Top 10 SaaS stocks to watch in 2026

SaaS – software as a service – companies sell access to cloud-hosted software on a subscription, rather than licences customers install and maintain themselves. The ten stocks on this list cover genuinely different parts of that market, from enterprise workflow automation at ServiceNow, Inc. ($NOW) to restaurant operating systems at Toast, Inc. ($TOST) and developer security tooling at GitLab Inc. ($GTLB).

How we built this list: We selected these companies based on their industry and ordered them by market capitalisation. Prices are updated daily, and the list and supporting content are reviewed roughly every quarter. All data is sourced from Stake. This list isn't a recommendation and isn't ordered by suitability.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Source: Stake market data. Figures in US$. Data updated as of 6 October 2026.

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1. ServiceNow ($NOW)

ServiceNow (NOW) share price over the last year: started at US$182.57, ended at US$137.97, a change of −24.4%. Range over the period: high US$189.26, low US$83.00. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$137.97 · Daily: 1.4% · Market cap: US$140.69B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

ServiceNow, Inc. ($NOW) builds cloud-based software that digitises how large organisations get work done – think IT requests, HR processes, workplace logistics and customer service, all routed through a single platform rather than scattered across disconnected tools. That platform, the Now Platform, connects people, data and devices to automate those workflows at scale, handling everything from incident management to identity security.

AI is embedded throughout $NOW's products rather than bolted on as a separate offering. ServiceNow AI Agents and the AI Agent Fabric layer – part of a broader push the company describes as a platform for business transformation – are designed to let software handle multi-step tasks with less human intervention. CEO Bill McDermott leads the company and its roughly 29,000 employees across four main product areas: Technology, CRM and Industry, Core Business and Creator.

2. Datadog NV ($DDOG)

Datadog NV (DDOG) share price over the last year: started at US$157.36, ended at US$278.24, a change of +76.8%. Range over the period: high US$288.15, low US$102.62. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$278.24 · Daily: 0.7% · Market cap: US$99.25B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Datadog NV ($DDOG) sits at the intersection of cloud monitoring and security. The company's platform watches what's happening inside cloud applications in real time – tracking infrastructure health, application performance, logs and user sessions through a single agent rather than a patchwork of separate tools.

That unified approach is the core of what $DDOG sells. Development, operations and security teams can pull from the same data rather than toggling between disconnected dashboards. The platform connects to over 1,000 integrations, covering the mix of services most enterprises already run.

CEO Olivier Pomel leads a team of 8,100 people. $DDOG positions its platform as cloud-agnostic, meaning it's built to work across whichever cloud providers or hybrid setups a customer uses, rather than locking into one vendor's ecosystem.

3. Workday ($WDAY)

Workday (WDAY) share price over the last year: started at US$238.36, ended at US$186.55, a change of −21.7%. Range over the period: high US$245.67, low US$112.50. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$186.55 · Daily: -1.3% · Market cap: US$45.54B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Workday, Inc. ($WDAY) sits at the intersection of human resources and financial management software, selling cloud-based tools that help organisations run payroll, manage headcount, control spending and plan budgets. Rather than a single product, it's a platform – one that's built to connect with other applications and lets customers or partners build their own AI-powered tools on top of it through Workday Build.

The company serves a wide range of industries, from healthcare and government to retail and manufacturing, with CEO Aneel Bhusri leading a team of around 21,000 people. AI is embedded throughout the platform rather than bolted on separately, which the company says shapes how it handles everything from workforce planning to financial forecasting.

4. Atlassian US ($TEAM)

Atlassian US (TEAM) share price over the last year: started at US$150.19, ended at US$193.98, a change of +29.2%. Range over the period: high US$196.65, low US$57.15. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$193.98 · Daily: -1.4% · Market cap: US$49.78B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Atlassian Corporation ($TEAM) builds the software that engineering and IT teams use to plan, track, and ship their work. Jira handles project and issue tracking; Confluence is a shared knowledge base; Loom lets teams record and share video messages. Jira Service Management extends that into IT helpdesk and service desk workflows. All of it runs on a shared cloud platform and data model, so the tools connect rather than sit in isolation.

