The Tools I Use

This is the whole stack. Nothing here is theoretical — it's what runs my live sites and tools right now. Prices are rough monthly figures; most of this starts free.

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The Frameworks

Astro is the website framework. Static-first, so pages load fast. I use it for content sites and this site itself. You get server-side routes when you need them, but the default is pre-rendered HTML. Cost: free.

Next.js is the app framework for anything interactive — SaaS tools, user dashboards, anything with real state. Full React, serverless API routes, middleware. Cost: free.

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Hosting and Deploys

Vercel hosts everything. Push to GitHub, it deploys. Serverless functions run automatically. Cron jobs, edge middleware, preview URLs on every pull request — it's all there. Cost: free Hobby tier; ~$20/mo on Pro when you need team access or more compute.

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Database and Auth

Supabase is Postgres in the cloud plus auth. I use the magic-link login (email someone a one-time link, no password needed) and store all user data, content, and logs here. Cost: free tier; ~$25/mo Pro when you pass the row/storage caps or need daily backups.

Prisma is the database toolkit. Write your schema in one file, run a migration, and get fully typed database access in your app. It's not a separate service — it sits between your app and your database. Cost: free.

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Payments

Stripe takes money. Checkout sessions, subscription management, webhooks when payment status changes — it handles all of it. You don't pay a monthly fee; Stripe takes 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.

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Email

Resend handles both transactional email (magic links, receipts, download links) and broadcast newsletters. One API, one dashboard. Cost: free tier; ~$20/mo when your list or sending volume outgrows it.

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AI

Anthropic Claude is the AI model behind everything I build that involves generation, analysis, or scoring. You send it text, it sends back an answer. The cost scales with how much text you process — a few pennies to a few dollars per run depending on the task.

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Turnkey Auth (Clerk)

Clerk is a drop-in authentication service — sign-in UI, session management, user management — fully handled. I reach for it when I don't want to wire up Supabase auth by hand and just need something that works out of the box. Cost: free tier; ~$25/mo on paid when you need more monthly active users.

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Data and Infrastructure

Apify runs web scrapers (called "actors") in the cloud. I use it when a tool needs live data that isn't available via an API — for example, pulling public data from TikTok. Cost: free tier exists but is very limited; the ~$49/mo Starter plan is the practical entry point for any real workload.

Upstash Redis is a serverless cache and queue. I use it mainly for deduplication (making sure the same job doesn't run twice) and rate limiting. It's serverless, so you pay per request, not per hour. Cost: free tier; stays small for most workloads.

Sentry catches errors in production. When something breaks, I get a notification with a full stack trace. Without it, you find out about bugs when a user emails you. Cost: free tier; small when you exceed it.

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The Dev Environment

Claude Code is how I actually build all of this. It's an AI-powered development environment — I describe what I want, it writes and edits code, runs tests, and manages files. Every repo above was built with it. Cost: it draws from the same Anthropic API budget as the Claude row above (per-token) if you use it lightly, or you can move to a flat monthly plan once usage climbs.

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Type and Design

Google Fonts — specifically Fraunces (display headings) and EB Garamond (body text) — is what makes the type on my sites look the way they do. Free.

Canva covers quick graphics: social images, presentation slides, simple one-pagers when I don't need to code a layout. Cost: ~$15/mo (or ~$10/mo billed annually).

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Domain and DNS

Cloudflare manages DNS for my domains and adds a free CDN layer. Registering a domain runs about $12/year depending on the extension. Cloudflare itself is free for the basics.

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Free vs. Scale

The near-free path

You can run this entire stack on free tiers when you're starting. Astro and Next.js are open source — free. Vercel's Hobby tier is free. Supabase's free tier handles a serious amount of data. Stripe has no monthly fee, just per-transaction. Resend's free tier covers a few thousand emails a month. Google Fonts is free. AI runs a few cents to a few dollars per use.

Realistic first-month bill: around $0 plus a domain (~$12/year) and whatever AI calls you make (a few dollars at most while you're testing).

The catch: free tiers have limits. You'll be fine until you have real traffic, real users, or real volume — and that's exactly when you should upgrade.

When you're scaling — what to pay for first, in order

1. Vercel Pro (~$20/mo) — when you hit the Hobby compute limits, need team members on the project, or need more build minutes.
2. Supabase Pro (~$25/mo) — when you pass the free row or storage caps, or when you need automated daily backups (you will want these).
3. Resend paid (~$20/mo) — when your subscriber count or monthly send volume exceeds the free tier.
4. Your AI spend — this scales with usage automatically. Set a monthly budget cap in your Anthropic account. Don't let it run unchecked.
5. Everything else (Sentry, Upstash, Clerk, Apify) — only when you have a specific need that the free tier can't cover. Don't pre-buy.

The point: don't pay for tiers in advance. Upgrade when usage forces it.

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Cost Snapshot

| Line item | Starting out (near $0) | Scaling | |---|---|---| | Hosting (Vercel) | Free | ~$20/mo | | Database (Supabase) | Free | ~$25/mo | | Email (Resend) | Free | ~$20/mo | | Payments (Stripe) | Free (2.9% + 30¢/txn) | Same (no monthly) | | AI (Claude + Claude Code) | Pennies per run; free/low to start on API credits | Scales with volume — set a cap; or move to a flat monthly plan | | Domain + DNS | ~$12/yr + free | Same |

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If you want the walkthrough of how these fit together to actually ship something, that's what the Workshop is for.