What Is a Widget Integration?

Short answer: a widget integration is when your startup packages one feature of its product as a widget and another startup drops it into its product. Its users get your feature without ever leaving the product they already use. We call that the door.

Why it works

• The customer stays put. No jumping between platforms, systems or logos. It all happens in one place.
• The partner has something riding on it. The widget lives inside their product and they earn when it earns, with no equity changing hands.
• The terms are set first. The owner sets the price, the free taste and the share before anyone integrates. Nothing to negotiate from scratch.

The first point is the one we measured. While one of our offers lived inside a partner's product, 32% of the founders who clicked through signed up; once it became one link among several, 7%. One integration, but a clear direction: why our conversion rate dropped from 32% to 7%.

One widget is never the goal

The goal is a scenario: two or more startups with the same customer, each solving a different step, so the customer gets a full set of solutions to the problem they have. The widget integration is how you build it. The scenario is why it works.

How to pick partners: same customer, same job to be done, different step in the value chain. They solve the same problem you do. They just don't do the same thing. The full framework is in how to find a collaboration partner, and how to choose an integration partner covers the quality filter.

In the two decisions every deal makes

• How you pay: revenue share.
• What they bring: the widget is the asset, their users are the access.

That combination, an asset that sits inside someone else's access, is the strongest one in every partnership is two decisions.

Frequently asked questions

Is a widget integration the same as an embed?

Technically similar. The difference is commercial: terms, attribution and a share for the host.

Do I need an API?

You need a feature that can stand alone inside someone else's product. A coding agent can package it.

What is a scenario collaboration?

Two or more startups with the same customer, each solving a different step of the same job, so the customer gets a full set of solutions in one place. Widget integrations are how one is built.

On Ordana, a startup lists a feature as a widget with its terms set, and other startups integrate it into their products. List your SaaS as a widget, or integrate one that fits your users.

Related reading:

• How to Sell a SaaS Feature as a Widget — packaging and listing one.
• The 3 Types of SaaS Integration: Placement, Capability, Handoff — where a widget fits.
• Scenario Collaborations — how bundled partnerships work.