# StackShip

> One opinionated, dated pick per goal for people building with AI tools — plus what your whole stack really costs per month and when to switch. Prices are verified against official pricing pages and every verdict is dated. Sponsored placements are labelled and never affect picks.

## Best picks by goal
- [Best AI agent framework](https://stackship.app/best/best-ai-agent-framework): #1 OpenAI Agents SDK. The OpenAI Agents SDK is our pick for shipping a first production agent: a small set of primitives, works with other model providers, and is MIT-licensed. Use LangGraph for complex stateful agents, Mastra if you're a TypeScript team, and CrewAI for role-based multi-agent setups.
- [Best AI app builder for a SaaS with auth and payments](https://stackship.app/best/best-ai-app-builder-for-saas): #1 Lovable. Lovable is our pick for building a SaaS with auth and payments from prompts: it ships a built-in backend (or connects your own Supabase), has a native Stripe integration, and hosts your app when you publish. Bolt.new and Replit are strong alternatives; Dyad is the open-source, local option.
- [Best AI coding agent or IDE](https://stackship.app/best/best-ai-coding-agent): #1 Cursor. Cursor is our pick for most vibe coders moving into real code: an AI-first editor with agent mode, chat and completions. Claude Code is the strongest terminal-first agent for delegating whole tasks, OpenAI Codex is included in ChatGPT plans, and Cline is the best open-source option.
- [Best AI app builder for mobile apps](https://stackship.app/best/best-ai-mobile-app-builder): #1 Rork. Rork is our pick for building native mobile apps from prompts. FlutterFlow is the stronger choice if you want visual control and Flutter code export, and Bolt.new can build iOS and Android apps with Expo. Expo itself is the free, open-source React Native framework that several AI app builders, including Bolt.new and Replit, use under the hood.
- [Best database and backend for vibe coders](https://stackship.app/best/best-database-backend): #1 Supabase. Supabase is our pick: Postgres, auth, storage and realtime in one place, with a free tier and broad support across AI app builders. Firebase suits mobile apps, Convex suits realtime TypeScript apps, and PocketBase is the free, open-source single-file backend.
- [Best image and video generation API](https://stackship.app/best/best-image-video-ai-api): #1 fal.ai. fal.ai is our pick for adding image and video generation to an app: many top models behind one API, billed per output. Replicate is best for running specific open-source models or fine-tuning, Runway for producing video yourself, and ComfyUI for free local generation.
- [Best tool for internal tools](https://stackship.app/best/best-internal-tools-builder): #1 Retool. Retool is our pick for serious internal tools on top of your databases and APIs, with workflows and AI agents built in. Base44 is the fastest prompt-to-internal-app option, Replit suits custom apps you also want to host, and Appsmith is the open-source, self-hostable choice.
- [Best tool for landing pages](https://stackship.app/best/best-landing-page-builder): #1 Framer. Framer is our pick for landing pages: design-tool editing, a built-in CMS and hosting with the least effort. Webflow is more powerful for content-heavy sites, Carrd is the budget one-pager, and Astro is the open-source option if you (or your AI agent) write code.
- [Best open-source and local AI stack](https://stackship.app/best/best-open-source-local-ai-stack): #1 Ollama. Ollama is our pick for running open models locally: one command to pull and run, with an API your tools can call. LM Studio is the friendliest GUI, Cline is the best open-source coding agent to pair with local models, and Aider is the lean open-source terminal alternative.
- [Best testing and QA tools for AI-built apps](https://stackship.app/best/best-testing-qa-tools): #1 Playwright. Playwright is our pick: free, open-source end-to-end tests that AI coding agents can write and run to check their own work. Add Sentry to catch production errors and Checkly to run your Playwright tests as monitors. Vitest covers fast unit tests in JavaScript and TypeScript projects.
- [Best voice AI API](https://stackship.app/best/best-voice-ai-api): #1 ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs is our pick for natural-sounding voices, cloning and voice agents through one API. Deepgram is the choice when fast, cheap transcription is the core of your product, Vapi is the fastest route to phone agents, and Pipecat is the open-source framework for self-hosted voice agents.
- [Cheapest hosting and deploy for AI-built apps](https://stackship.app/best/cheapest-hosting-for-ai-apps): #1 Cloudflare Workers & Pages. Cloudflare Workers & Pages is our pick for the cheapest serious hosting: a generous free tier, a $5/month paid minimum and no egress fees. Vercel is the smoothest for Next.js but its free plan is non-commercial; Railway is best for servers and databases. Coolify is free if you already have a server.

