---
title: "Self-hosting vs SaaS cost"
description: "The honest yearly cost of running open-source software yourself, set against the bill it replaces, with the seat count where it stops paying."
canonical: "https://lopifi.com/tools/selfhost-cost"
---

# Self-hosting vs SaaS cost

> The honest yearly cost of running open-source software yourself, set against the bill it replaces, with the seat count where it stops paying.

Source: https://lopifi.com/tools/selfhost-cost
Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com)

---

- **Group:** Software

## Inputs

- `price` — Vendor price per seat per month
- `seats` — Seats
- `hosting` — Hosting per year
- `backups` — Backups per year
- `tooling` — Other paid tooling per year
- `hourly` — Cost of an hour of admin time
- `admin` — Admin hours per month
- `restore` — Restore-test and upgrade hours per year
- `setup` — One-off set-up hours
- `currency` — Currency (ISO 4217 code — sets the decimals: JPY 0, USD 2, KWD 3.)

Runs entirely in the browser: no network call, no data leaves the page. The same definition powers the Lopifi Tools Chrome extension.