, and “SaaSummit”, which talks all things SaaS related.
Why You Should Attend: Ascent is a great collection of innovators. 43% of the 3,000 attendees are founders and/or CEOs and 26% of them are investors. The event also has a strong history of securing great speakers. Execs from Foursquare, The Muse, and Credit Karma have spoken in previous years.
18. WebSummit
Source: Forbes
Date: November 2 – 5, 2020
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
WebSummit is “the best technology conference on the planet” according to Forbes. High praise! But we definitely agree that this is a must-attend event. Each year, attendees gather in Lisbon, Portugal to learn where the futures of SaaS, startups, and general technologies lie. In previous years, speakers included executives from Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and more.
Why You Should Attend: Besides Forbes, the New York Times and the Atlantic both give the event high marks as well. Plus, there’s a little something for everyone at WebSummit. The conference offers 24 unique tracks including ones for content marketing, crypto, growth strategies, and even music and sports.
19. Dreamforce
Source: Dreamforce
Date: November 9 – 12, 2020
Location: San Francisco, California
Dreamforce, hosted by Salesforce, is one of the biggest SaaS conferences in the world and has been drawing crowds to the bay area since 2003. The 2020 gathering expects to receive more than 170,000 attendees all coming together to listen to keynote speakers and participate in the 2,700 breakout workshops that will be offered.
Why You Should Attend: There’s so much to learn and experience at Dreamforce. No matter what areas of SaaS you work in — sales, marketing, customer service, IT — this conference is for you. Last year’s speakers included Al Gore, Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors, and Ariana Huffington, The 2020 slate is sure to be just as good! And with over 170,000 attendees, the networking opportunities are basically endless.
20. Onward
Source: Onward
Date: November 16 – 18, 2020
Location: New York City, New York
Onward, an annual conference hosted by Yext, is dedicated to “the future of search”. Attendees learn the latest SEO and SEM strategies they can then use to better position and market their SaaS businesses. Last year’s gathering featured 28 breakout sessions, 100+ speakers, and more than 1,200 participants. The 2020 conference promises to be even better.
Why You Should Attend: Onward has a stellar reputation in the SaaS events community. So much so that leaders from major companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon attend annually. While the speaker list has yet to be announced for 2020, previous speakers include: Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Seth Meyers, and leaders at companies like Amazon, Pinterest, and Waze. So you can trust that this year’s speakers will be up to snuff as well.
Bonus: You can learn more about Onward and other Yext events on this episode of the IN-PERSON Podcast featuring Lindsay McKenna.
21. SaaS North
Source: SaaS North
Date: November 18 – 19, 2020
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Looking to scale up your SaaS company? Then attend SaaS North, Canada’s largest conference dedicated to the topic. The 2019 gathering brought together 1,800 people from more than 600 companies to learn from 70 speakers and attend 40 different sessions. Since the entire event focuses on scaling, we have to believe that 2020 will be even bigger.
Why You Should Attend: SaaS North is endorsed by some of the biggest players in the technology industry. Folks from Shopify, Microsoft, HubSpot and more all sing the conference’s praises. The event is also known for connecting people. Should you attend, you’ll have ample opportunity to be encouraged by fellow SaaS professionals, learn from successful software entrepreneurs, and meet potential investors.
22. Growth Marketing Conference
finished. fini. terminado. законченный. acabado. готов. klaar. 完了. finito.
Another Global #GrowthMarketingConference in the books.
Thank you to our sponsors, speakers & attendees.A special thanks to our staff and volunteers. Each of you is a star. pic.twitter.com/OD5UupTeyA
— Growth Marketing Conf (@growthtactics) December 13, 2019
Source: Twitter
Date: December, 2020
Location: San Francisco, California
Just like the name says, Growth Marketing Conference is all about helping you grow your SaaS company. You’ll learn about acquisition, activation, and retention. You’ll get the latest tactics in B2B and enterprise growth. And you’ll discover the best tips and tricks for organic and performance marketing. Just about every “growth” topic is covered.
Why You Should Attend: People attend GMC because they want to grow their companies faster and more profitably. This conference is a great way to learn how. Previous speakers include folks from Google, Twilio, Dropbox, and more. Attendees also get the chance to participate in hands-on workshops and network with industry leaders.
Bonus: You can learn more about Growth Marketing Conference on this episode of the IN-PERSON Podcast featuring Vasil Azarov.
23. Ramp
Source: InsightSquared
Date: TBD
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
If you’re in revenue ops, you’ll want to attend Ramp20. This conference, hosted by InsightSquared, has a narrow focus: equipping revenue operations professionals with the skills and connections they need to succeed.
Why You Should Attend: Many SaaS conferences cater to a wide range of people. Not Ramp. This get-together is 100% focused on revenue ops folks. If that’s you, then you owe it to yourself to go and learn from leaders in your field.
24. LTV Conf
That’s a wrap for #LTVConf! Now comes the real fun – taking the insight and connections to scale your SaaS. See you at LTV Conf Winter 2018! pic.twitter.com/gwzQKQQw61
— FE International (@FEIntl) May 12, 2018
Source: Twitter
Date: TBD
Location: New York City, New York
In SaaS, LTV is one of the most important metrics to track. So, if you happen to work for a SaaS company, it makes sense to attend an event that dedicates itself to this topic, right? LTV Conf is one of North America’s leading SaaS conferences. It boasts a presentation score of 9.6 (out of 10) and 95.7% of previous attendees say they would love to attend again.
Why You Should Attend: At LTV Conf, attendees learn how to grow and scale their SaaS companies, the pros and cons of both bootstrapping and getting VC funding, how to hire properly, and much more — all things that can affect LTV. The 2020 list of speakers includes well-known consultants, successful founders, and general industry experts.
25. Call to Action Conference
Source: Beeline Web
Date: TBD
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Hosted by Unbounce, a popular landing page software company, Call to Action Conference (i.e. #CTAConf) is a must-attend marketing event set in the beautiful city of Vancouver, Canada. Historically, it’s been a fun, engaging, and insightful conference. 2020 should be no different.
Why You Should Attend: Unbounce are experts at marketing and conversion optimization. After all, that’s what they do all day, every day. If you need to learn how to better market your SaaS startup and convert more website visitors into paying customers, get your ticket to CTA Conference now. But the event is more than just oodles of learning opportunities. It’s also a blast and the afterparty gets high marks from previous attendees.
Wrapping Up: Which SaaS Events Will You Attend in 2020?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of SaaS conferences happening in 2020. But this list will help you narrow down your options.
Did you find this article helpful? Then you might also appreciate the following posts:
- The Top Technology Events
- The Best AI Events
- Must-Attend Marketing Events
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on April 18, 2019 and has since been updated.
