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Choosing a Stack

forkstack supports multiple database and storage providers. This guide helps you choose the right combination for your project.

Quick Decision Tree

What database engine do you need?
├── SQLite → Turso (recommended)
├── Postgres → Neon or Supabase
└── MySQL → PlanetScale

What storage features do you need?
├── Native bucket forking → Tigris (recommended)
├── AWS ecosystem integration → S3
└── Cloudflare ecosystem → R2

Do you need secrets management?
├── Yes, with environments → Doppler (recommended)
├── Yes, AWS native → AWS Secrets Manager
└── Yes, self-hosted → HashiCorp Vault

Database Comparison

Turso (SQLite)

Best for: Most projects, especially those starting fresh.

Aspect Details
Engine SQLite (libSQL)
Branching Native, instant
Free tier 500 databases, 9GB storage
Latency Edge replicas available
CLI turso 
# Install
brew install chiselstrike/tap/turso

# Create branch
turso db create myproject-dev

Pros:

  • Simplest to set up
  • SQLite is familiar and well-documented
  • Branches are instant and free
  • Edge replicas for low latency
  • No connection pooling needed

Cons:

  • SQLite limitations (no full-text search, limited concurrency)
  • Smaller ecosystem than Postgres/MySQL
  • Less suitable for high-write workloads

Neon (Postgres)

Best for: Projects needing full Postgres features.

Aspect Details
Engine PostgreSQL
Branching Native, instant
Free tier 3GB storage, 100 hours/month
Latency Regional
CLI neonctl 
# Install
npm install -g neonctl

# Create branch
neonctl branches create --name dev

Pros:

  • Full Postgres compatibility
  • Powerful branching with point-in-time restore
  • Large ecosystem (extensions, ORMs, tools)
  • Good for complex queries and joins

Cons:

  • More complex than SQLite
  • Connection pooling often needed
  • Higher resource usage

PlanetScale (MySQL)

Best for: Teams already using MySQL.

Aspect Details
Engine MySQL (Vitess)
Branching Native, instant
Free tier 5GB storage, 1B reads/month
Latency Regional with caching
CLI pscale 
# Install
brew install planetscale/tap/pscale

# Create branch
pscale branch create myproject dev

Pros:

  • MySQL compatibility
  • Excellent branching workflow
  • Good for high-read workloads
  • Schema migrations built-in

Cons:

  • Some MySQL features not supported (foreign keys need workarounds)
  • Vitess abstractions can be confusing
  • Pricing can increase quickly

Supabase (Postgres)

Best for: Projects needing realtime features or auth.

Aspect Details
Engine PostgreSQL
Branching Via branching feature (newer)
Free tier 500MB storage, 2 projects
Latency Regional
CLI supabase 
# Install
npm install -g supabase

# Create branch
supabase db branch create dev

Pros:

  • Full Postgres compatibility
  • Built-in auth, realtime, storage
  • Good admin UI
  • Growing ecosystem

Cons:

  • Branching is newer/less mature
  • More opinionated than raw Postgres
  • Can be overkill for simple projects

Storage Comparison

Tigris

Best for: Most forkstack projects.

Aspect Details
Protocol S3-compatible
Forking Native bucket forks
Free tier 5GB storage, 10GB transfer
Latency Global edge caching
CLI AWS CLI compatible 
# Create bucket
aws s3 mb s3://myproject-bucket-dev --endpoint-url https://fly.storage.tigris.dev

Pros:

  • Native bucket forking (copy-on-write)
  • S3-compatible API
  • Global edge caching
  • Cost effective

Cons:

  • Smaller ecosystem than AWS
  • Fewer regions than S3
  • Newer service

AWS S3

Best for: AWS ecosystem integration.

Aspect Details
Protocol S3 (native)
Forking Bucket-per-environment (not true forking)
Free tier 5GB storage for 12 months
Latency Regional
CLI aws 
# Create bucket
aws s3 mb s3://myproject-bucket-dev

Pros:

  • Industry standard
  • Massive ecosystem
  • Many regions
  • Excellent reliability

Cons:

  • No native bucket forking
  • More expensive for storage
  • More complex pricing

Cloudflare R2

Best for: Cloudflare ecosystem integration.

