Methodology
Everything that determines our results is listed on this page: the models, the exact prompts, how often each one is asked, and how answers are turned into numbers.
Models
Each model is called through its public API (via OpenRouter) with no system prompt and default settings:
anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5openai/gpt-6.1-solgoogle/gemini-3.8-flashx-ai/grok-4.7deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flashqwen/qwen3.8-max-prime
Every prompt is sent to every model several times (5 by default), because the same model can answer differently each time. Results are reported as shares of all answers.
Two modes
Recommend. We ask what to use for a specific need and record the top pick, meaning the first catalog tool the answer names, plus every tool it mentions. When a platform name stands in for its product (for example “Supabase” in an answer about authentication), it counts as that product.
Build. We ask the model to build a small app and record which tools it adopts, based on evidence in the code, from strongest to weakest:
- Dependencies in
package.json - Import and require statements
- Config files and SDK calls (for example
vercel.jsonorsupabase.auth.*) - If the code shows nothing for a category, the first tool named in the explanation
Prompts
Recommendation prompts vary the developer context (generic SaaS, Next.js, a solo founder's MVP, a scaling startup, Python, mobile), because the right answer, and the model's habits, depend on it. Prompts are never reworded once in use, so results stay comparable over time. New prompts get new IDs.
| ID | Mode | Categories | Prompt |
|---|---|---|---|
rec-database-neutral | recommend | Database | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for the database? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-database-nextjs | recommend | Database | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for the database? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-auth-neutral | recommend | Authentication | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for user authentication? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-auth-nextjs | recommend | Authentication | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for user authentication? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-payments-neutral | recommend | Payments | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for subscription payments? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-payments-nextjs | recommend | Payments | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for subscription payments? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-email-neutral | recommend | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for sending transactional emails? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. | |
rec-email-nextjs | recommend | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for sending transactional emails? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. | |
rec-hosting-neutral | recommend | Hosting / Deploy | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for hosting and deployment? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-hosting-nextjs | recommend | Hosting / Deploy | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for hosting and deployment? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-orm-neutral | recommend | ORM / DB access | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for the ORM / database access layer? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-orm-nextjs | recommend | ORM / DB access | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for the ORM / database access layer? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-cms-neutral | recommend | CMS | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for a CMS so non-technical teammates can edit content? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-cms-nextjs | recommend | CMS | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for a CMS so non-technical teammates can edit content? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-storage-neutral | recommend | File storage | I'm building a new SaaS web app. What should I use for user file uploads and storage? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-storage-nextjs | recommend | File storage | I'm building a web app with Next.js and TypeScript. What should I use for user file uploads and storage? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-auth-mvp | recommend | Authentication | I'm a solo founder shipping an MVP this weekend. What should I use for user authentication? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-auth-scale | recommend | Authentication | We're a startup expecting to grow to 100k users within a year. What should I use for user authentication? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-auth-python | recommend | Authentication | I'm building a web API with Python and FastAPI. What should I use for user authentication? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-auth-mobile | recommend | Authentication | I'm building a mobile app with React Native and Expo. What should I use for user authentication? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-database-mvp | recommend | Database | I'm a solo founder shipping an MVP this weekend. What should I use for the database? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-database-scale | recommend | Database | We're a startup expecting to grow to 100k users within a year. What should I use for the database? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-database-python | recommend | Database | I'm building a web API with Python and FastAPI. What should I use for the database? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-database-mobile | recommend | Database | I'm building a mobile app with React Native and Expo. What should I use for the database? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. |
