The Meteoric Guide to Choosing Your Tech Stack
Make technology decisions that serve your business, not the other way around.
Start With Your Product, Not Your Stack
The most common mistake founders make is choosing a tech stack before defining their product. Start with what your product needs to do: is it content-heavy (SEO matters), data-intensive (dashboards, analytics), or interaction-heavy (real-time collaboration)? Each type of product benefits from different technologies. A content-driven marketing site needs different tools than a real-time collaboration platform. Define the product requirements first, then map them to technology.
The Meteoric Stack
Our recommended default stack for most SaaS and web projects: Next.js (React framework with SSR, SSG, and API routes), Supabase (PostgreSQL, auth, real-time, storage), Tailwind CSS (utility-first styling), Stripe (payment processing and subscription billing), and Vercel (hosting and deployment). This stack covers frontend, backend, database, auth, billing, and hosting — everything you need to launch a modern web product. Every component has generous free tiers and excellent documentation.
React vs Vue vs Svelte
React has the largest ecosystem, most job candidates, and best third-party library support. It's the safe choice for long-term projects. Vue is easier to learn and great for smaller teams. Svelte offers the best performance but has a smaller ecosystem. For most startup web products, React (via Next.js) is the recommended choice — the ecosystem advantage outweighs any technical differences.
Database Decisions
PostgreSQL is the default recommendation for most startups — it's battle-tested, ACID-compliant, has excellent JSON support, and runs everything from simple blogs to complex SaaS platforms. MongoDB excels for content-heavy apps or when you need horizontal scaling. Supabase makes PostgreSQL easy with a generous free tier and built-in features. The database decision matters more than any other technology choice since data is the hardest to migrate.
Hosting and Infrastructure
Vercel is the best choice for Next.js projects — it handles SSR, ISR, and edge functions natively. Netlify is a solid alternative. For non-Next.js projects, consider Railway, Fly.io, or traditional VPS providers. Avoid over-investing in infrastructure before you have product-market fit. A simple deployment on Vercel or Railway will scale to thousands of users without any infrastructure work.
Should I use a monorepo for my startup's tech stack?
A monorepo works well when you have multiple packages (frontend, backend, shared types) that change together. For early-stage startups, a single Next.js application with API routes is simpler and sufficient. Add a monorepo when you hit clear pain points — not before.
How do I avoid vendor lock-in with my tech stack?
Choose open-source technologies, keep your data in standard formats (PostgreSQL, not proprietary databases), and use well-adopted frameworks. Avoid proprietary tools for critical infrastructure. Supabase's open-source model and PostgreSQL's portability make them particularly good choices for avoiding lock-in.
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