My Tech Stack 2026 as a Freelance Web Developer

Why the Stack Matters

As a freelancer, your tech stack is your toolbox. It determines how fast you deliver, how maintainable your code is, and whether the client is happy in the end.

Mine isn't the hippest. But it works. And it delivers results.

CMS: WordPress is My Favorite

For websites that clients want to manage themselves, WordPress is my go-to. Done right though, no page builders, custom Block Themes.

Custom Gutenberg Blocks: The client gets exactly the blocks they need
ACF (Advanced Custom Fields): For flexible, tailored content fields
Full Site Editing: Layout control without code
PHP 8.x: Modern PHP features, fast and secure
DDEV: Local development environment that runs identically on any machine

I also know REDAXO (my second favorite CMS). TYPO3 and Contao I know too, but I think they're outdated and overcomplicated. I can work with them if a project requires it. Wouldn't recommend them to anyone though.

Frontend: Next.js + React + TypeScript

For web apps and complex websites, I use Next.js with the App Router. Why?

Server Components: Less JavaScript on the client, better performance
TypeScript: Fewer bugs, better IDE support, easier refactoring
React 19: Stable, huge ecosystem, every developer knows it

Styling: Sass/SCSS is My Favorite

When I have the choice, I reach for Sass/SCSS. I love the control, the nesting, and the ability to build clean design systems from scratch.

Tailwind CSS and Bootstrap are in my toolkit too, when speed matters or the project calls for it. But my heart belongs to hand-written CSS.

Animations: Often Built From Scratch

GSAP: For complex, performant animations
Lenis: Smooth scrolling, makes a huge difference for UX
CSS/JS Custom: Many animations I write myself, CSS transitions, keyframes or vanilla JS. Full control over timing and performance.
rough-notation: Handwriting effects
paper-design/shaders-react: WebGL shaders for special visual effects

Backend & Databases

Node.js: API servers, automation, CLI tools
MySQL/MariaDB: My standard databases, years of experience
PostgreSQL/Supabase: For projects that require it (e.g. this portfolio)
Prisma ORM: Type-safe database access
Docker: For isolated development environments
Nginx: Reverse proxy on my server

DevOps & Hosting

Own Linux server: Full control, predictable costs
Terminal: My daily tool, server management, scripting, deployment
Gitea: Self-hosted Git, like GitHub but mine
Webhook deployments: Git push → automatic build & deploy
Server Dashboard: Custom management tool for all projects
Bun: My preferred package manager and runtime, faster than npm

AI & Automation

I use AI where it actually helps, not as a buzzword.

Claude via AWS Bedrock EU: My AI model for code assistance and automation. Runs on AWS in EU data centers, so GDPR-compliant. No customer data goes through it.
Claude Code: AI directly in the terminal and editor, my daily coding partner

Design & Graphics

Affinity Designer: Icons and graphics I make myself when needed
Figma: When I receive designs from clients or agencies

Daily Tools

VS Code + Claude Code: My development environment
Git: Version control (obviously)
Umami: Self-hosted web analytics, GDPR-compliant, no Google Analytics needed
Nodemailer: Email sending for contact forms

What I Deliberately DON'T Use

Elementor/Divi: Too slow, too bloated
Google Analytics: Umami is enough and GDPR-compliant
AWS/Azure as a hosting platform: Too complex and expensive, that's what my own server is for

Conclusion

My stack isn't a statement. It's a tool. I choose tools based on whether they deliver results for my clients, not based on what's being hyped on Twitter.