rec-email-mvp | recommend | I'm a solo founder shipping an MVP this weekend. What should I use for sending transactional emails? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. | |
rec-email-scale | recommend | We're a startup expecting to grow to 100k users within a year. What should I use for sending transactional emails? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. | |
rec-email-python | recommend | I'm building a web API with Python and FastAPI. What should I use for sending transactional emails? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. | |
rec-email-mobile | recommend | I'm building a mobile app with React Native and Expo. What should I use for sending transactional emails? Give me your single top recommendation first, then briefly mention alternatives. | |
build-saas | build | Database, Authentication, Payments, Email, Hosting / Deploy, ORM / DB access | Build a web app where users can sign up, create and manage projects, and upgrade to a paid monthly plan. Send users a welcome email after they sign up. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
build-content-site | build | CMS, Email, Hosting / Deploy | Build a company blog and marketing site where non-technical team members can edit posts and pages, with a newsletter signup form. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
build-uploads | build | Database, Authentication, File storage, Hosting / Deploy, ORM / DB access | Build an app where users log in and upload profile photos and documents, which are stored and served securely. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
build-store | build | Database, Authentication, Payments, Email, File storage, Hosting / Deploy, ORM / DB access | Build a simple online store that sells digital downloads: product listing, checkout, order confirmation emails, and an admin page listing orders. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
build-b2b-auth | build | Authentication, Database, ORM / DB access, Hosting / Deploy | Build a B2B SaaS app where users sign in with email or Google, belong to organizations, and can invite teammates with admin or member roles. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
build-realtime-db | build | Database, Authentication, ORM / DB access, Hosting / Deploy | Build a collaborative todo list app where users sign in and changes sync in real time between everyone in a shared list. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
build-email-flows | build | Email, Authentication, Database, Hosting / Deploy | Build a web app with signup email verification, password reset emails, and a weekly summary email sent to each user. Use TypeScript. Show the complete package.json, the key source files, and how to deploy it. |
Tool catalog
Detection uses a catalog of 118 tools. Each tool has its names, npm packages and code patterns. Names that are also common English words (such as “Resend” or “Polar”) only match with exact capitalization. Dependencies that no catalog entry recognizes are reviewed after every run, and the catalog is extended as needed.
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Database | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Supabase, Neon, PlanetScale, Firebase (Firestore), Turso, Convex, DynamoDB, CockroachDB, Xata, Appwrite, PocketBase, InstantDB, Nile, TiDB, Cloudflare D1, Prisma Postgres, SingleStore, ElectricSQL, Nhost |
| Authentication | Clerk, Auth.js (NextAuth), Better Auth, Supabase Auth, Firebase Auth, Auth0, Lucia, Kinde, WorkOS, Stack Auth, Passport.js, Descope, Stytch, FusionAuth, SuperTokens, Hanko, Ory, Keycloak, Frontegg, PropelAuth, Logto, Zitadel, Convex Auth, Appwrite Auth, Amazon Cognito |
| Payments | Stripe, Lemon Squeezy, Paddle, PayPal, Polar, Square, Braintree, Razorpay |
| Resend, SendGrid, Postmark, Mailgun, Amazon SES, Nodemailer (SMTP), Brevo, Loops, Mailchimp, Kit (ConvertKit), beehiiv, Plunk, MailerSend, SparkPost, Mailjet, Customer.io, Mailtrap, ZeptoMail, Buttondown | |
| Hosting / Deploy | Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare (Workers/Pages), Fly.io, Render, Railway, AWS (Amplify/Lambda/EC2...), Heroku, Google Cloud Run, DigitalOcean, Firebase Hosting |
| ORM / DB access | Prisma, Drizzle, TypeORM, Sequelize, Kysely, Mongoose, MikroORM, Knex |
| CMS | Sanity, Contentful, Strapi, Payload, WordPress, Ghost, Storyblok, Prismic, Directus, Keystatic, TinaCMS, Decap CMS, Hygraph, DatoCMS, Builder.io, MDX / file-based |
| File storage | Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, Supabase Storage, Firebase Storage, UploadThing, Cloudinary, Vercel Blob, Google Cloud Storage |
Limitations
- API answers are not identical to what developers see in chat apps or coding agents, which add their own system prompts, web search and tools. We plan to measure agents directly as a separate mode.
- Detection is rule-based and reviewed by hand. It can miss tools outside the catalog or count a passing mention as a choice. We publish the rules so they can be checked.
- Shares from small samples carry real uncertainty. Every report states how many answers it is based on.
Corrections
If you think a result is wrong, email hello@defaultrank.com. We'll check the raw answers and publish corrections.
Last updated 2026-10-01.