Ecommerce — 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.
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
12. Search for products (Algolia Free 10k records 10k searches $1/1k records $0.50/1k searches over, Typesense Free self-hosted $30/mo Cloud 100k docs $0.50/1k docs over, Meilisearch Free self-hosted $30/mo Cloud)
Lets users find things fast. A slow or missing search directly costs engagement and conversions.Pricing & free-tier limitsAlgolia Free 10k records 10k searches/mo $0 Grow $0.50/1k searches $1/1k records Scale $1.50/1k records 100k searches inc $0.40/1k extra, Typesense Cloud $30/mo 100k docs 1M searches $0.50/1k docs $0.40/1k searches over Self-host OSS $0, Meilisearch Cloud $30/mo 100k docs 500k searches Self-host Free $0
13. Email - Transactional for order confirmations (Resend Free 3k/mo $20/mo 50k $0.0004/email over, SendGrid Free 100/day $19.95/mo 50k, SES $0.10/1k)
Sending transactional email (receipts, resets, alerts) and sometimes marketing mail. Deliverability matters more than features here.Pricing & free-tier limitsResend Free 3k/mo + 1 email/sec $20/mo 50k $0.0004/email over Pro+ $0.001/attachment, SendGrid Free 100/day $19.95/mo 50k $0.0004/email over $0.001/email validation over, SES $0.10/1k emails + $0.12/GB attachments Free 3k/mo if EC2 included, Postmark Free 100/mo $15/mo 10k $0.00125/email over $0.0025/email over 100k
14. Email - Marketing for newsletters (Klaviyo Free 250 contacts $20/mo 500 contacts $0.02/contact over, Brevo Free 300 emails/day $25/mo 20k emails, Mailchimp Free 500 contacts $20/mo 1k contacts)
Sending transactional email (receipts, resets, alerts) and sometimes marketing mail. Deliverability matters more than features here.Pricing & free-tier limitsKlaviyo Free 250 contacts 500 emails $20/mo 500 contacts $30/mo 1k $0.02/contact over + $0.01/SMS over, Brevo Free 300 emails/day $25/mo 20k emails unlimited contacts $0.00125/email over + $15/mo for chat, Mailchimp Free 500 contacts 1k emails/mo $20/mo 1k contacts Essentials $13/mo 500 contacts
15. SMS Notifications for orders (Twilio $0.0075/SMS, Vonage $0.0055/SMS, OneSignal SMS $0.02/SMS)
Reaches users on their phone via SMS or push. Useful for verification codes and re-engagement; watch the per-message cost.Pricing & free-tier limitsTwilio $0.0075/SMS US outbound $1/number/mo $0.005/inbound $0.03/lookup over free $15 trial credit, Vonage $0.0055/SMS US $0.90/number/mo $0.0035/inbound, OneSignal SMS $0.02/SMS + $9/mo base $0.02/MMS US, Braze SMS $0.015/SMS US + platform $500/mo min + $0.007 carrier fees
16. Tax Calculation API (Stripe Tax 0.5% per txn, TaxJar Free 1000 calcs $19/mo Pro 10k calcs $0.10/calc over, Avalara $50/mo 1000 transactions $0.20/tx over)
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 Tax 0.5% per txn capped $0.50/txn + filing $100+/jurisdiction first $100k free calc testing, TaxJar Free 1000 calcs/mo Starter $19/mo Pro 10k calcs $0.10/calc over AutoFile $29/state, Avalara $50/mo 1000 txns $0.20/tx over $275/mo Pro 5000 txns $99/state filing + $0.15/cross-border
17. Shipping & Fulfillment API (Shippo Free 30 labels $10/mo Pro 500 labels $0.05/label over, EasyPost Free 100 labels $0.05/label after, ShipStation $9/mo 50 shipments $0.50/shipment over)
Rates, labels, and tracking for physical goods. Needed once you actually ship products.Pricing & free-tier limitsShippo Free 30 labels/mo $10/mo Starter 500 labels $0.05/label over Pro $100/mo 3000 labels $0.04/label over, EasyPost Free 100 labels/mo $0.05/label after Tiered $250/mo includes $250 postage + tracking $0.01/tracking update, ShipStation $9/mo Starter 50 shipments $0.50/shipment over $29/mo 500 shipments $0.40/shipment over
18. Caching - Redis for cart/sessions (Upstash Free 10k cmds/day $0.20/100k cmds over, Redis Cloud Free 30MB $5/mo 250MB, Momento Free 50k req/day $0.20/1M req after)
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 $0.20/100k cmds over $0.50/GB storage over Pro $10/mo 100k cmds/day $0.20/100k, Redis Cloud Free 30MB $5/mo Essentials 250MB $0.15/GB over $0.20/100k ops, Momento Free 50k req/day 5GB transfer $0.20/1M req after $50/mo min + $0.20/GB transfer over, ElastiCache Serverless $0.125/GB-hr + $0.20/1M ECPUs $1/M
19. Background Jobs for orders (Inngest Free 100k steps $20/mo 500k steps $0.00004/step over, Trigger.dev Free 10k runs $30/mo 50k runs, SQS Free 1M req $0.40/M after)
Runs slow work (emails, exports, payouts) in the background so users don’t wait. Keeps your app snappy.Pricing & free-tier limitsInngest Free 100k steps/mo $20/mo 500k steps $0.00004/step over $0.0001/fn-run + concurrency, Trigger.dev Free 10k runs/mo $30/mo 50k runs $0.0006/run over $10/10k extra, SQS Free 1M requests/mo $0.40/M after $0.50/M FIFO + EventBridge $1/M events, BullMQ Pro Cloud $200/mo 1M jobs
How this small scale ecommerce checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a small scale 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.