[lucideer]

> Why do you need a SaaS to handle your auth, mailing, database, and logging?

There's absolutely no reason to require SaaS to handle database & logging, but:

1. For mail, in 2023, it's a defacto requirement, for any app. Sure you can do it yourself, but handling spam filters will be a challenge. Defaulting to SaaS on this is extremely defensible.

2. For auth, in 2023, rolling your own auth that is secure & offers decent MFA is a similarly daunting task. Would it be nice if they offered an optional local auth backend, maybe. Would it be nicer if they offered a choice of multiple SaaS backends, definitely. But it's ultimately pretty defensible.

3. It seems to me the DB can be local sqlite / libsqld (looks primarily aimed at dev envs but at least it's an option).

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On aggregate though you're right, this does seem excessively SaaS-y.