SaaS cost breakdown 2026: what it actually costs to run a SaaS
By Muhammad Akbar·July 29, 2026
Here's what it costs to run a production SaaS at three different scales. All prices from public pricing pages as of July 2026.
0-100 users: $0-6/month
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100-1,000 users: ~$45/month
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1,000-10,000 users: ~$99/month
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Key insight
Your infrastructure costs should never outpace your revenue. If you're spending $100/month on hosting at 1,000 users, your pricing should generate at least $500-1,000/month in revenue. The rule of thumb: keep infrastructure under 10-20% of revenue.
With the right stack (CheapStack SaaS Starter + free tiers), you can stay at $0-6/month until you hit thousands of users.
About the author: Muhammad Akbar builds affordable developer tools at CheapStack and writes about bootstrapping products on realistic budgets.