We Use
6 minute read
We get a lot done with a pretty minimal setup. Most of our stack is free or cheap, and built around tools that feel good to use. Here’s what we rely on daily.
Opinionated Content
There are many, many ways to accomplish your goals with this kind of work. However, to simplify the learning process and help you get up and running quickly, we will focus on a select few technologies and stick with those throughout this content.
This approach is not to suggest that other options aren’t valid; if you have experience with or prefer different technologies, feel free to use them! But if you are new to this and looking for a place to start, our Opinionated Content will provide you with a consistent path to follow. This way, you can build your skills with a clear direction.
Development Environment
We use VS Code running on Windows 11, but with WSL2 and Ubuntu 22.04 underneath. Most modern web tools (npm, Hugo, Supabase CLI, etc) just behave better in a Linux-like shell.
MacOS is also a great option, and tends to work well with web development tools. ALL of the things mentioned on this side could easily be done on Windows, macOS, or Linux with no issue. The OS doesn’t matter too much.
You can certainly use native Windows for webdev, but sooner or later you’ll run into issues with case-sensitivity, line endings, or some random package that assumes you’re on Unix.
Especially for Node-based technologies - which is many technologies, Windows was definitely an after-thought. With WSL, you can stay on Windows but still use a Linux-like environment. It’s the best of both worlds.
If you are on Windows 11 and don’t have WSL2, see: Install WSL2 or How to Install WSL2 on Windows 11.
Download
| Platform | How to Install |
|---|---|
| All | Download VS Code installers |
| Choco | choco install vscode |
| WinGet | winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode |
| Homebrew | brew install --cask visual-studio-code |
| APT | sudo apt install code |
Source Control
We use GitHub for everything. It’s the defacto standard. If you want discoverability, integrations, and reach, GitHub is the winner. Plus, it does everything you’d want to do, and it’s free.
We’ve used GitLab and Bitbucket in the past too, but unless you have a specific reason, GitHub’s the default.
Static Site Generators
Jekyll + Chirpy
A great option for personal blogs. You can write (timeless) articles/pages or (time-oriented) blog posts. Clean theme, easy to write in Markdown, supports tags, categories, search, and archives.
Or, you can check out other themes here: Jekyll Themes.
Hugo + Docsy
What we use for this site. It’s fast, flexible, and great for structured documentation or guides. If you’re building something like a handbook, tutorial site, or portfolio, Hugo + Docsy is worth a look.
Or, you can check out other themes here: Hugo Themes.
WordPress is a time-tested, robust options. However, it requires a database, which means you will have to pay for hosting. But worse, is it’s overkill for projects like we discuss here: informational sites, blogs, documentation, articles, etc. It’s also more complex to maintain and secure. Static site generators like Jekyll and Hugo are simpler, faster, and easier to host for these use cases.
Static Site Generators like Jekyll and Hugo process the files in your GitHub repo and generate static HTML files which can be hosted anywhere. Hosting of simple static HTML files is free on many platforms like: GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, and Vercel.
Large Language Models (LLMs)
- We use ChatGPT daily - primarily for writing, planning, and research.
- If you’re on a budget, check out DeepSeek - it’s surprisingly good and completely free.
- For quick questions that are limited to 20-questions within a thread, there is DuckDuckGo’s AI which is also free. It’s not as powerful as ChatGPT, but it’s great for quick lookups and simple tasks.
- Perplexity is another free option that combines search and LLM capabilities. It’s great for finding information quickly.
- If you can swing the $20/mo, ChatGPT Plus gives you access to:
- GPT-4 (specifically gpt-4o which is fast and multimodal)
- Custom GPTs (fine-tuned bots for specific tasks)
- Memory (it remembers your name, previous chats, etc)
- Tools like DALL·E, browsing, code interpreter
- “Deep Research” is an amazing feature where it will spend 5, 10, or more minutes researching a topic, pulling in information from the web, and then summarizing it for you. It will give you a very thorough report and create formatted PDF - sometimes 25+ pages, and everything is cited. It’s like having a research assistant who can dig deep into complex topics.
- As of this writing in May 2025, free users can use up to 5 Deep Research queries per month, Plus users can use up to 10, and Pro users can use up to 250 questions per month.
It’s like pairing with a really fast, non-judgmental coworker who never gets tired. Code, write, debug, brainstorm - you name it.
Coding LLMs
We use GitHub Copilot inside VS Code. There is a limited free tier, but for ~$8/month for Copilot Pro, it’s easily worth it.
- Helps with boilerplate and repetitive code
- Speeds up Bash scripting and documentation too
- For software development, this can realistically make you 4-5x more productive
We use it for writing shell scripts, documenting processes, and even building out Markdown sites like this one.
Domains and Hosting
- Cloudflare is our go-to registrar. It’s simple, DNS is fast, and the pricing is transparent (no weird upsells). Works great with Cloudflare Pages for static site hosting. Cloudflare has generous amount of free offerings too including:
- Free SSL/TLS certificates
- Free CDN for static assets
- Free DNS management
- Free static site hosting with Cloudflare Pages
- Free Zero Trust for secure access to internal apps on your private network
- Free DDoS protection
- Namecheap is another solid registrar, especially if you want to keep things simple and just need a domain.
- For hosting, you can also use GitHub Pages, but note:
- You can only host from public repos
- That means your raw Markdown and config is exposed
- That can make it easier for someone to scrape and clone your content
Public repos mean all your content and code is freely downloadable - handy for learning, but not great if you’re worried about copycats.
VPS and Servers
If you ever need a low-cost VPS, we recommend RackNerd. When I say low-cost, I mean ridiculous like:
- $0.91/month for a 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 20GB SSD VPS with 2TB of monthly bandwidth - See Cart
- $2.49/month for a 3 vCPU, 3.5GB RAM, 60GB SSD VPS with 5TB of monthly bandwidth - See Cart
- $4.66/month for a 4 vCPU, 5GB RAM, 100GB SSD VPS with 10TB of monthly bandwidth - See Cart
- Affiliate link: https://my.racknerd.com/aff.php?aff=14376
- No-frills but solid
- Good for experiments, one-off projects, or cheap self-hosting
We have used them for several years now. They are reliable, have great support, and their prices are absurd.
Most of what we do on this site is possible without any servers at all - just free static hosting and some clever use of GitHub + Cloudflare.
Summary
- Use VS Code in WSL2 for the smoothest dev experience
- GitHub is the default for repos and collaboration
- Static sites? Jekyll/Chirpy for blogs, Hugo/Docsy for docs
- ChatGPT and Copilot make you faster and less stuck
- Cloudflare keeps your domains and DNS clean and cheap
- You probably don’t need a VPS - but if you do, RackNerd is solid
Check out our Monetize section to see how we use this stack to build real income streams.