What is a tech stack?

Behind any successful digital product is the ecosystem of tools, coding languages, and technology infrastructure used to build that product. Together, they form that product’s tech stack. 

Tech stacks are invisible to end users, but they’re an indispensable part of building a product. Maintaining and integrating them can be a huge drain on a company’s resources if done badly. But if managed well, tech stacks are important assets that fuel product and business growth. 

Let’s talk about what a tech stack is, why it’s important, and the steps to take to build one. 

A technology stack, also called a solutions stack, technology infrastructure, or data ecosystem, is a list of all the technology services used to build and run one single application.

Product managers and developers talk about tech stacks because it makes it easy to communicate lots of information about how an application is built. The term is sometimes applied to marketing services (martech stacks) or sales services (sales stacks), but the term originated in product. 

A tech stack includes the programming languages, frameworks, and tools a PM or developer would need to interface with the application. Because most coding languages have well-known performance attributes and limitations, the tech stack hints at the overall application’s strengths and weaknesses. 

If a programmer knows that a software service is built on PHP, for example, they know that its code base is probably large and difficult to debug. Yes, PHP is versatile, and that’s why it’s used in most popular web applications. But it’s also notoriously inefficient as a coding language. 

In short, different tech stacks have different advantages. Choosing one tech stack over another will have an impact on the product you build and how easy it is to scale. 

Different companies will require different tech stacks, and no two are alike. Teams decide on which technologies they want to use and then build upon a core coding language, adding additional tools and services as they go. There's well-traveled quote about this from data analyst and engineer Lira Skenderi: “When you have a product in mind, you usually start with the front-end, the piece that faces the customer, and then decide what back-end tooling is needed to support that.”

The resulting bundle of services is called a "stack" because each additional service builds upon those beneath it, which allows developers to customize the application. 

All tech stacks are divided between the back-end and front-end, also known as server-side and client-side. On top of that, modern tech stacks for enterprises (or smaller companies hoping to scale) will usually include other components like a data layer, DevOps infrastructure, and analytics and product insights. 

Back-end technologies include web frameworks, programming languages, servers, operating systems, and APIs. 

Common tools for backend development include: 

Front-end technologies are the visual interface, such as websites and apps. These are the visual elements that most applications are known for and offer users the tools they need to get things done. 

Front-end languages are typically much simpler than back-end ones. Most web application interfaces are built using the programming language Javascript and tools like React, Angular, and Vue. 

Front-end technologies for smartphone apps include Objective-C/SWIFT for iOS apps and Java for Android apps.

Any digital product generates mountains of structured and unstructured data that together tell us who users are and how they interact with your business. All of that data needs to be stored and organized to be useful. 

Databases and data warehouses like MySQL, MongoDB, and Snowflake allow product managers and developers to manage their application’s data. 

DevOps combines development and operations teams to break down silos and deliver updates more quickly throughout the application lifecycle. 

Tools that support DevOps manage deployment, scalability, and maintenance. Some common tools include cloud technologies like AWS, deployment automation tools like Kubernetes, and container operating systems like Docker.  

Product analytics gives PMs and developers information about how users are interacting with their product, which allows them to optimize existing flows, decide which new features to prioritize, and uncover opportunities within their product. 

Tools like Mixpanel help capture user behavior, drive insights, and measure KPIs critical for product success.

Like the foundation for a house, the order in which a stack is built matters. Each new layer builds upon the last, and buried layers can’t easily be ripped out. 

A well-built tech stack offers four key advantages: scalability, efficiency, a positive user experience, and data-driven decision-making. 

Startups need to grow to survive, and your tech stack should support that growth without major disruptions. That means choosing tools that can scale with you in the future. 

Preparing a tech stack for the future can be a double-edged sword. If developers don’t consider how their application will scale, they might have to add additional services that make it cumbersome and difficult to manage. 

On the other hand, if they anticipate exponential growth and invest too much in expensive tools and services, they might run out of money before the application ever finds market success—if it ever does. 

The best strategy is to create minimum-viable products like web apps using open-source tools to prove concepts before investing heavily. It’s also a good idea to look for tools that offer the flexibility to send data to the other components in your stack, even if it’s not a requirement at first. When in doubt, PMs and developers usually gravitate toward more mature technologies and languages, which are often more reliable.

When a startup is first trying to get off the ground—and usually for years thereafter—time and resources are at a premium, and there’s never enough to do everything you would like. Using the right tools ensures that development and maintenance are streamlined so that developers and PMs can spend more time on more value-added tasks. 

