SaaS vs Self-Host Cost Calculator
| Option | Total Cost |
|---|---|
| SaaS subscription | |
| Self-hosted | |
| Difference |
| Team type | Users | SaaS cost ($) | Self-host cost ($) | Cheaper option |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startup design crew | 8 | 1,440 | 3,620 | SaaS |
| IT department with spare hardware | 25 | 4,500 | 3,150 | Self-host |
| Global customer support | 60 | 10,800 | 9,780 | Self-host (by $1,020) |
How the comparison is calculated
SaaS spending is the monthly subscription fee multiplied by the number of users and the months you expect to keep the service: . Self-hosting combines infrastructure, setup labor, recurring maintenance, and utilities into one total: . Here represents server cost, the labor rate, the one-time setup hours, the maintenance hours per month, the energy cost per month, and the number of months in your analysis.
Because every organization values staff time differently, feel free to adjust the hourly rate to capture opportunity cost. You can also plug in higher energy values if redundant power or cooling is required. The calculator highlights whichever option costs less while still showing the raw totals so you can judge the gap for yourself.
Interpreting the results
A positive difference means self-hosting is more expensive than SaaS for the period you entered, while a negative value indicates potential savings from running the software yourself. Keep in mind that SaaS fees often scale linearly with user counts, whereas self-host costs may jump when additional hardware or staff are needed. Testing multiple user and month scenarios helps reveal those inflection points.
For a broader due diligence checklist, pair this tool with the SaaS Data Residency Compliance Cost Calculator, SaaS Pricing Tier Comparison Calculator, and Self-Hosted Server vs Cloud Hosting Cost Calculator. Together they cover compliance, pricing tiers, and infrastructure trade-offs when building a business case.