Infrastructure Stack for a Solo AI Business
The minimal, cost-effective stack to run a one-person AI business. Covers hosting, databases, auth, payments, observability, and agent orchestration.
Updated 2026-03-17
Key Takeaways
- Vercel + Supabase + Stripe covers 80% of solo AI business infrastructure needs
- The full stack costs $0/month in early stages
- Vercel Cron + serverless functions handle most agent execution needs
- Upstash QStash can chain function calls for longer agent tasks
Infrastructure Stack for a Solo AI Business
Running alone means every hour spent on ops is an hour not spent on product. The goal: maximum automation with minimum surface area to maintain.
The Recommended Stack
| Layer | Tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| App hosting | Vercel | Zero-config deploys, global CDN, serverless functions |
| Database | Supabase | Postgres + auth + storage + realtime, generous free tier |
| Auth | Supabase Auth | Built in, supports OAuth and magic links |
| Payments | Stripe | Industry standard, excellent API |
| Resend | Developer-friendly, reliable deliverability | |
| Monitoring | Sentry | Error tracking with free tier |
| Agent runtime | Vercel Functions + Cron | Serverless agent execution, scheduled tasks |
| LLM | Anthropic Claude | Best reasoning, tool use, and safety for autonomous systems |
Cost at Zero Revenue
You can run this entire stack for $0/month in early stages:
- Vercel Hobby: free
- Supabase Free: free (500MB DB, 1GB storage)
- Stripe: no monthly fee, 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
- Resend Free: 3,000 emails/month
Scaling Triggers
Upgrade when:
- DB > 500MB: Supabase Pro ($25/mo)
- Functions > 100GB-hours/mo: Vercel Pro ($20/mo)
- You need dedicated compute for agents: add a $6/mo Fly.io machine
Agent Execution Pattern
For background agents on Vercel:
- Trigger via Vercel Cron (schedule) or webhook
- Run in a serverless function (max 5min on Hobby, 15min on Pro)
- For longer tasks: use a queue (Upstash QStash, free tier) to chain function calls
Do-Nothing Score
Find out how close you are to Ghost CEO.
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