Want to turn heads in interviews? Build React + Node + Postgres projects that feel like real products. You’ll showcase solid data modeling, clean API design, and production‑ready decisions that hiring managers trust. This guide gives you six portfolio projects that prove you can ship.
Why React + Node + Postgres Projects Stand Out to Hiring Managers
You’re matching a common production stack. React dominates frontends. Node powers countless APIs. PostgreSQL brings relational rigor and advanced features. With one stack you can demonstrate auth, relational joins, transaction safety, backoffice tooling, and performance.
Need a primer on wiring React + Express + PostgreSQL end to end? These walkthroughs help you bootstrap quickly:
- A React + Node + Express + PostgreSQL CRUD tutorial explains architecture and API basics
- Another full-stack example shows a clean Express back end with React Router on the client
- A practical intro covers Postgres from the terminal, Node + pg, and a simple React client
Sprinkle those patterns into your portfolio. Then take them further.
How Hiring Managers Evaluate Your React + Node + PostgreSQL Projects
They scan for signal. Here’s what they look for and how you show it.
Product thinking: Clear persona, real workflow, polished UX states
Architecture clarity: Layered Node API, typed boundaries, modular React
Data modeling strength: Normalization, constraints, migrations, realistic indexes
Reliability: Input validation, error handling, idempotency, retries where it counts
Performance: Avoid N+1 queries, use pagination, smart caching, measured latency
DevEx and quality: Linting, type safety, unit/integration tests, CI, one‑command setup
Deployment readiness: Cloud hosting, environment configs, migration strategy, logs
Back up your claims with a short “tech decisions” doc in each repo. Keep it crisp.
Architecture Quick View: React + Node + Postgres
Show the full flow in your README.
Diagram
Key choices
- React: Routing, form handling, query caching, accessibility, optimistic updates
- Node: Express or Fastify, schema validation at the edge, service/repository layers
- PostgreSQL: Migrations, constraints first, sensible indexing, transactions
Reference setups to study or adapt:
- Step‑by‑step React + Express + PostgreSQL CRUD with Sequelize
- Full tutorial wiring client and server with modern tooling
- Postgres + Node fundamentals and React front end flow
6 React + Node + Postgres Projects Hiring Managers Love
Each project includes core features, schema notes, API considerations, front‑end details, testing ideas, and stretch goals. Mix in TypeScript for extra signal. Add Cypress end-to-end tests to validate real user journeys.
1) Realtime Kanban Board (React + Node + Postgres) With Team Presence
Hook
Teams live in boards. Realtime interactions tell reviewers you can handle concurrency.
Core features
Workspaces, boards, lists, cards, labels, assignees, due dates
Drag‑and‑drop with persisted ordering and optimistic UI
Realtime presence and typing indicators via WebSockets
Schema highlights
users, workspaces, workspace_members, boards, lists, cards, card_assignees, labels, card_labels, activities, attachments
Ordering: position NUMERIC with fractional inserts to avoid costly renumbering
Indexes: foreign keys, created_at DESC for feeds, partial index on soft deletes
API and logic
Transactions for card move operations
Idempotent write endpoints for drag events
Rate limiting for presence pings
Frontend
React DnD, React Query or SWR for caching, skeletons and toasts for feedback
Testing
Cypress end-to-end tests for card moves, reconnection after network blips, and presence indicators
Stretch
Audit log feed, board templates, webhook integrations
2) E‑commerce Storefront + Admin (React + Node + Postgres) With Stripe
Hook
Payments and inventory scream production. Do it right and you signal seniority.
Core features
Catalog, filters, search, cart, checkout, orders, admin inventory
Secure payment flow with webhooks and idempotency keys
Schema highlights
products, product_variants, inventories, customers, addresses, orders, order_items, payments
Constraints: unique SKU, check constraints for enum‑like states
Database indexing strategy for Postgres portfolio app: composite index on (product_id, created_at), trigram GIN for fuzzy name search, partial index for in_stock = true
API and logic
Transactional order creation that decrements stock then records payment intent
Stripe webhooks for payment_intent.succeeded and refunds
Email receipts and admin order timeline
Frontend
Accessible forms, client‑side validation mirrored on the server, lazy image loading
Testing
Cypress end-to-end tests for full checkout, webhook simulation, race conditions on low inventory
Stretch
Coupons, wishlist, multi‑currency pricing, per‑region tax rules
3) Multi‑Tenant SaaS Analytics Dashboard (React + Node + Postgres)
Hook
Multi‑tenant design shows you understand isolation, RBAC, and aggregate queries.
Core features
Tenant accounts, invites, roles, event ingestion API, dashboards with filters
Shareable views via signed links
Schema highlights
tenants, users, tenant_users, events (JSONB payload), dashboards, widgets
JSONB GIN index on events.payload for flexible filters
Time‑based partitioning of events by month for manageable table sizes
API and logic
Signed ingestion endpoint, background jobs for pre‑aggregation, cache warmers
Row‑level authorization ensures tenant isolation
Frontend
Charting with virtualized tables for large datasets
Query builder UX with saved views
Testing
Multi‑tenant Cypress end-to-end tests across roles and tenants
Contract tests around ingestion and aggregation functions
Stretch
SSO (SAML/OIDC), usage‑based billing, audit logs
4) Job Board + ATS Lite (React + Node + Postgres) With Full‑Text Search
Hook
Hiring teams care about this domain. You mirror their workflow and speak their language.
