How to choose the tech stack for your product

The one rule that matters

Choose stable technology with a large community. Not the newest hot framework: the one that's been battle-tested by 10,000+ companies and is here to stay.

Why? Because you'll spend less time debugging and more time shipping. When you hit a problem, you'll find the answer. When you hire engineers, they'll know the stack. Our recommendation: Next.js (full-stack), Supabase (database + auth), Stripe (payments), Vercel (hosting).

Frontend: Next.js is the default

Next.js is the standard for startups building SaaS products. Why? It's React (most engineers know it), it has built-in routing and server components, and it deploys seamlessly on Vercel.

Framework choice is 10% of your success. Team quality, product clarity, and market timing are the other 90%. Don't spend two months evaluating frameworks.

Backend: serverless wins

You don't want to manage servers. Serverless platforms (AWS Lambda, Vercel Functions, Supabase Functions) handle scaling and monitoring for you.

With serverless, you pay per execution. 10 requests a month? $0.20. A million requests? $200. It scales with your business and you never worry about capacity.

Our recommendation: Vercel Functions for APIs (integrated with Next.js with zero deploy friction) and Supabase Functions for database access.

Database: PostgreSQL, always

PostgreSQL is the gold-standard relational database. It handles relational data, JSON, full-text search, and complex queries.

Why not the others? MongoDB is weaker for relational data (most SaaS products have relationships). DynamoDB locks you into AWS. SQLite is great for solo projects but not multi-user SaaS.

Our recommendation: Supabase (managed Postgres, including auth, storage, real-time subscriptions, and row-level security).

Auth: Supabase Auth or Clerk

Don't build your own auth system. It's complex (password hashing, session management, CSRF tokens), risky, and tedious.

Supabase Auth is integrated with Postgres and includes email/password, OAuth (Google, GitHub, Apple), and passwordless magic links. Free and integrated.

Clerk is an alternative (slightly better UI, more SSO options) but costs $25+/month. For a first SaaS product, Supabase Auth is enough.

Payments: Stripe (subscriptions only)

Stripe is the default for SaaS subscriptions. Simple setup (one API call), reliable, and it handles PCI-DSS compliance for you.

Use Stripe Billing for subscriptions. Don't build your own billing system. Stripe handles retries, dunning (collecting failed payments), and upgrades/downgrades.

Cost: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

The stack decision tree

If you're building SaaS with fewer than a million expected users: Next.js + Supabase + Stripe + Vercel. Launch in 4 weeks. This stack scales to Series B without architectural changes.

If you're building a marketplace or multi-vendor product: same stack, add Stripe Connect.

If you're building AI-powered SaaS: same stack, add the Claude or OpenAI API.

Don't optimize for a future that may never come. Build for today with tools that scale for tomorrow.