Blog
Practical guides on API monitoring, web performance, and keeping production systems healthy.
20 articles
Datadog Alternatives for Indie Developers
Datadog bills by host-hour and often lands 2-3x above the estimate. Here are flat-priced, lightweight alternatives built for solo devs and small JS teams.
Sentry Alternatives for Solo Developers
Past Sentry's 5K-event free tier, per-event overages punish small teams. Here are five flat-priced Sentry alternatives that fit a solo developer's budget.
P50 vs P95 vs P99: Why Averages Lie
A 100ms delay can cost 7% of conversions, and your average latency hides it. Here is how P50, P95, and P99 read, and where real users actually churn.
Flat-Rate vs Usage-Based Monitoring Pricing
Datadog runs $15-$23 per host and bills can hit 2-3x the estimate. Here is why flat-rate monitoring pricing fits small teams and beats usage-based meters.
The Indie Hacker's Monitoring Stack
53% of mobile visitors leave after 3 seconds. Here is the lean four-signal monitoring stack a solo founder needs: uptime, latency, errors, and real users.
Monitoring Express, Fastify, and NestJS APIs
17.8% of developers use Express, yet it ships no production visibility. Track latency percentiles and error rates on Express, Fastify, and NestJS in one line.
Monitoring Supabase, Postgres and Prisma Latency
A 4ms Prisma query can hit 300ms in production. Here is how to find which Supabase, Postgres, or Prisma calls drag your API, without a heavyweight APM.
Uptime and API Health Monitoring on a Budget
Even 99.9% uptime still allows 43 minutes down a month. A practical, cheap uptime and API health setup for indie hackers on Railway, Render, or a VPS.
Website Monitoring for Freelancers & Agencies
53% of mobile visitors leave a slow page, and clients blame you. Monitor every client site's uptime and Web Vitals from one flat-priced dashboard.
Next.js Observability: App Router to Edge
Next.js is used by 52.9% of React developers yet ships almost no per-route visibility. Track routes, edge errors, TTFB, and real-user Web Vitals from one key.
Cookieless, GDPR-Friendly Analytics for React
We counted about 2x more visitors after dropping cookie consent. Here is how cookieless analytics for React measures everyone, with no third-party trackers.
Next.js API Routes: The Monitoring Blind Spots
Next.js is used by 52.9% of JS developers, but default monitoring tells you almost nothing. Here are the four gaps burning teams in production, and how to close them.
INP Explained: The Core Web Vital That Replaced FID
FID had a 93% pass rate. INP replaced it in March 2024 and the bar got harder. Here's what INP measures, why it's better, and how to actually fix a bad score.
The Hidden Cost of "Free" Monitoring Tools
Sentry's free tier caps at 5,000 errors and one user. Datadog has no free APM tier. Here's what solo developers actually pay, and what they actually need.
Why Vercel Analytics Isn't Enough for Your API
Vercel Analytics tracks visitors and Web Vitals, but it's completely blind to your API routes. Here's the production monitoring gap and how to close it.
GDPR-Compliant Analytics: The Visitor ID Problem
Most analytics setups track returning visitors without valid GDPR consent. Here's why the persistent visitor ID is the hard part, and how Statvisor handles it cleanly.
Stop Using console.log in Production
console.log blocks your event loop, vanishes with no context, and can't be searched. Here's what to use instead, and what you're missing without real monitoring.
CLS Explained: What It Is and How to Fix It
CLS is one of Google's Core Web Vitals. Here's what causes layout shifts, how to fix them in React and Next.js, and how to catch regressions before users do.
LCP: Why Your Score Keeps Failing in Production
LCP under 2.5s is Google's threshold for a fast page. Here's what actually tanks it, and how to find the real bottleneck before your users do.
Core Web Vitals and API Performance
Your LCP score is capped by your TTFB. Here's how API latency and chained backend requests silently tank your Core Web Vitals, and what to do about it.
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