a personal recipe app for home cooks
Estimated monthly cost at the usage scale below — billed by actual usage
0.04 req/s
Peak Concurrency
17.73 MB
Database Storage
1.1 GB
Object Storage
31.12 GB
Outbound data transfer
What is this app
This small personal recipe app lets a community of users save and browse recipes with photos. Registered users can create recipes with photos and save recipes for later, while visitors can browse and view the recipe collection.
As an anonymous visitor, I want to browse recipes and open recipe details so that I can discover recipes without creating an account.
As a registered recipe user, I want to browse recipes and view their photos and instructions so that I can choose what to cook.
As a registered recipe user, I want to save a recipe so that I can find it again later.
As a registered recipe user, I want to create a recipe with photos so that it becomes available in the recipe library.
450
registered_recipe_users
Registered users who browse recipes, save recipes, and create recipes with photos.
0
anonymous_visitors
Unregistered visitors who can browse public recipes and view recipe details without saving or publishing content.
Requirements to minimum viable plan to cost
Momen doesn't give a vague quote: it first sizes the project's actual demand for each capability and resource, then costs each item out.
The numbers in the "Project demand" column below — their scale assumptions and derivations — are detailed in Scale & sizing.
Minimum viable plan
BASIC
The app needs ongoing public access, multiple backend workflows, and professional external branding, requiring at least BASIC.
See the capability-by-capability assessment ▾
PROJECT DEMAND
ALLOWANCE PROVIDED (COMPOSITION)
Basic
Basic is the minimum viable plan
Basic
(Plan tier: BASIC)
See minimum viable plan above
39
single-tenant kit
1 req/s
not purchased
(plan/kit 5 req/s)
Covered by plan/kit (margin ~400%)
0
Database storage add-on
50.00 MB
not purchased
(plan/kit 200.00 MB)
Covered by plan/kit (margin ~300%)
0
Object storage
add-on
1.18 GB
not purchased
(plan/kit 2.00 GB)
Covered by plan/kit (margin ~69%)
0
Outbound data transfer add-on
33.41 GB/mo
500GB × 1/year, amortized monthly
(plan/kit 2.00 GB/mo + add-on +31.41 GB/mo)
Add-on fills +31.41 GB/mo gap beyond plan/kit
2.92
AI points add-on
0 points
not purchased
(plan/kit 1.0M points)
No requirement
0
plan + add-ons · usage-based · no development cost
Your options for this project
In the table below, the "monthly infrastructure" for the self-built / AI routes is derived from the AWS list prices shown below, sized against this project's actual usage.
2 × t4g.large × 730h
EC2 t4g.large → 98.11
2 × db.m6g.large (Multi-AZ) × 730h
RDS PostgreSQL db.m6g.large → 232.14
0.02 GB-month
RDS gp3 storage → 0
1.18 GB-month
S3 Standard → 0.03
0.00 GB (first 100GB free)
Internet egress → 0
Total ≈ $330.28 / mo
Pure cloud resources
DEVELOPMENT COST
MONTHLY CLOUD INFRA ($/MO)
MONTHLY TOTAL
(INFRA + OPS)
Traditional outsourcing / build in-house
about $45,000 - $70,000
≈ $330
Based on the AWS estimate above
≈ $2,330
Infra $330 + ops ~$2,000
4-6 months
5 / 5
Vibe Coding
about $6,000 - $12,000
≈ $330
Based on the AWS estimate above
≈ $1,830
Infra $330 + ops ~$1,500
hours
5 / 5
AI full-stack generation
about $3,000 - $7,000
≈ $330
Based on the AWS estimate above
≈ $1,830
Infra $330 + ops ~$1,500
hours
3 / 5
Off-the-shelf SaaS / vertical solution
$0
N/A
Priced per seat, not by cloud infra
≈ $16,000+
Per-seat pricing, tens of thousands of users
days
1 / 5
Momen
Recommended
$0
≈ $330
Based on the AWS estimate above
≈ $330
1-2 weeks
4 / 5
Servers, databases, traffic and storage are inherent infrastructure costs for this project — you pay them whether you outsource, use Cursor or Lovable, or build it yourself (self-built runs ≈ $441/mo at AWS list prices, often more), plus the extra dev and ops staff. Momen bundles all of it into $368/mo all-in and removes the need for an ops team.
The frontend can be generated with AI tools (Cursor, Lovable, etc.); the hard part is the backend — auth, database, scaling, data security and ops. Momen delivers a production-grade backend as a BaaS: keep the vibe-coding speed on the frontend, while the backend runs on proven infrastructure — reliable, with no self-hosting or ops.
What scale this estimate assumes, and how the numbers are derived
Cost depends heavily on usage volume. First see the key assumptions and business scenarios this estimate uses, then the full calculation derived from each scenario for every resource — all adjustable to your real situation.
We assume the stated population of about 500 users represents the stable overall audience of this small personal recipe app. The estimate includes registered recipe users and a smaller pool of anonymous visitors who may browse without accounts; if the app is private or has a larger public audience, this anchor can be adjusted.
We assume this is a standard linear-growth small SaaS-style application because its recipe collection and user base are expected to grow gradually rather than arrive as a full pre-existing dataset or experience a short launch burst. If the app launches with a full pre-existing recipe library or has already reached a stable ceiling, this parameter can be adjusted accordingly.
Routine Recipe Browsing
Routine Recipe Browsing
Routine Recipe Browsing
Routine Recipe Browsing
30
times/month
0.04 req/s
Peak load
We assume public and registered browsing occurs throughout ordinary daytime and evening use rather than in a strongly synchronized burst. Anonymous discovery and registered browsing are separate purposes because they have different flow permissions and different optional save behavior. The duration represents a broad routine browsing period, and the monthly frequency reflects daily availability of the recipe library. This scene covers the list and detail reads, while the save continuation is also represented in a separate purpose below.
Main impact: Peak Concurrency
The scenarios above set the assumptions for each resource; below is the full calculation based on those assumptions. Click to expand each item.
How this app works
What exactly does this budget support? Broken down by business scenario, showing the pages, data tables, automation flows and AI
assistant behind each one.
Anonymous visitors browse public recipes and open individual recipe details.
Registered users browse recipes, read a recipe, and optionally save it.
Registered users create a recipe and attach photos for later browsing.
page
data_table
action_flow
Recipe Browse Page
Public and registered-user entry point for browsing saved recipe content and opening a recipe.
Recipe Detail Page
Full recipe reading page with photo viewing and an option for registered users to save the recipe.
Recipe Editor Page
Creation form for registered users to enter recipe content and upload recipe photos.
What you might want to know about this project
The Q&A below is generated by AI based on this project's type, features and scale.
What features are included in this estimate?
Who can use the recipe app?
What most affects storage and bandwidth usage?
What would increase the resource requirements?
Copy to discuss with AI
Challenge & re-estimate