Updated 15 Oct 2026
The cheapest stack to launch an app in 2026
The cheapest realistic way to launch a real app with logins and a database in 2026 costs about $1/month, just a domain, if you stay on free tiers.
| Role | Tool | Free tier |
|---|---|---|
| Builder | Lovable or Bolt.new | Free (5 build credits/day, up to 30/mo); Pro from $25/mo (100 credits), $21/mo billed annually / Free (1M tokens/mo, 300K/day); Pro $25/mo (10M tokens); Teams $30/member |
| Database + login | Supabase | Free (500 MB DB, 2 projects, pauses after 1 week idle, 50k MAU); Pro from $25/mo |
| Hosting | Netlify or Cloudflare Pages | Free (300 credits/mo); Personal $9/mo; Pro $20/mo / Free (static assets; Workers 100K requests/day); Workers Paid from $5/mo |
| Payments | Stripe | No monthly fee; 2.9% + 30c per successful domestic card charge (US) |
| Resend | Free 3,000 emails/mo (100/day); Pro $20/mo for 50,000 | |
| Analytics | PostHog | Free 1M analytics events + 5K session replays per month, forever |
Where free runs out
- Builder free credits are small: plan prompts carefully, or pay $25 for one month of heavy building, then downgrade.
- Supabase free projects pause after a week idle: upgrade to Pro ($25/mo) when you have real users.
- Vercel's free plan is non-commercial, so use Netlify or Cloudflare for anything that makes money.
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Prices checked on official pricing pages on 15 Oct 2026; confirm before buying. Some links may be affiliate links.