How much does hosting cost?
Quick Answer
Free to $100/month for most apps. Vercel and Netlify offer free tiers that handle MVPs. Costs scale with traffic-budget $20-50/month for apps with real users.
Full Explanation
Hosting costs for AI-built apps are typically much lower than people expect, thanks to modern cloud platforms and generous free tiers.
Free tier covers:
- Small to medium traffic (thousands of visitors/month)
- Basic compute and bandwidth
- Automatic HTTPS and custom domains
- Good enough for MVPs and early-stage products
Platform breakdown:
Vercel: Free tier is generous. Pro plan ($20/month) when you need more. Great for Next.js apps.
Netlify: Similar to Vercel. Free tier works for most projects.
Railway: Good for apps that need background processing. $5/month minimum with usage-based pricing.
Supabase (database): Free tier includes 500MB storage. Pro plan ($25/month) for production apps.
Total realistic costs by stage:
- MVP/testing: $0-20/month
- Early users (hundreds): $25-75/month
- Growing product (thousands of users): $100-300/month
- Scaling product: Varies widely based on usage
Watch out for:
- Database costs can spike with heavy usage
- File storage (images, uploads) often costs extra
- Some platforms have bandwidth limits that can surprise you
- Always set up billing alerts to avoid unexpected charges
Related Questions
What's the real cost to build an app with AI?
A basic MVP can cost $0-500 using AI tools. Production apps with users typically run $50-500/month for hosting, plus tool subscriptions of $20-100/month.
How do I deploy my app?
Most AI tools handle deployment automatically. If deploying manually, Vercel and Netlify are the easiest options with generous free tiers and one-click deployment from GitHub.
What's the best database for beginners?
Supabase is the current favourite for beginners-it's free to start, has a visual interface, and handles authentication too. Firebase is another solid option.
Two ways to go from question to shipped
Reading is fine. Shipping is better. Pick the path that fits where you are.