Build vs Buy Analyzer & Tech Stack Advisor

Build-vs-buy decisions and a consolidated tech stack in one tool. For each component: build custom, buy off-the-shelf, or use open source — with specific vendors, pricing, and rationale tied to your domain classification.

Free, no signup required. Results in 2-5 minutes.

Build What's Core, Buy Everything Else

Your matching algorithm is your competitive advantage — build it custom. Auth, payments, email? Companies like Stripe have thousands of engineers on payments alone. You have 1-3 developers. Buy the solved problems, invest engineering time in what makes you different.

Consolidation Saves More Than Money

For example, a platform like Firebase covers auth, database, file storage, hosting, and serverless functions — that's 5 fewer vendors, 5 fewer API keys, 5 fewer dashboards. Every extra service is another integration to maintain, another thing that breaks at 2am.

One Decision, Not Two

Build-vs-buy and tech stack are the same decision. 'Should I build auth?' and 'Which auth service should I use?' aren't separate questions. This tool answers both together, so your technical strategy is coherent from day one.

How It Works

1

Share Your Components and Constraints

What you're building, your team skills, platform credits, and scale expectations. If you've done Feature Prioritization, we'll pull your classified features automatically.

2

Get Build-vs-Buy Decisions

For each component: build custom, buy off-the-shelf, or use open source — with specific vendor names, pricing tiers, and rationale tied to your domain classification.

3

Consolidated Tech Stack

A unified stack recommendation that minimizes vendor count. Frontend, backend, database, hosting, and every service — with consolidation opportunities highlighted.

4

What NOT to build

An explicit list of things you should avoid building custom. Custom admin panels, custom email infrastructure, custom auth — and what to use instead.

FAQ

Because they're the same decision. "Should I build auth?" and "Which auth service should I use?" aren't separate questions. Treating them as two exercises leads to conflicting recommendations. This tool answers both together.
3-5, not 8-12. Every extra service is another integration to maintain, another API key, another dashboard. A platform like Firebase covers auth, database, storage, hosting, and functions — that's 5 fewer vendors. Consolidation saves more than money.
Not for your MVP. A monolith deployed on a single platform will outperform a microservice architecture you can't staff. Build a monolith, split it later when you have the traffic and team to justify it.
Yes — with rationale tied to your constraints. The best stack is the one your team already knows. If you need complex SQL, the tool says PostgreSQL. If your team knows Python, it won't force JavaScript. Recommendations are pragmatic, not trendy.
Things founders consistently try to build custom when they shouldn't. Auth, payment processing, email infrastructure, admin panels, file upload pipelines. For each, you get specific off-the-shelf alternatives with pricing.

8 Free Discovery Tools

Each tool works standalone or as part of a guided journey. Start anywhere — context carries forward automatically.

Business Model CanvasCompetitive AnalysisMarket SizingUser PersonasFeature PrioritizationTech StrategyProject RequirementsBuild Cost & Plan

Built & Maintained by Varstatt

Varstatt is a one-person product studio run by Jurij Tokarski, product engineer since 2011. These tools are free and open — no signup, no catch.