Now Is The Time To Stop Overthinking Your Tech Stack
Familiar tools build faster than perfect ones. Why simplicity wins for solo devs.
Hey there Solo Dev,
You’re overthinking your tech stack.
I can almost guarantee it. Why? Because I used to be the same way. There’s actually a very simple way to select a stack.
But we’ll get back to that.
Let’s talk about gaming first.
Any gamer that has ever watched content about their favorite games knows this: tier lists and meta-talks dominate the views.
These videos tell you EXACTLY what is the best in the game and why.
But why do they do so well in terms of views?
Because people want to be told what is best. And if that’s not what they’re after, they want to be validated that they are right in their choice being the best.
The worst part (especially for competitive games): most people aren’t good enough to where it matters.
Are you good enough?
Let’s circle back to being a Solo Dev. One piece of tech might be slightly more optimal in a certain situation, but does that mean nothing else can accomplish the same thing?
NO.
So why are you worried about what’s the “best”?
Unless you are completely sure you’re a prodigy, able to learn anything super quickly (which I know I’m not), there’s only one concern you should have as a Solo Dev:
How do I minimize the number of new things I need to learn?
There’s an endless amount of things to learn as a solo dev.
You need to minimize it or you’ll get overwhelmed by what’s beyond the fog.
What can you say you honestly know about:
Frontend development?
Backend development?
Maintenance?
Databases?
Software architecture?
Deployment?
Marketing?
Distribution?
Monetization?
Idea validation?
Project management?
And much more
Do you know it all? Do you know some? Maybe you only know one?
Well, with so many things to know that you have to do by yourself, you have to MINIMIZE.
Either that, or you’ll suffer from paralysis by analysis and never get going, leaving the dreams behind.
That’s why I chose to stick with what I’m familiar with.
I don’t need to find the “best” framework. I don’t need to watch a video telling me my choice is S-tier.
There’s so many choices to make the only S-tier is the choice I don’t have to make.
What am I familiar with?
This is the core question you must ask yourself in order to minimize choices.
Lean into familiarity initially.
For my case, I’ve started building a web-app.
I’m familiar with these from my current job, where I largely work with maintaining and further development of large governmental legacy systems. I’m primarily focused on backend development. Most of my experience is in the .NET ecosystem(C#).
All these snazzy, new (completely necessary) frontend frameworks that get released every second week? No deeper familiarity, but I’ve worked with React, Vue and Angular mainly.
The administrative aspects like project management? Well, I’ve mostly worked on teams using Microsoft Azure, but it seems a little overkill for my use-case.
The rest, like marketing, distribution, validation and more? I’m learning as I go.
So I let my current familiarity guide me.
Here’s the current stack:
Backend: ASP.NET Core (C#). Chosen to minimize what I need to learn as I’m familiar with the ecosystem and its tools.
Frontend: React. I do not particularly care for frontend. I’m equally bad at all frontend tech, so I choose to go with what seems most popular and best supported and documented.
UI: TailwindCSS. I have no experience with it, but it seems popular.
Database: I have the most experience with relational databases, especially using Entity Framework Core in the .NET ecosystem, so I’m using that alongside a PostgreSQL database.
Authentication: ASP.NET Identity, for no other reason that it is built for ASP.NET and quick to get into. This is a candidate for change later, but for now I minimize this choice.
Payments: Stripe. I’m not out here looking to build anything like this myself. I want it as simple as possible.
Project management: Microsoft Azure seems like overkill. Currently, I keep it simple. I just use a note app and a physical whiteboard. I’m considering trying out Asana. If you’ve got experience, please let me know!
So what’s the takeaway?
The best tech stack is the one that gets your product built.
It’s not about React vs Vue or PostgreSQL vs MongoDB. It’s not that important. You’re building by yourself: limit the chance that you’ll be overwhelmed.
When you're a solo developer, your most precious resource is your time and attention.
Every new technology you introduce is another thing to learn. Each unfamiliar framework is more cognitive load that takes away from focusing on what truly matters: finishing.
You don’t need to watch another YouTube video telling you the greatest framework ever in 2025.
You just need to ask yourself: will this choice significantly impact my ability to ship?
The tech doesn't matter if you never launch.
See you next Saturday, where we'll talk about the other common blocker on the road to becoming a solo dev: confidence.
Until then, stop overthinking, decide on a stack and join me in building a solo dev business.