Launch Your SaaS MVP: The Exact Tools and Monthly Cost
You need a landing page, email collection, payment processing, analytics, support, and a CRM. Not in theory — literally those six things. Here's the exact stack, priced to the penny, that gets you from idea to paying customers for under $11/month.
Sasanova Team · Editorial · March 2026
Independent software comparison team. All data verified from first-party vendor sources.
Tested: All free tiers and paid plans verified against vendor pricing pages · 6 sources verified
See our methodology →Total monthly cost: ~$10.58/mo
Carrd Pro Standard ($1.58/mo) + Plausible Starter ($9/mo) + everything else free. Lemon Squeezy charges 5% + $0.50 per transaction — no monthly fee until you choose the Growth plan ($24/mo).
1. Landing Page: Carrd Pro Standard
Carrd Pro Standard
One-page sites with custom domains, forms, embeds, analytics, and Stripe/PayPal payments. 10 sites included. Built by a solo developer, so the pricing stays honest.
One-page only. No blog, no multi-page sites. Perfect for an MVP landing page, not a marketing site.
2. Email Collection & Nurture: beehiiv Launch (Free)
beehiiv Launch (Free)
2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends, custom domain, and a built-in website. No credit card required. When you outgrow it, Scale is $49/mo for unlimited subscribers and the ad network.
beehiiv branding on free tier. No referral program, no A/B testing, no polls until Scale ($49/mo).
3. Payments & Subscriptions: Lemon Squeezy (Fresh plan)
Lemon Squeezy (Fresh plan)
Merchant of record handles global tax compliance, fraud protection, and subscription billing. No monthly fee. Acquired by Stripe in 2024, so infrastructure is solid.
5% fee is higher than Stripe direct (2.9% + $0.30), but you skip building tax compliance, dunning, and a checkout flow. Worth it pre-PMF.
4. Analytics: Plausible Starter
Plausible Starter
Privacy-friendly, GDPR compliant without cookie banners, sub-1KB script. One dashboard with pageviews, referrers, goals, and UTM tracking. No complexity.
1 site, 10K pageviews/month on Starter. Growth ($14/mo) adds 3 sites and team members. No funnels until Business ($19/mo).
5. Customer Support: Crisp Free
Crisp Free
2 seats, website chat widget, shared inbox, and unlimited messages. Flat-rate pricing (per workspace, not per seat) when you upgrade. Mini is $45/mo for 4 seats.
No chatbot, no knowledge base, no omnichannel on free. Essentials ($95/mo) adds those.
6. CRM: HubSpot Free CRM
HubSpot Free CRM
Unlimited contacts, basic pipeline, email tracking, meeting scheduling, live chat, and forms. The free tier is genuinely generous for an MVP stage.
HubSpot branding, 2,000 email sends/month, no automation workflows. Starter is $20/seat/mo. Professional jumps to $890/mo flat.
The Complete Bill: Month by Month
| Tool | Monthly | Annual | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrd Pro Standard | $1.58 | $19/yr | Custom domain landing page |
| beehiiv Launch | $0 | $0 | 2,500 subscribers, unlimited sends |
| Lemon Squeezy | $0 base | $0 base | 5% + $0.50 per transaction |
| Plausible Starter | $9.00 | $108/yr | Privacy-first analytics |
| Crisp Free | $0 | $0 | Live chat + shared inbox |
| HubSpot Free CRM | $0 | $0 | Unlimited contacts, pipeline |
| Total (fixed costs) | $10.58/mo | $127/yr | Plus 5% + $0.50 per Lemon Squeezy transaction |
When to Upgrade Each Tool
Landing Page: Switch from Carrd to Framer or Webflow when you need multi-page marketing sites, a blog, or CMS functionality. Carrd is one-page only.
Email: Upgrade beehiiv to Scale ($49/mo) when you pass 2,500 subscribers or want the referral program and ad network. beehiiv upgrade math
Payments: Switch from Lemon Squeezy to Stripe direct when your transaction volume makes the 5% fee more expensive than building your own tax compliance. Rough break-even: ~$50K ARR.
Analytics: Upgrade Plausible to Growth ($14/mo) when you need multiple sites or team access. Switch to PostHog (free, 1M events) if you need product analytics (funnels, cohorts, session replays).
Support: Upgrade Crisp to Mini ($45/mo) when you exceed 2 support agents. Move to Essentials ($95/mo) for chatbot automation. Support stack guide
CRM: Upgrade HubSpot to Starter ($20/seat/mo) when you need email sequences and branding removal. Consider Pipedrive Growth ($39/seat/mo) if you want a pipeline-focused alternative. HubSpot pricing thresholds
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Carrd instead of a full website builder?
At the MVP stage, you need one page that explains what you do and captures emails or payments. Carrd Pro Standard does that for $19/year. Webflow starts at $168/year, Squarespace at $192/year. Spend the savings on getting your first 10 customers.
Why Lemon Squeezy over Stripe direct?
Lemon Squeezy is a merchant of record — it handles global sales tax, VAT, fraud protection, and subscription dunning. Stripe makes you build all of that yourself. The 5% + $0.50 fee is higher than Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30, but you skip weeks of tax compliance engineering.
Why not just use Google Analytics (free)?
You can. Google Analytics is free and more powerful. Plausible costs $9/mo but requires no cookie banner (GDPR compliant by default), loads a sub-1KB script, and gives you a single clean dashboard. If budget is truly zero, GA is fine.
What's the total first-year cost?
Fixed costs: $127/year ($19 Carrd + $108 Plausible). Everything else is free or transaction-based. If you process $10,000 in revenue through Lemon Squeezy, that's ~$500 in fees + $0.50 per transaction. Total year-one cost for a $10K-revenue MVP: roughly $650–$700.