Contents
- DigitalOcean and AWS pricing for small-to-midsize business hosting typically ranges from $50-$500/month per application depending on traffic, storage, and compute requirements.
- The 28-month financial data (February 2024 - January 2026) tracks the exact cost trajectory as Stealth Labz transitioned from vendor-dependent operations to owned infrastructure:
- At steady state, the monthly cost includes:
- For decision-makers modeling post-build costs: budget $500-$1,000/month for a multi-system portfolio on standard cloud hosting with AI maintenance tools.
Monthly infrastructure cost after building custom software drops to approximately $825/month for hosting and AI tools combined, based on Stealth Labz's audited financials for a 10-system portfolio serving 7 verticals across 2 geographies with 596,903 lines of production code.
Industry Benchmarks
DigitalOcean and AWS pricing for small-to-midsize business hosting typically ranges from $50-$500/month per application depending on traffic, storage, and compute requirements. A 10-application portfolio on standard cloud infrastructure would conventionally cost $500-$5,000/month in hosting alone, before factoring in monitoring, backups, security, or maintenance staffing.
Actual Monthly Cost Breakdown (Audited)
The 28-month financial data (February 2024 - January 2026) tracks the exact cost trajectory as Stealth Labz transitioned from vendor-dependent operations to owned infrastructure:
| Month | SaaS (Replaced) | Contractors | Infrastructure | AI Tools | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2025 | $1,346 | $0 | $496 | $90 | $1,931 |
| Aug 2025 | $1,492 | $4,330 | $600 | $90 | $6,513 |
| Sep 2025 | $1,082 | $6,486 | $688 | $110 | $8,367 |
| Oct 2025 | $1,715 | $2,443 | $1,188 | $723 | $6,070 |
| Nov 2025 | $563 | $5,139 | $532 | $765 | $6,999 |
| Dec 2025 | $499 | $0 | $402 | $135 | $1,035 |
| Jan 2026 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
The monthly run rate before PRJ-01 went live averaged $6,312/month. After PRJ-01 replaced all 6 SaaS vendors and contractor dependency ended, the steady-state cost settled at approximately $825/month.
What the $825 Covers
At steady state, the monthly cost includes:
- Hosting/infrastructure: ~$400-$500/month for cloud servers, databases, and storage across the full portfolio
- AI tools: ~$105/month for Anthropic Claude and OpenAI subscriptions used for ongoing maintenance and iteration
- Domain/DNS/SSL: Minimal fixed costs
What it does not include: SaaS subscriptions ($0), contractor fees ($0), or any recurring vendor costs. The annual run rate is approximately $9,900/year for the entire 10-system portfolio.
The Savings Trajectory
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly operating cost | $6,312 avg | ~$825 | -87% |
| Annual operating cost | ~$75,744 | ~$9,900 | -87% |
| SaaS subscriptions | $1,565/mo | $0 | -100% |
| Contractor costs | $9,046/mo peak | $0 | -100% |
For decision-makers modeling post-build costs: budget $500-$1,000/month for a multi-system portfolio on standard cloud hosting with AI maintenance tools. The infrastructure cost of ownership is a fraction of the SaaS rental cost it replaces.
Related: [FAQ #69 — SaaS Displacement Savings]
References
- DigitalOcean/AWS (2025–2026). Small business hosting pricing data.