We’re in the early planning phase of a new SaaS product and want to finalize the best SaaS stack to build with. We’re currently leaning toward using Next.js for the frontend and MongoDB for the database, but we’re still evaluating other options like React, Vue, Node.js, Django, PostgreSQL, etc.
We’re also looking at tools for authentication (like Auth0 or Firebase Auth), payments (Stripe or PayPal), and hosting (AWS, Vercel, or Heroku). Our focus is on balancing ease of development, flexibility, scalability, and cost.
What tech stack have you used for your SaaS apps, and what trade-offs did you experience with your choices?
When we first built our SaaS product, I went with Next.js for the frontend (including SSR) and Firebase for the backend (Auth, Firestore, and hosting). Honestly, it was perfect for speed. Firebase took care of so much of the backend plumbing, and I didn’t have to worry too much about infrastructure. Stripe integrated easily for payments and fit well with Firebase Functions.
Pros:
- Fast to ship and deploy
- Scales automatically without much effort
- Easy to manage with a small team
Cons:
- Firebase can get pretty expensive as you scale
- Firestore’s not the best for relational data
- If you’re really watching your long-term costs, you might want to consider migrating your database layer later, maybe to something like PostgreSQL with Supabase.
That’s a solid start, @raimavaswani!
I’ve shipped two SaaS apps using Django + PostgreSQL + React. Django’s batteries-included approach is hard to beat—things like the admin panel, ORM, migrations, and built-in security were a game-changer. We also used Auth0 for login, Stripe for payments, and hosted everything on Heroku.
What I found with this stack is that while you lose the rapid speed that Firebase offers, you get a lot in terms of long-term maintainability. Plus, PostgreSQL is an absolute powerhouse for handling complex queries.
Trade-offs:
- It’s not as fast to get started as Firebase, but you gain a lot in sustainability
- Django scales really well, and PostgreSQL shines when you need relational integrity and complex queries
- If you’re focused on clean separation of concerns, this stack has held up well as the app has grown.