When choosing the right backend to host your websites, applications, and other user-facing implementations (let’s call these “projects”), there is more to it than just picking the tool with the most five-star reviews or the best-looking dashboard. There are many variables in play, including architecture, scalability, cost, and developer experience, but security tends to become especially important when it’s overlooked. This article is meant to help you think through the security-related considerations that actually matter, so you can make informed decisions for both your team and the people trusting you with their data.
Backend platforms are obviously not one-size-fits-all, and that’s the point! As you read the sections below, I encourage you to focus on the areas most relevant to your use case. Maybe that’s how your data is protected, maybe it’s how much infrastructure you’re implicitly signing up to manage at 2 a.m.
From compliance obligations to infrastructure choices to the security features baked into your backend, these questions are designed to help you pressure-test your options before your platform choice starts making decisions for you.
Which compliance, regulatory, and contractual requirements should my backend meet?
The first thing I preach is that, when backend shopping, everyone should prioritize a strong understanding of the data involved in their project and the obligations they have to protect it. Your obligations will often mirror those of the toolsets you use. Even when working with a minimal amount of data, many data privacy regulations or other obligations may be applicable to you. Consider the following:
- Are you working with sensitive categories of data, such as health and education information?
- Is your company, or your users, dependent on compliance audits such as SOC II Type II, ISO 27701, HIPAA, or HDS?
- Do any of your data subjects reside in the European Union or locations with strict data security regulations?
- Do you have contractual data protection obligations such as encryption requirements, hosting location requirements, and access controls?
- Will sensitive data be utilized in your artificial intelligence inputs during your project?
If you answered a degree of “yes” to any of the above, I recommend mapping out your specific obligations and requirements for both your company and your data subjects. Don’t shortcut this step, as it is important for understanding the features and compliance needs of the backend platform you are selecting and will help shape the remainder of this article.
Which security features are necessary?
After you have considered your specific obligations and requirements, it’s time to formulate a list of security features you need to meet them. The table below provides guidelines for features you may want to consider, along with general reasons for each. This list is not exhaustive; it is simply a tool to help you get on the right path.
To clarify some terminology here:
- Platform operators: You and the staff involved in using the backend platform.
- End users: the data subjects interacting with your project once it is complete, or the data subjects involved in your project.
Which hosting option is right for me?
Hosting options ultimately come down to your team's expertise, how quickly you need your project up and running, your budget, security requirements, and, finally, how your project will scale over time. This section provides the highest-level information on common hosting options. I recommend doing some soul researching, as I like to call it, to narrow down the best option for your use case.
Another thing to note before we dive in is that some backend platforms offer multiple hosting options. By default, backend tools typically offer managed hosting, but other options, such as deploying to self-hosted environments, may also be possible.
Backend-as-a-Service
Backend-as-a-service is a backend platform where the vendor provides infrastructure, backend primitives, and operational security. These platforms usually include authentication, databases, APIs, access control, scaling, backups, and logging.
Best for teams that need to ship quickly without managing the infrastructure or intricate security operations.
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
A hosting model where you deploy your own backend code, but the platform manages servers, operating systems, runtimes, scaling, and basic monitoring. Best for teams that want to run custom backend code without managing servers.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Raw computing infrastructure where the customer manages almost everything above the hardware layer. Best for organizations with strong DevOps expertise that need maximum control over architecture and security.
Container-Based Hosting (Kubernetes/Managed Containers)
Applications are packaged as containers and orchestrated by a system like Kubernetes. Infrastructure may be partially managed, but application architecture, security configuration, and scaling strategies are still largely the team’s responsibility. Best for technical teams running complex, multi-service systems that need portability and fine-tuned scaling.
Serverless Backends
Backend logic runs as short-lived functions triggered by events, without persistent servers.
The provider manages execution, scaling, infrastructure, and availability. Best for event-driven projects that need automatic scaling with minimal infrastructure management.
Self-Hosted / On-Premises
The organization owns and operates the infrastructure directly — either in a private data center or fully self-managed cloud. Best for organizations with strict data sovereignty or regulatory requirements that require full infrastructure control. (Note: Some Backend-as-a-Service platforms also allow for self-hosting.)
