Best Stack Recommendations for Laravel Projects (Battle-Tested in Production)

Ever started a new Laravel project and froze for a moment?

Which frontend stack should I choose?
Do I need an API from day one?
MySQL or PostgreSQL?
How do I deploy this without shooting myself in the foot later?

If you’ve built more than a few Laravel applications, you know the truth: the “perfect” stack doesn’t exist. What does exist are stacks that are reliable, scalable, and proven in real production systems.

After years of building everything from quick MVPs to enterprise-grade platforms, this article breaks down Laravel stacks that actually work — with clear use cases and concrete examples, not theory.

Frontend Architecture: Pick the Right Complexity

1️⃣ Laravel + Livewire + Alpine.js (TALL Stack)

If productivity is your priority, this stack is hard to beat.

TALL = Tailwind, Alpine, Laravel, Livewire

You get reactivity, pagination, validation, and real-time updates without building an API or managing frontend state.

When this stack shines

• Admin panels & internal dashboards

• CRUD-heavy applications

• MVPs that need to ship fast

• Small to mid-sized teams

Why it works

• No API layer to maintain

• Backend-driven UI

• Extremely fast development cycles

• Minimal JavaScript knowledge required

Example: Live Search with Pagination

// app/Http/Livewire/UserTable.php
namespace App\Http\Livewire;

use Livewire\Component;
use Livewire\WithPagination;
use App\Models\User;

class UserTable extends Component
{
    use WithPagination;

    public string $search = '';

    protected $queryString = ['search'];

    public function updatingSearch()
    {
        $this->resetPage();
    }

    public function render()
    {
        return view('livewire.user-table', [
            'users' => User::query()
                ->where('name', 'like', "%{$this->search}%")
                ->paginate(10),
        ]);
    }
}

<!-- resources/views/livewire/user-table.blade.php -->
<div class="p-6">
    <input
        wire:model.debounce.300ms="search"
        type="text"
        placeholder="Search users..."
        class="border rounded px-4 py-2 w-full"
    />

    <div class="mt-4 space-y-2">
        @foreach ($users as $user)
            <div class="border p-4 rounded">
                {{ $user->name }} — {{ $user->email }}
            </div>
        @endforeach
    </div>

    <div class="mt-4">
        {{ $users->links() }}
    </div>
</div>

👉 No API routes. No Axios. No state store.
Just Laravel doing what it does best.

2️⃣ Laravel + Inertia.js + Vue / React

Inertia is the sweet spot between monolith and SPA.

You still use Laravel routing and controllers, but your UI is built with Vue or React — without the overhead of a separate backend.

When to use Inertia

• You want SPA-like UX

• Your team already knows Vue or React

• You may add mobile apps later

• SEO is not ultra-critical

Why teams love Inertia

• One codebase

• No REST/GraphQL boilerplate

• Authentication stays simple

• Frontend routing feels natural

Example: Posts with Vue + Inertia

// app/Http/Controllers/PostController.php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Models\Post;
use Inertia\Inertia;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PostController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        return Inertia::render('Posts/Index', [
            'posts' => Post::with('user')
                ->latest()
                ->paginate(10),
        ]);
    }

    public function store(Request $request)
    {
        $validated = $request->validate([
            'title' => 'required|max:255',
            'content' => 'required',
        ]);

        Post::create($validated);

        return redirect()
            ->route('posts.index')
            ->with('success', 'Post created successfully');
    }
}

<!-- resources/js/Pages/Posts/Index.vue -->
<script setup>
import { useForm } from '@inertiajs/vue3'

defineProps({ posts: Object })

const form = useForm({
  title: '',
  content: '',
})

const submit = () => {
  form.post('/posts', {
    onSuccess: () => form.reset(),
  })
}
</script>

<template>
  <div class="max-w-4xl mx-auto p-6">
    <form @submit.prevent="submit" class="mb-8">
      <input v-model="form.title" class="border p-2 w-full mb-2" />
      <textarea v-model="form.content" class="border p-2 w-full mb-2" />
      <button class="bg-blue-500 text-white px-4 py-2">Publish</button>
    </form>

    <div v-for="post in posts.data" :key="post.id">
      <h2 class="font-bold">{{ post.title }}</h2>
      <p>{{ post.content }}</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

👉 You write Laravel like Laravel, but users experience an SPA.

