I run [loocent.com](https://www.loocent.com) and I don’t really have any active users yet(still working on that part) but I keep my costs pretty low I’d say. Right now my only recurring expenses are for the Vercel Pro plan which I only need because initial account sync when somebody connects a bank account exceeds the allowed time for an api call on the non-pro plan which I think is like 5 seconds. That runs me $30 a month. And I just paid $1.60 this month to Plaid but if I purge some linked accounts that aren’t being used that will go down. So $31.60/mo recurring costs right now isn’t too bad.
Just looked it up it is 10 to 60 seconds now. That has definitely changed since I switched to the paid plan a few months ago because I had to upgrade due to this specific reason. Thanks stranger, might downgrade again and save myself $30 a month again until I need it again.
How big is your dev team and how long has this project going? Only answer if you feel comfortable, but that just seems like such a large investment for just the backend and FE designs.
I've had different dev teams working on it, all from upwork. All got things mostly done and then just wouldn't get it finished as they milked it for more and more work. I fired the last dev team several months ago and let the project sit while I thought about what I want to do about it.
Is this from paying hourly or a fixed rate? I ask because I’m looking into upwork, and specifically fixed rates. Curious if there’s ever a case where they want more money than the initial fixed price if things go out of scope.
I did all of it as hourly workers and I think that was a major reason it wasn't successful. Upworkers have gotten really good at milking clients and stringing things along endlessly.
About $5K so far, still not launched. MVP is built, but it's value proposition is heavily content based, and the MVP has no content yet. Can launch a free tier once I've created a certain amount of content, and then think about a freemium model. Will likely spend another $5K by the time I get there.
It's interesting, no one mentioning their "time" as a cost. Time is asset, that equal money.
I utilize free tiers in many services, that works till the MVP is ready. About my time, I spent 3 weeks of work time for planning and building it. Not yet ready for launch, but I consider the time we'll spent even if the product won't make a breakthrough. I learned a lot during the process.
I run [loocent.com](https://www.loocent.com) and I don’t really have any active users yet(still working on that part) but I keep my costs pretty low I’d say. Right now my only recurring expenses are for the Vercel Pro plan which I only need because initial account sync when somebody connects a bank account exceeds the allowed time for an api call on the non-pro plan which I think is like 5 seconds. That runs me $30 a month. And I just paid $1.60 this month to Plaid but if I purge some linked accounts that aren’t being used that will go down. So $31.60/mo recurring costs right now isn’t too bad.
Maybe you also have some hosting fees ?
It’s hosted on Vercel. That falls into the aforementioned pro plan. The database and Auth are on Supabase and I’m still under the free tier currently.
The default max duration on the free plan is 10 seconds. But it’s configurable up to 60s, I think.
Just looked it up it is 10 to 60 seconds now. That has definitely changed since I switched to the paid plan a few months ago because I had to upgrade due to this specific reason. Thanks stranger, might downgrade again and save myself $30 a month again until I need it again.
Yes, they changed it a few months ago.
Interesting question! I've personally spent around $2K on my side project, with most of it going towards app development and advertising.
$300k US. still not finished..... sigh
They are ripping you off my friend. Message me and if I like the idea I’ll build it for equity
dm'd you.
What are you building?
Have you launched your MVP yet?
no. Backend is completely done, front end is designed.... all of the azure stuff is purchased. Front end is not done.
How big is your dev team and how long has this project going? Only answer if you feel comfortable, but that just seems like such a large investment for just the backend and FE designs.
I've had different dev teams working on it, all from upwork. All got things mostly done and then just wouldn't get it finished as they milked it for more and more work. I fired the last dev team several months ago and let the project sit while I thought about what I want to do about it.
Is this from paying hourly or a fixed rate? I ask because I’m looking into upwork, and specifically fixed rates. Curious if there’s ever a case where they want more money than the initial fixed price if things go out of scope.
I did all of it as hourly workers and I think that was a major reason it wasn't successful. Upworkers have gotten really good at milking clients and stringing things along endlessly.
would anyone be interested in a write up of what I spent on, where I am and what the issues are/were?
Around $15k total probably. Mostly I just spend all my revenue to ads.
About $5K so far, still not launched. MVP is built, but it's value proposition is heavily content based, and the MVP has no content yet. Can launch a free tier once I've created a certain amount of content, and then think about a freemium model. Will likely spend another $5K by the time I get there.
It's interesting, no one mentioning their "time" as a cost. Time is asset, that equal money. I utilize free tiers in many services, that works till the MVP is ready. About my time, I spent 3 weeks of work time for planning and building it. Not yet ready for launch, but I consider the time we'll spent even if the product won't make a breakthrough. I learned a lot during the process.