The Modern Web Stack in 2025

After building multiple production applications this year, here's what's actually working in the modern web development landscape.

The Core Stack

Next.js 15 + React 19

This combination has matured beautifully. Key improvements:

• Turbopack is now stable for development, beta for production
• React Server Components eliminate entire categories of performance issues
• Streaming SSR provides instant feedback to users
• Built-in optimizations handle images, fonts, and third-party scripts automatically

// Server Component - runs only on server
async function UserDashboard() {
  const user = await db.user.findUnique() // Direct DB access!
 
  return <Dashboard user={user} />
}

TypeScript Everywhere

TypeScript 5.9 with improved inference means:

• Fewer explicit type annotations needed
• Better error messages
• Faster type checking
• Integration with AI tools for code generation

Styling: Tailwind CSS v4

Tailwind v4's Oxide engine is genuinely transformative:

• 5-100x faster CSS processing
• Better IntelliSense
• Improved browser compatibility
• Native CSS nesting support

Data Layer

Supabase for Everything

Supabase has become our go-to for:

• PostgreSQL with vector search (pgvector)
• Real-time subscriptions out of the box
• Row-level security for multi-tenant apps
• Edge Functions for serverless logic
• Storage with automatic image optimization

The AI Integration Layer

Vercel AI SDK 5.0

This is the secret weapon. It provides:

• Unified interface across 100+ AI models
• Built-in streaming and cancellation
• Type-safe tool calling
• React hooks for UI integration

import { generateText } from 'ai'
 
const result = await generateText({
  model: openai('gpt-4'),
  prompt: 'Explain quantum computing',
  tools: {
    search: searchTool,
    calculate: calculatorTool,
  }
})

What We Avoid

Some technologies that looked promising but didn't work well in practice:

• ❌ tRPC - Added complexity without enough benefit (REST + Zod is simpler)
• ❌ Prisma - Too much overhead for straightforward SQL needs
• ❌ GraphQL - Overkill for most applications

The Testing Stack

• Vitest for unit/integration tests
• Playwright for E2E testing
• Testing Library for component tests

Deployment

Vercel remains unmatched for Next.js applications:

• Zero-config deployments
• Edge Functions globally distributed
• Built-in analytics and monitoring
• Automatic HTTPS and DDoS protection

The Result

This stack enables:

• ⚡ Sub-second page loads
• 🔄 Real-time features without complexity
• 🤖 AI integration in hours, not weeks
• 📦 Type-safe from database to UI
• 🚀 Deploy in minutes, scale to millions

Getting Started

Want to try this stack? The fastest way:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app --typescript --tailwind --app
cd my-app
npm install ai @ai-sdk/openai @supabase/supabase-js
npm run dev

You'll have a production-ready foundation in under 5 minutes.

Building something with this stack? I'd love to see it. Share on X and tag me.