I'm building an API and want managed hosting plus a database

If you want managed hosting + a managed database for an API, a good default stack is:

Simple, solid options

• Backend hosting

  • Render or Railway: very easy deploys, automatic HTTPS, scaling, background jobs
  • Fly.io: good if you want more control and multi-region
  • Vercel/Netlify: great for serverless APIs, especially if your API is lightweight

• Database

  • PostgreSQL on Render, Railway, Supabase, or Neon
  • MongoDB Atlas if your app is document-oriented

Best “easy + production-ready” combo

• Render app service for the API
• Managed PostgreSQL on Render or Neon
• Optional:
  • Redis via Upstash or Render for caching/queues
  • Object storage via S3-compatible storage if needed

If you want the fastest path to ship

• Supabase: gives you Postgres, auth, storage, and edge functions
• Or Railway: very quick to set up both app and DB in one place

Things to decide first

1. Language/framework: Node, Python, Go, etc.
2. Database type: PostgreSQL vs MongoDB
3. Need serverless or always-on server?
4. Expected traffic / scaling needs
5. Do you need auth, storage, cron jobs, queues?

My recommendation

For most new APIs:

• API: Render or Railway
• DB: PostgreSQL on Neon or Supabase
• Cache/queue: Upstash Redis if needed

If you want, I can recommend the best stack based on your framework, budget, and expected traffic.