Enterprise One-Click Tools: $50K/Year or $50/Month?
The shocking price difference between SaaS subscriptions and self-hosted alternatives. Your CFO needs to see this.
The SaaS Tax Nobody Talks About
Every SaaS tool you add is another line item that grows with your team. Let’s expose the math.
The Per-Seat Nightmare
Enterprise SaaS pricing follows a predictable pattern:
| Tool | Per Seat/Month | 50 Users/Year |
|---|---|---|
| Tableau | $70 | $42,000 |
| Jira | $14 | $8,400 |
| Confluence | $6 | $3,600 |
| Slack | $15 | $9,000 |
| Notion | $10 | $6,000 |
Add them up and you’re looking at $69,000/year for basic productivity tools.
The Self-Hosted Alternative
Here’s what those same capabilities cost when self-hosted:
| Capability | Self-Hosted Tool | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| BI/Analytics | Metabase | ~$25 |
| Project Management | Plane | ~$20 |
| Documentation | BookStack | ~$15 |
| Chat | Mattermost | ~$30 |
| Workspace | Outline | ~$20 |
| Total | ~$110/month |
That’s $1,320/year vs $69,000. Same capabilities.
Self-hosting saves 98% on software costs. Even adding infrastructure costs, you’re looking at 90%+ savings.
But What About…
”Self-hosting is complicated”
Not anymore. InfraPilot deploys these tools in one click. No DevOps required.
”We need enterprise support”
Most open-source tools offer enterprise support plans. Still cheaper than SaaS.
”What about security?”
Self-hosted = your data on your servers. No third-party access. Better compliance.
”Maintenance is a burden”
InfraPilot handles updates, backups, and monitoring. You just use the tools.
Real Company Comparison
Company A (SaaS Stack)
- 100 employees
- 15 SaaS tools
- Annual cost: $180,000
Company B (Self-Hosted)
- 100 employees
- Same 15 capabilities
- Annual cost: $18,000
Same functionality. 10x cheaper.
The Best Candidates for Self-Hosting
Not every tool makes sense to self-host. Focus on:
High Value Self-Hosting
- ✅ Analytics (Metabase, PostHog)
- ✅ Automation (n8n, Airflow)
- ✅ CMS (Ghost, WordPress)
- ✅ Databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)
- ✅ Documentation (BookStack, Wiki.js)
Keep as SaaS
- ❌ Email (deliverability is hard)
- ❌ Video conferencing (infrastructure intensive)
- ❌ Real-time collaboration (complex sync)
Getting Started
The easiest self-hosting wins:
- Metabase - Replace your $70/seat Tableau
- n8n - Replace your $50/user Zapier
- PostHog - Replace your $1,000/month analytics tool
Deploy all three with InfraPilot in under 10 minutes.
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