Compare and Contrast
Here is a summary of the various hosting options, using emojis as my visual helper:
- 🔧 = Expertise required (more = higher skill/ops burden)
- 🚀 = Speed to get up and running (more = faster)
- 💰 = Budget impact (more = higher cost)
- 🔐 = Security responsibility on your team (more = more responsibility)
- 📈 = Scalability over time (more = better long-term scalability)
For a deeper dive into SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS specifically, check out SaaS vs PaaS vs IaaS: What's The Difference & How To Choose.
Who owns the data I work with and how is it protected?
Depending on the data flowing through your application, data ownership and data protection can be the difference between a backend platform that accelerates your team and one that quietly becomes a legal and security liability. Not to be dramatic or anything.
This is where vendor vetting becomes so much more than just a list of checkboxes. If you’re handling customer data, regulated data, or anything you’d prefer not to see quoted in a breach notification, it’s worth slowing down and doing a little homework up front.
Here are a few steps I recommend to understand who actually owns your data and how well it’s protected before committing to a backend platform:
- Check out the Trust Center (yes, actually read it!): most backend platforms will have a dedicated security site. This is where a company shows you the maturity of its security program. Pay close attention to relevant certifications, security controls, and transparency to its users about incident response. If the Trust Center is vague, outdated, or mostly marketing fluff, assume off the bat that you’ll be doing more heavy lifting than anticipated.
- Review the Data Processing Agreement (DPA): Learn about the contractual obligations the platform will have regarding your data once it is in use. This will be particularly important if you are a data controller. Always review where the data ownership or intellectual property line is drawn, the vendor's security responsibilities, your responsibilities, subprocessor usage, data residency, and breach notification timelines. If anything feels fuzzy or vague, treat it as a red flag and ask for clarification. Never assume data handling responsibilities.
- Consult a human before legal has to: If anything about data ownership or protection feels unclear, ask a company representative directly. A good platform vendor should be able to explain what data they can and cannot access, what happens to your data after your churn, and how security responsibilities are split in a shared-responsibility model. Clarity now is significantly cheaper than remediation later.
What level of access controls do I need in my backend platform?
Notice how this question is less about the backend platform and more self-reflective about how your team operates. That’s intentional. Access controls don’t often fail because the tooling is bad; they likely fail because permissions don’t match real-world workflows. Basic access control might be fine for early-stage projects, but it tends to fall apart as teams grow, responsibilities diverge, and compliance expectations evolve. Before evaluating platform features, it’s worth checking in on your own requirements first.
Define your access model (not just your team size)
Instead of asking “How many people are on the team?”, ask:
- How many people need persistent access versus occasional access?
- Are responsibilities clearly segmented (infra, data, billing, product), or do they overlap?
- Which actions are reversible, and which ones absolutely are not?
- Are there areas of the backend where mistakes have a higher blast radius?
And yes, this is where the principle of least privilege stops being theoretical. If you have compliance, regulatory, or contractual obligations around access controls, you’re likely already committed to enforcing them even if your tooling doesn’t make that obvious yet.
Sensitivity is not binary
Not all parts of your backend deserve the same level of protection. Some areas are operationally sensitive (billing, auth configuration, secrets), data-sensitive (PII, PHI, financial records), and compliance-sensitive (audit logs, retention policies). If everything requires admin access, your access model is effectively “trust-based security,” which works right up until it suddenly doesn’t.
Smaller teams can get away with broader permissions early on, but that model doesn’t scale cleanly, especially once external auditors, customers, or partners start asking uncomfortable questions.
What to look for in a backend platform
If your access needs are relatively simple, the minimum bar should still include:
- Strong authentication (preferably MFA)
- Clear ownership or admin roles
- The ability to revoke access quickly
For more complex or regulated environments, look beyond surface-level RBAC and ask harder questions:
- How granular are permissions (project-level, environment-level, resource-level)?
- Are roles predefined, customizable, or both?
- Can access be scoped to specific actions rather than broad areas?
- Does the platform integrate with your identity provider (SSO, SCIM)?
- Are access changes logged and auditable?
If the answer to most of these is “kind of,” assume you’ll be compensating with process instead of tooling and decide if that’s a tradeoff you’re comfortable making.
Does my backend support single-tenancy (and do I need It)?
I like to think of tenancy as living on an island.
- In a multi-tenant world, you’re sharing the island with a lot of other people. You split the cost, which is great, but you’re also sharing the land and its resources. When one neighbor throws a very resource-hungry party (or accidentally sets something on fire), everyone feels it.
