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Building applications usually means you pay for everything your users do. There's a different approach that flips this around. In this article, you'll learn about the user-pays model and how it compares to the traditional way of building apps.

User-Pays Model

The user-pays model means your users cover their own infrastructure costs. Instead of you paying for storage, compute, and API calls, each user covers for what they use through their own account.

When you build with Puter.js, users authenticate with their Puter account and their usage is billed to them, not you. This means you can launch apps without any infrastructure costs.

Puter.js is a JavaScript library with functions for file storage, AI models, database, and various cloud services. You write straightforward JavaScript and the library handles the infrastructure. This allows you to build applications without worrying about server bills, scaling costs, or usage spikes. Your app can grow to millions of users without increasing your expenses.

Traditional Model

The traditional model requires setting up everything before you launch. You need to provision servers, configure databases, set up authentication, and implement security. If you use cloud services like AWS or Google Cloud, you have to configure those, manage API keys, and set up billing.

Not only that, you're bearing the cost of everything your users do. Every file upload, API call, and database query comes out of your pocket. This creates a problem: the more popular your app becomes, the more you pay.

Comparison

Conclusion

The user-pays model allows you to build and ship applications immediately without infrastructure costs or scaling concerns. This is different from the traditional model where you have to set up servers, manage cloud services, and pay for all user activity.

If you want to build without hassle, check out Puter.js and start developing with the user-pays model.