Hey Reader,

Happy New Year! I'm back from vacation and had a wonderful time away. I hope you did, too!

This year, I have shipped more than 10 apps; quite a few are open-source. I tried a bunch of tools, but let's be honest: Only a few really stuck with me. These are the ones I can't imagine working without.

So, Here is my Tech Stack for 2025!

This newsletter is not sponsored, but I genuinely believe these tools can enhance your productivity and make your work more enjoyable.

Authentication 🔒

Clerk has just blown my expectations out of the park. They are incredible and would highly recommend checking them out.

I liked how easy it was to integrate, and auth seems simpler now. You can set up auth in less than five minutes 🤯.

​Check out Clerk here ↗

Security 🔑

While building production-ready apps, we need to think of security from the get-go, and I believe ArcJet has been an excellent service. I've also created a video on this topic and think it would be a great watch to learn mistakes to avoid when it comes to security

​Check out ArcJet here ↗

Database 🧊

I love it when you don't have to spend time trying to figure out which SQL statements to write on the backend.

This is where Convex shines. It is an incredibly easy-to-use Backend as a Service. With simple functions, I was able to perform CRUD operations easily. More importantly, I could focus on the product I was building rather than worrying about tech.

​Check Convex here ↗

AI 💫

I am a huge fan of Cursor and have officially switched from VS Code to Cursor. Remember, Cursor is a fork of VSCode, so what you get in VSCode is also what you get in Cursor.

I pay for it, but it is like an intern you can train, and it has made me so much faster in building and shipping apps.

​Check Cursor here ↗

Building SaaS apps 💕

Bolt.new is a DevSandbox with AI from StackBlitz. It is excellent for creating quick prototypes when you pass the right prompts to it.

I'm not paying for it, but I would love to be sponsored by them 😉 at some point, as I genuinely love the product.

​Check Bolt.new here ↗

UI Library 💄

I frigging love this library and can't ship without ShadCN UI 💖. A consistent design language is crucial; ShadCN makes that happen for me.

It is an integral part of my toolkit and makes my life so much simpler.

​Check out Shadcn UI here ↗

Icons ◻️

When you add icons to your app, it starts to look beautiful.

Icons give users a great visual clue without using many words, which is why I highly recommend using Lucide React Icons.

You can install the library and then import icons like React components. There is tree shaking, meaning only your icons will be included in your bundle.

​Check Lucide React here ↗

Framework

From a framework perspective, I love Next.js, and the ecosystem makes it easier to ship cool apps faster. Lately, I have also loved TanStack and think I'll use TanStack more than last year.

I have also created a course on Next.js, so including the framework here is a no-brainer.

💖 Weekly Youtube Videos

Check it out and subscribe to my channel ↗️ for more Frontend, Leadership and Career Development content.

An Honest Review of TanStack vs Next.js ​ ​

Stop! These Next.js Mistakes Are Killing Your App ​

​

What do you think of today's Newsletter? Simply click on one of the links below.

​🔥 Love it!​

​😐 It’s okay​

​👎 Not good​