I Replaced Our $647/Month SaaS Stack With Open Source. We Saved $8

Description and use

A five‑person team cut SaaS spend from $647/month to $86/month, saving $8 after accounting for hidden costs and maintenance. Most tools were replaced with open‑source alternatives; a few were kept due to network or feature gaps.

Problem

A five-person team spent $647/month on eleven SaaS subscriptions, each with free open-source alternatives, but lacked a systematic approach to evaluate and replace them.

Outcome

The team reduced SaaS spend from $647 to $86/month, saving $8/month after accounting for server, backup, email, AI API, and maintenance costs. Most tools were successfully replaced; a few were retained due to network or feature gaps.

Workflow

• 1. Identify all SaaS subscriptions and their costs. 2. Search for open-source alternatives using curated lists and check last update dates. 3. Score each alternative on a 1–10 “how close” metric after a month of use. 4. Estimate setup time and maintenance effort. 5. Decide to switch, keep, or partially adopt each tool. 6. Deploy self-hosted instances, configure servers, backups, email, and AI API keys. 7. Monitor usage, adjust costs, and document lessons learned.

Evidence

Eleven SaaS subscriptions for a five-person team came to $647 a month.

Source

The cash bill fell 40%. But servers, backups, email delivery and AI API usage add $86

Source

I gave each swap a "how close did it get" score out of 10.

Source