# Cost & Budget Estimate > All figures in **US dollars (USD)**. Loose ranges, not exact numbers. > Built from the approved project spec. If the spec changes, redo this > estimate before building. ## TL;DR In one or two sentences: what is the realistic monthly cost band for this project, and what is the biggest thing that would push it higher? > _Example -- replace before saving:_ > _Most months: about $10 - $30. Costs go up if many users save photos > or if the AI gets used a lot. Worst case: a few hundred dollars._ ## What you will need to sign up for A short, plain-English list of accounts the project needs. One line each. Mark `(free tier OK)` where the free tier covers the typical usage we expect. - Cloud host (free tier OK) - Domain name (typical: $10 - $20 / year) - _Add or remove rows so this matches the actual project_ ## Hosting & infrastructure The recurring monthly cost of running the app. Pick the rows that match the spec; delete the rest. - **Hosting / app server**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Database**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **CDN / file storage**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Domain & TLS**: ~$1 - $2 / month (annual cost spread out) - **Email / notifications**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Other (describe)**: estimated $X - $Y / month ## API & third-party fees Per-call or per-event fees that scale with usage. Pick rows that match the spec; delete the rest. State the **assumption** so the reader can scale up or down. > _Assumption used for the numbers below: about 100 active users per > day, each doing 5 main actions. Adjust to match this project._ - **AI / LLM (text)**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Image generation**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Search or embeddings**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **SMS / phone calls**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Maps / location**: estimated $X - $Y / month - **Payments**: usually a percentage of each transaction (typical: about 3%) - **Other (describe)**: estimated $X - $Y / month ## Monthly band Pull the rows above into a single estimate. - **Low** _(quiet month / demo / internal use)_: ~$X / month - **Typical** _(everyday use as described in the spec)_: ~$Y / month - **High** _(busy month / launch spike / growth)_: ~$Z / month If the **high** band is much bigger than **typical** (more than about 10x), call out _why_ in the next section. ## Scale considerations What would push this project from typical into high? Plain language only. Examples to delete or replace: - Lots of users uploading photos (the cloud charges for data leaving its servers, sometimes called "egress") - A viral moment that drives 100x normal traffic for a few days - A feature that uses the AI on every page view instead of on demand ## Build & maintenance time A rough sense of effort, not a quote. - **Build**: about _N_ - _M_ hours of focused work - **Maintenance**: about _N_ - _M_ hours / month after launch ## Decision point Pick **one**. The build phase will refuse to start until this is recorded. 1. **Build** -- proceed to build with this cost expectation. 2. **Rescope** -- keep building but reduce cost first. List the spec changes, then redo this estimate. 3. **No-build** -- stop here. Record the reason below. 4. **Skip** -- skip the cost phase. Record a short reason (e.g. "hobby project, cost is not a concern", or "cost already estimated as part of parent project X"). ### Decision recorded - **Decision**: _build / rescope / no-build / skip_ - **Date**: _YYYY-MM-DD_ - **Recorded by**: _name or handle_ - **Reason** (required for skip / no-build / rescope): _one or two sentences in plain language_ --- _This estimate is a snapshot. Vendor pricing changes over time. Redo this file before any major scope change. Methodology lives in [references/cost-models.md](../references/cost-models.md)._