SaaS on AWS: Complete Development Cost Breakdown
Discover the detailed breakdown of development costs for SaaS on AWS.
The cloud-based SaaS products have set a new level where their importance and use cases don’t need any introduction. According to statistics, the global market revenue of cloud-based SaaS is expected to reach approx $282 billion in 2024. AWS (Amazon Web Services) has emerged as a platform to host cloud-based SaaS because of its comprehensive range of services and robust infrastructure. In this blog, we will discuss why you should invest in a SaaS development company & how much it costs to develop an AWS SaaS application. Let’s get started.
Definition of SaaS
SaaS (Software as a Service) is a software licensing and delivery model that helps businesses access data remotely from any networked devices. In a SaaS-based model, users can access any software application through API or web browser without installing, maintaining, and managing any infrastructure. Key features of cloud-based SaaS include:
Better Accessibility
Managed Infrastructure
Auto Updates & Maintenance
High Scalability
Global SaaS development market revenue (2023 - 2028)
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Why select AWS to develop a cloud-based SaaS?
Developing a SaaS-based application from scratch is quite an expensive and complex process. Therefore, selecting AWS to create cloud-based SaaS apps can be lucrative as it brings numerous advantages such as:
1. Global Infrastructure: AWS comes with a global identity and value that comprises multiple zones and regions. AWS promises worldwide coverage of cloud computing solutions. This global presence and infrastructure ensures high resilience and reliability that reduces the risk of SaaS service disruptions.
2. Scalability: AWS’s immense scalability enables SaaS applications to quickly scale. With different services like AWS Lambda and Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, applications can manage resources automatically to accommodate several workloads. This ensures improved performance of SaaS applications.
3. Cost-effectiveness: The flexible pricing models and pay-as-you-go pricing options of AWS help SaaS developers manage costs and optimize resources. Apart from that, the cost management tools and pricing transparency of AWS allow businesses to track all spending efficiently. This ensures better cost savings.
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Cost of AWS SaaS development solutions
The overall cost of developing SaaS-based products on AWS mostly varies depending on several factors like project complexity levels, development methodologies, project scale, geographic locations, team size, etc. Let's have a look at how different SaaS service providers would impact the price range.
| Development team types | Price ranges |
| In-house teams | $100,000 to $120,000 |
| Domestic agencies | $120,000 to $180,000 |
| Outsourcing companies | $50,000 to $80,000 |
| Freelancers | $40,000 to $70,000 |
Collaborating with outsourced SaaS development firms can be a lucrative choice for end-to-end development services. Though freelancers are cost-effective, since they simultaneously work on several projects, partnering with them may create some challenges associated with communication, coordination, and project management. Here are the different stages of the AWS SaaS development process and their associated cost.
1. Planning
This is the initial stage where the specific project requirements are clearly defined. Planning also involves conducting thorough market research and outlining the project objectives. Associated costs during the project planning stage may include project management expenses, consultation fees, etc. According to SaaS application development services, planning costs mostly range from $100 to $1,000.
2. MVP development
Before developing SaaS-based software on AWS, it’s important to create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) with minimal design features and core functionalities. MVP helps to gather user feedback and find key areas of improvement. According to the software developers in India, the average cost of MVP development starts from $5,000 and goes up to $120,000 based on project complexity and features.
3. UI/UX design
User interface and user experience design play a big role in AWS SaaS development. Based on the feedback gathered after the MVP launch, it’s time to focus on UI/UX design elements such as color schemes, layouts, typography, etc. UI/UX design should be well-defined, well-structured, and sophisticated so that users can seamlessly leverage all features of the SaaS product. The average cost of custom UI/UX design for SaaS-based applications ranges from $50,000 to $100,000.
4. Development
The development phase involves front-end & back-end development, APIs & database integration, server-side logic development, and so on. Let’s have a look at the AWS SaaS development cost breakdown.
| Key features | Average costs |
| API Integration | $500 to $50,000 |
| File management | $200 to $10,000 |
| Push Notification | $50 to $500 |
| Database Integration | $100 to $5,000 |
| Email Marketing | $500 to $1,000 |
| Accounting | $1000 to $20,000 |
| Communication Platform | $500 to $5,000 |
| HRM Solutions | $15000 to $100,000 |
| Payment Gateways | $5000 to $100,000 |
5. Ongoing maintenance & upkeep
After the SaaS product goes live, maintenance & support services are important to optimize product performance, fix bugs, and implement updates. Therefore, reliable SaaS development companies suggest you focus on ongoing maintenance charges along with development costs. SaaS product maintenance costs usually range from $30 to $250 per hour.
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Final words:
The total cost of developing a SaaS product on Amazon Web Services varies depending on diverse factors including storage requirements, compute resources, networking, and so on. Though AWS provides lucrative pricing models with multiple services, optimizing overall development costs requires proper planning, monitoring & implementation. Therefore, before you hire SaaS developers, clearly define all your project objectives and create a roadmap to avoid budget overruns.
FAQs
Faq 1: How much does it cost to develop a SaaS app?
The average cost of developing a SaaS application ranges from $15,000 to $150,000. However, it fully depends on a number of factors such as complexity levels, design & prototyping, front-end & backend development, integration & testing, and so on. Based on complexity, estimated price ranges of SaaS app development include:
| Complexity levels | Estimated costs |
| Micro SaaS apps | $10,000 to $25,000 |
| Basic SaaS apps | $25,000 to $55,000 |
| Medium SaaS apps | $55,000 to $80,000 |
| Complex SaaS apps | $80,000 to $150,000 |
Faq 2: How long does it take to build a SaaS application?
Developing a SaaS application usually takes 3 to 9 months to complete. However, there is no exact date of development as it totally depends on the overall complexities of the project, development team size, developer’s skills, etc. Therefore, if you would like to build a complex SaaS app with advanced features within a short timeline, hire dedicated developers or a reliable and experienced SaaS development company.