Choosing Next.js, Fastify and MongoDB for client builds

Every studio has a default stack. Ours is Next.js on the front, Fastify for the API, and MongoDB for data, and we choose it deliberately, not by habit. Next.js gives us server-rendered, SEO-ready pages and a component model clients' teams can maintain. Fastify keeps the API fast and small with first-class validation. MongoDB's document model fits the shape of most commerce and CRM data without ceremony. This post is an honest look at where that stack shines, where it doesn't, and what we reach for instead when a project calls for it.