Is It Worth the Cost?
Web and SaaS
cost calculator
SHOW HN2020
Legend
Is It Worth the Cost?
A simple check on whether purchasing a service is worth the cost - built in an afternoon in response to a…
isitworththecost.com#saas cost calculator#build vs buy#service roi#employee time savings
How HN took it
11 positive, 17 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 7 critical, out of 38 comments about the project. Thread score +0.05.
Idea: 8 for, 6 againstPricing: 1 for, 0 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good idea and useful for quick conceptual checks
From 4 comments
I like the idea, but a lot of other factors are missing from the analysis. 1. I’ve yet to find a service that saves 5 hours per week per employee. How do I estimate the actual…
projektfu on HNOkay I really like the idea. I think the bottom line whether the SaaS is worth the cost with the premise is that the SaaS saves time. However, time saving (item 4) is pretty…
drapery on HNI think a lot of users are missing the point. I don't see this tool as a final decision maker and it can never be one. The final decision has a lot of nuisances to that it is…
drapery on HNThis is great! Walking through the numbers mentally kinda works, but it seems people are always suspicious they're being had. Seeing it live will be very reassuring.
thatoneuser on HN
Objections
Time savings are hard to estimate and the tool assumes them
From 3 comments
I like the idea, but a lot of other factors are missing from the analysis. 1. I’ve yet to find a service that saves 5 hours per week per employee. How do I estimate the actual…
projektfu on HNOkay I really like the idea. I think the bottom line whether the SaaS is worth the cost with the premise is that the SaaS saves time. However, time saving (item 4) is pretty…
drapery on HNThis seems really flawed. Let's plug in numbers. This says that if a service costs 125$/month/employee and I have 1000 employees ($125000/month) I will save ~5 million a year.…
georgyo on HN
Hidden costs like support staff, lock-in and dependency are missing
From 3 comments
This seems really flawed. Let's plug in numbers. This says that if a service costs 125$/month/employee and I have 1000 employees ($125000/month) I will save ~5 million a year.…
georgyo on HNThe two biggest line items are not easily measured and thus not included: The removal of an external dependency that you don't control and may not evolve with your needs, and the…
ponker on HNbut there's a hidden cost, that's never spoken of. cost of forgotten knowledge or expertise. say you use AWS RDS | Aurora, on paper it's cheap. AWS runs everything for you. what…
dzonga on HN
Saved money is still a cost, and employee time is not cash
From 1 comment
Saving money doesn't put cash in your pocket. It will help keep the cash you have there, but is nothing but another cost item.
pseingatl on HN
Requests
Show time saved as the output instead of only cost
From 1 comment
Okay I really like the idea. I think the bottom line whether the SaaS is worth the cost with the premise is that the SaaS saves time. However, time saving (item 4) is pretty…
drapery on HN
Add a one-time payment option
From 1 comment
Feature request: Add "One-time payment" option to the cost of the service. This could be used to decide if you allocate resources to implement a new feature in an internal system.
AQXt on HN
Include costs of operating an in-house equivalent and current tool costs
From 2 comments
What about the cost of operating an equivalent service in house?
aisofteng on HNGood work OP. Any plans to add more variables in the future? e.g. Cost of current equivalent service being used. P.S. I've added your calculator to my curated list of startup…
Abishek_Muthian on HN
Show the formulas and assumptions in tooltips or docs
From 2 comments
This looks really cool. I put in some numbers for a service that I am considering, and the answer was the opposite of what I was intuitively expecting, which proves the need for…
Flimm on HNThanks for the feedback. For simplicity there are a whole host of underlying assumptions about what a work day is, what time spent means , etc. Explaining at least some of those…
osel on HN
Questions
How is employee time cost estimated and what assumptions are used
From 2 comments
This looks really cool. I put in some numbers for a service that I am considering, and the answer was the opposite of what I was intuitively expecting, which proves the need for…
Flimm on HNWhat's this type of calculator often misses is how nuanced and complex is to estimate the cost of employee time. It's not just the cost of an employee salary per hour... Is the…
redwood on HN
Alternatives named
Spreadsheets for the final decision
From 1 comment
I think a lot of users are missing the point. I don't see this tool as a final decision maker and it can never be one. The final decision has a lot of nuisances to that it is…
drapery on HN
Building the tool in-house
From 1 comment
I like the idea. In 99% of the cases, I rather buy the service than develop it from scratch and support it long-term. Most consumer-facing services I've seen are relatively…
_pdp_ on HN