How to Choose the Right Tech Stack for Your Startup MVP

Choosing your MVP's tech stack is one of the most important early decisions you'll make. Pick the right one, and you'll ship fast and scale smoothly. Pick the wrong one, and you'll waste months rewriting everything.

The Golden Rule: Start Simple

Your first instinct might be to use the "best" or most cutting-edge technologies. Resist that urge. For an MVP, the best tech stack is the one that gets you to market fastest with the least complexity.

Our Recommended Stack for 2024-2025

After building dozens of MVPs, here's the stack we recommend for most startups:

Frontend: Next.js + React

Why? Next.js gives you everything you need out of the box:

• Server-side rendering for great SEO
• Built-in routing (no need for React Router)
• API routes for simple backends
• Automatic code splitting for fast page loads
• Deploy anywhere (Oracle Cloud makes it one-click)

Backend: Node.js + Express or Next.js API Routes

Why? Use the same language (JavaScript/TypeScript) across your entire stack:

• Your frontend developers can work on backend code
• Massive ecosystem of npm packages
• Great for real-time features (WebSockets)
• Scales well with proper architecture

Database: PostgreSQL or MongoDB

PostgreSQL if you need:

• Complex relationships between data
• Transactions and data integrity
• Traditional relational model

MongoDB if you need:

• Flexible schema (data structure changes often)
• Rapid prototyping
• Document-based data (JSON-like)

Auth: Supabase or Auth0

Don't build authentication yourself. Use a service:

• Supabase: Open-source, generous free tier, includes database
• Auth0: Enterprise-grade, more features, higher cost

Hosting: Oracle Cloud

For Next.js apps, Oracle Cloud is unbeatable. Zero-config deployments, automatic previews for pull requests, and a generous free tier. You can literally deploy in 5 minutes.

When to Choose Something Different

Use Python/Django if:

• Your team already knows Python well
• You need heavy data processing or ML features
• You're building scientific/academic software

Use Ruby on Rails if:

• You value convention over configuration
• You want rapid CRUD app development
• Your team knows Ruby already

Use Vue or Angular instead of React if:

• Your team has existing expertise with them
• You need more structure (Angular) or simplicity (Vue)

The Decision Framework

Ask yourself these questions:

1. What does my team already know?

   Learning a new stack adds 4-8 weeks to your timeline. Stick with what you know for MVP.

2. How fast do I need to ship?

   Faster shipping = simpler stack. Next.js + Supabase can go from zero to deployed in days.

3. What's my expected traffic in Year 1?

   Under 100K users? Any modern stack handles this easily. Don't over-optimize.

4. Do I need real-time features?

   Chat, notifications, live updates? Choose Node.js or consider Firebase/Supabase.

5. What's my budget?

   Tight budget? Stick with free tiers: Oracle Cloud + Supabase + MongoDB Atlas gets you far.

Our Standard MVP Tech Stack

For 80% of our clients, we use this exact stack:

Bottom Line

Your tech stack matters, but it's not make-or-break. Most successful startups win because of product-market fit, not because they chose the "perfect" framework.

Choose something modern, well-documented, and familiar to your team. Ship fast. Get users. Iterate. You can always refactor later if needed (though you probably won't need to).