Real life example: Deployment Pricing for Web Apps

Published

July 20, 2024

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Deploying a web application can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to understanding the costs involved. Today, we’ll dive deep into deployment pricing for web apps on popular platforms like AWS EC2, Lambda, Vercel, and Fly.io. Buckle up, because by the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly how much you might be paying as your app grows, from a handful of users to a bustling metropolis of requests and database queries.

Imagine you’re opening a small café. At first, you don’t need much space or many supplies. But as more customers come in, you’ll need to rent a bigger space, buy more ingredients, and hire extra staff.

AWS EC2 Pricing: The Old Reliable Workhorse for Web Apps

When it comes to deployment, AWS EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is like the reliable old pickup truck of cloud computing. It’s sturdy, versatile, and you pay for what you use, no surprises—unless you forget to turn off an instance, but that’s a story for another day.

Cost Breakdown:

On-Demand Instances: Pay for compute capacity by the hour or second, with no long-term commitments.
Reserved Instances: Save up to 75% over equivalent on-demand capacity by committing to a one- or three-year term.
Spot Instances: Bid for unused EC2 capacity at up to 90% off.

Real-Life Example: Imagine you’re deploying a blog with moderate traffic. A t3.micro instance (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM) in the US East (N. Virginia) region costs about $0.0104 per hour. That’s roughly $7.50 per month if it’s running 24/7. But let’s get realistic—your blog probably isn’t getting a million hits a day (yet).

As your blog grows and you start getting significant traffic, you might need to scale up to a t3.medium instance (2 vCPUs, 4 GB RAM), costing about $0.0416 per hour, or around $30 per month. Add in storage costs and data transfer fees, and you’ll see your bill slowly rising with your success.

Starting Out:

Compute Instance (t3.micro): $7.50/month.
Database Instance (db.t3.micro): $12/month.
Storage (20GB): $2/month.
Data Transfer (50GB): $4/month.
Total Initial Cost: ~$25.50/month.

Growing:

Compute Instance (t3.medium): $30/month.
Database Instance (db.t3.medium): $50/month.
Storage (100GB): $10/month.
Data Transfer (200GB): $16/month.
Total Growing Cost: ~$106/month.

AWS Lambda Costs: The Efficient Whiz Kid in Serverless Computing

Next up, AWS Lambda, the poster child for serverless computing. Lambda is like that whiz kid who gets everything done efficiently and only charges you for the exact time he spends on the task.

Cost Breakdown:

Requests: First 1 million requests per month are free, $0.20 per million requests thereafter.
Compute Time: $0.00001667 per GB-second, with free tier offering 400,000 GB-seconds per month.

Real-Life Example: You have a chat application, and each chat message triggers a Lambda function to process and store it. If you handle 1 million messages a month, that’s free. If each function execution uses 128MB of memory and runs for 100ms, and you handle 10 million messages, your cost would be:

Compute Time: 128MB/1024 * 10,000,000 * 0.1s = 125,000 GB-seconds.
Cost: 125,000 * $0.00001667 = $2.08.

As your chat app becomes the new WhatsApp, handling 100 million messages a month, you’ll be looking at $20.80 for compute time—still cheaper than a Netflix subscription.

Starting Out:

Requests: Free for the first million requests/month.
Compute Time: Minimal for light usage.

Database Costs:

Database Instance (db.t3.micro): $12/month.
Storage (20GB): $2/month.
Data Transfer (50GB): $4/month.
Total Initial Cost: ~$18/month.

Growing:

Requests (10 million/month): ~$2.
Compute Time (based on app usage): ~$5.
Database Instance (db.t3.medium): $50/month.
Storage (100GB): $10/month.
Data Transfer (200GB): $16/month.
Total Growing Cost: ~$83/month.

Vercel Pricing: The All-in-One, Developer-Friendly Platform for Web Apps

Vercel is the all-in-one platform built specifically for frontend frameworks and static sites, with a serverless backend. It’s like the stylish new coworking space where everything is included, from your desk to your coffee.

Cost Breakdown:

Bandwidth: 100GB included per month, $20 per additional 100GB.
Builds: Up to 1,000 build minutes per month included.
Serverless Functions: 1000 executions per day included, $0.000008 per execution thereafter.

