Contents
- The post-launch operating cost breaks down into two categories: hosting infrastructure and AI tools.
- According to the 2024 Flexera State of the Cloud Report, the average mid-market company spends $1.2 million annually on cloud and SaaS -- roughly $100,000/month.
- Three factors keep the monthly number low:
In a documented production environment, the monthly operating cost for a custom-built platform that replaced six SaaS vendors settled at approximately $825/month. That covers hosting infrastructure and AI tooling. Contractor costs: $0. SaaS subscription costs: $0. This is a 90% reduction from the $6,312/month average the business was paying before the build (28-month financial data, QB-verified February 2026).
What the $825/month covers
The post-launch operating cost breaks down into two categories: hosting infrastructure and AI tools. There are no ongoing contractor fees, no SaaS subscription renewals, and no vendor management overhead. The operator maintains the system directly.
For comparison, here is the monthly cost trajectory during and after the build (28_month_financial, QB-verified):
| Month | SaaS (Being Replaced) | Contractors | Infrastructure | AI Tools | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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* |
*January 2026 shows $0 in the financial records as the platform was fully operational with costs captured in the prior period's infrastructure commitments. The stabilized run rate is approximately $825/month.
How this compares to industry benchmarks
According to the 2024 Flexera State of the Cloud Report, the average mid-market company spends $1.2 million annually on cloud and SaaS -- roughly $100,000/month. That is an extreme comparison, but it illustrates the structural overhead of rented infrastructure at scale.
A more relevant benchmark: the six SaaS platforms this system replaced cost $1,565/month in subscriptions alone. Add $9,046/month at peak for contractors to manage those platforms and build integrations between them. The all-in average was $6,312/month before the custom build. After: $825/month (CS10, 28_month_financial, audited).
What drives ongoing costs down
Three factors keep the monthly number low:
No vendor seats or per-user pricing. SaaS platforms charge per seat, per lead, per transaction, or per feature tier. An owned system has a fixed hosting cost regardless of usage volume. PRJ-01 processes 616,543 leads without per-lead pricing (portal_stealth_locked_values).
No integration maintenance. The six-vendor stack had 15 integration points, each one a potential failure requiring contractor time to debug. The internal platform has 8 clean, controlled integration points maintained by the operator (CS10).
No contractor dependency. Contractor costs dropped from $9,046/month at peak to $0/month by December 2025. The operator maintains the system directly, eliminating the largest single expense category (28_month_financial, QB-verified).
The annual run rate at $825/month is approximately $9,900/year. The previous annual cost: approximately $75,744 ($6,312/month times 12). That is a permanent reduction of roughly $65,844 per year -- every year the system operates.
Related: When should a business replace SaaS with custom-built software? | How much does it cost to build a custom CRM?
References
- Flexera (2024). "State of the Cloud Report." Mid-market cloud and SaaS spend benchmarks ($1.2M average annual spend).
- Keating, M.G. (2026). "Case Study: The Platform Displacement." Stealth Labz. Read case study