Visualization — small scale stack.
For each requirement below, pick the option that fits your build — recommended first, then free and cheaper alternatives — or skip what your project doesn't need. Tap the info icon next to any requirement to see why it matters.
Visualization Library CDN Hosting (D3.js, Vega, Plotly, ECharts delivery)
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsFree: jsDelivr/unpkg unlimited for OSS, CF Free ~100GB/mo fair-use. Bunny $1 per 100GB (US/EU), $9/mo min. Cloudflare Pro $20/mo incl 1TB+ unmetered DDoS, 20 page rules, WAF. Fastly $50/mo min + $0.12/GB US. Overage: Bunny $0.01/GB, Fastly $0.08-0.28/GB region.
Frontend Hosting for Viz Apps (Vercel/Netlify for dashboards)
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsVercel Hobby $0: 100GB BW, 6k exec hrs, 1 seat. Pro $20/seat/mo: 1TB BW incl, $0.15/GB over, $0.40 per 1k function invocations over 1M. Netlify Starter $0: 100GB BW, 300 build min. Pro $19/seat/mo: 1TB BW. Overage: $55 per 100GB BW pack on both.
Dashboard Framework Hosting (Streamlit, Dash, Grafana infra metrics)
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsGrafana Cloud Free: 10k metrics series, 50GB logs, 3 users, 50GB traces. Pro $8/user/mo. Streamlit Community Free 1 public app (1GB RAM). Teams $50/mo per private app, 4GB RAM. Render Free 750hrs. Overage: Grafana $8 per additional active user, $8 per 1k series, $0.50/GB logs over.
Object Storage for Chart Exports (PNG/PDF/Parquet exports)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsR2 Free: 10GB storage, 10M Class A ops, zero egress. Paid $0.015/GB/mo storage, $4.50/M Class A. B2 Free 10GB, then $0.006/GB/mo storage, $0.01/GB egress. S3 Free 5GB 12mo, then $0.023/GB/mo + $0.09/GB egress. Overage: R2 $0.015/GB/mo, Class B $0.36/M.
CDN for Viz Assets (tile images, dashboard chunks, fonts)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsCloudflare Free: unlimited DDoS, unmetered BW fair-use, 3 page rules, global 300+ PoPs. Pro $20/mo: 20 rules, WAF, Polish + Mirage. Bunny $9/mo min, $0.01/GB NA/EU, $0.03 APAC, $0.01 cert. Fastly $50/mo min. Overage: Bunny pay-as-you-go $0.01/GB, Cloudflare no BW overage.
Data API Gateway for Viz Data (GraphQL/REST aggregation)
Controls and protects your APIs — quotas, abuse prevention, and firewalls. Important once you have real traffic or many clients.Pricing & free-tier limitsCF Workers Free: 100k req/day, 10ms CPU. Paid $5/mo incl 10M req + 30M CPU-ms, $0.50 per extra M req. AWS API GW HTTP $1/M req, REST $3.50/M req + transfer $0.09/GB. Kong OSS $0 self-host (VM $7/mo). Overage: CF $0.50/M, AWS $3.50/M REST.
Query Caching Layer for Viz Queries (Redis)
Stores frequent results in fast memory so you serve less from the database. Big lever for speed and cost.Pricing & free-tier limitsUpstash Free: 10k commands/day, 256MB max DB. $10/mo: 100k/day, 1GB. Pro $99/mo: 1M/day 5GB. Redis Cloud Free 30MB, $12/mo 1GB. ElastiCache t4g.micro $13/mo + transfer. Overage: Upstash $0.20 per 100k commands, $0.25/GB storage over.
Authentication for Viz Apps (dashboard SSO, embed auth)
How users sign up, log in, and are authorized. Getting roles and access control right early prevents painful rewrites.Pricing & free-tier limitsClerk Free: 10k MAU, 2 social connections. Pro $25/mo includes 10k MAU + 5k extra, $0.02 per MAU over. Supabase Auth Free 50k MAU, Pro $25/mo. Auth0 Free 7.5k MAU, Pro $35/mo includes 1k Enterprise? Actually $35/mo + 1k extra MAU pack $0.08/MAU. Overage: Clerk $0.02/MAU, Auth0 $0.08/MAU.
CI/CD for Viz Apps (build, preview deploys)
Automates testing and deploying your code. Saves enormous time and prevents “works on my machine” releases.Pricing & free-tier limitsGH Actions Free: 2k min/mo Linux, 500MB storage, 1GB transfer. Team $4/user/mo 3k min. CircleCI Free 6k credits/wk (1k min). Performance $15/mo 30k credits. Vercel builds incl in hosting. Overage: GH $0.008/min Linux, CircleCI $15 per 25k credits, storage $0.008/GB-day.
Error & Performance Monitoring (Sentry, Datadog RUM for charts)
Tells you when things break and why. You cannot fix what you cannot see — this is how you keep downtime short.Pricing & free-tier limitsSentry Dev Free: 5k errors, 10k transactions, 1k replays/mo. Team $26/mo: 50k errors, 100k tx, 500 replays. Business $85/mo: 100k errors. Datadog RUM $1.50 per 1k sessions, APM $31/host/mo. Overage: Sentry errors $0.00029 per event over, tx $0.00019.
