Uses<!-- --> | Ben Robertson

Uses

The tools I use to build, run, and grow ColorBliss as a solo founder. Part of the uses.tech collection.

The ColorBliss stack

Supabase
When ColorBliss started as mostly Next.js, Supabase felt like the default backend for JS. If I started now I'd probably do more in Laravel, but Supabase has been reliable so I stuck with it.supabase.com
Laravel
I moved backend work to Laravel after traffic spikes exposed queueing and API rate-limit pain. Built-in queues, retries, and rate controls gave me much better observability and control.laravel.com
Next.js
The app dashboard is still in Next.js. With the scope narrower now, it feels straightforward to manage.nextjs.org
Astro
I moved the marketing site from Next.js after struggling with front-end performance and JS management. Astro made Core Web Vitals easier and keeping marketing separate from the app is simpler.astro.build
WordPress
I've always liked WordPress for content management. I do a lot via API and Cursor skills now, but I still like having wp-admin as home base.wordpress.org
Replicate
After Octo was acquired by NVIDIA, I moved workloads to Replicate and FAL. I keep overlap between providers and round-robin requests.replicate.com
FAL.ai
No strong preference between FAL and Replicate right now; I use both.fal.ai
OpenAI
Mostly image generation now. I used it more for text in the past, but moved that part to Cerebras for speed.platform.openai.com
Cerebras
I moved the prompt improver to Cerebras to cut latency. It became fast enough to offer real-time prompt improving directly in the UI.inference.cerebras.ai
Netlify
I use Netlify because I already had a long-standing account, plus a lot of friends there. It's fun keeping it hosted in that ecosystem.app.netlify.com
Laravel Forge
Forge handles server setup and deploys cleanly from GitHub. As a solo founder, it's exactly what I want to avoid babysitting infra.forge.laravel.com
Stripe
Is there a real alternative to Stripe? Not sure. It just works for subscriptions and payments.stripe.com

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