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$45/month. No Vercel. No Supabase. Just Rails. My monthly costs to run a SaaS as a solo founder
r/indiehackers
6/3/2025
SAAS TOOLS
| SaaS | URL | Category | Features/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hetzner | https://www.hetzner.com | Cloud Hosting | Dedicated vCPU, shared vCPU options |
| DigitalOcean Spaces | https://www.digitalocean.com/products/spaces | File Storage | $5.33/month |
| Zoho Mail | https://www.zoho.com/mail | Email Hosting | $1/month |
| Postmark | https://postmarkapp.com | Transactional Email | $15/month |
| SQLite3 | - | Database | Free, built-in with Rails |
| Solid Cache | - | Caching | Built-in with Rails 8 |
| Solid Queue | - | Background Jobs | Built-in with Rails 8 |
| Solid Cable | - | WebSockets | Built-in with Rails 8 |
| Mailpace | https://mailpace.com | Transactional Email | $10/month alternative |
| MXRoute | - | Transactional Email | Lifetime deal for $75 |
| Migadu | - | Email Hosting | Alternative option |
| AWS SES | - | Transactional Email | Low cost option |
USER NEEDS
Pain Points:
- High costs of modern serverless stacks
- Expensive cloud services
- Risk of unexpected cloud overages
- Need for lean, reliable infrastructure
Problems to Solve:
- Keeping costs low while scaling
- Avoiding cloud service overages
- Maintaining performance with limited budget
- Building reliable infrastructure without complex setups
Potential Solutions:
- Using traditional hosting with dedicated servers
- Implementing cost-effective email solutions
- Leveraging built-in Rails features
- Using alternative email providers
GROWTH FACTORS
Effective Strategies:
- Keeping infrastructure costs low early on
- Using simple, reliable technology stacks
- Bootstrapping smart with minimal expenses
Marketing & Acquisition:
- Using ConvertKit + Carrd for early marketing
- Leveraging simple tools for customer acquisition
Monetization & Product:
- Building MVP with SQLite3 database
- Using built-in Rails features for caching and background jobs
- Implementing WebSockets with Solid Cable
User Engagement:
- Providing reliable performance with limited resources
- Building trust through transparent cost breakdowns