xps

Learn what you'll build, who this guide is for, and the author's journey from $847/month to $0/month in tool costs

What You'll Learn

In this tutorial, I'm going to show you the exact tech stack I used to run my first $100K business—spending $0 per month on tools. Not a typo. Zero dollars.

This isn't about being cheap. It's about capital efficiency. Every dollar not spent on tools is a dollar that extends your runway, increases your profitability, and gives you more freedom to experiment. When you're bootstrapping, your constraint isn't just money—it's decision fatigue. The paradox of choice is real. There are 47,000+ SaaS tools competing for your attention and your wallet. Most solopreneurs waste weeks comparing tools, trying demos, and second-guessing their choices. I'm going to eliminate that paralysis for you.

What You'll Build

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have:

✅ A complete development environment (IDE, hosting, database, version control)
✅ Marketing automation stack (content creation, SEO, email, social media)
✅ Operations infrastructure (project management, documentation, analytics)
✅ Communication tools (email, meetings, support)
✅ Integration workflows connecting all tools seamlessly
✅ Total monthly cost: $0

Who This Is For

This tutorial is for you if:

You're bootstrapping a solo business with limited capital
You're validating an idea and need to move fast without financial commitment
You're building in public and want maximum freedom to pivot
You believe in capital efficiency as a competitive advantage
You're tired of SaaS subscriptions eating your revenue

This tutorial is NOT for you if:

You've already raised venture capital and need to "look professional"
You have a team of 10+ people (collaboration limits kick in)
You value premium support over DIY troubleshooting
You're optimizing for time saved, not money saved

My Story: From $847/Month to $0/Month

When I started my first SaaS in 2019, I was drowning in subscriptions. GitHub Pro cost me $7 per month, Heroku Hobby $14, SendGrid $15, Notion Personal Pro $8, Figma Professional $12, Google Workspace $12, Calendly Premium $10, analytics tools $49, design tools $20, and miscellaneous SaaS tools I'd forgotten about added another $700. That's a total burn of $847 per month before I'd written a single line of code. By the time I hit $5K MRR, tool subscriptions were eating 17% of my revenue. In 2022, I challenged myself to rebuild my entire stack for $0 per month. The answer was yes, and the business became profitable 4 months faster because of it.

Introduction: The $0 Tech Stack Journey