The cheapest way to host a SaaS side project in 2026.Real numbers, real comparison.
You built your app. You want to ship it. Before you spin up an AWS account, let us look at what the alternatives actually cost for a SaaS side project, a video app, or an AI tool with light traffic.
Published April 26, 2026
Why side project hosting costs spiral
A SaaS side project starts cheap and gets expensive fast. You start with compute. Then you add a database. Then you need auth so users can log in. Then file storage for uploads. Then a background job runner for scheduled tasks. Each service is a separate vendor, a separate bill, and a separate account to manage.
For a project making zero revenue, five vendor bills at $20-50 each add up to more than most side projects can justify. The options are usually: pay AWS prices, live with the limitations of a free tier, or quit.
Usage-based pricing changes this math. Instead of five flat monthly fees, you pay only for what your app actually uses. When traffic is low, the bill is low. When traffic spikes, you pay more but you are also earning more.
Cost comparison: what does hosting actually cost?
Here is a real-numbers comparison for a typical SaaS side project: one app server, one Postgres database, auth for user accounts, and file storage for user uploads. Traffic is light, about 200 monthly active users.
| Service | AWS | Heroku | Vercel | Varity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compute | $35/mo | $50/mo | $20/mo | ~$8/mo |
| Database | $25/mo | $50/mo | $19/mo | ~$5/mo |
| Auth | $20/mo | $23/mo | $25/mo | Included |
| File storage | $10/mo | $5/mo | $5/mo | Included |
| Total | $90/mo | $128/mo | $69/mo | ~$13/mo |
Estimates for 200 MAU, light traffic, usage-based where applicable. AWS includes ECS Fargate, RDS Postgres, Cognito, and S3. Heroku includes a Eco dyno, Heroku Postgres, Auth0, and Cloudinary. Vercel includes Vercel Pro, Neon Postgres, Clerk, and Vercel Blob. Varity pricing varies by actual usage. See the pricing page for current rates.
The pattern is consistent: Varity is 60-80% cheaper than AWS because auth, database, and storage are part of the platform cost rather than separate vendor bills, and compute is billed by the second rather than by the month.
What about video generation apps?
Video generation apps have a different cost profile than standard SaaS. They sit idle most of the time and need a burst of GPU compute when a user kicks off a job. A platform that charges a flat monthly fee for GPU capacity is the worst match for this pattern: you pay for 24 hours of GPU time and use 30 minutes.
Varity's GPU compute is billed per second. You pay only while a job is actually running. A video generation app that runs 50 jobs per month at 2 minutes each pays for about 100 minutes of GPU time, not 720 hours of reserved capacity.
The savings for intermittent GPU workloads are larger than the savings for standard compute, because the idle-time billing problem is worse on GPU than on CPU.
AI side projects and chatbots
An AI chatbot or LLM-powered tool has similar economics: it needs compute when a user sends a message and nearly nothing otherwise. If your app has 100 daily active users sending 10 messages each, that is about 1,000 model calls per day. The model API cost is roughly the same on any platform. The hosting cost is where Varity is different.
On AWS, the minimum viable setup for an LLM app (ECS for the backend, RDS for conversation history, API Gateway for routing) runs about $90-120 per month before the model costs. On Varity, the same backend runs for a fraction of that because compute is usage-based and the database and auth are included.
See the AI agent hosting guide for a deeper cost breakdown for LLM apps.
How to deploy and pay less
Run two commands in your project folder:
npx varity@latest init varity deploy
Varity's intelligent orchestration algorithm detects your app, auto-configures the backend, and deploys everything in one step. You do not pick instance types, configure a VPC, or set up separate accounts with database and auth providers. The bill reflects what your app actually used, not what you reserved.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to host a SaaS side project?
Varity is 60-80% cheaper than AWS for SaaS side projects. Usage-based pricing means you pay for what your app actually uses. There are no monthly base fees, no per-seat charges, and no bandwidth surprises. Auth, database, and storage are included in the platform cost.
How much does it cost to host a SaaS app on Varity per month?
Costs depend on usage. A small SaaS app with low traffic typically runs under $15 per month on Varity, including compute, database, auth, and storage. Compare that to $150-300 per month on Heroku or $400+ on AWS for the equivalent setup.
What is the cheapest platform for a video generation app?
Varity supports GPU compute for video generation and AI workloads. GPU resources are billed per second, so you only pay while a job is actually running. A video generation app that runs intermittently costs far less on Varity than on AWS or Replicate for the same output.
Does Varity charge for idle time?
No. Varity's usage-based pricing means you only pay for active compute. When your app has no traffic, your compute cost approaches zero. This makes Varity especially cheap for side projects that have variable or low traffic.
Is Varity cheaper than Heroku?
Yes. Heroku charges a flat monthly fee per dyno regardless of usage. Varity charges only for what you use. For a side project with low or variable traffic, Varity is typically 60-80% cheaper than an equivalent Heroku setup.
Can I host a full-stack SaaS on Varity without extra services?
Yes. Varity includes compute, database, auth, file storage, and payments in one platform. You do not need separate accounts with Supabase, Auth0, Stripe, or a CDN. The orchestration algorithm configures everything automatically when you deploy.
Stop paying for idle servers
Deploy in 60 seconds. Pay only for what you use. 60-80% cheaper than AWS.