There's a persistent myth in the startup world:

"You need serious money to start a SaaS."

Reality check: you don't.

You don't need AWS credits.
You don't need Vercel Pro.
You don't need a $50k runway.

Today, you can:

• Build a working product

• Launch an MVP

• Reach early adopters

• Even get your first paying customers

...using tools that cost almost nothing.

This post is a practical, indie-hacker--friendly stack for solo devs who want to move from idea → MVP → early adoption without committing to expensive tooling too early.

If any of these tools start charging you later, that's a good problem to have.

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Hosting

Hetzner Cloud
Pricing: hetzner.com/cloud

Hetzner tends to be much cheaper and simpler than AWS for basic use. Hetzner gives you predictable, low monthly costs and simple pricing without many add-ons.

• Entry cloud instances (like CX/CAX shared vCPUs) start around €3.49--€7.50/month (~$4--$9) with generous included traffic and hourly billing.

• These are shared vCPU instances (no dedicated CPU), but for MVP workloads they're usually fine.

• You only pay for what you use, and you can delete servers anytime.

Vercel
Free plan: vercel.com/pricing

Excellent developer experience, especially for Next.js based apps, with seamless deployments, previews, and tight Git integration. Ideal for shipping MVPs quickly and iterating fast. Works well as an initial setup, with the expectation that you may need to move or upgrade as traffic, backend complexity, or cost constraints grow.

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Database & Authentication

Supabase - Free Tier ($0)
Free plan: supabase.com/pricing

Supabase gives you Postgres, authentication, storage, and access control in one place. For most MVPs, this removes weeks of backend work.

If your product can't be validated on Supabase's free tier, the issue probably isn't your database.

MongoDB Atlas - Free Tier ($0)
A managed NoSQL database with a generous shared cluster. Useful if your data model is flexible or document-heavy.
Free plan: mongodb.com/atlas/pricing

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Analytics

Know What Users Are Doing

PostHog - Free Tier ($0)
Free plan: posthog.com/pricing

Includes:

• Event tracking

• Funnels

• Session recordings

• Feature flags

This is product analytics, not just page views.

Google Analytics - Free
Free plan: marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/

Useful for high-level traffic insights, but limited for product decisions.

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Transactional Email

ZeptoMail - ~$5/year
Pricing: /www.zoho.com/zeptomail/pricing.html

Perfect for login links, password resets, and notifications.

Yes five dollars a year is enough for many MVPs.

Resend - Free Tier
Free plan: resend.com/pricing

Very developer-friendly and works well with modern React/Next.js stacks.

Mailgun - Free Trial

Pricing: www.mailgun.com/pricing

Battle-tested email delivery with strong deliverability. Better suited once volume increases.

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Error Tracking & Monitoring

Sentry - Free Tier
Free plan: sentry.io/pricing

You don't need perfect observability early. You just need to know when things break.

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Domain Name

Cloudflare Registrar - ~$10/year
Pricing: www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/

GoDaddy
Widely used, but renewal prices are often higher. Use cautiously.
Pricing: www.godaddy.com/domains

Hostinger
Budget-friendly domain pricing and bundles for beginners.
Pricing: www.hostinger.com/domains

One domain is enough. Validation beats branding at this stage.

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AI Integrations

If your product needs AI integrations Gemini API is great option during MVP phase as it provides a decent Free Tier.

Google Gemini API - Free Tier (Tier 0)
Pricing: ai.google.dev/pricing

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Design & UI

Figma --- Free
Free Starter plan: www.figma.com/pricing

Canva - Free
Free plan: www.canva.com/pricing

Your UI doesn't need to be perfect it needs to be understandable.

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Feedback Tools

Early feedback isn't a luxury it's a compass that prevents you from building the wrong thing. Even a few genuine responses can reshape your roadmap and help you prioritize what matters most.

Tally - Free
Lightweight forms for waitlists, feedback, and onboarding questions with no setup friction.
tally.so/pricing

Formspree - Free
Turn static forms into working endpoints without backend code. Useful for early landing pages.
formspree.io/plans

Senja - Free Tier
Collect, manage, and display testimonials to build early trust without custom work.
senja.io/pricing

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Email Lists

Email is still one of the highest-ROI channels. Even a small, engaged list can drive feedback, early sales, and repeat usage.

MailerLite - Free Plan
Free plan: www.mailerlite.com/pricing

• Up to 1,000 subscribers

• Email campaigns + basic automations

• Landing pages and forms included

Great balance between simplicity and power for early-stage products.

Mailchimp - Free Plan
Free plan: mailchimp.com/pricing/

• Up to 500 contacts (limits apply)

• Basic email campaigns and signup forms

Useful if you want something familiar, though it gets restrictive quickly.

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AI Coding Assistants

AI coding assistants help you write code faster, catch errors earlier, and explore patterns you might otherwise miss. For solo developers trying to ship products quickly, they're extremely useful especially when used right. Here are some tools which offer free tiers you can use while building your MVP.

GitHub Copilot - Free for eligible users / trial
Free access is often available for students and verified open-source maintainers, and there's typically a free trial period for new users.

github.com/features/copilot

ChatGPT (Free tier)
Using the free plan of ChatGPT (or OpenAI Playground) you can ask for code generation, explanations, and debugging tips---especially helpful when stitching APIs, writing functions, or generating test data.

chat.openai.com

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Boilerplates

Boilerplates help indie hackers compress weeks of setup into hours. Instead of wiring auth, billing, layouts, and basic flows from scratch, you start with a working foundation and focus on the actual product.

They're especially useful for:

• Landing pages with waitlists

• AI-powered SaaS MVPs

• Directories and micro tools

• Validating ideas quickly before over-investing

Below are a few open-source boilerplates suitable for MVP and early adoption stages:

OpenSaaS
A full-stack open-source SaaS starter with auth, billing, and common patterns baked in.

OpenAI Next.js Starter
Useful if you're building an AI-first product using Next.js and modern tooling.

Next SaaS Stripe Starter
A Next.js starter focused on clean UI, reusable components, and essential SaaS building blocks, ideal for quickly shipping a polished landing page and MVP without starting from scratch.

If you want to explore more options (both open source and paid), a good starting point is boilerplatelist.com

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Final Thoughts

You don't need a perfect stack to start.

You need:

• A small painpoint

• A usable solution

• A way to reach the first few users

If these free tiers stop being enough, that's not a failure.

That's traction.

And traction is the only reason to upgrade.