Aspect Details
Protocol S3-compatible
Forking Bucket-per-environment (not true forking)
Free tier 10GB storage, unlimited egress
Latency Global edge
CLI wrangler or AWS CLI 
# Create bucket
wrangler r2 bucket create myproject-bucket-dev

Pros:

  • No egress fees
  • S3-compatible API
  • Global edge
  • Cloudflare integration

Cons:

  • No native bucket forking
  • Smaller ecosystem than S3
  • Cloudflare account required

Secrets Management Comparison

Doppler

Best for: Teams needing environment-aware secrets.

Aspect Details
Environments Native support
Free tier 5 users, unlimited secrets
Integration CLI, SDKs, direct injection
CLI doppler 
# Install
brew install dopplerhq/cli/doppler

# Get secret
doppler secrets get API_KEY

Pros:

  • Built for environment-based secrets
  • Easy team collaboration
  • Good CLI and SDKs
  • Secret syncing to cloud providers

Cons:

  • External dependency
  • Learning curve for teams
  • Cost scales with users

AWS Secrets Manager

Best for: AWS-native projects.

Aspect Details
Environments Via naming conventions
Free tier 30-day trial
Integration AWS SDK, CLI
CLI aws 
# Get secret
aws secretsmanager get-secret-value --secret-id myproject/dev/api-key

Pros:

  • AWS integration
  • IAM-based access control
  • Automatic rotation
  • Audit logging

Cons:

  • More complex setup
  • Cost per secret/API call
  • Requires AWS account

HashiCorp Vault

Best for: Self-hosted or enterprise.

Aspect Details
Environments Flexible paths
Free tier Self-hosted is free
Integration CLI, SDKs, API
CLI vault 
# Get secret
vault kv get secret/myproject/dev/api-key

Pros:

  • Self-hosted option
  • Extremely flexible
  • Dynamic secrets
  • Enterprise features

Cons:

  • Complex to set up and maintain
  • Overkill for small projects
  • Requires infrastructure

Environment Files

Best for: Simple projects or local-only development.

Aspect Details
Environments File per environment
Free tier Free
Integration Native to most frameworks
CLI N/A 
# .env.dev
API_KEY=dev_key_123
DATABASE_URL=libsql://myproject-dev.turso.io

Pros:

  • Simple
  • No external dependencies
  • Works everywhere

Cons:

  • Manual management
  • No rotation
  • Easy to accidentally commit

For New Projects

Python + Turso + Tigris + Doppler

cp -r stacks/python-turso-tigris-doppler/* your-project/
  • Simplest setup
  • Best free tiers
  • Native forking support

For Postgres Projects

Python + Neon + Tigris + Doppler

  • Full Postgres features
  • Instant branching
  • Good for complex data models

For AWS Ecosystem

Python + Neon + S3 + AWS Secrets Manager

  • AWS-native
  • Familiar tools
  • Good for enterprise

For Cloudflare Ecosystem

TypeScript + PlanetScale + R2 + Doppler

  • Edge-optimized
  • No egress fees
  • Good for Workers

Cost Comparison

Estimated monthly costs for a small team (3 developers, 5 environments):

Stack Database Storage Secrets Total
Turso + Tigris + Doppler $0 $0 $0 $0
Neon + Tigris + Doppler $0 $0 $0 $0
Neon + S3 + AWS SM $0 $5 $2 $7
PlanetScale + R2 + Doppler $0 $0 $0 $0

Based on free tier limits. Costs increase with usage.

Migration Between Stacks

forkstack makes it relatively easy to swap backends:

  1. Update env_utils.py with new implementation
  2. Migrate data to new service
  3. Update CLI commands in envs.py
  4. Update .env.local with new credentials

The core pattern (get_current_env(), environment isolation) stays the same regardless of backend.