In the commoditized AI tool space, Base44's founder cited distribution as the main reason for selling to Wix. With 300 million registered users, Wix can cross-promote the AI tool at a scale that standalone, cash-burning competitors cannot match, making distribution the real moat.

The stickiest software is critical but inexpensive relative to a customer's overall budget, like payroll services. This 'Goldilocks zone' makes the software too small a cost for C-suite review, yet too embedded to easily replace, creating a powerful moat.

Facing market saturation with QuickBooks, Intuit's growth strategy is moving upmarket. Its Enterprise Suite prevents successful customers from churning as their needs grow, dramatically extending customer lifetime value and tapping into the underserved mid-market.

Even if AI makes it easier to build competing software, incumbent SaaS giants retain customers due to immense switching costs. The operational disruption, retraining, and integration challenges of migrating a large organization create a powerful moat against new entrants.

DocuSign's market leadership stems from a network effect built on trust. Businesses choose the platform because their counterparties (customers, partners) already trust it, reducing friction in high-stakes transactions, especially with new customers.

Small merchants are often ignored by large manufacturers who cannot economically handle small-drop logistics or underwrite short-term credit. A B2B wholesale platform can build a strong moat by solving these two problems, becoming an indispensable intermediary that the two sides cannot easily bypass.

Unlike consumer apps, enterprise software's most powerful network effect is internal. When a tool bridges the communication and workflow gap between previously siloed functions, like design and product development, it becomes embedded in the company’s collaborative fabric and is extremely difficult to remove.

Intuit leverages financial data within QuickBooks to underwrite and offer loans. This embedded fintech service acts as a powerful retention tool; a business reliant on Intuit for critical financing is far less likely to switch to a competing accounting software, even if it's superior.

Defensible companies build systems of record (like an ERP) that are so integral to a customer's operations that switching is prohibitively difficult. This creates a 'hostage' dynamic, providing a powerful moat against competitors, even those with better AI features.