The latest articles on DEV Community by Chris Vogt (@chrisvogt). https://dev.to/chrisvogt https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F97498%2Fda97b55a-eb91-48cd-b9e3-0ce94d7f74c7.jpeg https://dev.to/chrisvogt en Chris Vogt Wed, 25 Jun 2025 00:43:29 +0000 https://dev.to/chrisvogt/how-i-run-my-blog-for-less-than-2-a-month-305a https://dev.to/chrisvogt/how-i-run-my-blog-for-less-than-2-a-month-305a <p>My personal website, <a href="http://www.chrisvogt.me" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.chrisvogt.me</a>, currently costs me <strong>$1.79 per month</strong> to keep online. If you include my personal email account, I spend <strong>$8.99</strong> to maintain my online presence. Here's a breakdown of the costs:</p> <div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Service</th> <th>Cost (Monthly)</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Firebase &amp; Google Cloud</td> <td>$0.12</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Netlify</td> <td>$0.00 (Free)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Imgix</td> <td>$0.00 (Free)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Cloudinary</td> <td>$0.00 (Free)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Google Workspace (Email)</td> <td>$7.20</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Uptime Robot</td> <td>$0.00 (Free)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>SquareSpace (Domain Registration)</td> <td>$1.67</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Codecov</td> <td>$0.00 (Free)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Total Website Costs</strong></td> <td><strong>$1.79</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Total Including Email</strong></td> <td><strong>$8.99</strong></td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <h2> Service Breakdown </h2> <ul> <li><p><strong>Firebase &amp; Google Cloud:</strong> These provide backend infrastructure including databases, auth, and serverless functions. Most of the $0.12 comes from Cloud Scheduler jobs, Cloud Storage, and minimal Cloud Function CPU time.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Netlify:</strong> Handles hosting, SSL, and DNS. I’m using ~1.5GB of bandwidth/month on the free tier.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Imgix &amp; Cloudinary:</strong> Both serve optimized images—Imgix has 37 origin images; Cloudinary stores 228MB and delivers 5.3GB/month.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Google Workspace:</strong> My professional email provider—$7.20/month.</p></li> <li><p><strong>Uptime Robot:</strong> Free uptime monitoring and alerts.</p></li> <li><p><strong>SquareSpace:</strong> My domain registrar—$20/year (~$1.67/month).</p></li> <li><p><strong>Codecov:</strong> Free code coverage reporting for my open-source projects.</p></li> </ul> <h2> A Comment on Redundancy </h2> <p>Yes, I know I'm using multiple services for similar things. My website is a digital garden and my personal sandbox. I enjoy trying tools in real-world conditions. Over time, I’ll likely consolidate services down to my favorites.</p> <p>I built the entire site by hand, including a Firebase-powered backing service behind a GatsbyJS frontend. It's incredible how affordable a full-featured, professional website can be these days with a bit of intention and resource management.</p> <p><em>Originally published at <a href="https://www.chrisvogt.me/meta/2024-my-website-costs/" rel="noopener noreferrer">chrisvogt.me</a></em></p> gatsby react blogging webdev