Bringing your app from local development to a live production environment can feel overwhelming. Domains, hosting, databases, storage, security — it’s a lot.
But it doesn’t have to break the bank. Whether you’re building a SaaS, a financial app, or a personal project, here’s the full list of what you’ll need to launch your app professionally — for the lowest possible price.
1. Domain Name
Your app needs a professional domain.
Recommended service: Cloudflare Registrar
Typical cost: $8–$15/year (no extra fees, at cost pricing)
Tip: Cloudflare also offers free DNS management and security, which will save you money elsewhere.
2. Hosting for Frontend and Backend
Frontend (React or Vite apps)
Best budget option: Render Static Site
Cost: Free tier available (100 GB bandwidth/month). Paid starts at $7/month.
Backend (.NET Web API)
Best budget option: Render Web Service
Cost: $7/month (starter plan)
Tip: If you need autoscaling or more resources later, Render scales easily without heavy pricing.
3. Database
PostgreSQL
Recommended service: Supabase (uses PostgreSQL)
Cost: Free tier includes 500 MB database + 1 GB file storage
Paid: Starts at $25/month (8 GB)
Alternative:
Railway.app — Free 0.5 GB PostgreSQL, paid starts at $5/month
Tip: Supabase also gives you auth, storage, and instant APIs if you ever want to reduce backend complexity.
4. Email Service (for Password Resets, Verifications, etc.)
Best budget option: Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
Cost: Free 300 emails/day
Alternatives:
Mailgun — 5,000 free emails/month for 3 months
SendGrid — Free 100 emails/day
Tip: For early-stage apps, Brevo’s free tier usually lasts a long time before you need to upgrade.
5. Object/File Storage (User Avatars, Exports, etc.)
Best budget option: Supabase Storage (included in free tier — 1 GB)
Alternative:
Cloudflare R2 (S3 compatible) — First 10 GB free, ultra-low egress costs
6. SSL Certificates
Best: Free through Cloudflare or Let’s Encrypt
All the hosts listed above support automatic HTTPS without extra cost.
7. Environment Variables / Secrets Management
Recommended: Built-in secrets management from Render or Supabase
Alternative for teams:
Doppler — Free for solo devs and small teams
9. Analytics
Privacy-focused & free: Plausible (30-day free trial, then ~$9/month)
Alternative:
Google Analytics — Free (but less privacy-focused)
10. CI/CD (Continuous Deployment)
Render — Built-in deployment from GitHub or GitLab
Cost: Free for basic use
Advanced alternative: GitHub Actions — Free for small projects
11. Basic Security
Cloudflare Free Plan:
DDoS protection
WAF (Web Application Firewall) for basic threats
Rate limiting (basic)
Tip: Even if you host elsewhere, always route your domain through Cloudflare.
Monthly Costs
Service Free Tier Paid (Starting)
Domain No $8–$15/year
Frontend Hosting Yes $7/month
Backend Hosting No $7/month
DB (PostgreSQL) Yes $0 or $5+
Email Service Yes $0
File Storage Yes $0
SSL Certificates Yes $0
Monitoring Yes $0
Analytics Yes $0 (or $9/mo)
CI/CD Yes $0