Cost
The Real Running Costs of a Self-Hosted CRM
Convex, Vercel, Twilio, email providers and the rest: every line item of running Seedly CRM, what's free, what scales, and where the money actually goes.
“One-time payment” deserves an asterisk, and here it is: you pay for your own infrastructure. The good news is that infrastructure costs a fraction of a subscription, and you can pass most of the usage-based part on to clients.
Here’s every line item.
Fixed platform costs
| Service | What it does | Small agency cost |
|---|---|---|
| Convex | Database, backend, real-time, file storage | Free to start; about $25/mo once you’re busy |
| Vercel | Hosts the web app | Free Hobby tier; about $20/mo if you outgrow it |
| Domain | app.youragency.com |
$10–15 per year |
That’s it for the core. $0 to about $45 a month covers the platform for most small and mid-size agencies.
Usage costs (same on any platform)
| Service | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Twilio | SMS and voice | ~$0.0079 per US text, ~$1/mo per number |
| Telnyx | Optional SMS fallback | Similar to Twilio |
| A2P 10DLC | US SMS registration | ~$4 brand + ~$10 campaign once, ~$1.50/mo |
| Postmark | Transactional email | Free to 100/mo, ~$15/mo for 10k |
| SendGrid | Marketing email | Free to 100/day, ~$20/mo for 50k |
| Amazon SES | Optional email (and the HIPAA-mode choice) | Pay per message |
| Stripe | Payments | Percentage per transaction |
Every CRM that sends texts pays carrier fees, and every CRM that sends email pays a sending provider, whether that cost is visible or buried in a usage bill.
Optional extras
- Social posting through Zernio: $25 a month, if you want it
- AI features (call grading, transcription, the AI workflow node): pay per use with your own OpenAI, Anthropic or AssemblyAI key, only when switched on
- Google and Meta APIs: free at agency scale
The part GoHighLevel users miss: rebilling
On Seedly, every usage line above can be rebilled. Sub-accounts have wallets and plans, and each channel carries your markup. A client sending 1,000 texts a month costs you about $8. At a 2.5x markup they pay $20, and you keep the difference.
So the honest picture of an agency running Seedly is: a small fixed hosting bill that client fees more than cover, plus usage costs your clients pay with a margin on top.
Worked example: a 10-client agency
| Line | Monthly |
|---|---|
| Convex Pro | $25 |
| Vercel Pro | $20 |
| Postmark + SendGrid | $35 |
| A2P campaign fees | $15 |
| Platform total | $95 |
| SMS for 10 clients (rebilled) | $80 cost → $200 billed |
Compare that $95 against GoHighLevel’s $297 Unlimited plan, which still bills usage on top, and you’re about $200 a month ahead before rebilling margin, with no subscription to renew.
Plug in your own figures. The cost calculator takes your hosting estimate and shows your break-even month.
Where costs can surprise you
Same honesty rule as always:
- Call recordings take storage, and Seedly has a retention setting so old recordings don’t pile up forever
- High-volume email pushes you up SendGrid’s tiers, as it would anywhere
- Convex usage grows with active users and automation volume, and the dashboard shows it before it bills
None of these come close to a $297 monthly floor.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to host Seedly CRM per month?
Seedly's setup guide estimates $0 to $20 a month to start on free tiers. Seedly quotes $25 to $200 a month as typical once agencies are running. SMS and calls are billed per use on top, which you can rebill to clients.
What is the biggest variable cost of running Seedly CRM?
SMS volume. A sub-account sending 1,000 texts a month costs roughly $8 in Twilio fees, which Seedly can rebill to the client at your markup.
Keep reading
- 01Release notesSeedly CRM 5.9: What's New, and Why the Pace MattersAmazon SES, HIPAA mode, a Google Local Services lead assistant and a security overhaul in 5.9, on top of 18 releases in September alone. What changed, why it matters and why now is the time to buy.
- 02AlternativesGoHighLevel Alternatives in 2026: Why Ownership Beats Another SubscriptionMost GoHighLevel alternatives are just cheaper subscriptions. Here's how the three kinds of alternative compare, and why buying the software outright is the one that changes the economics.
- 03HealthcareSeedly CRM for Healthcare: What HIPAA Mode Does (and Doesn't)One switch enforces two-factor login, six-year audit logs, idle timeouts and BAA-aware integrations. Here's exactly what Seedly's HIPAA mode covers and where your responsibility starts.