## Comparisons
- [Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex vs Cline](https://stackship.app/compare/claude-code-vs-openai-codex-vs-cline): Claude Code is the strongest pick for delegating multi-step tasks if you use Claude; OpenAI Codex is included in ChatGPT plans, including Free; Cline is the open-source option that works with any model provider, including local ones.
- [Cursor vs Claude Code](https://stackship.app/compare/cursor-vs-claude-code): Pick Cursor if you want an AI-first editor where you review changes visually; pick Claude Code if you're comfortable in a terminal and want to delegate whole multi-step tasks. Many builders use both: an editor for reviewing, an agent for heavy lifting.
- [Cursor vs GitHub Copilot vs Windsurf (Devin Desktop)](https://stackship.app/compare/cursor-vs-github-copilot-vs-windsurf): Cursor is our pick for an agent-first editor; GitHub Copilot is the safe, low-cost choice that works across many IDEs; Windsurf, now marketed as Devin Desktop, offers quota-based plans and access to Devin's cloud agents.
- [Framer vs Webflow vs Carrd](https://stackship.app/compare/framer-vs-webflow-vs-carrd): Framer is the fastest route to a great-looking landing page, Webflow is the most powerful for content-heavy sites, and Carrd is the budget option for a single page, from $9/year.
- [LangGraph vs OpenAI Agents SDK vs CrewAI](https://stackship.app/compare/langgraph-vs-openai-agents-sdk-vs-crewai): Start with the OpenAI Agents SDK for the simplest path to a production agent. Move to LangGraph when you need complex, stateful control flow and strong tracing, and choose CrewAI if a role-based 'crew' of agents matches how you think about the problem.
- [Lovable vs Bolt.new vs Replit vs v0](https://stackship.app/compare/lovable-vs-bolt-vs-replit-vs-v0): Lovable is the best all-round pick for a SaaS from prompts, thanks to its built-in backend, native Stripe integration and hosting. Pick Bolt.new to see and edit code in the browser, Replit to build and host in one place, and v0 if you're heading for Next.js on Vercel.
- [Supabase vs Firebase](https://stackship.app/compare/supabase-vs-firebase): Supabase is the better default for vibe coders: standard Postgres, built-in auth and storage, and broad support across AI app builders. Firebase is the better pick for mobile-first apps that benefit from its document model and Google integrations.
- [Supabase vs Neon vs Convex](https://stackship.app/compare/supabase-vs-neon-vs-convex): Supabase is a full backend (Postgres, auth, storage, realtime); Neon is just serverless Postgres billed by usage; Convex is a reactive TypeScript backend with realtime built in. Pick by how much backend you want handled for you.
- [Vercel vs Netlify vs Cloudflare](https://stackship.app/compare/vercel-vs-netlify-vs-cloudflare): Cloudflare is the cheapest, with a generous free tier and no egress fees on Workers. Vercel gives the smoothest Next.js experience, and Netlify is a mature alternative with a low-cost Personal plan.
- [Vercel vs Railway](https://stackship.app/compare/vercel-vs-railway): Vercel is the best home for Next.js and frontends, with previews for every branch and pull request; Railway is better for long-running servers, workers and databases. Many stacks use both: Vercel for the frontend, Railway for the backend.

## Tools
- [Aider](https://stackship.app/tools/aider): Aider is an open-source terminal tool for AI pair programming with LLMs in a local git repository.
- [Anthropic API](https://stackship.app/tools/anthropic-api): The Anthropic API provides programmatic access to Anthropic's Claude family of large language models.
- [Anything](https://stackship.app/tools/anything): Anything (formerly Create.xyz) is an AI app builder that generates web and mobile apps from prompts.
- [Appsmith](https://stackship.app/tools/appsmith): Appsmith is an open-source low-code platform for building internal tools, admin panels and dashboards connected to databases and APIs.
- [Astro](https://stackship.app/tools/astro): Astro is an open-source web framework for content-driven websites.
- [Base44](https://stackship.app/tools/base44): Base44 is an AI app builder that generates full-stack apps with built-in auth, database and hosting from prompts.
- [Bolt.new](https://stackship.app/tools/bolt-new): Bolt.new is a browser-based AI app builder by StackBlitz that generates, runs and deploys full-stack web apps from prompts.
- [Carrd](https://stackship.app/tools/carrd): Carrd is a builder for simple, fully responsive one-page websites such as landing pages and personal profiles.
- [Checkly](https://stackship.app/tools/checkly): Checkly is a synthetic monitoring and testing platform that runs Playwright-based browser checks and API checks as code.
