The $100 Startup Tech Stack: Building a Profitable Business on a Budget

💰 "You need at least $10K to start a SaaS business."

That's a lie.

Core Infrastructure ($31/month):

1. Hosting & Domain → Vercel: Free tier → Netlify: Free tier → Domain: $1/month (Cloudflare) → SSL: Free (Let's Encrypt)
2. Development ($0) → GitHub: Free tier → VS Code: Free → PostMan: Free tier → Git: Free
3. Database (30/month)→MongoDBAtlas:30/month)→MongoDBAtlas:15 → Redis Cloud: $15 → Backups: Included

🔑 Pro tip: Start with free tiers, upgrade only when needed

Customer Operations ($29/month):

1. Support → Discord: Free → Crisp: $29/month → Email: Google Workspace free tier
2. Documentation → Notion: Free → GitBook: Free → FAQ Bot: Built in-house

Marketing Stack ($22/month):

1. Email Marketing → MailerLite: $12/month → Custom domain: Included → Templates: Self-made
2. Analytics → Plausible: $10/month → Google Analytics: Free → Custom tracking: Built in-house
3. Social Media → Canva: Free → Buffer: Free tier → LinkedIn: Free

Development Tools ($15/month):

1. Testing → Jest: Free → Cypress: Free → Manual testing: In-house
2. Monitoring → UptimeRobot: Free → LogRocket: $15/month → Error tracking: Built in

💡 The Magic Formula: • Start with free tiers • Build vs buy decision for each tool • Upgrade only after ROI proof • Automate early • Stack tools strategically

📈 Growth Timeline:

Month 1-3: • Total cost: 47/month•MRR:47/month•MRR:0 • Users: 10 beta • Stack: 90% free tier

Month 4-6: • Total cost: 97/month•MRR:97/month•MRR:2,100 • Users: 42 paying • Stack: Mixed tiers

Current (Month 12): • Total cost: 97/month•MRR:97/month•MRR:27K • Users: 342 paying • Stack: Optimized tiers

🎯 Selection Criteria:

1. Must have free tier
2. Easy upgrade path
3. Good documentation
4. Active community
5. Reliable support

❌ What We Avoided: • Premium tools with bloat • Annual contracts • Complex integrations • Enterprise solutions • Fancy dashboards

💰 Money-Saving Tricks:

1. Infrastructure → Use edge functions → Implement caching → Optimize database calls → Leverage CDNs
2. Development → Build simple first → Use open source → Automate testing → Minimize dependencies
3. Marketing → Content marketing → Community building → Word of mouth → Build in public

🔑 Key Learnings:

1. Expensive tools ≠ Better results
2. Start lean, stay lean
3. Build > Buy when starting
4. Free tiers are gold
5. Automate strategically

💭 What's your current monthly tech stack cost?

#bootstrapping #startups #saas #indiehackers #techstack