How We Minimized Cardano DApp Development Costs

My experience developing Cardano apps has led me to appreciate the need to employ cost strategies that minimize operating costs. The development, deployment, and maintenance of Cardano dApps are critical aspects of a project that are often costly. From my experience, several blockchain projects are geared towards different kinds of Web3 development.

Having been involved with more than four projects within the Web3 space, it has become apparent that decentralized application development is costly, highly time-consuming, delicate, and requires high levels of expertise. DApp development has increased over the years due to the continued industry developments within the Web3 space. In this article, I will try to cover some ways that could help in cost reduction. 

Currently, several blockchain networks exist, and many Web3 developers have to find a suitable way to make the dApps accessible to multiple networks. In order to achieve this, Web3 developers have to find ways to develop nodes to interact with other networks.

Blockchain nodes are incredibly critical for establishing interactions between different blockchain networks. For instance, in Cardano dApp development, we had to develop links to other blockchains, including the Etherern, Solana, and Polygon networks. Although I am not allowed to announce the projects I was working on for the Cardano dApps development, I can certainly share some of my experiences and how it has influenced my choices so far.  

In the development process, it was clear that establishing high levels of interoperability between the different blockchain networks was a huge hurdle to the success of these blockchain companies. Clearly, there needed to be other better solutions for blockchain businesses.

Upon further deliberation, it became clear that we had to find immediate alternatives to in-house node handling. The overall costs of hiring a DevOps engineer--well conversant with Web3 technology--became increasingly unhealthy financially. Alternative solutions arose, such as outsourcing node handling and hosting to renowned third-party platforms like NOWnodes. Despite the need to outsource node handling, it was clear that without a proper marketing strategy and business development skills, the project

Importance of Cost Reduction for Cardano DApp Development

As I stated earlier, cost-reduction solutions are vital for Cardano dApp development. Successfully reducing development costs allows for room to invest in other critical aspects of the projects, such as business developments, marketing, and research.

In our quest to find solutions to the high development and deployment costs, we came across several third-party solutions available for developers working with Cardano smart contracts. Previous work with different Web3 development roles allowed me to test three Node providers available to developers to mitigate project development and maintenance costs. And here’s what I found.

I explored NOWNodes, Quicknodes, and Alchemy.

After careful deliberations, the projects adopted by NOWNodes are discussed below under comparison. Whenever Cardano projects are being developed, it is essential to consider emerging and existing competitors within the space. Web3 apps that withstand the test of time have to ensure interoperability across multiple blockchain networks. 

In-house node development in one of my previous Cardano dApp development had a budget of approximately €6 000 per month.

The Cardano project required access to several other blockchains, which made the in-house node maintenance hectic and extremely expensive.

The alternative approach to blockchain Node management is to outsource the development, deployment, and maintenance tasks to blockchain-as-a-service platforms like Quicknodes, Alchemy, and NOWNodes, among others. 

Available Ways of Reducing Costs

My interaction with the NOWNodes platform led to a significant reduction in operation costs. The platform provided affordable solutions that could be used by individual Cardano developers and established web3 developers with higher monthly budgets.

In our case, the monthly operational costs were drastically reduced upon adopting NOWNodes’s service. We made an economy of €6 000 on the deployment stage by alleviating in-house development and eliminating DevOps Engineers, server, and infrastructure acquisition. A minimum of €1000 each month was saved and replaced by paying a monthly fee of €20 to NOWNodes for their services.

QuickNodes and Alchemy platforms both charge a minimum fee of $49, with a few restrictions on the number of requests and available pool of blockchain networks. 

I can say that third-party platforms offer ease of use, speed, reliability, and efficiency at incredibly lower prices than an all-rounded in-house operation. 

Based on my experience with Web3 development on the various Cardano dApp developments, I have curated a list of areas you should focus on to ensure minimum expenditure and faster growth of any blockchain project.

BaaS (Blockchain as a service) platforms provide a cloud-based infrastructure for building and hosting decentralized applications, reducing the need for developers to set up their infrastructure. The process can save time and resources, allowing them to focus on building the dApp. Below is a detailed list of options to reduce the costs of development. 

Using BaaS: BaaS platforms typically offer pre-built modules and tools that can be easily integrated into the dApp, reducing the need for custom development and minimizing development time. They also handle the maintenance and upgrades of the underlying blockchain technology, freeing up more time and resources for the development team.

• Hire freelancers: Freelancers are a cost-effective way to get your work done, as they typically charge less than a full-time developer.
• Utilize open-source technologies
• Reuse code. 
  

Comparing Available Node Providers

In the current blockchain space, there are several node providers. Let’s compare the BaaS platforms like NOWNodes, QuickNode, and Alchemy.

QuickNodes

QuickNodes provides a unique pricing plan with flexible payments. It gives a free version for testing. The lowest bundle goes for $49 and allows only 25 requests per second with access to one endpoint. Subsequent plans increase gradually to $299 for 20 endpoints and 300 requests per second.

Pros:

• Free plan available.
• Easy to use. 
• Community support.

Cons:

• Limited blockchain support
• It can be costly for relatively larger dApp development projects.
• Has restrictions on certain regions. 

Alchemy

BaaS provides satisfactory node deployment and maintenance features. The platform has a free $49 plan as well as a customizable Enterprise plan. It is well known for its unlimited requests available with no daily limits.

Pros:

• Comprehensive API
• Scalable
• Enhanced APIs

Cons:

• Expensive
• Limited blockchain support

NOWNodes

It provides advanced tools for cloud-based development and deployment of decentralized applications. It is well known for its vast network of blockchain networks. The free version allows up to 5,000 requests per day to all nodes that are available on NOWNodes. 

Other pricing plans are as follows:

1. Pro: €20 / 1,000,000 requests per month + up to 3 API keys. 
   I have used this one, but for the major platforms, the other two would be more confident.
2. Business: €200 / 30,000,000 requests per month + up to 25 API keys.  
3. Enterprise: €500 / 100,000,000 requests per month + up to 100 API keys. 

Pros:

• Wide range of blockchain support of over 60 networks
• Cost-Effective.
• Fast processing times.
• Highly customizable.

Cons:

• The relatively steep learning curve for beginners
• The relatively steep learning curve for beginners
  

Wrapping Up

For any blockchain business, it is vital to minimize operating costs. Web3 developments on platforms such as Cardano and other blockchain networks have proven to be costly and derail the development plans of many startups. A straightforward solution to cost reduction is outsourcing most of the development and deployment tasks to able BaaS, such as NOWnodes, to allow the core team to focus on product development, marketing, and revenue growth that will ensure the overall growth of the business.