I love a good tool, but I do not love paying for five different things that all claim they are going to “change my business” while quietly eating my bank account in the background.
Right now, I’m building several online projects at once: Shannon’s Life, Alabama Church School, Sponsored Life, Zombie Collector 3D, digital products, email lists, and AI experiments. That means I need tools that are useful, practical, and not a complete pain to figure out.
This is not a perfect, polished tech stack from someone sitting in a glass office with a team of assistants. This is the real stack I’m using while building from home, testing ideas, fixing broken pages, uploading files, and learning as I go.
Website hosting
For my regular websites, I’m still using hosting I already have instead of paying for a brand-new host every time I get a new idea. That matters because hosting fees can pile up fast, especially when you are testing projects that are not making money yet.
My current approach is simple: if a project can live on existing hosting, I use what I already have. I only want to pay for separate hosting when the project truly needs it or has a clear reason to stand on its own.
Static websites
Shannon’s Life is a static HTML/CSS site right now, and honestly, that is exactly what it needs to be. It loads fast, it is easy to upload, and I do not have to fight a whole complicated system just to change a paragraph or add a page.
Static sites are not fancy in the way some platforms are fancy, but they are steady. Sometimes steady is better than shiny.
Email list
I’m using Brevo for the Shannon’s Life email list. After fighting with other email platforms, I wanted something that could handle a basic signup form, double opt-in, welcome emails, and future campaigns without turning every setup step into a haunted maze.
The goal is to keep the email list simple: people sign up, confirm, and get useful behind-the-scenes notes from the build desk.
Payments
For payments, Stripe is one of the main tools I use because it works well for digital products, checkout links, subscriptions, and simple product sales. It is not always the prettiest thing to set up, but once a payment link works, it works.
I like tools that let me sell without needing to build a whole giant store before I even know if people want the product.
Digital products
Digital products are a big part of what I’m building. Planners, binders, templates, guides, homeschool resources, and creator tools all need a way to be written, designed, packaged, and delivered.
My focus is on products that are useful first. Pretty matters, but a pretty product that does not actually help someone is just decorated clutter.
AI tools
AI tools are part of my workflow for brainstorming, writing drafts, building pages, creating prompts, organizing ideas, and testing content. I still check and edit things because AI can be helpful and ridiculous in the same breath.
The best use of AI for me is not replacing my brain. It is giving my brain a second pair of hands when I have too many projects open and not enough coffee.
Website builders and coding help
I use builders and AI coding help when I need to move faster, especially for pages, layouts, game ideas, and product sites. Some tools are amazing. Some tools act like they understood the assignment and then hand me a toaster wearing a hat.
The trick is not trusting every output blindly. I test, screenshot, fix, replace files, and keep backups because the internet likes to humble people for sport.
What I’m learning
The tool itself is not the business. A tool can help build the business, but it cannot replace the idea, the offer, the audience, or the work.
Right now, I’m trying to keep my setup practical: use what I already pay for, add tools only when they solve a real problem, and avoid collecting subscriptions like digital houseplants.
My current rule
If a tool saves time, helps me sell, helps me organize, or helps me publish, it might be worth keeping. If it just looks exciting but does not move anything forward, it can sit outside with the other expensive distractions.
Building online is not about having every perfect tool. It is about using the tools you have well enough to ship something real.