Real-Life Example: You’re deploying a Next.js app, a small e-commerce site. If you’re within the free tier, your costs are zero. But as your site gains traction and starts serving more traffic, you might use 200GB of bandwidth a month. Your cost then would be:

Extra Bandwidth: $20 for the additional 100GB.

As your site becomes the next Amazon, serving 1TB of data a month, your bandwidth cost alone could reach $180. Serverless function costs might add up too, especially if you’re running functions for each transaction.

Starting Out:

Free Tier: Sufficient for small projects with 100GB bandwidth, 1,000 build minutes, and 1,000 function executions/day.
Database: Use an external service like Heroku Postgres or AWS RDS.

Database Costs:

Heroku Postgres (Hobby Dev): Free (limited features).
AWS RDS (db.t3.micro): $12/month.
Storage (20GB): $2/month.
Data Transfer (50GB): $4/month.
Total Initial Cost: ~$18/month.

Growing:

Bandwidth (200GB): $20 (additional 100GB).
Build Minutes (2,000): $7.
Function Executions (50,000/day): $0.40.
Database Instance (db.t3.medium): $50/month.
Storage (100GB): $10/month.
Data Transfer (200GB): $16/month.
Total Growing Cost: ~$103.40/month.

Fly.io Costs: The Global Deployment Champion for Modern Apps

Fly.io is the platform for the globally-minded developer, making it easy to run full-stack apps (and databases) close to your users, wherever they are. Think of it as the digital nomad of deployment platforms.

Cost Breakdown:

Compute: Pay for vCPUs and memory, with pricing varying by region.
Storage: Pay for persistent volumes.
Bandwidth: Outbound data transfer costs, with generous free tier limits.

Real-Life Example: Let’s say you deploy a real-time collaboration tool. You choose a small instance with 256MB RAM and 1 vCPU, costing $2.50 per month. As your user base grows, you might scale up to a medium instance with 1GB RAM and 2 vCPUs, costing $10 per month. Add in storage for user data and outbound bandwidth costs, and you can still keep costs manageable.

As your tool becomes the next Slack, with thousands of users collaborating in real-time, you might run multiple instances in different regions to keep latency low. Your monthly costs could rise significantly, but the ability to serve users efficiently worldwide is worth it.

Starting Out:

Small Instance (256MB RAM, 1 vCPU): $2.50/month.
Database Instance (shared): ~$10/month.
Storage (20GB): $1/month.
Data Transfer (50GB): Included.
Total Initial Cost: ~$13.50/month.

Growing:

Medium Instance (1GB RAM, 2 vCPUs): $10/month.
Database Instance (dedicated): $20/month.
Storage (100GB): $5/month.
Data Transfer (200GB): Included.
Total Growing Cost: ~$35/month.

Understanding Growing Pains and Scaling Costs in Deployment Pricing

As your app grows, so do your costs. Here’s a quick illustration of how each platform scales:

AWS EC2: Start with small instances and scale vertically or horizontally. Costs increase with instance size and number.
AWS Lambda: Costs rise with the number of requests and compute time. Efficient for spiky, unpredictable workloads.
Vercel: Watch your bandwidth and function execution costs. Ideal for static sites with dynamic capabilities.
Fly.io: Scale globally, pay for compute, storage, and bandwidth. Great for apps needing low latency worldwide.

No matter which option you choose, you start small and pay more as your café (or app) becomes popular. Keep an eye on your costs and choose the option that scales best with your business.

Summary of Deployment Pricing Costs

Initial Costs:

AWS EC2: $25.50/month
AWS Lambda: $18/month
Vercel: $18/month
Fly.io: $13.50/month

Growing Costs:

AWS EC2: $106/month
AWS Lambda: $83/month
Vercel: $103.40/month
Fly.io: $35/month

Conclusion

Understanding deployment pricing is crucial as your web app evolves. Whether you’re choosing the dependable AWS EC2, the efficient AWS Lambda, the stylish Vercel, or the globally-minded Fly.io, each platform has its unique strengths and pricing quirks.

Remember, the best choice depends on your specific needs and growth trajectory. Start small, monitor your usage, and scale wisely. And who knows? With the right planning, your app could be the next big thing without breaking the bank.

Now, go forth and deploy! Your digital empire awaits.