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.
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