Monorepos: One Repo to Rule Them All (From Indie Hackers to Billion-Dollar Unicorns)

TL;DR

Monorepos consolidate all your code—frontends, backends, and shared libraries—into one repository. This simplifies how you build, deploy, and maintain multiple projects. Whether you're a solo indie hacker or a scaling startup, a monorepo can cut overhead and streamline your workflow.

With Startup Starter Kits (SSK), you can adopt monorepo best practices quickly and efficiently.

🛠️ For Indie Hackers: Efficiency Made Simple

Pros of Using a Monorepo

  1. One Repo to Manage Everything
    Keep dependencies, tests, and deployments in one place. No more switching between multiple repositories.

  2. Effortless Code Sharing
    Share components and utilities between projects without duplicating code.

  3. Unified Tooling and Automation
    Centralize CI/CD pipelines, linters, and test runners for consistent workflows.

  4. Reduced Costs and Cognitive Load
    Simplify infrastructure and reduce the mental overhead of juggling multiple repos.

  5. Faster Product Launches
    Spin up new projects quickly using shared resources and configurations.

Visualizing the Difference

Monorepo:               Multi-Repo:
Root Directory          Project A Repo
├── App A               Project B Repo
├── App B               Project C Repo
└── Shared Components   └── Shared Components (duplicated)

In a monorepo, everything is streamlined. In a multi-repo, managing shared code can quickly become tedious.

🚀 For Startups Scaling to Billion-Dollar Unicorns

Why Companies Like Google and Meta Use Monorepos

  1. Seamless Growth Scale your team and codebase without fragmenting projects.

  2. Simplified Dependency Management Update shared libraries in one place, ensuring consistency across all projects.

  3. Efficient Refactoring Make changes across multiple projects in a single commit.

  4. Improved Collaboration Teams can share and reuse code effortlessly.

  5. Unified Tooling Standardize CI/CD pipelines, linters, and tests for smoother development.

🤝 Potential Downsides to Consider

  • Initial Complexity Setting up a monorepo can be challenging if you're new to the approach.

  • Performance Issues Without proper caching, large monorepos can lead to longer build times.

  • Team Adjustment Teams used to separate repos may need time to adapt to shared ownership.

Tip: Tools like SSK, Nx, Turborepo, and Bazel can help with caching, incremental builds, and easier configuration.

🔧 Tooling Tips: Fast-Track Your Monorepo Setup

  • Frameworks & Tools: Use SSK, Nx, Turborepo, or Bazel for efficient monorepo management. They provide pre-configured templates, shared libraries, and CI/CD pipelines.

  • Testing & Quality Assurance: Adopt a single test runner (like Jest) and a shared ESLint config for consistency.

  • CI/CD Integration: Use one pipeline with caching and parallelization for faster builds and deployments.

🎯 Real-World Example

You’ve built a successful SaaS—App A—and want to launch App B to expand your business. With a monorepo:

  • Shared Libraries: Both apps use the same design system and utilities.
  • Centralized Updates: Update a shared component once and both apps benefit.
  • Unified Deployment: Deploy both apps from the same pipeline.

🌱 From Side Projects to Scaling Startups

Monorepos help you transition from small projects to scalable applications by reducing complexity and fostering collaboration.

🚀 Ready to Get Started?

Startup Starter Kits (SSK) makes adopting a monorepo simple. It provides:

  • Templates and CI/CD configurations to launch quickly
  • Shared libraries to reduce code duplication
  • Scalable architecture to grow efficiently

Build more, manage less. 🛠️✨

SSK-Pro