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niuniu
niuniu

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I Replaced My $50/Month DevOps Pipeline with Free Tools

#cloud #opensource #free #productivity

Why I Went All-Free on Cloud Services

I was spending over $200/month on cloud services for my side projects. One day I decided to see if I could replace every single one with free alternatives.

The result? I now run 3 production apps for exactly $0/month.

Here's the complete breakdown of what I replaced and how.

🗄️ Database: Supabase Free Tier → $0

Supabase gives you a free PostgreSQL database that's genuinely usable:

Feature Supabase Free Paid Alternative (AWS RDS)
Storage 500 MB $15-50/month
Connections 60 concurrent Same
Auth built-in ✅ Yes ❌ Extra setup
Realtime ✅ Yes ❌ Extra cost
Edge Functions 500K/mo Lambda $$$ 
# Quick setup
npx supabase init
npx supabase start
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Pro tip: Use Supabase Auth instead of building your own. It supports Google, GitHub, and email login out of the box.

🚀 Hosting: Vercel + Netlify → $0

I split my apps between Vercel and Netlify for redundancy:

Vercel Free Tier

  • 100 GB bandwidth/month
  • Serverless Functions included
  • Automatic HTTPS
  • Git-based deploys

Netlify Free Tier

  • 100 GB bandwidth/month
  • Form handling (100 submissions/mo)
  • Split testing built-in
  • Edge Functions 
# Deploy to Vercel
npm i -g vercel
vercel --prod

# Deploy to Netlify  
npm i -g netlify-cli
netlify deploy --prod
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🔐 Auth + Backend: Supabase + Railway → $0

Railway Free Tier

  • $5 credit monthly (enough for small apps)
  • PostgreSQL, Redis, MongoDB support
  • Custom domains
  • Docker support 
# Simple Dockerfile for Railway
FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --production
COPY . .
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]
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🌐 CDN + DNS: Cloudflare → $0

Cloudflare's free tier is insane:

  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • DDoS protection included
  • SSL certificates free
  • DNS management free
  • Workers (100K requests/day free) 
// Cloudflare Worker example (free)
export default {
  async fetch(request) {
    return new Response('Hello from the edge!', {
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' }
    });
  }
};
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🗃️ Object Storage: Cloudflare R2 → $0

R2 has zero egress fees (yes, really):

Service Storage Egress
AWS S3 5 GB free $0.09/GB
Cloudflare R2 10 GB free $0
Backblaze B2 10 GB free $0.01/GB

💡 The Free AI Layer

For AI features, I use local models via Ollama instead of paying for API calls:

# Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# Pull a free model
ollama pull codellama:7b

# Run it
ollama serve
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Combined with tools like MonkeyCode for AI-assisted coding, you get a complete AI-powered development stack for $0.

Monthly Cost Comparison

Service Paid (typical) Free Alternative
Database $15-50 Supabase
Hosting $20-50 Vercel/Netlify
CDN $20-50 Cloudflare
Auth $25+ Supabase Auth
Storage $5-20 R2
AI Coding $20/mo MonkeyCode (free)
Total $105-195 $0

Conclusion

You don't need to spend money to build and deploy real applications in 2026. The free tiers from these services are generous enough for most side projects, MVPs, and even small production apps.

What free services do you use? Drop a comment below — I'd love to add to this list!

P.S. If you want AI-assisted coding without the subscription fees, check out MonkeyCode. It's free, open-source, and runs entirely on your machine.

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