Ecommerce — hobby 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.
1. Web Hosting / App Runtime (Vercel, Netlify, ECS, Shopify hosting if headless)
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 Pro $20/seat/mo $40/100GB over, Netlify Free 100GB bw Pro $19/seat/mo $55/100GB over, Cloudflare Pages Free unlimited bw Workers $5/mo 10M req $0.30/M over, ECS Fargate $0.04048/vCPU/hr + $0.004445/GB/hr ~$35/mo per micro service + Shopify Plus $2000/mo hosting included
2. Domain and DNS (Cloudflare Free, Route53 $0.50/zone + $0.40/M queries)
Your human-readable address on the web plus the DNS records that point it at your servers. Skipping this is not an option — users need a domain to reach you.Pricing & free-tier limitsCloudflare Free unlimited queries $0 Pro $20/mo, Porkbun .com $9.73/yr $0 DNS, Route53 $0.50/zone/mo + $0.40/M queries + $0.50/health-check/mo, Cloudflare Enterprise $5000/mo $0.50/M queries after custom limit
3. SSL/TLS (Let's Encrypt Free, Cloudflare Universal Free)
Encrypts traffic between your users and your servers. Without it browsers flag your site as insecure and you lose trust and search ranking.Pricing & free-tier limitsLet's Encrypt Free 90-day auto-renew unlimited $0, Cloudflare Universal Free $0 unlimited + Advanced $10/mo 100 certs, ZeroSSL Free 3 certs 90-day $0 Pro $10/mo 25 certs $0.40/cert over, DigiCert Basic $218/yr single domain $0 Wildcard $600/yr
4. CDN (Cloudflare Free unlimited, BunnyCDN $1/mo + $0.01/GB, CloudFront $0.085/GB)
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 bw $0 Pro $20/mo APO $5/mo, BunnyCDN $1/mo min $0.01/GB EU/NA $0.03/GB Asia $0.06/GB SA $0.01/10k req over, CloudFront $0.085/GB first 10TB $0.015/10k HTTPS req $600+/mo for 5TB, Akamai $0.08/GB $350+/mo min enterprise custom
5. Database - Managed RDBMS for products/orders (Supabase Free 500MB $25/mo Pro 8GB $0.125/GB over, Neon Free 0.5GB $19/mo Pro, RDS db.t3.micro $0.017/hr ~$12.5/mo + $0.115/GB-mo)
Persistent storage for your app’s data — users, products, orders. The single most important architectural decision for most projects.Pricing & free-tier limitsSupabase Free 500MB DB 50k MAU $0 Pro $25/mo 8GB $0.125/GB over compute $0.00365/compute-hr over, Neon Free 0.5GB + 100 compute-hrs Pro $19/mo 10GB $2.50/GB over $0.16/compute-hr over, RDS db.t3.micro $0.017/hr ~$12.50/mo + $0.115/GB-mo gp3 + $0.12/M IOPS, Aurora $0.12/ACU-hr ~$87/mo per ACU min + $0.10/GB-mo
6. File/Object Storage for product images (S3 $0.023/GB-mo + $0.09/GB egress, R2 Free 10GB $0.015/GB after zero egress, Cloudinary Free 25 credits $99/mo Pro)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsS3 $0.023/GB-mo + $0.09/GB egress $0.005/1k PUT $0.0004/1k GET free 100GB egress via CloudFront, R2 Free 10GB 10M Class A + 10M Class B Zero egress $0 Paid $0.015/GB storage $4.50/M Class A $0.36/M Class B after, Supabase Storage Free 1GB Pro 100GB $0.021/GB over, Cloudinary Free 25 credits $99/mo Pro 225 credits
7. Image Optimization (Cloudinary Free 25 credits, Imgix Free 1k images $10/mo Pro 10k images, Cloudflare Images Free 5k images $5/mo 100k images $1/1k after)
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 Images Free 5k stored images $5/mo 100k stored + 100k transformations $1/1k imgs over $5/100k delivered, Imgix Free 1k origin images $10/mo Pro 10k images 100GB bw $0.08/GB over $8/1k extra origin over, Cloudinary Free 25 credits (25k transforms) $99/mo Pro 225 credits $0.40/credit over + $0.15/GB bw
8. Auth - Customer accounts (Clerk Free 10k MAU $25/mo Pro + $0.02/MAU over, Auth0 Free 7.5k MAU $35/mo Essentials, Firebase Auth Free 50k MAU)
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 $25/mo Pro $0.02/MAU over 10k-100k $0.10/MAU under compliance, Firebase Auth Free 50k MAU/day $0 Identity Platform $0.005/MAU after 50k $0.015/MFA, Supabase Auth Free 50k MAU included with DB Pro $25/mo same, Auth0 Free 7.5k MAU Essentials $35/mo 500 MAU $0.07/MAU over Teams $150/mo 1k MAU
9. Payment Gateway API (Stripe 2.9% + 30c per txn + 0.5% Billing, PayPal 2.99%+49c, Braintree 2.59%+49c, Adyen interchange + 0.11 + 0.60c)
Moves money — charges, payouts to sellers, taxes, fraud checks. Highest-stakes integration: get it wrong and you break compliance or lose revenue.Pricing & free-tier limitsStripe 2.9%+30c per US txn + 0.5% Billing $0.50 Radar $0.05/screened Intl +1.5% +30c $2/mth rev share >$1M, PayPal 2.99%+49c 3.49%+49c Pay Later 4.99%+49c Venmo $0 monthly, Braintree 2.59%+49c $0 mo Amex 3.5%+49c, Adyen Interchange++ $0.11/psp + $0.12 3DS $60/mo min invoice + 0.60c processing
10. Cart/Checkout Service (Shopify Checkout $0 included with Shopify $39/mo Basic, Stripe Checkout Free 0% + Stripe fees, BigCommerce Checkout $0 included)
Moves money — charges, payouts to sellers, taxes, fraud checks. Highest-stakes integration: get it wrong and you break compliance or lose revenue.Pricing & free-tier limitsStripe Checkout Free 0% + Stripe fees 2.9%+30c free 0% platform fee, Shopify Checkout included Basic $39/mo 2.9%+30c 2% 3rd-party fee Grow $105/mo 2.6%+30c 1% fee Advanced $399/mo 2.4%+30c 0.5% fee, BigCommerce Std $39/mo 2.59%+30c Pro $399/mo 2.35%+30c Ent $1000+/mo, CommerceTools usage ~$2000/mo min + $0.02/order API
11. Inventory Management API (Shopify Inventory Free with Shopify, Fabric Inventory $500/mo, Cin7 $299/mo)
Scheduling, availability, and booking logic. Core to any appointment or reservation product.Pricing & free-tier limitsShopify Inventory Free with any Shopify plan $39+/mo API included unlimited locations, Cin7 Core $299/mo 5k orders $0.08/order over Omni $599/mo 20k orders, Fabric Inventory $500/mo Starter 5k SKUs $0.10/SKU over usage $0.02/API call over 100k, Linnworks $399/mo 10k orders $0.05/order over $0.10/SKU over 50k
How this hobby ecommerce checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a hobby ecommerce 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.