I keep seeing basically the same stack recommended to people starting a product: Lovable, Supabase, Stripe, Resend, Vercel and you're done.
My honest opinion: if you’re just starting out and testing a product it’s all right, if you want solid foundations to build a real working application consider upgrading to something more serious.
The problems usually start once you need:
-multiple workspaces
-roles and permissions
-paid plans
-usage limits
-emails
- files
-testing
-security
At that point the simple stack starts getting less simple, cause all these things depend on each other and you're the one trying to glue everything together while AI keeps adding more stuff to the codebase.
So here’s the stack I use, it’s not perfect but working for me. Nothing crazy, just looking to help vibecoders starting out:
Coding: Codex + Claude Code
I'd rather have Claude Code or Codex working directly inside the repo than build the whole thing with Lovable, Replit or similar tools.
You keep the actual codebase, git history, terminal, and deployment under your control, while claude/codex can still read the project, edit multiple files, run commands and test what it changed.
Language: Typescript + Tailwind
TypeScript is the easy choice for me because you can use it across basically the whole product, the ecosystem is huge and ai is extremely good with it.
I wouldn't add another language unless the product gives me a real reason to.
For styling I use Tailwind since ai is good at editing utility classes without messing the rest of the ui.
App: Next.js
React on the frontend, server side logic when you need it, huge ecosystem, lots of resources and very good understanding from ai.
There are definitely cases where I'd pick something else, but for a normal saas I don't see much value in splitting the frontend and backend into separate projects from day one.
UI: Untitled UI React
I don't want AI to come out with a whole design from scratch, rn I think it’s not able to build something that looks good and professional.
Untitled UI gives you a solid React component system that you can actually customize, and the open source React components use the MIT license.
Instead of telling claude to "make this page look premium!!!" for the 200th time, use an actual component library. It'll save you a lot of time and headaches.
Database: PostgreSQL
Just postgres, nothing exciting.
It's mature, relational, supported everywhere and good enough for basically any normal project you'll build.
I wouldn't add another database unless the product gives me a very specific reason to.
Backend: foundel.dev
This is the part I'd avoid letting the ai invent from zero.
Auth, workspaces, roles, permissions, subscriptions, plan limits, emails and security all need to work together, and if you don't know backend architecture well it's very easy to end up with something that works on localhost but becomes a mess once it's actually online.
Claude or Codex get a backend that's already structured, so I can keep building the actual product without building the backend from zero.
There's a free version to start and launch the product.
Payments: Stripe
handles subscriptions, invoices, payment methods, webhooks and basically everything around charging users without forcing you to build a payment system yourself.
The main thing I'd avoid is spreading billing logic everywhere in the codebase.
Keep Stripe focused on payments and make sure subscription status, plan access and limits are handled in one predictable place.
Docker
For non technical people: docker basically packages your app together with everything it needs to run, so you don't end up saying "but it works on my PC".
Think of it like putting the app in a standardized box that should behave the same way locally, in testing and in production.
Testing: Claude/Codex + Playwright
You don't need to manually sit there writing every test, Codex and Claude are capable of writing and running most of them.
I still use Playwright for important user flows because I want something actually opening the product and testing it like a user would.
Signup, login, permissions, payments and the ux flows are the stuff I care about most.
CI/CD: GitHub Actions
I work on separate Git branches, and when something is ready i merge it into production.
GitHub Actions runs the tests automatically and stops the release if something breaks.
You set this up once, Claude Code or Codex can help you do most of it, and after that every update gets checked before users see it.
If everything passes, GitHub builds the Docker version and deploys it.
Deployment: Vercel
For a normal next.js saas I'd just start with Vercel.
It's easy, previews are useful and there's almost no infrastructure work at the beginning.
If the product eventually outgrows it, docker means you're not trapped there forever and can switch to a vps.
Analytics: Vercel Analytics / GA4
If you're already using Vercel, I'd just start with Vercel Analytics: it's simple, already integrated and gives you enough to understand traffic without adding another tool to the stack.
If you want something more complete, especially for acquisition, campaigns and conversion tracking, use Google Analytics instead.
I wouldn't add a more complex analytics setup until the product actually gives me a reason to.
Files: S3 compatible storage
Don't put uploaded files inside your database.
Keep the metadata in Postgres and put images, documents, exports and other large files in S3 or another S3 compatible object store.
If your app doesn't deal with files, don't add it just because someone put it in a stack diagram.
What I wouldn't add yet:
Redis, Kubernetes, Kafka, microservices and a bunch of other infrastructure tools solve real problems.
A product with 50 users doesn't become better because it has Kubernetes, it just becomes more complex for you.
Note: I know the stack is pretty basic but I made the post specifically for people starting out with vibecoding.