3️⃣ Laravel API + Next.js / Nuxt.js

This is the most flexible — and most complex — setup.

You fully separate frontend and backend, communicating via APIs.

Use this stack when

• SEO is critical

• You need mobile apps

• Large team or microservices

• Multiple clients consume the same API

Backend: API Resource Example

// app/Http/Controllers/Api/ProductController.php
namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api;

use App\Models\Product;
use App\Http\Resources\ProductResource;

class ProductController
{
    public function index()
    {
        return ProductResource::collection(
            Product::with('category')->paginate(12)
        );
    }
}

// routes/api.php
Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->group(function () {
    Route::apiResource('products', ProductController::class);
});

Frontend: Next.js Page

'use client'

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'

export default function ProductsPage() {
  const [products, setProducts] = useState([])

  useEffect(() => {
    fetch('https://api.example.com/api/products', {
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('token')}`,
      },
    })
      .then(res => res.json())
      .then(data => setProducts(data.data))
  }, [])

  return (
    <div className="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4">
      {products.map(p => (
        <div key={p.id} className="border p-4">
          <h3>{p.name}</h3>
          <p>{p.price}</p>
        </div>
      ))}
    </div>
  )
}

⚠️ Powerful, but don’t start here unless you truly need it.

Database: MySQL vs PostgreSQL

Both are excellent — but they serve different strengths.

Choose MySQL if:

• Shared hosting

• Simple relational data

• Team familiarity

Choose PostgreSQL if:

• Complex queries

• Heavy analytics

• JSON, arrays, full-text search

• Location-based data

PostgreSQL JSON Example

Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('name');
    $table->json('specifications');
    $table->timestamps();
});

Product::whereJsonContains(
    'specifications->features',
    'waterproof'
)->get();

👉 Once you use PostgreSQL seriously, it’s hard to go back.

Performance Essentials

Caching with Redis

Cache::remember('users.all', 3600, fn () => User::all());

Use Redis for:

• Cached queries

• Rate limiting

• Sessions

• Queues

Queues: Never Block the User

class SendWelcomeEmail implements ShouldQueue
{
    public function handle()
    {
        Mail::to($this->user->email)
            ->send(new WelcomeMail($this->user));
    }
}

Run workers with Horizon or Supervisor.

File Storage: Always Plan for S3

Local storage is temporary. Production apps always outgrow it.

$path = $request->file('avatar')->store('avatars', 's3');

$url = Storage::disk('s3')->temporaryUrl(
    $path,
    now()->addMinutes(10)
);

Works with:

• AWS S3

• DigitalOcean Spaces

• Wasabi

Monitoring & Observability

Set this up before users complain.

Recommended tools

• Sentry — error tracking

• Telescope — dev debugging

• Pulse — performance metrics

• Nightwatch — Laravel-native monitoring

Deployment Options

Option 1: Laravel Forge (Recommended)

• Server provisioning

• SSL

• Deployments

• Zero headaches

Option 2: Manual VPS Setup

• Ubuntu 22.04

• Nginx

• PHP 8.2 + OPcache

• Redis

• Supervisor

Stack Recommendations by Project Type

🚀 Startup / MVP

• Livewire + Alpine

• MySQL

• Redis

• Forge + DigitalOcean

💼 SaaS Application

• Inertia + Vue

• PostgreSQL

• Redis + Horizon

• S3

• Sentry + Pulse

🏢 Enterprise / Large Scale

• Laravel API + Next.js

• PostgreSQL

• Redis / SQS

• Meilisearch / Algolia

• Kubernetes / Docker