- [Claude Agent SDK](https://stackship.app/tools/claude-agent-sdk): Claude Agent SDK is Anthropic's SDK (Python and TypeScript) for building agents on top of Claude Code programmatically, with support for custom tools and hooks.
- [Claude Code](https://stackship.app/tools/claude-code): Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool for the terminal, IDEs and web, available with Claude subscriptions or API billing.
- [Clerk](https://stackship.app/tools/clerk): Clerk is a hosted authentication and user-management service with prebuilt sign-in components.
- [Cline](https://stackship.app/tools/cline): Cline is an open-source autonomous coding agent for VS Code and the CLI that uses your choice of model provider.
- [Cloudflare Workers & Pages](https://stackship.app/tools/cloudflare-workers-pages): Cloudflare Workers is a serverless compute platform running on Cloudflare's edge network, and Cloudflare Pages is its platform for deploying static and full-stack sites.
- [ComfyUI](https://stackship.app/tools/comfyui): ComfyUI is an open-source node-graph interface and backend for running diffusion models locally for image, video, audio and 3D generation, with an official paid Comfy Cloud.
- [Convex](https://stackship.app/tools/convex): Convex is a reactive backend platform combining a database, server functions and realtime sync, available as a cloud service or self-hosted.
- [Coolify](https://stackship.app/tools/coolify): Coolify is an open-source, self-hostable platform-as-a-service for deploying apps, databases and services to your own servers, with an optional managed Coolify Cloud control plane.
- [CrewAI](https://stackship.app/tools/crewai): CrewAI is an open-source Python framework for orchestrating AI agents through role-based Crews and event-driven Flows, with a commercial platform for building and deploying them.
- [Cursor](https://stackship.app/tools/cursor): Cursor is an AI code editor with agentic coding, chat and tab completion.
- [Deepgram](https://stackship.app/tools/deepgram): Deepgram provides speech-to-text, text-to-speech and voice agent APIs built on its own speech models.
- [Dyad](https://stackship.app/tools/dyad): Dyad is an open-source desktop AI app builder that runs locally and lets you build web apps using the AI models you choose, including your own API keys.
- [ElevenLabs](https://stackship.app/tools/elevenlabs): ElevenLabs is an AI audio platform offering text-to-speech, voice cloning, dubbing and voice agents via web app and API.
- [Expo](https://stackship.app/tools/expo): Expo is an open-source toolkit for building native mobile and web apps with React (React Native), with paid cloud services through EAS (Expo Application Services).
- [fal.ai](https://stackship.app/tools/fal-ai): fal.ai is a generative media platform offering serverless inference APIs for image, video, audio and 3D models plus on-demand GPU compute.
- [Firebase](https://stackship.app/tools/firebase): Firebase is Google's app development platform providing hosted databases, authentication, hosting, cloud functions and related services.
- [FlutterFlow](https://stackship.app/tools/flutterflow): FlutterFlow is a visual low-code builder for Flutter mobile and web apps with AI generation features and code export.
- [Fly.io](https://stackship.app/tools/fly-io): Fly.io is a platform for running applications in lightweight VMs (Machines) across regions worldwide.
- [Framer](https://stackship.app/tools/framer): Framer is a no-code website builder for designing, publishing and hosting websites, with a built-in CMS and AI features.
- [GitHub Copilot](https://stackship.app/tools/github-copilot): GitHub Copilot is GitHub's AI coding assistant providing code completion, chat and coding agents across IDEs and github.com.
- [LangGraph (LangChain)](https://stackship.app/tools/langchain-langgraph): LangChain and LangGraph are open-source frameworks for LLM apps and stateful agents; LangSmith is the company's paid tracing and deployment platform.
- [LM Studio](https://stackship.app/tools/lm-studio): LM Studio is a desktop application for running large language models locally, with optional paid access to hosted open-weight models.
- [Lovable](https://stackship.app/tools/lovable): Lovable is an AI app builder that generates and edits web apps and websites from chat prompts.
- [Mastra](https://stackship.app/tools/mastra): Mastra is an open-source TypeScript framework for building AI applications and agents, with Mastra Cloud as a hosted platform for deployment and observability.
- [n8n](https://stackship.app/tools/n8n): n8n is a workflow automation platform with a visual builder and custom code support, available self-hosted or as a cloud service.
- [Neon](https://stackship.app/tools/neon): Neon is a serverless Postgres database service with autoscaling compute and database branching.
