What you need to launch
Every web app — no matter how simple — needs the same eight things. This is the invisible infrastructure layer that most tutorials skip over. Here it is explained plainly, with the best free options for each.
The launch checklist
Domain & DNS
Your address on the internet. Without this, nobody can find your site.
A domain is the simpleai.club part of a URL. DNS is the system that points that name at your actual server. Cloudflare is the best free option — it also protects your site from attacks and makes it load faster globally.
Domain management + DNS + security. Free.
~$10–15/yr for the domain name. DNS management is free.
Hosting
Where your code actually runs. When someone visits your site, this is what serves it.
You write code on your laptop. Hosting puts that code on a computer that's always on and connected to the internet. Vercel is the go-to for Next.js apps — it deploys automatically every time you push code, and the free tier is generous enough for most early projects.
Best for Next.js. Automatic deploys. Free tier.
Strong alternative. Also free to start.
Free until you scale. Paid plans from $20/mo.
Authentication
How users log in and out. Who is allowed in, and who they are.
Building auth from scratch is one of the most common security mistakes founders make. Use a dedicated service — it handles passwords, sessions, token expiry, and Google sign-in securely so you don't have to.
Google-backed. Email + Google sign-in. Free up to 10k users/mo.
Open source alternative. Bundles with a database.
Free for most early-stage apps.
Database
Where your app stores data. User profiles, saved items, settings — all of it lives here.
Every app that has users needs somewhere to store information about them. Firebase Firestore and Supabase are both free to start and handle everything from a handful of users to millions. The right choice depends on whether you prefer a document database (Firebase) or a traditional table-based one (Supabase).
Document database. Pairs perfectly with Firebase Auth.
PostgreSQL. Great if you know SQL.
Free tier is generous. Paid from $25/mo when you scale.
Transactional Email
Automated emails your app sends to users. Welcome emails, password resets, receipts.
When a user signs up, resets their password, or makes a purchase — your app needs to send them an email automatically. You can't do this with a regular email inbox. Resend is the cleanest modern option and has a generous free tier.
Modern developer-friendly email API. 3,000 emails/mo free.
Free up to 3,000 emails/mo. $20/mo for more.
Business Email
A professional inbox at your own domain. hello@yourapp.com instead of yourname@gmail.com.
Users and partners judge credibility by small signals. An email from hello@simpleai.club reads as a real business. An email from phil.studying@gmail.com reads as a side project. It's a small detail that makes a big difference to first impressions.
Free. Forwards your custom address to Gmail. Can't send from it.
Free mailbox at your domain. Send and receive properly.
Free with Cloudflare routing or Zoho. $6/mo for Google Workspace.
Payments
How you charge money. Subscriptions, one-off purchases, free trials.
If your app ever makes money, you need a payment processor. Stripe is the industry standard — used by Amazon, Shopify, and thousands of startups. It handles card processing, subscriptions, tax, refunds, and fraud detection. You only pay when you earn: 1.5% per transaction in Australia.
Industry standard. Only pay when you earn. No monthly fee.
No monthly fee. 1.5% + 30¢ per transaction (AU).
Analytics
Understanding who uses your app, which pages they visit, and where they drop off.
Without analytics you're flying blind. You won't know which features people actually use, where they get confused, or why they leave. Privacy-focused options like Plausible and PostHog don't track users across the web — they just tell you what's happening on your own site.
Simple, privacy-first. No cookie banners needed. $9/mo.
Full product analytics. Free up to 1M events/mo.
PostHog is free to start. Plausible from $9/mo.
Total cost to launch: roughly $0
Every layer above has a free tier that comfortably handles your first few thousand users. You only start paying when your app is actually being used — and by then, it should be generating enough to justify it. The domain name (~$15/yr) is the only unavoidable upfront cost.
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