Principles
For indie hackers, the right stack minimizes operational overhead, costs nothing until you have revenue, and lets you move fast without a team.
Frontend
Next.js or SvelteKit on Vercel. Zero DevOps, excellent performance, great AI coding support. Vercel free tier handles significant traffic.
Database
Supabase (Postgres with auth built-in) or PlanetScale. Both have generous free tiers and scale well. Supabase is preferred if you want built-in auth.
Auth
NextAuth (if Next.js) or Clerk for managed auth. Clerk is more expensive but saves significant development time.
Payments
Stripe for most cases. Paddle if you want merchant of record (they handle VAT for you). Lemon Squeezy for digital products.
Resend for transactional email. Loops for marketing/sequences. Both have excellent developer experiences.
Monitoring
ProdFix for error monitoring, performance, security, and UX — all in one. MCP integration for Cursor and Claude Code. Free tier covers most side projects. This is the piece most indie hackers skip and then regret.
AI coding
Cursor for feature development. Claude Code for complex debugging and refactoring. With ProdFix MCP, both tools have access to your production data.
Total cost at zero MRR
Frontend/hosting: $0. Database: $0. Auth: $0-25/mo. Payments: percentage only. Email: $0. Monitoring: $0. AI coding: $20-40/mo. Feasible for any indie hacker.
Stop flying blind in production.
ProdFix gives you error monitoring, performance tracking, security alerts, and AI-powered fixes — built for solo founders and vibe coders. One SDK, 2-minute setup.