Where the money goes, stage by stage
- 1
Discovery & design
Customer research, scope and UX.
- 2
MVP build
Core workflow, auth and basic billing.
- 3
Beta
Fixes and onboarding from early users.
- 4
Growth features
Integrations, reporting, multi-user and admin.
- 5
Scale & hardening
Performance, security and enterprise needs.
SaaS-specific cost drivers
- 01Multi-tenancy
- Isolation model and admin tooling.
- 02Billing
- Plans, usage pricing, taxes and dunning.
- 03Onboarding
- Activation flows that reduce churn.
- 04Public API
- Developer docs, keys and rate limits.
- 05Compliance
- SOC 2 or GDPR groundwork.
- 06Infrastructure
- Hosting and observability.
Recurring costs to plan for
- Cloud hosting and storage
- Payment processing and billing fees
- Email, SMS and other third-party services
- Monitoring, support and customer success tools
- Continuous development and security updates
Building versus buying components
| Buy / integrate | Build custom | |
|---|---|---|
| Authentication | Auth0, Clerk, Cognito | Only if requirements are unusual |
| Billing | Stripe Billing, Razorpay | Rarely worthwhile |
| Core product logic | Not available | Always custom: your differentiator |
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build a SaaS?
It depends on scope and stage. We recommend funding a lean MVP first and investing in growth and scale as demand is proven.
Should I build billing and authentication myself?
Usually no. Integrate proven services and spend your budget on your core product.
What recurring costs does SaaS have?
Hosting, third-party services, support tooling and continued development.
How can I reduce risk?
Validate with an MVP, stage the roadmap and measure real usage.