Running a SaaS Biz Costs $25k/yr: Indie Dev Shares Full Stack
kylegawley · x · 2026-08-11
An indie developer breaks down the annual costs to run their software business, totaling about $25,000.
The detailed expense list includes:
- Infrastructure: AWS, Cloudflare, databases, isolated hosting environments.
- AI & Dev Tools: Cursor and Codex subscriptions, AI token costs, and GitHub.
- Marketing & Sales: Ahrefs, Mangools (SEO), and Apollo (outreach).
- Operations & Compliance: ICO compliance, insurance, legal/accountant fees, Xero, and Stripe.
This provides a realistic benchmark for estimating the profitability threshold and overhead of a solo SaaS company.
Related event: Indie Developer Reveals $25K Annual SaaS Operating Costs(2 posts)→
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