About us
About Stack Cost AI.
We help first time founders understand what their software project will actually cost before they start building. It's free, easy to understand, and always puts free options first.
Why we exist.
Every year, thousands of side projects and startups run into a preventable problem: their cost estimate was too low. It's not because founders can't do the math. It's because they don't have the full list of what they need. Authentication, database, LLM APIs, payments, SMS, storage, monitoring, hosting, and more. Miss one category and your budget is no longer realistic.
And the content that does exist tends to be selling something. Comparison posts rank whichever provider pays the affiliate commission, and "free tier!" turns out to expire the moment your project gets users. We wanted the tool we wished existed: complete, free-first, and honest about the catch.
What we make.
01 · Estimate
Choose a domain, project type, and build size. See every stack category priced in real time, including monthly and one time costs.
02 · Compare
Explore providers from free to freemium to paid, with clear trade off notes that explain what you get at each price point. Browse and compare options whenever you need.
03 · Share
Get a clear, itemized cost summary that you can print or save as a PDF, ready to share with cofounders, clients, or investors.
How we research prices.
Mostly by hand. We review providers' official pricing pages, record the prices that matter for early stage projects, and note where each free tier realistically stops being free. Every price shows when it was last verified, and anything that hasn't been checked recently is clearly flagged. When providers change their pricing, we update the numbers during regular verification passes. The result is a planning estimate, not a quote. Always confirm the current pricing directly with the provider before committing your budget. That's not just a disclaimer. It's how we approach the numbers.
What we believe.
Free first, always.
Free and freemium providers are prioritized by default. Paid options are still included, but they are never pushed ahead of better free alternatives. If affiliate links ever appear, they will always be clearly disclosed and will never influence the rankings.
Honest about the catch.
Nothing gets a "free" label without explaining where the free tier stops being free. Accurate pricing matters, so our data is hand checked and regularly reverified.
Private by default.
No accounts, no signups, and no trackers. Your estimates are calculated directly in your browser and never sent to our servers. There's simply nothing to leak.
What's next.
More domains, more project types, and more frequent re verification. New research sheets are added as they're completed. Today, that includes AI products, software development, and website development, with mobile and e commerce coming next.