- [Netlify](https://stackship.app/tools/netlify): Netlify is a platform for building, deploying and hosting web sites and apps with serverless functions.
- [Ollama](https://stackship.app/tools/ollama): Ollama is an open-source tool for running large language models locally, with an optional paid cloud for hosted models.
- [OpenAI Agents SDK](https://stackship.app/tools/openai-agents-sdk): OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight open-source Python framework for building multi-agent workflows that works with OpenAI's Responses and Chat Completions APIs and other LLM providers.
- [OpenAI API](https://stackship.app/tools/openai-api): The OpenAI API provides programmatic access to OpenAI's GPT language models and other AI models.
- [OpenAI Codex](https://stackship.app/tools/openai-codex): Codex is OpenAI's coding agent available as a CLI, IDE extension and cloud agent, included with ChatGPT plans or billed via API key.
- [OpenRouter](https://stackship.app/tools/openrouter): OpenRouter is a unified API that routes requests to many LLM providers and models through one endpoint.
- [Pipecat](https://stackship.app/tools/pipecat): Pipecat is an open-source Python framework from Daily for building real-time voice and multimodal conversational agents.
- [Playwright](https://stackship.app/tools/playwright): Playwright is an open-source framework by Microsoft for end-to-end testing and browser automation across Chromium, Firefox and WebKit.
- [PocketBase](https://stackship.app/tools/pocketbase): PocketBase is an open-source backend in a single file with a realtime database, authentication, file storage and admin dashboard.
- [Railway](https://stackship.app/tools/railway): Railway is a cloud platform for deploying applications, databases and services with usage-based billing.
- [Render](https://stackship.app/tools/render): Render is a cloud platform for hosting web services, static sites, background workers and managed databases.
- [Replicate](https://stackship.app/tools/replicate): Replicate is a cloud platform for running and fine-tuning open-source and proprietary machine learning models through an API, billed by usage.
- [Replit](https://stackship.app/tools/replit): Replit is a cloud development platform with an AI agent that builds, hosts and deploys apps from natural-language prompts.
- [Retool](https://stackship.app/tools/retool): Retool is a low-code platform for building internal tools, workflows and AI agents on top of databases and APIs, available as cloud or self-hosted.
- [Rork](https://stackship.app/tools/rork): Rork is an AI app builder that generates mobile apps from prompts.
- [Runway](https://stackship.app/tools/runway): Runway is an AI video and image generation platform with tools for creating and editing media from text, image and video inputs.
- [Sentry](https://stackship.app/tools/sentry): Sentry is an application monitoring platform for error tracking, performance tracing, session replay and logs.
- [Stripe](https://stackship.app/tools/stripe): Stripe is a payments platform for accepting online and in-person payments, with billing, invoicing and related financial APIs.
- [Supabase](https://stackship.app/tools/supabase): Supabase is a hosted Postgres backend platform with authentication, file storage, realtime and edge functions.
- [v0](https://stackship.app/tools/v0): v0 is Vercel's AI app builder that generates React/Next.js apps and UI from prompts and deploys them to Vercel.
- [Vapi](https://stackship.app/tools/vapi): Vapi is a developer platform and API for building, testing and deploying voice AI agents for phone and web calls.
- [Vercel AI SDK](https://stackship.app/tools/vercel-ai-sdk): The AI SDK is a provider-agnostic open-source TypeScript toolkit from Vercel for building AI applications and agents.
- [Vercel](https://stackship.app/tools/vercel): Vercel is a cloud platform for deploying and hosting frontend frameworks and serverless functions.
- [Vitest](https://stackship.app/tools/vitest): Vitest is an open-source JavaScript/TypeScript testing framework powered by Vite.
- [Webflow](https://stackship.app/tools/webflow): Webflow is a visual website builder and hosting platform with a built-in CMS, aimed at designers, marketers and developers.
- [Windsurf (Devin Desktop)](https://stackship.app/tools/windsurf): Windsurf is an AI code editor from Cognition, now marketed as Devin Desktop.
- [Zed](https://stackship.app/tools/zed): Zed is an open-source code editor written in Rust with built-in AI agent and collaboration features.

## Optional
- [Stack cost calculator](https://stackship.app/stack-cost): estimate the monthly cost of a builder + database + hosting + AI usage stack.
- [New this week](https://stackship.app/new): weekly sourced releases for AI builders.
- [Full content dump](https://stackship.app/llms-full.txt): all picks, verdicts and verified prices in one file.
- [Methodology](https://stackship.app/about#methodology)
- [Disclosure](https://stackship.app/disclosure)