A product is nothing without users, and user experience is one of the most important factors in determining an app or website’s success. A strong tech stack enables a seamless, high-performance product that delivers the quality users expect. 

A good tech stack will include analytics tools that will help understand and evaluate the performance of your product. Analytics tools help product managers and developers understand user behavior, improve product features, and drive engagement. Without them, measuring product performance is difficult. 

Different tech stacks offer different advantages. Some are built mostly on free and open-source tools, which makes them a good option for cost-conscious startups. Others are best for mobile apps. 

Companies will usually start out using simple, cost-effective tools suitable for fast iteration. As they grow, they’ll integrate tools that support more complex setups like AWS, Kubernetes, and product analytics tools like Mixpanel to support larger-scale operations. 

Here are a few examples of popular tech stacks, the advantages of each, and some companies that use them. 

MEAN is an open-source Javascript tech stack that includes MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node. It’s cost-effective for startups since it’s open-source, it’s compatible with all operating systems, and it’s ideal for rapid development and iteration because all of its layers use the same language (Javascript). 

MERN is similar to MEAN, with React instead of Angular. React is a more flexible tool than Angular and has an easier learning curve, which is why many companies prefer it. 

Facebook, Netflix, and Uber all use MERN. 

The LAMP tech stack is made up of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. LAMP is known for its simplicity, reliability, and flexibility. 

Web content management system WordPress, which powers 40% of the web, is built on LAMP.

Ruby on Rails, or RoR, is known for its “convention over configuration” approach, which simplifies development and allows developers to focus on big-picture application logic rather than configuration specifics. RoR is made up of Ruby, Rails, and PostgreSQL (or SQLite).

AirBnB built its website and app on RoR and later added React Native to improve the mobile experience for users. 

Developers around the world contribute to building open-source tools that are free for use and available to anyone with an internet connection. The scope of the open-source community and the utility it offers are staggering. “Open-source software is probably what is behind the past 10-20 years of tech renaissance,” said John Debs, a software engineer at SeatGeek. “Anybody can stand on the shoulders of giants and build products with incredibly complicated underlying technology that they never could have built themselves. You’re talking about a pool of billions of hours of people’s time and contributions from experts in every domain.” 

Debs estimates that the software he uses every day took other people millions of hours to write. Any engineering teams considering building a tech stack will have an easier time by relying, at least in part, on open-source software.

PMs and developers tend to favor languages they already know. But to build the best tech stack, it pays to step back and let the application’s purpose determine its technology. 

For example, will the application exist on mobile or desktop? If on mobile, what apps? If desktop, what browsers? Is it a media site that will receive millions of daily visitors or a mobile banking app that needs to be secure? Different programming languages, tools, and tech stacks lend themselves to each of these purposes. So might certain developers with relevant skills.

Here are a few steps you can take to build the best possible tech stack for your product:

Step 1: Define your product goal and requirements

What does your tech stack need to accomplish? Set clear goals to guide the choice of tools. 

Step 2: Evaluate tools based on scalability, flexibility, and cost

Consider tools that can scale as your product and user base grow. Developers and PMs often choose tools that they have previous experience with, to accelerate build and reduce their learning curve.

Step 3: Integrate analytics for user insights

With a product set up for growth and an expanding user base, it’s time to add product analytics. Solutions like Mixpanel capture actionable user data and drive continuous improvement.

Step 4: Prioritize security and compliance 

Choosing secure tools that adhere to compliance standards (SOC 2, ISO, etc.) is important at any stage, but especially as companies scale. Most companies have compliance requirements for their partners and vendors, and setting up a tech stack that meets those requirements from the start (or can do so once you scale) is key to securing that business and smoothing the path for growth. 

Step 5: Iterate and evolve your tech stack

As your product matures, your tech stack may need updates to maintain efficiency and performance. Choosing the right tools from the start is important, but so is recognizing when you need to make changes to keep up with your product’s evolving needs. 

Product analytics is crucial to any tech stack: PMs can’t manage a tech stack unless they know what’s going on. With the right analytics in place, fast-moving startups can gain insights into product performance, spot new opportunities, and create a product that users will love. 

Modern analytics tools integrate seamlessly with the rest of your tech stack, including databases, CRMs, and data warehouses to unify data sources. 

Product analytics platforms like Mixpanel can track granular user actions and behaviors in real time so that PMs, and other teams all across the company, can see how even small changes affect their product. With the right tool, PMs can use segmentation to create custom reports based on their unique product goals.