My stack
    Freelance dev

    Light startup stack

    For developers moving from MVP to production with auth, database, payment, errors, analytics, and clean deployment.

    Selection
    8
    tools
    Target budget
    $112
    per month
    Profile
    Structuring
    business stage
    GitHub logoGitHubVercel logoVercelSupabase logoSupabaseStripe logoStripeSentry logoSentryPostHog logoPostHogCursor logoCursorNeon logoNeon
    01 / The selection

    Which tool does what?

    02 / ToolTrim's take

    Why these tools together?

    A light production stack must answer five questions: does it deploy, does it store, does it get paid, does it break, do users activate value? Vercel, Supabase, Stripe, Sentry, and PostHog cover this without heavy organization. Cursor accelerates coding, but does not replace discipline: conventions, tests, minimal monitoring, and critical events.

    A good fit if…

    Early-stage SaaS, paid micro-product, client internal tool, MVP with first users.

    Look elsewhere if…

    You already have high traffic, SLA, infra team, data warehouse, and 24/7 support.

    Reliabilize the critical path

    Signup, payment, activation, and support must be observable before optimization.

    Keep infrastructure readable

    Supabase or Neon are enough before complexifying backend and data.

    Code faster without losing control

    Cursor should follow repo conventions, not improvise architecture every session.

    03 / Budget

    What should you budget?

    Target budget$112per month, to get started
    Core at list price$95per month, 8 tools on their first paid plan

    The target budget is the recommended starting envelope. The list price adds up each core tool's first paid plan, excluding 1 tool without a fixed price. Optional tools are not included.

    04 / Trade-offs

    What to watch out for

    The trap in this stack

    Building observability/data/sales stack too early while the real need is reliable critical flows.

    • Enterprise observability

      Datadog is excellent, but too early if Sentry already covers useful errors.

    • Too many coding AIs

      Cursor + one reasoning assistant is enough. Duplicate Copilot must prove value.

    • First payments

      Stripe and error monitoring become non-negotiable.

    • Unclear activation

      PostHog should track 3 critical events before adding dashboards.

    Self-check

    Questions to ask yourself

    1. Do you know when payment fails or onboarding breaks?

      No → Sentry and minimal app logs come before any secondary feature.

    2. Have you defined the product activation event?

      No → PostHog should measure that first, not a collection of clicks.

    3. Does Cursor know the repo conventions?

      No → add project rules, architecture, patterns, and limits. That is what turns AI into leverage.

    More stacks to explore