The Tools I Used to Build Analyse
The sheer number of tools available when building Analyse was overwhelming. Since our launch, there have been many requests about what tools we use, so I thought a blog post might help other startups in a similar position.
Domains
What good is a startup without a domain name? There are plenty of solid registrars, but Porkbun stood out to me - they're the cheapest on the market whilst also providing fantastic service.
I previously used GoDaddy and Namecheap, but once I realised how expensive they were, I haven't looked back since moving to Porkbun.
Code
For the codebase, I went with Next.js (React) for the landing page due to its built-in optimisations with Vercel. In 2022, a responsive and snappy landing page is crucial, and while this was my first time diving into React, I felt comfortable building the landing page with it.
For the dashboard, I chose Laravel (PHP), Inertia.js and Vue.js, primarily because I was most comfortable with Laravel and Vue. I also love how powerful the Laravel framework is with its built-in features like mail notifications, jobs, and a robust database system.
Both sites utilise Tailwind CSS and Headless UI, which allowed me to build quickly while remaining keyboard-friendly.
Components
When it comes to speed, pre-built components are hugely beneficial for focusing on your core app instead of small functionality. Tailwind UI and Flowbite were invaluable in speeding up development. Flowbite particularly helped with charts that look and feel great. First impressions matter, and Flowbite certainly delivers.
Data Storage
I knew from the start that we'd be dealing with millions of rows from launch. Having prior experience with MySQL and MariaDB, I knew that either solution would cause issues long-term. A previous project of mine had around 80 million rows and involved lots of maintenance and purging - taking time and focus away from the project itself.
This is where SingleStore DB came in - a database platform with a data-heavy focus, perfect for our needs. However, as a startup, I couldn't afford their base $420/month cloud tier, so I opted for their self-hosted version instead.
My end goal is to eventually generate enough revenue to move to their cloud solution, as database management is a headache, but this wasn't feasible from launch.
Payment Provider
I went with Paddle for payments due to their PayPal support. They're a decent all-round platform, though if my audience weren't PayPal-heavy, I would have gone with Stripe instead. Stripe has better third-party integration support and more features overall.
For manual emails, I highly recommend FastMail - they're privacy-focused and affordable, which adds up to a great product. For automated emails like sign-ups and password resets, SendGrid was a no-brainer. They're completely free for up to 100 emails a day, perfect for a startup needing to cut costs.
Hosting
For hosting, I went with Vercel for the landing page, as it pairs fantastically with Next.js due to its built-in optimisations. I love their built-in Git integration for deployments - it saves the headache of static site upkeep.
For the dashboard and database, I chose Hetzner for their powerful dedicated servers at affordable prices. I went with the AX41-NVME which comes with 64GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and a Ryzen 3600 CPU. These specs were chosen to provide enough power for our database solution and remove the worry of needing to upgrade anytime soon.
Web Analytics
I chose Fathom Analytics for their hard stance on privacy-first analytics. Many turn to free solutions like Google Analytics, but Google uses visitor data for advertising purposes. This also means you're legally required to add a cookie banner, which can be off-putting for new visitors.
I've been using Fathom for over a year on various projects and highly recommend them.
Push Notifications
I find it motivating to be notified when a new user signs up or purchases a plan, so I use LogSnag for sending notifications to my phone and watch. Paddle has no app for payment notifications, and I didn't want to build and maintain my own iOS app.
LogSnag has been phenomenal, allowing me to stay quickly informed on sign-ups and payments at a glance.