Monolith or microservices?

Start with a modular monolith — one codebase and deployment, organised into clear modules.

• Monolith: simpler to build, test, deploy and debug — right for almost every new product
• Microservices: independent services and teams; worth it only at larger scale, when parts need to scale or deploy separately

Why: microservices add networking, monitoring and data-consistency complexity. Split out a service only when there's a clear, measured reason.