# From 1,000 to 1,000,000 users: what changes

Canonical URL: https://thorfyn.com/en/notes/from-1k-to-1m-users

> Four stages, from a team of 2 to 9 and from 2 infrastructure layers to 8. The house model, with the file each number comes from.

The team grows from 2 roles to 9 and the infrastructure from 2 layers to 8. What does not change is the delivery rule.

- House model, not a market average
- Written by Matheus Pavaneli (https://thorfyn.com/en/about)
- Published Oct 8, 2026
- Reviewed Oct 8, 2026
- 1 min

## What the model says

We work with four stages: launch, grow, scale and operate. Each one has a team shape and a set of infrastructure layers. This is not a market average: it is what the house assembles, and the scale simulator on the home page reads the same table.

**2 → 9** — roles on the team, from the stage of a thousand users to the stage of a million, for a SaaS product. (how to check: `packages/site/src/home/scale.ts`, `BASE_TEAM`)

## Layer by layer

The first stage is the app and the database. A CDN and a queue come in when traffic stops fitting one instance, and a cache and read replicas when reads start to dominate. The last stage adds regions and observability.

- **1,000** — App and database. Team of 2. (2 of 8 layers)
- **10,000** — CDN and queue added. Team of 4. (4 of 8 layers)
- **100,000** — Cache and read replicas added. Team of 6. (6 of 8 layers)
- **1 million** — Multiple regions and observability added. Team of 9. (8 of 8 layers)

**2 → 8** — infrastructure layers, from the first stage to the last. (how to check: `packages/site/src/home/scale.ts`, `LAYERS`)

## What does not change

Every request becomes a pull request, a preview and a release with a timestamp, at the first stage or at the last. The price and term of each step are on the offer ladder.

## Find out which stage your product is in

The discovery week ends in a plan by stage, with a fixed price.

- See the Discovery: https://thorfyn.com/en/discovery
- Next note: https://thorfyn.com/en/notes/the-client-panel-from-the-inside
- Questions and requests: hello@thorfyn.com
- Back to the home page: https://thorfyn.com/en