How Cheaply Can You Build an AI App? I'm Testing It
Building software used to be expensive. Even for a small SaaS, mobile app, or microstartup, you needed engineers for backend and frontend, designers to make it look good, and DevOps people to keep things running. Infrastructure costs alone could eat up your budget before you even had your first user.
But things have changed. With consumer AI tools and no-code or low-code platforms, solo developers can build serious products for a fraction of what it used to cost. The barrier to entry is lower than ever, and I wanted to see just how cheap you can realistically build and launch an AI-powered app.
So I broke down every dollar I'm spending.
My AI App Budget
Here's what I'm using and how much it costs me per month:
- Engineering: Cursor, GitHub (free)
- AI Models: OpenAI ($20)
- Infrastructure: Heroku, Netlify, Docker ($36)
- Design: v0, Figma, Canva (free)
- Domain: Namecheap ($2.70)
- Website: Framer ($3.75 with promo code)
- Blog: HubSpot (free)
- Session Replay: LogRocket (free)
- Analytics: Google Analytics (free)
- Monetization: AdSense, Stripe (free)
Total: $62.45/month
That's a full AI-powered app—hosted, designed, and ready to monetize for less than what most people spend on subscriptions they forget to cancel.
Why This Matters
This isn't just about saving money. It's about proving that AI and modern tools have changed how software is built.
You still need a team for large-scale products, but for small and medium-sized software like SaaS, microSaaS, or AI-driven tools, a solo founder or a tiny team can get something off the ground at an insanely low cost. AI models now handle complex logic that used to require backend developers. No-code and automation tools replace manual work. Hosting is cheap, and design tools are more accessible than ever.
Most people assume AI apps need expensive infrastructure, but unless you're running custom LLMs or processing huge datasets, you don't. If you're building a simple AI-powered SaaS, your biggest cost is likely API usage. And even that can be optimized.
What's Next
The challenge isn't just building something cheap. It's making something people actually want and seeing if it can pay for itself.
Now that I have this setup in place, I'm focused on getting traction and seeing if this $62.45/month experiment can turn into a profitable product. If I can make this work at this price point, that changes the game for indie developers and solo founders.
If you know any cheap but powerful tools that could help me stretch this budget even further, let me know. I'm all about pushing this as far as possible.
