Best Tech Stack for Startups & MVPs in 2025: The Definitive Guide
Choosing your tech stack is one of the first—and most consequential—decisions you'll make as a founder. Pick wrong, and you'll burn months rewriting code. Pick right, and you'll ship faster than your competitors. Here's what actually works in 2025.
The TL;DR: Our Recommended Stack for Most MVPs
PSV's 2025 MVP Stack
- Framework: Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript
- Database: PostgreSQL via Supabase or Neon
- ORM: Drizzle or Prisma
- Hosting: Vercel (frontend) + Railway/Supabase (backend)
- Auth: Clerk, Auth.js, or Supabase Auth
This stack handles 90% of MVP use cases. It's battle-tested, well-documented, and optimized for speed-to-market. But the right stack depends on what you're building. Let's break down the options.
Framework Showdown: Next.js vs Remix vs The Rest
Next.js 15: The Default Choice (For Good Reason)
Next.js dominates the React ecosystem—and for good reason. The App Router (stable since v13) delivers server components, streaming, and excellent DX out of the box.
- Best for: Most web apps, SaaS, dashboards, content sites
- Strengths: Massive ecosystem, excellent docs, Vercel integration, Server Actions
- Watch out for: Can be overkill for simple sites, learning curve for App Router
Remix: The Underdog Worth Considering
Remix (now part of React Router v7) takes a different approach: embrace web standards, progressive enhancement, and nested routing. It's gained serious traction in 2024-25.
- Best for: Forms-heavy apps, e-commerce, apps needing offline support
- Strengths: Superior form handling, web standards focus, excellent error boundaries
- Watch out for: Smaller ecosystem, fewer hosting options optimized for it
Traditional Stacks: When Rails or Django Still Win
Don't sleep on Ruby on Rails or Django. For certain use cases, these "boring" stacks ship faster than any JavaScript framework:
- Best for: CRUD-heavy apps, admin panels, internal tools, rapid prototyping
- Strengths: Convention over configuration, mature ecosystems, fast to prototype
- Watch out for: Harder to find developers, less modern frontend DX
Choose Next.js When...
- •Building a SaaS with marketing pages + app
- •SEO matters (server rendering built-in)
- •You want the largest React ecosystem
- •Team already knows React
Choose Remix When...
- •Complex forms are core to your app
- •You need progressive enhancement
- •Offline/poor connectivity is a concern
- •You prefer web standards over magic
Database Deep Dive: Postgres, Supabase, PlanetScale & More
PostgreSQL: The Foundation
PostgreSQL is the default database for startups in 2025—and has been for years. It's rock-solid, free, and handles everything from simple CRUD to complex analytics. The question isn't whether to use Postgres, but how.
Supabase: Postgres + Batteries Included
Supabase wraps Postgres with auth, real-time subscriptions, storage, and edge functions. It's essentially "Firebase but with Postgres."
- Best for: MVPs needing auth + database + storage in one place
- Pricing: Free tier is generous; paid starts at $25/month
- Strengths: All-in-one, great DX, row-level security
- Watch out for: Vendor lock-in (though data is portable), less control than raw Postgres
Neon: Serverless Postgres
Neon is Postgres with a serverless twist: instant branching (like Git for your database), auto-scaling, and a generous free tier.
- Best for: Teams wanting Postgres without managing infrastructure
- Pricing: Free tier includes 500MB; scales with usage
- Strengths: Branch databases for testing, serverless scaling, cold start optimization
PlanetScale: MySQL, Vitess-Powered
PlanetScale brings MySQL to the serverless world with Vitess (the tech behind YouTube). Great if your team prefers MySQL or needs horizontal scaling.
- Best for: MySQL shops, apps needing massive scale
- Note: Recently removed free tier, now starts at $39/month
- Strengths: Database branching, non-blocking schema changes
Which Stack for Which Product?
The best tech stack depends on what you're building. Here's our opinionated guide:
SaaS / B2B Dashboard
Stack: Next.js + Supabase + Clerk + Vercel
Why: Fast to build, auth is handled, scales with your business. Most SaaS MVPs don't need more complexity.
Two-Sided Marketplace
Stack: Next.js + Postgres (Neon) + Stripe Connect + Vercel
Why: Marketplaces need robust payment splitting and search. Skip Firebase—you'll need relational data for matching algorithms.
AI-Powered App
Stack: Next.js + Supabase (pgvector) + Vercel AI SDK
Why: pgvector handles embeddings natively. Vercel AI SDK simplifies streaming LLM responses. No need for separate vector DB until scale.
Real-Time / Collaborative App
Stack: Next.js + Supabase Realtime (or Liveblocks) + Yjs
Why: Real-time is hard. Don't build it yourself. Supabase's Realtime or dedicated tools like Liveblocks save months of work.
Mobile App (with Web Dashboard)
Stack: React Native (Expo) + Next.js admin + Supabase
Why: One backend, shared types between web and mobile. Expo's EAS makes deployment painless.
2025 Tech Stack Anti-Patterns (What to Avoid)
🚫 Don't Do This
- ❌Microservices for MVPs. You don't need Kubernetes. A monolith on Vercel or Railway handles more traffic than you'll have for years.
- ❌Rolling your own auth. Use Clerk, Auth.js, or Supabase Auth. Auth is a solved problem—don't waste weeks on it.
- ❌NoSQL for relational data. If you have users, orders, products—that's relational. Use Postgres. MongoDB is for specific use cases, not defaults.
- ❌Chasing shiny frameworks. That new meta-framework with 500 GitHub stars? Cool, but Next.js/Remix have docs, tutorials, and Stack Overflow answers.
Why We Chose This Stack at PSV
After building 50+ MVPs, we standardized on Next.js + Postgres + Vercel for one simple reason: it lets us focus on your business logic instead of infrastructure.
- Consistency: Every project uses the same patterns. New team members onboard in days, not weeks.
- Speed: We've built internal libraries and components that plug right in. Auth? 30 minutes. Payments? An afternoon.
- Scalability: This stack handles startups from 0 to millions of users. You won't need to rewrite.
- Talent pool: Next.js developers are everywhere. When you hire, you'll find people who know your codebase.
The goal isn't to use the "best" technology—it's to ship your product and start learning from users. Boring, proven technology lets you do that faster than any cutting-edge stack.
Making Your Decision
Still unsure? Here's the simplest framework:
- Default to the recommended stack (Next.js + Supabase + Vercel) unless you have a specific reason not to.
- Choose based on your team. If your CTO knows Rails deeply, Rails beats Next.js—expertise trumps theoretical advantages.
- Optimize for iteration speed. The first version of your MVP will be wrong. Pick tech that lets you change it fast.
The stack matters less than you think. Execution matters more. Pick something reasonable and start building.
Not Sure Which Stack Fits Your MVP?
Book a free 30-minute call. We'll discuss your product idea and recommend the right technology for your specific use case.