Some initial ideas below.
Code Stack: In no particular order, was starting to look into Ruby/Rails, Python/Django, Elixir/Phoenix. Some of the new Rails 7 stuff and hotwire seem interesting. Have past python experience, but never worked in Django. Elixir seems like cool new tech.
Data: Postgres vs MySql - both seem feasible for the job.
Hosting: I've never worked with a VPS before, but maybe a something like Digital Ocean or Heroku would be good value.
Thoughts and opinions are welcome and appreciated! Thanks!
If you don’t expect to have scalability or real-time needs, I would not really recommend Elixir/Phoenix. The core language, dev tools, docs, and OTP are best-in-class, but there’s a learning curve, and the ecosystem has less mindshare than Python and Ruby.
I personally prefer Python/Django with htmx for client-side interactivity (if you need it), but if you want something better-integrated out of the box, you can’t go wrong with Ruby/Rails/Hotwire either.
Using a VPS is cheap and initially simple, but keep in mind you have to do more setup and maintenance on the OS, Web server, database, etc. yourself. I’ve had a great experience with DigitalOcean VPSs in the past, but for the app I’m building now, I am leaning toward using their managed app platform to minimize sysadmin/infra work on my part.