Secrets Management (API keys for data sources)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsDoppler Free: 5 projects, 20 secrets, 2 envs. Team $18/mo per 5 users: 1000 secrets, audit. Infisical Free: unlimited secrets self-host, Cloud Free 1k secrets 5 projects. Pro $20/user/mo. HCP Vault $0.03/hr ~$22/mo cluster + $0.03/hr billing. Overage: Doppler $15 per 5-seat pack, additional project $5/mo.
Background Job Queue for Chart Rendering
Runs slow work (emails, exports, payouts) in the background so users don’t wait. Keeps your app snappy.Pricing & free-tier limitsInngest Free: 100k step runs/mo, 30 day retention. Pro $20/mo 500k steps incl, 90d retention. $0.0001/step over. Trigger.dev Free 10k runs, Pro $29/mo 50k runs, $0.50 per extra 1k. Railway worker $7/mo + Redis $5/mo. Overage: Inngest $0.10 per 1k steps, Trigger $0.60/1k runs.
Image/PDF Export Service (dashboard PNG/PDF snapshots)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsBrowserless Cloud Free 6 browser hrs/mo, 1k screenshots. Pro $50/mo 100 hrs, 10k screens. Browserbase Hobby $39/mo 10k page loads. Cloudflare Browser Rendering $5/mo 10k browser mins? Actually $5/mo bundle includes 10k Workers + browser API $0.50/M. Fly Mach $5-15/mo for Chromium. Overage: Browserless $0.50/hr, Browserbase $0.004 per load.
Real-time Data Streaming (WebSockets for live dashboards)
Delivers and processes audio/video to users. Bandwidth-heavy, so plan the cost.Pricing & free-tier limitsAbly Free: 200 peak conns, 6M msgs/mo. Standard $19/mo 500 conns, 3M msgs (+ 500 extra conns $25/mo). Pusher Free 100 conns 200k msgs/day. Pro $49/mo 500 conns 4M msgs/day, $10 per 500 conns pack. Overage: Ably $2.50 per M msgs + $30 per peak conn pack, Pusher $0.50 per extra 1M msgs.
Uptime Monitoring for Dashboards
Tells you when things break and why. You cannot fix what you cannot see — this is how you keep downtime short.Pricing & free-tier limitsUptimeRobot Free 50 monitors 5-min interval. Pro $9/mo 100 monitors 1-min. Better Stack Free 10 monitors 3-min, 12 status pages. Team $24/mo 50 monitors 30-sec + 20 heartbeat. Checkly Free 10k checks, Team $32/mo 50k checks. Overage: Better Stack $5 per 10 monitors, Checkly $0.60 per 1k checks over.
Log Management for Viz Queries & Interaction
Tells you when things break and why. You cannot fix what you cannot see — this is how you keep downtime short.Pricing & free-tier limitsGrafana Free 50GB logs/mo, 14d retention. Pro $8/user + $0.50/GB ingest over. Better Stack Free 1GB/mo 3d, Team $24/mo 25GB 30d. Axiom Free 500GB ingest 30d, Pro $25/mo 50GB/mo? Actually $0.25/GB over. Datadog $0.10/GB ingest + $1.70/M events. Overage: $0.50/GB Grafana, $0.25/GB Axiom, Datadog $0.10/GB.
Database for Viz Metadata & User State (Postgres)
Persistent storage for your app’s data — users, products, orders. The single most important architectural decision for most projects.Pricing & free-tier limitsNeon Free: 0.5GB storage, 10 branches, 100 compute hrs/mo. Launch $19/mo 10GB storage 300h compute + autoscale. Supabase Free 500MB 500k monthly active? Pro $25/mo 8GB + $0.125/GB storage. Overage: Neon $0.10/compute-hr + $4.50/GB storage over, Supabase $0.125/GB + $0.10/hr.
Email Service for Scheduled Reports & Alerts
Sending transactional email (receipts, resets, alerts) and sometimes marketing mail. Deliverability matters more than features here.Pricing & free-tier limitsResend Free 3k emails/mo 100/day. Pro $20/mo 50k emails + extra domains. SES Free 3k/mo if EC2, then $0.10 per 1k + $0.12/GB attachments. Postmark Free 100/mo, $15/mo 10k. Overage: Resend $0.80 per 1k after 50k, SES $0.10/1k, Postmark $1.80/1k over.
Feature Flags for Viz Features (A/B, role-out)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsFlagsmith Free self-host unlimited or Cloud Free 50k API req/mo. Scale $45/mo 500k req, $0.03 per 1k over. GrowthBook Free 20k tracked events/mo, Pro $20/mo 100k. LaunchDarkly Starter $10/seat/mo 1k MAU, $8 per 1k MAU over. Overage: Flagsmith $0.03/1k req, LD $8/1k MAU.
How this small scale visualization checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a small scale visualization build typically needs. Pick one of the four researched options — recommended, free, cheaper or paid — add your own with "Other", or skip the requirement if your project doesn't need it. Nothing is mandatory; the plan on the right tracks what you've decided so nothing gets forgotten.
Your picks are saved in this browser automatically, so you can come back anytime. Options are researched per build level and refreshed as vendors change their plans — always verify details on the provider's page before committing.