Our Best Dev Stack 2026: Zed + Bun + Drizzle + Biome + Cloudflare — And the One Thing We'd Change
After 6 months in production: Zed (editor), Bun (API runtime), Drizzle (DB), Biome (lint/format), Cloudflare Pages (static) + Hetzner (API). Velocity up 35%, costs down 60%. The gap: no unified debugging across editor+runtime+DB.
Published 2026-06-17
Our Best Dev Stack 2026: Zed + Bun + Drizzle + Biome + Cloudflare — And the One Thing We’d Change
TL;DR: Six months production: Zed (editor), Bun 1.1 (API), Drizzle ORM (DB), Biome (lint/format), Cloudflare Pages (web) + Hetzner CX42 (API). Team velocity +35%, infra cost -62% vs Vercel/Cursor/Prisma stack. Missing: unified debug across editor→runtime→DB. Full comparison →
The Context
Three-dev team, B2B SaaS: Next.js 14 (web) + tRPC/Express (API) + PostgreSQL (Supabase → self-hosted on Hetzner). Jan 2026 stack: VS Code + Cursor Pro + Node 20 + Prisma + ESLint/Prettier + Vercel Pro. Pain: $680/mo infra+tools, context loss, bundle bloat, CI slow, debugging fragmented. June 2026 stack: result of 5 targeted migrations (one per month).
What We Tested (Migration Path)
| Month | From → To | Category | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | VS Code + Cursor → Zed + Continue.dev | Editor | -80% RAM, instant startup, persistent context |
| Feb | Node 20 → Bun 1.1 (API only) | Runtime | 2.3× throughput, 60% less memory |
| Mar | Prisma → Drizzle ORM | Database | -60% bundle, explicit SQL, zero N+1 |
| Apr | ESLint + Prettier → Biome | Lint/Format | -40% CI time, single config, zero format conflicts |
| May | Vercel Pro → Cloudflare Pages + Hetzner | Hosting | -62% cost ($480→$180/mo), unlimited bandwidth |
| Jun | Cursor kept for type surgery only | AI Tool | $200→$80/mo team AI cost |
The Stack (June 2026 Production)
| Layer | Tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Editor | Zed (stable) + Continue.dev (Ollama) | Native speed, modal, persistent agent context, $0 |
| AI (Greenfield) | VS Code + Cline (OpenRouter) | Terminal-native autonomy, BYOK, test generation |
| AI (Type Surgery) | Cursor Pro (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) | Best-in-class TS LSP diagnostics inline |
| Runtime (API) | Bun 1.1 | 18k req/s, 45MB RSS, native SQLite/Postgres |
| Runtime (Web) | Node 20 LTS | Next.js 15 / Vite 6 / Turborepo compatibility |
| Database | Drizzle ORM 0.33 | Type-safe SQL, 900KB bundle, reviewable migrations |
| Lint/Format | Biome 1.9 | Single tool, single config, 48s CI, Rust speed |
| Hosting (Static) | Cloudflare Pages (Free) | 300+ PoPs, unlimited bandwidth, free DDoS |
| Hosting (API) | Hetzner CX42 + dokku | €32/mo, Docker deploy, full control, no egress fees |
| CI/CD | GitHub Actions + bun install | 3.2× faster deps, Bun for API build, Node for web |
The Pivot Point
March 15, 2026: Prisma N+1 incident #3 (dashboard 2.1s p99). Same week: Vercel bill $480. Decided: one migration per month, measure, commit or revert. Each migration had: (1) spike branch, (2) staging deploy, (3) load test, (4) team vote. All 5 passed. June retro: velocity (Linear points/sprint) +35% vs Jan; infra+tools cost -62% ($680→$260/mo); on-call pages -80% (Bun stability, Drizzle predictability, Biome speed).
What We’d Change: Unified Debugging
The gap: No single debug session spans Zed → Bun → Drizzle → PostgreSQL.
- Zed: Continue.dev agent sees files/terminal, not Bun runtime state
- Bun:
--inspectconnects to Chrome DevTools, not Zed - Drizzle: Query log in terminal, not in editor inline
- PostgreSQL:
EXPLAIN ANALYZEin psql, not linked to ORM call site
Workaround: console.log + structured logging (pino) + Datadog APM — but it’s reactive, not interactive. Ideal: Zed extension that attaches to Bun --inspect, shows Drizzle query tree inline, links to EXPLAIN output. Building this Q3 2026.
Tool Crucible Rating (Stack Aggregate)
| Dimension | Rating (1–5) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 4 | Cohesive, fast, cheap; debugging fragmentation prevents 5 |
| Velocity | 5 | +35% measured; tool friction near zero |
| Cost Efficiency | 5 | $260/mo vs $680/mo; scales linearly |
| Operational Simplicity | 3 | 3 hosts (CF, Hetzner, Supabase legacy), 2 runtimes, 3 AI tools |
| Debuggability | 2 | Fragmented; biggest daily friction |
When You’d Choose Differently
- Team <3 devs / low ops appetite: Vercel + Cursor + Prisma + ESLint — higher $, lower ops, good enough.
- Enterprise / compliance: AWS/GCP + GitHub Copilot Enterprise + TypeScript strict + internal platforms — control > velocity.
- Polyglot (Go/Rust/Python + TS): Neovim/Helix + Aider + language-specific toolchains — Zed TS bias becomes limitation.
- Mobile-first: Expo + EAS + Metro — web stack doesn’t transfer.
This is part of our Stack Evaluation series. See full comparison: Best Dev Stack 2026: 12 Teams Share Their Production Choices
Last reviewed 2026-06-17. See our methodology and affiliate policy.