I'm in the process of selling a small SaaS product I've run for years. The buyer and I have agreed on price and are now figuring out the logistics. The deal includes the codebase, the domain, and some customer data. I've done domain transfers before, but combining code and domain escrow feels more complicated. Does anyone have actual experience with escrow services that handle both code and domain in one transaction? I'm not looking for generic advice; I need names of services that have worked for you.
Escrow
What escrow service handles code and domain escrow for software sales?
i used Escrow.com for a domain + website sale last year. They handled the domain transfer fine, but the code part was a bit clunky because they don't inspect the code. You just upload a zip and they release it upon payment. That was okay for us since the buyer didn't need a code review tbh.
I've heard good things about Escrow.com for domain names, but what about source code? Do they verify it's functional?
No, they don't verify code functionality. That's not their role. If you need technical verification, you might look at a service like CodeCanyon's escrow? Actually, that's for their marketplace. For private sales, some use lawyers to hold the code, but that's expensive.
Have you considered using a service like Escrow.com for thhe domain and a separate escrow for the code? Might be simpler to use one service though. I've seen some mention of SafeEscrow but haven't used them.
SafeEscrow is more for domain names. For software, there's EscrowTech but they focus on larger deals. Honestly, for a small SaaS, you might be overthinking. Use Escrow.com for the domain and handle the code via a simple agreement with staged payments. That's what i did.
I'm in a similar situation. What about using a service like Bitbucket or GitHub's escrow? Not sure if that exists.
GitHub doesn't offer escrow. There's Escrow4All but I have no experience. You could also look into using an M&A advisor who handles software deals; they often have preferred escrow providers.
I'd second the M&A advisor route. For a small deal, though, the fees might eat into your proceeds. Have you checked with your lawyer? They might hold funds and code in trust. That's what we did for a smaller sale.
What about Escrow.com's domain holding service? Does it include code? I think they have a separate service for intellectual property but it's not well-known.
Thanks, everyone. I'll look into Escrow.com and maybe ask my lawyer about holding the code. The buyer is technical, so they might want to review the code before releasing funds. That complicates things.
If the buyer wants to review code, you might need a service that allows for a due diligence period. Escrow.com doesn't do that. You could use an escrow service that specializes in software acquisitions like EscrowTech, but they have minimum fees. Might be worth it for peace of mind.