Micro-SaaS terms in plain English

Our working definition of activation is the first observable event that shows a new account has completed the product’s core useful job.

Example: for an invoice-import product, activation could be a user importing a file, resolving errors and exporting the approved result. Under this definition, creating an account alone is not activation.

Do not confuse it with onboarding: onboarding is the path and assistance around first use; activation is the useful event reached through that path.

The loss of a customer, subscription or recurring revenue during a defined period.

Example: a customer who cancels and stops paying has churned. A customer who skips a week in a monthly workflow has not necessarily churned.

Do not confuse it with low engagement: engagement describes product activity; churn describes the end or loss of the commercial relationship.

Here, a minimum viable product means the smallest product version that lets an intended user complete the core job well enough for you to evaluate the workflow and offer.

Example: an import tool that accepts one supported file format, reports invalid rows and exports a corrected file may be an MVP. Under this definition, a clickable mock-up that cannot process a file is not.

Do not confuse it with a prototype: a prototype explores an interface or technical idea; an MVP supports a real end-to-end use.

Here, no-code means building software mainly by configuring visual components, data models and workflows instead of writing the application in a general-purpose programming language.

Example: connecting a form, database and approval workflow in a visual builder is no-code. Under this definition, writing a custom backend and merely using a visual page editor does not make the whole application no-code.

Do not confuse it with low-code: low-code expects configuration plus custom code for parts of the product; no-code aims to keep custom code optional.

The rules that determine what a customer pays, when they pay and which usage or access changes the amount.

Example: a monthly charge per active client account is pricing. Calling one plan “Professional” without stating its charge or billing rule is packaging language, not pricing.

Do not confuse it with packaging: packaging groups access, limits and service into offers; pricing assigns money and billing conditions to those offers.

The unit used to connect a customer’s charge or plan boundary to the amount of useful work the product handles.

Example: charging by active managed location uses locations as the value metric. Charging more only because a user wants dark mode does not.

Do not confuse it with a price point: the value metric is what the charge varies with; the price point is the amount charged.

Here, monthly recurring revenue means recurring subscription revenue normalized to one month, excluding one-off fees. Stripe’s MRR convention counts active and past_due subscriptions. Discount settings affect the total, although permanent recurring discounts are always deducted. Exclusions include taxes, free plans and metered products. MRR is not cash received, and Stripe’s convention is not a universal standard.

Example: a monthly subscription contributes its recurring monthly amount to MRR. A one-time migration fee does not.

Do not confuse it with cash received: cash received follows payment timing and can include annual prepayments or one-off fees; MRR normalizes recurring revenue to a monthly view.

Here, row-level security means policies that filter which rows a database request may read or change. In PostgreSQL, when RLS is enabled with no policy, roles subject to RLS cannot read or change any rows. Superusers and BYPASSRLS roles bypass RLS, as table owners normally do. RLS provides neither authentication nor a compliance guarantee.

Example: a policy can restrict a signed-in user to records belonging to their account. Hiding another account’s records in the interface is not RLS.

Do not confuse it with authentication: authentication establishes who made the request; RLS applies data-access rules to that request.

A defined sequence in which software performs repeatable steps after a trigger, with explicit inputs, outputs and failure handling.

Example: validating an uploaded file, creating a job and notifying the owner when processing fails is automation. A reminder for a person to do all three steps manually is not.

Do not confuse it with integration: an integration connects systems or exposes data; automation decides and executes the sequence that uses those connections.

A product capability that uses a model to generate, classify, extract or transform an output whose exact result is not fully predetermined by fixed rules.

Example: drafting a reply from a support ticket is an AI feature. Sending a saved template when a status changes is deterministic automation, not AI.

Do not confuse it with automation: automation follows defined steps; an AI feature introduces model output that needs its own quality checks and fallback.