Updated on: August 12, 2025

Time to update my tech stack. Much has changed since I first posted this. I am currently the IT Web Application Developer for a state agency in Washington State. I am also a Virtual Service Pilot Participant for the US Peace Corps, working on a web development project in Jamaica. The tools I use predominantly influence the following list:

Frameworks

Below are the frameworks I developed:

  • Astro - One of the easiest frameworks to get projects up and running. I used this project for AmerasianWorld.com and another project with my agency.
  • SvelteKit - One my favorite framework that I am using to design the prototype for my VSP Peace Corps project with an NGO in Jamaica. I will also use Decoupled Drupal in the project.
  • Dioxus - One of my new favorite Rust frameworks. Dioxus is the main reason I decided to build a workstation to fine-tune AI models.
  • Tailwind CSS - My favorite CSS framework. I will only use Tailwind CSS and Components in my projects.

Headless CMS (Decoupled)

Sometimes clients need an easier way to add content without touching the HTML. I am dumping WordPress as my headless solution since it is easier to set up Drupal.

  • Drupal - My go to headless CMS now that I will integrate with Astro and SvelteKit projects.

CSS Framework and Components

There are many, I just use the Tailwind CSS framework.

  • Tailwind CSS - This is the only CSS framework I used now.
  • Alpine.js - Another favorite. Right now I am using Alpine.js directives with my TailwindUI components.
  • TailwindUI - I own a license. Most of my sites use TailwindUI components.

Databases

  • MariaDB - All my MySQL databases will be migrated to MariaDB.
  • Postgres - Got several container apps using Postres.

Hosting

  • Vercel - Where I host most of my Jamstack projects.
  • Linode - I host my headless WordPress sites here plus other software. I use Coolify to manage all my services now.
  • Cloudflare Pages - I have one static site hosted there. You cannot beat the price, free.

Mail Services and Communication

  • Gmail - No surprise here. For WordPress, I will use Gmail mail server for some of my contact forms.
  • Namecheap - Still the most affordable way to host large amounts of email. I will eventually forgo this feature and just use the email routing built into Cloudflare.
  • Cloudflare - Cloudflare now has a free email routing. No need for many emails. Just setup one catchall email and forward it to your main email.
  • Fastmail - One of my long term favorites. If I ever ditch Gmail, I will use Fastmail more.
  • Mailfence - Another favorite. Premium version allows you to set up other domains. Privacy focused.
  • Mailgun - My main mail relay for most projects.
  • Formspree - My main contact form service.
  • Slack - My updates are with Slack but I will start to move everything over to Mattermost and Telegram for privacy reasons.

CDN and DNS

  • Cloudflare - I do not even use the DNS provided by Namecheap, Linode, or Vercel.
  • Vercel - Vercel is a CDN as well, I have to remember to disable the CDN option in Cloudflare.

Cloud Platform as a Service

  • Coolify - By far the best PaaS that is open source. Currently I use Coolify to manage my headless WordPress instances, Ghost, Directus, n8n, Plausible, and Uptime Kuma. I will eventually install Mattermost and Mastodon with Coolify.