- In a single-tenant world, you bought the island yourself. It’s more expensive, but you control the rules. If something breaks, it’s your thing breaking, not someone else’s incident spilling over into your environment. Fires still happen, and resources can still be exhausted, but they are fully contained within your island.
Enough island talk, it's evident that single tenancy has its perks, but how can you determine which tenancy type you need? The most useful question isn’t “Single or multi-tenant?” it’s: “What happens to my customers if something goes wrong that isn’t my fault?”
When single tenancy is worth the tradeoff
When working with highly sensitive information (health, finance, government, etc.), building a project that requires near-perfect uptime, or with specific data location requirements, single tenancy is typically the most reliable option. This option may also benefit self-hosted companies for several reasons, including predictable scaling and compliance. Overall, single-tenancy simplifies conversations with auditors, customers, and internal stakeholders around the security and reliability of your project.
When multi-tenancy Is the more rational choice
Multi-tenancy is often the better option when efficiency and velocity matter more than absolute isolation:
- Your application has modest resource requirements
- Temporary performance degradation or brief outages are tolerable
- Cost sensitivity is high
- You don’t have contractual or regulatory mandates for tenant isolation
Well-designed multi-tenant platforms can be secure and reliable, but they assume a shared risk model. If that’s acceptable for your project, there’s no reason to pay the single-tenant premium.
How can I monitor my backend for vulnerabilities?
A common shared responsibility between backend vendors and you, the backend user, is monitoring and triaging vulnerabilities. Vulnerability monitoring is one of those areas where backend vendors love to say “shared responsibility” and then conveniently leave you to figure out what that actually means in practice.
The reality is that vulnerabilities show up at multiple layers:
- Platform-level issues (infrastructure, runtime, dependencies)
- Account-level or configuration issues (permissions, integrations, exposed endpoints)
Either way, both the platform you use and your team must practice some forms of vulnerability prevention and management. A mature backend setup assumes that neither you nor the vendor will catch everything alone. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s proactive planning, early detection, clear ownership, and fast remediation. So how can you prepare before committing to a backend?
When assessing a backend platform, be very specific in your questions about vulnerabilities. You want concrete answers on how vulnerabilities are identified, addressed, and learned from. Be sure you have a good picture painted of both the platform’s proactive and reactive threat practices.
Even the most secure backend platform won’t save you from misconfigurations, over-permissioned integrations, or unmonitored changes. Because vulnerability prevention and management is a two-way street, let’s look at a couple of things you can do to prepare on your side.
- A helping hand feature: Always check which features are available to help your team prevent or investigate threats. This could include event logging, audit trails, webhooks, alerting, and integration with SIEM tools.
- Disaster recovery playbook updates: If your project is business-critical and/or your data is regulated, this step isn’t optional. Be sure to update your disaster recovery practices to prepare for a new backend setup. This includes platform outages, human error (misconfigurations or accidental deletions), vendor-side incidents and outages, and your own rollback and recovery responsibilities
- A vulnerability's kryptonite–backups: while I know it doesn't fix everything, it almost does… Back up your project, and back it up regularly! Check which backup procedures and features are available in the backend platform. Also, have a good sense of the recovery procedure.
Final thoughts
That was a lot of ground to cover, and I may have gone over my seven-question quota (oops). You might be asking yourself, “Where do I go from here?” You’re asking the right question. Here are the major takeaways before you start shopping:
- Your team and project calls the shots: Your backend choice should be driven by your team’s expertise and capacity, as well as your project’s data sensitivity, compliance obligations, and expected growth over time. The clearer you are about your internal constraints and priorities, the better your conversations with vendors will be.
- Perfection isn’t the goal, resilience is: With industry experience, I can assure you that no backend platform is perfect. It's a game of give-and-take, especially on the security front. Where a vendor falls short, your team will need to pick up the pieces. Focus less on eliminating every single gap and instead understand where they are and intentionally decide which ones your team is prepared to own.
- Draw the “shared responsibility” lines in Sharpie: Before you sign an agreement, be sure you have a crystal clear understanding of what security controls the vendor owns, what you are responsible for configuring and monitoring, and how incidents, vulnerabilities, and data issues are handled contractually. Do not wait until a vulnerability occurs to decipher a DPA.
Selecting a backend platform is both a technical and architectural commitment that shapes how your team builds and how your customers experience your product. When things inevitably get complicated, your choice determines whether you’re solving problems or fighting your own infrastructure. Choose wisely.
