Dev Agencies : How Much Do You Spend on Sales, Team & Tools every month ?
For those running a software house / dev agency, I’m curious about the actual monthly cost of running the business.
Not just salaries ….I mean everything that goes into keeping the pipeline and team running.
Like…
Upwork Connects — how much are you spending monthly?
BD / sales team — salaries + commissions
Developers / delivery team
Software & tools — CRM, project management, AI tools, hosting, email, etc.
Other expenses — ads, subscriptions, freelancers, office, etc…..
And the more interesting question:
What does the ROI look like?
For example, if someone is spending $5k/month across BD, Connects, tools, and other operating costs, are they consistently generating $10k, $20k, $30k+ in revenue?
I’d especially like to hear from people doing $10k–$100k+/month in revenue.
Would be great if you could share something like:
Monthly operating cost: $
BD/sales: $
Upwork: $
Team: $
Tools: $
Monthly revenue: $
Approx. profit: $,
Main acquisition channel
I’m trying to understand what the economics actually look like for software houses today, rather than the usual “just hire developers and get clients”
Posted Aug 13, 2026, 4:41 PM UTC