The company has woven AI through this stack via Rovo, an AI agent layer designed to surface information and automate tasks across the platform. Under CEO Mike Cannon Brookes, $TEAM employs around 13,301 people globally. The subscription model means revenue comes from recurring licences rather than one-off software sales, with larger enterprise accounts unlocking more seats and premium tiers.

5. Twilio ($TWLO)

Twilio (TWLO) share price over the last year: started at US$109.70, ended at US$280.41, a change of +155.6%. Range over the period: high US$301.27, low US$106.23. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$280.41 · Daily: -6.8% · Market cap: US$46.21B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Twilio Inc. ($TWLO) sits in a part of the software stack most people never see directly. Its platform gives developers a set of application programming interfaces – APIs, which are tools that let software talk to other software – to embed real-time messaging, voice calls, email and identity verification into their own products. When a ride-share app texts you an arrival update or a bank sends a one-time login code, that kind of communication often runs through infrastructure like $TWLO's.

The company runs two business segments. Twilio Communications handles the messaging and voice tooling, including Flex, a digital engagement centre designed to manage the full customer journey. Twilio Segment is a customer data platform that pulls together real-time information across a customer's interactions to build a unified profile. Khozema Shipchandler leads the company, which employs 5,587 people.

6. Zoom Commns ($ZM)

Zoom Commns (ZM) share price over the last year: started at US$81.03, ended at US$94.20, a change of +16.3%. Range over the period: high US$111.88, low US$72.72. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$94.20 · Daily: 0.6% · Market cap: US$27.32B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Zoom Communications, Inc. ($ZM) runs an AI-powered collaboration platform built for workplace use. Zoom Workplace bundles meetings, phone, team chat, scheduling, document tools and whiteboarding in one product, with an AI assistant called Zoom AI Companion woven through it. Physical space tools – Zoom Rooms and Zoom Workspace Reservation – extend the platform into office environments.

Under CEO Eric Yuan, $ZM's 7,438 employees serve industries including healthcare, education, financial services, government, retail and manufacturing.

7. Toast ($TOST)

Toast (TOST) share price over the last year: started at US$36.95, ended at US$30.25, a change of −18.1%. Range over the period: high US$39.02, low US$22.33. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$30.25 · Daily: 0.7% · Market cap: US$17.36B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Toast, Inc. ($TOST) built its platform specifically for restaurants, which sets it apart from general-purpose software that gets adapted for food service. The system connects front-of-house and back-of-house operations – point-of-sale, online ordering, team management, vendor management and marketing all run through the same platform, so a restaurant isn't stitching together a dozen separate tools.

Under CEO Aman Narang, the company employs around 6,500 people and also handles payment processing through its own financial technology layer. That means $TOST earns revenue both from its software subscriptions and from the transactions flowing through its hardware and payments infrastructure.

8. HubSpot ($HUBS)

HubSpot (HUBS) share price over the last year: started at US$463.59, ended at US$217.09, a change of −53.2%. Range over the period: high US$494.58, low US$170.28. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$217.09 · Daily: -1.6% · Market cap: US$11.00B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Most businesses piece together separate tools for marketing, sales and customer service. HubSpot, Inc. ($HUBS) builds them into a single platform, with a Smart CRM at the centre keeping a shared record of every lead and customer interaction.

AI-powered hubs for Marketing, Sales, Service, Operations, Content and Commerce sit on top of that database, with an embedded AI layer called Breeze running across all of them. CEO Yamini Rangan leads a team of 8,882 people across the business.

9. Paycom Software ($PAYC)

Paycom Software (PAYC) share price over the last year: started at US$200.22, ended at US$222.44, a change of +11.1%. Range over the period: high US$240.52, low US$113.59. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$222.44 · Daily: -1.5% · Market cap: US$10.18B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

Paycom Software ($PAYC) built its platform around a single idea: one database for every stage of the employment relationship. From posting a job to processing a final payslip, everything runs through the same system – no bolt-on modules, no custom code, no separate logins for different HR tasks.

