Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by nicoburns 1979 days ago
It seems like a decent concept. I think the main problem is that you have two competitors (nhost and superbase) that are doing the same thing but better. In particular:

1. Their stacks are mostly open source, so you can truly self host with no cost at all if and when you need to.

2. They're building on top of Postgres so you get the full power of a SQL database. Plus they both have realtime solutions ready to go.
2 comments
dstpierre 1979 days ago
Yes, I discover nhost a couple of months ago when the founder replied on a post I made in IndieHackers. I was not aware of both before.

My goal with StaticBackend is to go more in dept in features like sending emails, Stripe payments. Features that a SaaS / web app typically need in the backend.

I'll not stop at Database and WebSocket. I'd like to go further based on demand. I'm building more a backend teamate for frontend developers.

I recognize that my choice of using a Document database instead of an RDBMS can be argued. But one as to make choices.

Thanks for your comment.

link
nicoburns 1979 days ago
I would suggest that quality is much more important than quantity/breadth here. I would use such a service to save me time, but it will only save me time if it's rock solid and very actively maintained. Otherwise I'd much rather just build my own.
link
dstpierre 1978 days ago
yes totally. that's why I'm focusing on simple implementation and not planning on adding anything yet. I planning on building real-world SaaS examples to showcase the capabilities.
link
slow_donkey 1979 days ago
Conversely, renewed competition may also be a good sign that there's a market for such products. You do need a place to differentiate, fortunately the surface area of the problem is fairly broad.

As an example, look at low-code for inspiration to determine what features people need which aren't being filled by existing solutions. Hopefully that reduces the need to compete via feature checklist.

link
dstpierre 1978 days ago
yes, this is the vision I have for short-mid terms. But I won't be adding anything soon. The long-term differentiation will be clearer once there's early adopters I think.
link