4 min
By Launch Vault Team
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The 2025 Indie Hacker Tech Stack: Ship in 7 Days, Scale for Years

Next.js 15 + Serverless Postgres (Neon/Supabase) + Cloudflare R2 + Upstash + Stripe + Resend + Plausible. This combo gets you from zero to paid users fast—with clean upgrade paths and sane costs.

The 2025 Indie Hacker Tech Stack: Ship in 7 Days, Scale for Years

The 2025 Indie Hacker Tech Stack: Ship in 7 Days, Scale for Years

TL;DR: Next.js 15 + Serverless Postgres (Neon/Supabase) + Cloudflare R2 + Upstash (Redis/QStash) + Stripe (+ Stripe Tax) + Resend + Plausible. This combo gets you from zero to paid users fast—with clean upgrade paths and sane costs.

Why this stack?

  • Speed to first revenue: Next.js 15's App Router + React 19 gives you SSR/ISR and flexible rendering so you can ship marketing pages and dashboards quickly. Partial Prerendering (PPR) lets you blend static + dynamic content for fast first paint (still experimental—use selectively).
  • Low-ops database that scales: Serverless Postgres adds branching (preview envs), compute/storage separation, and quick recovery. Neon's Azure Native GA means tighter cloud integration if you're in the Microsoft ecosystem; Supabase offers branches and straightforward pricing.
  • Predictable storage costs: Cloudflare R2 is S3-compatible with zero egress fees, excellent for media and AI outputs; pair with Workers/Durable Objects if you need state at the edge.
  • Simple queues & real-time bits: Upstash Redis (rate limits, sessions, leaderboards) + QStash for durable webhooks/async jobs, with generous free tiers and pay-as-you-go.
  • Payments & tax compliance: Stripe Billing for subscriptions and usage-based pricing; Stripe Tax to keep up with 2025 rule changes.
  • Signals from the ecosystem: GitHub's Octoverse shows AI accelerating Python's rise; Stack Overflow 2025 confirms Postgres and modern JS remain ubiquitous—JS/TS + Postgres stays a safe bet while you plug AI where it counts.

The "MVP in 7 Days" Blueprint

Frontend & Full-stack

  • Next.js 15 (App Router) on Vercel/Pages; use Tailwind + shadcn/ui to assemble a clean SaaS shell in a day. Keep PPR to landing/collection pages and load dynamic bits via streaming.
  • Prefer Server Actions and typed utilities over ad-hoc REST; add Zod for validation.

Database

  • Neon or Supabase (Postgres). Create preview branches per PR, run migrations with Drizzle/Prisma, then merge to prod when green.

Storage & Edge

  • R2 for user uploads/AI artifacts; serve via public buckets or signed URLs; consider Workers/Durable Objects for collaborative state (rooms, counters, presence).

Queues & Real-time

  • Upstash Redis for rate limits/sessions; QStash for webhook fan-out and retries. Start free; watch command/message counts.

Auth

  • Quickest path: Clerk (or Auth.js if you want open-source and lower long-term costs).

Payments

  • Stripe Billing (checkout + subscriptions + usage tiers) and Stripe Tax for registrations/collection/filing.

Email & Analytics

  • Resend for transactional email (solid free tier to start). Plausible for privacy-friendly analytics and conversion tracking.

Starter Folder Layout (copy-paste friendly)

TXT
apps/
  web/                     # Next.js 15 (App Router)
    app/                   # routes + Server Actions
    components/            # shadcn/ui + primitives
    lib/                   # auth, db, r2, redis, stripe wrappers
    drizzle/               # schema & migrations
    .env.example
packages/
  ui/                      # shared UI (optional)
  config/                  # eslint/tailwind/tsconfig
infra/
  github-actions/          # CI for preview branches
  terraform/               # R2/Workers/Routes (optional)

Cost & Risk Checklist (Read Before Launch)

  • R2: No egress fees across classes; Infrequent Access has retrieval costs—tier cold data accordingly.
  • Upstash: Free tiers are great, but spikes can multiply command/message counts—set rate limits and alerts early.
  • Stripe: Double-check Billing fees per market; keep an eye on mid-year tax changes via Stripe Tax updates.

Variants by Product Type

  • Content/Directories: Lean on ISR + edge caching; store images on R2; write via Server Actions to Postgres.
  • Realtime/Collab Apps: Durable Objects for per-room state + Upstash pub/sub; WebSockets via your runtime of choice.
  • AI Tools: Save intermediate outputs to R2; queue heavy jobs with QStash; throttle per-user via Redis.

Optional Runtimes (When You Don't Want Node)

  • Deno 2: Node/npm compatibility, monorepo workspaces, LTS. Great all-in-one toolchain if you value batteries-included.
  • Bun 1.x: Fast runtime + bundler + test runner + package manager, drop-in for many Node workflows.

30-Day Growth Plan

  1. Ship 8–12 SEO pieces: alternatives, vs-comparisons, template roundups; capture intent pages early.
  2. Monetize: add one-time packs, annual plans, or credit bundles in Stripe; experiment with usage-based pricing.
  3. Harden ops: alerts on Redis commands/QStash messages, R2 lifecycle rules, nightly DB backups (branch + snapshot).

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