That single-database approach is what separates $PAYC from older human capital management (HCM) setups, where payroll, time tracking and talent tools often sit in separate systems that need to talk to each other. The platform covers payroll deductions, benefits administration, performance management and even post-termination health coverage under COBRA – the U.S. federal scheme that lets former employees extend their health insurance.

Employees can access and update their own records directly through the platform, which the company says reduces the administrative load on HR teams. Under CEO Chad Richison, the company has grown to around 5,770 employees to support that product.

Because the platform requires virtually no customisation, businesses can get up and running without lengthy implementation projects – though that also means the product works best when a client is willing to adopt $PAYC's built-in workflows rather than their own.

10. GitLab ($GTLB)

GitLab (GTLB) share price over the last year: started at US$47.13, ended at US$51.63, a change of +9.5%. Range over the period: high US$51.63, low US$19.42. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$51.63 · Daily: 0.3% · Market cap: US$8.58B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Software & IT

GitLab Inc. ($GTLB) runs a DevSecOps – development, security, and operations – platform that covers the full software lifecycle on a single codebase and interface. Teams can move their workflows across hybrid or multi-cloud environments without toggling between separate tools.

$GTLB offers the platform through three subscription tiers: Free, Premium and Ultimate. Customers choose how to deploy it – on their own servers, in a shared cloud environment, or through GitLab Dedicated, a single-tenant hosted option. The company also provides training and professional services alongside its subscriptions. Bill Staples leads as CEO, with around 2,580 people on staff.

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Common questions

How do I invest in SaaS stocks in New Zealand?

All ten companies in this list trade on U.S. exchanges, so you'll need a share trading platform that offers U.S. market access. From there, you can buy shares in individual companies, or access a broader slice of the sector through a technology or software-focused ETF. The mechanics are the same as buying any other U.S.-listed stock from New Zealand.

What are the key risks of SaaS stocks?

Some of the key risks include sector concentration – every company in this list sits in the Technology sector, so there's no cross-industry spread within this group. SaaS businesses depend heavily on retaining and expanding their existing customer base; a company that loses customers faster than it wins new ones can see revenue deteriorate quickly. Many SaaS companies are priced on anticipated future growth rather than current profits, which can make share prices more sensitive to shifts in interest rate expectations. The NZD/USD exchange rate also plays a role, affecting what U.S.-listed shares cost and what any proceeds are worth in New Zealand dollars.

What is SaaS and how does the business model work?

SaaS – software as a service – means software delivered over the internet on a subscription basis, rather than a one-off licence purchase. Customers pay monthly or annually, giving providers a recurring, predictable revenue stream. The model tends to reward companies that keep customers subscribing and sell them additional products over time, since the cost of acquiring a customer is recovered gradually through renewals rather than upfront.

How does horizontal SaaS differ from vertical SaaS?

Horizontal SaaS platforms are built to serve businesses across many industries – tools for IT management, developer workflows, HR, or customer engagement that almost any company might use. Vertical SaaS is designed for one specific industry. Toast is the clearest example in this list: its platform is purpose-built for restaurants, combining point-of-sale systems, online ordering, payments and team management in a single place. The other nine companies here sell into multiple sectors and industries.

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Disclaimer

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. When you invest, your capital is at risk. You should consider your own investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making an investment decision. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may receive back less than your original investment. As always, do your own research and consider seeking appropriate financial advice before investing.

This is not personal financial advice nor a recommendation to invest in the securities listed. Any advice provided by Stake is of general nature only and does not take into account your specific circumstances. Trading and volume data from the Stake investing platform is for reference purposes only, the investment choices of others may not be appropriate for your needs and is not a reliable indicator of performance.

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This article combines AI and human review from our analysts to bring you accurate, informative investing content at speed. For questions or suggestions, contact stakedesk@stake.com.au.