I’m a solo dev trying to ship an AI SaaS without a VC war chest. My biggest fear isn’t the code, it’s waking up to a $2,000 bill because some bot sniffed out my API key and hammered it at 3 a.m. I just finished a deep dive comparing 7 different stacks (Firebase, Supabase, Railway, Cloudflare, Vercel and more) to figure out which one best fits my needs: web app development, AI API access, solid auth, and a secure backend. I made a 28-page PDF guide with specs and cost breakdowns.

Guide - Choosing your AI-powered SaaS stack (2026).pdf Here’s what I found:

Google Cloud Platform with Firebase is my “sleep at night” default. Yes, I know: people love to roast it for lacking true SQL. But it’s the only stack that checks every box on my criteria list, at near-zero cost.
My hybrid solution: “Relational Firebase” When I genuinely need a proper SQL database, I combine Firebase for auth, hosting, cloud functions, and app check security with Supabase purely for its SQL database. It’s the cleanest way to get SQL power without sacrificing the comfort and security of the Google Cloud.
Railway is the dark horse. Railway looks like a compelling alternative. I haven’t used it personally, but on paper it’s hard to dismiss.
Vercel and Cloudflare have lots of merits, but also some shortfalls versus my selection criteria. Honest reactions? Corrections? Anything I missed? Stupid things I said? submitted by /u/pebblepath

Originally posted by u/pebblepath on r/ClaudeCode

A brutally honest 2026 full-stack comparison for AI SaaS devs who count every cent and want to sleep well at night. Why Firebase won, Supabase helped and Railway lurks. (PDF)