A firsthand story of how building an ERP system taught me the painful reality of hidden infrastructure costs—especially for solo developers. This post uncovers unexpected billing from cloud hosting, the contrast with free deployments, and how this experience became my competitive edge.

Real Cost Hidden in ERP Systems: A Developer’s Hard Lesson

As a solo developer building Reltroner ERP, I’ve always believed that technology should empower—not burden—teams. I started with a simple idea: deliver modular ERP systems that are efficient, customizable, and aligned with the philosophy of creative system architecture. But there was one thing I didn’t fully account for:

The hidden cost of hosting ERP in production.

It All Started with Railway Hosting

I deployed my HRM module at hrm.reltroner.com on Railway. My expectations? $5 per month. The reality? $52 per month.

Why? The project size had ballooned to 62.5 MB—not massive by most standards, but enough to exceed Railway’s free or expected tier boundaries. That was my wake-up call.

Odoo vs. Reltroner ERP

This experience made me reflect deeply on why I started this project in the first place. Tools like Odoo are powerful, yes—but they’re also bloated and expensive to host, especially for small teams that only need 1 or 2 modules. You can’t just “disable” unused modules and expect the cost to go away.

With Reltroner ERP, I had one goal:

Extreme modularity and lightweight deployment.

The HRM module I built is smaller in size and resource use compared to Odoo, and can be deployed independently, making it ideal for startups who want to own their stack without technical debt.

Realization: My Greatest Portfolio Is Born From Scarcity

I don’t have a college degree. I’ve never worked at a big company. But through this process, I’ve realized:

I build with cost-efficiency in mind.
I think in terms of total system sustainability, not just feature checklists.
I understand the financial burden that ERP can bring if built carelessly.

And that makes my portfolio not just unique—but powerful.

Final Thought

This wasn’t just a tech lesson. It was a financial awakening.

So to every solo founder, junior dev, or non-traditional builder reading this: optimize everything. Don’t assume low usage equals low cost. Measure, test, and always be skeptical of assumptions—even your own.

And to future collaborators and clients:

If you value lean systems,
If you care about cost transparency,
And if you believe tech should be built with long-term impact in mind...

Let’s talk.

🔗 Collaboration: reltroner.com/blog/for-recruiters