How to use the Tech Stack Selector
This selector recommends a software stack from four answers: what you are building, your stage, whether you need live features and the size of your team. It follows fixed rules that favor mainstream, widely hired technologies, and returns a frontend, backend, database, realtime layer and hosting choice with a reason for each. Treat it as a starting point for founders and product leads before a deeper talk with engineers.
Step by step
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Say what you are building
Under What are you building?, choose Web app, Mobile app or Both. Web app is selected by default.
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Pick your stage
Under Stage & scale, choose MVP to ship fast, Growth for a product that is scaling users (the default) or Enterprise for high scale or compliance needs.
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Answer the realtime question
Under Realtime features?, choose Yes if the product needs chat, presence or live updates. Otherwise leave it on No.
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Set the team size
Under Engineering team, choose Small for 1 to 5 developers (the default) or Larger for 6 or more, or a team with specialists. The recommendation updates on every click.
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Read and copy the write-up
Read the cards for the short answer and the full write-up below them for the reason behind each choice. Use the copy button under the write-up to paste it into a document or a ticket.
Reading the result
- The summary line joins the main picks. The defaults, a web app at Growth stage with no realtime and a small team, give Next.js + Node.js + PostgreSQL. The Hosting card then reads Vercel, and the write-up adds a managed backend on Railway, Render or AWS.
- The five cards show Frontend, Backend, Database, Realtime and Hosting in short form. The write-up gives each full choice, such as Node.js + TypeScript, and why it fits your answers.
- Database is always PostgreSQL. Enterprise moves hosting to AWS, GCP or Azure with Kubernetes and adds Go, .NET or Java as backend options.
- With realtime on, a small team or an Enterprise product gets a managed service, Ably or Pusher. A larger team below Enterprise also gets WebSockets with Socket.IO as an option.
Tips and common mistakes
- Team size only changes the realtime pick and some of the reasoning, not the core stack.
- The rules favor JavaScript and TypeScript because they are the easiest to hire for. If your team is strongest in Python, PHP or Ruby, a mature stack they know is a sound choice, as the caveat at the end of the write-up says.
- Mobile apps get React Native or Flutter over a Node API. Below Enterprise, the API runs on a managed platform such as Railway, Render or Fly, and the apps ship through the app stores.
- Leave realtime off unless a feature truly needs live updates. It adds a service to run and pay for.
Privacy and limits
The recommendation is worked out in your browser from fixed rules in the page. Your answers are not sent anywhere or saved, and the defaults come back when you reload.
How it works
A tech stack is the set of technologies your software runs on: the frontend users see, the backend that holds your logic, the database that stores data, an optional realtime layer for live features, and the hosting it all runs on. Picking well early saves expensive rewrites later, and for most B2B products, the right answer is a boring, proven default rather than the newest framework.
This selector is rule-based. It maps four inputs, app type, stage, realtime needs and team size, to mainstream choices. Web apps default to Next.js on Node and PostgreSQL, deployed on Vercel; mobile apps to React Native or Flutter over a typed Node API; enterprise workloads add Kubernetes on a major cloud; and live features route to WebSockets or a managed service like Ably or Pusher.
Two forces drive the logic: hiring and horizon. JavaScript and TypeScript have by far the largest talent pool, so JS-centric stacks are easiest for small teams to build and maintain; larger or enterprise teams can justify specialist choices (Go, .NET, Java, Flutter) where throughput, typing or UI polish pays off. If Flutter is your pick, our page to hire Flutter developers in India lists salary and rate data.
Stack = frontend + backend + database + (realtime?) + hosting → matched to team skills
Once you know the stack, price the build with the software development cost calculator, or weigh building against off-the-shelf tools with the build vs buy calculator. Browse every tool at free tools.
