Your Side Project Doesn't Need a Database
The fastest storage layer is an array in a TypeScript file. It deploys with the code, versions with git, and never goes down.
When an array wins
Under a hundred records that change less than weekly? A file wins on every axis that matters: speed to ship, zero infra, reviewable diffs.
When to graduate
The day someone who cannot run git needs to edit content, add the database. Not a day earlier.