How much would it cost to start & run a small social network?

I'm interested in starting a small social network, 1000-5000 members and I want a custom script. How much would it cost to get started and how much would it cost to run the servers once it has 1000 or more members? Im planing on it having a section similar to pinterest and having profiles for every member with lots of information about them. Thanks for the answers.

 

´Hi,
I have used PhpFox licensed and it`s work verry well and smoth.Should have from beginning an little vps for this.
oxwall and elgg,and maybe dolphin which are free can meet your requirements. I haved tested socialengine too,for me it is not what i am looking for,but it is good like phpfox.
For me phpfox 3 it is the best,easy of customization and app ready made friendly..
Best regards.
Hollyboom.

 

That is a very open ended question. Let me see if I can give you a rough idea. A custom script depending on features and how well YOU can describe exactly what you want to a developer is going to cost you at a minimum $2,000 and can go way into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Hosting is going to cost around $200 a month at the start. Then as you add activity the cost is going to ramp up to over $500 a month to several thousand a month.

 

Great thanks, 500$ being for 5000 people?

 

It depend on your knowledge skill in building a newtork, and if you able to manage a server, start with a cheap VPS or cloud server at low cost.

 

That would depend on how many are on the site at the same time. As well as how much bandwidth each are using loading pages. It could be a lot higher.

 

simply you need to spend
$60 to 100$ in sever per month
$500 to $1000 for script one time charge
$200 to $1000 for seo/smo monthly charge(depend in your requirement)
$300 for staff who maintain your site.

so minimum charge is 1060$ for starting this type of social site.

 

I know absolutelty nothing

 

I have tried building a small social media website before in the past and it only cost me around $20 for the domain name and one year's hosting. I was using a software called dolphin. You can purchase premium themes or you can customize your own with coding if you know how. Also, since the site is hosted using Namecheap you get unlimited everything, basically. I hope that I answered your question somewhat accurately, and I hope it helps.

 

Wanting to setup any type of site is noble and all.
question is, should you? Social media is very competitive.
and it is unlikely you would succeed since you lack so many skills,
and because of this, your upfront costs will be very high....