How to Choose Your Tech Stack in 2026

The tech stack question comes up in every project kickoff. Here’s how we think about it.

The boring technology rule

Prefer boring technology. New and shiny is exciting, but proven and stable ships products.

That doesn’t mean avoiding innovation—it means being intentional about where you innovate. Pick one area to experiment, keep everything else predictable.

Questions to ask

Before choosing any technology:

Who will maintain this? If your team knows Python, don’t choose Go for the performance gains. Developer velocity matters more.
What’s the hiring pool? Exotic stacks mean harder hiring. Factor in the cost.
How active is the community? Check GitHub issues, Stack Overflow activity, release frequency. Abandoned projects become liabilities.
What’s the escape hatch? If this technology doesn’t work out, how painful is migration?

Our 2026 defaults

When clients ask for recommendations, here’s our starting point:

Web applications

Simple sites: Astro (static) or Next.js (dynamic)
Complex apps: Next.js or Remix
Styling: Tailwind CSS

Mobile

Cross-platform: React Native (if team knows React)
Native-first: SwiftUI (iOS), Jetpack Compose (Android)

Backend

Node.js: For JavaScript teams, excellent ecosystem
Python: For data-heavy work, ML integration
Go: For high-performance services

Database

PostgreSQL: Default choice for relational data
Redis: Caching, sessions, queues
SQLite: Embedded, edge computing

Infrastructure

Cloudflare: Edge functions, CDN, DNS
AWS/GCP: When you need the full platform
Vercel/Railway: Fast deploys, less configuration

The real answer

The best stack is the one your team can ship with. Optimize for productivity, not theoretical performance.

Technology changes. Products that solve real problems endure.