Core features
Job postings, applications, stages, notes, bulk actions, full‑text search
Email templates with merge fields
Schema highlights
jobs, candidates, applications, stages, application_stage_history, notes
tsvector columns for job descriptions and candidate resumes
GIN indexes for fast search and filters
API and logic
Cursor pagination for large candidate lists
Idempotent stage transitions with history tracking
Frontend
Kanban pipeline per job, advanced filters, saved searches
Testing
Cypress end-to-end tests for search accuracy, stage transitions, email sends
Stretch
Resume parsing import, calendar sync for interviews, analytics reports
5) Content Publishing System (React + Node + Postgres) With Editorial Workflow
Hook
Drafts, reviews, and versioning show you can design workflow states and safe publishing.
Core features
Draft vs published, approvals, scheduled publish, media library, SEO fields
Preview environments with signed tokens
Schema highlights
posts, post_versions, users, roles, media_assets, tags, post_tags
Trigger to snapshot post_versions on each publish
Unique slug per publish date to support historical archives
API and logic
Presigned uploads for images
Time‑based scheduler that publishes and backfills search indexes
Frontend
Markdown or WYSIWYG editor with diff view between versions
Preview mode that pulls draft content
Testing
Cypress end-to-end tests for draft → review → publish flow, preview URLs, schedule triggers
Stretch
Multi‑locale support, webhooks to static site builders, content experiments
6) Events & Ticketing Platform (React + Node + Postgres) With Concurrency Control
Hook
Concurrency under load is hard. Nail seat holds, expirations, and finalization to impress.
Core features
Events, seat maps or ticket tiers, holds with countdown, checkout, QR tickets
Schema highlights
events, ticket_tiers or seats, holds, orders, order_items, payments
Unique constraint on seat_id + event_id to prevent double sell
holds.expires_at with a background sweeper job
API and logic
Atomic seat hold with SELECT … FOR UPDATE SKIP LOCKED
Idempotent order creation keyed by client token
Webhooks to finalize and release holds on failure
Frontend
Realtime seat availability, optimistic reserve with timer, responsive seat selection
Testing
Cypress end-to-end tests that simulate simultaneous buyers for the last seats
Load test the hold endpoints and verify integrity
Stretch
Fraud checks, scanner mode for door staff, resale marketplace
Comparison Table — Which React + Node + Postgres Project Shows Which Skill
|
Project
|
Realtime
|
Complex Schema
|
Payments
|
Multi‑tenant
|
Full‑text Search
|
Versioning
|
Concurrency
|
|
Kanban
|
Yes
|
Medium
|
No
|
Optional
|
No
|
No
|
Medium
|
|
E‑commerce
|
Optional
|
High
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
Optional
|
No
|
High
|
|
SaaS Analytics
|
Optional
|
High
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
No
|
Medium
|
|
Job Board + ATS
|
Optional
|
Medium
|
No
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
No
|
Low
|
|
Publishing CMS
|
Optional
|
Medium
|
No
|
Optional
|
Optional
|
Yes
|
Low
|
|
Ticketing
|
Yes
|
High
|
Yes
|
Optional
|
No
|
No
|
High
|
Want live inspiration and code patterns? Browse PERN repos to see conventions used in the wild.
Deep Technical Checklist for Every PERN Project
React
Pick a state strategy early: server cache with React Query, local form state with Zod or Yup validation
Add error boundaries, skeletons, accessible components, keyboard support
Avoid waterfalls with parallel queries and suspense‑ready patterns
Node
Layered architecture: routes → handlers → services → repositories
Validate every input at the edge with zod/joi
Ensure idempotency for writes that clients can retry
Add health checks and readiness probes
PostgreSQL
Migrations first. Add NOT NULL, foreign keys, and check constraints
Index for the query shapes you run. Measure with EXPLAIN ANALYZE
Avoid N+1 with JOINs or batched queries
Design a database indexing strategy for Postgres portfolio apps up front:
- Composite indexes for common filters and sorts, eg (tenant_id, created_at DESC)
- Partial indexes for frequently filtered states, eg status = 'published'
- GIN for JSONB attributes or full‑text search
- Covering indexes with INCLUDE for hot reads
Security
Password hashing with argon2 or bcrypt
Session strategy: JWTs with rotation or httpOnly cookies with CSRF protection
Authorization checks at row level where needed
Testing
Unit tests for services and utilities
API contract tests to lock schemas
Integration tests with ephemeral Postgres
Cypress end-to-end tests for core flows like sign in, CRUD, checkout, publish
Observability
Structured logs with request IDs
Metrics for p95 latency, error rate, queue depth
Basic tracing in local/dev
DevOps
Docker Compose for local dev: web, api, db, worker
One‑command bootstrap with seed data that tells a story
CI: lint, type check, tests, migrations, build, deploy
Implementation Notes by Layer
React Frontend for React + Node + Postgres Projects
Use feature folders. Keep routes, loaders, and components tight
Schema‑driven forms with Zod for client‑side validation that mirrors server checks
Query caching for lists and detail pages. Optimistic updates for snappy UX
Protect routes by role. Show only allowed actions
Node API for React + Node + Postgres Apps
Express or Fastify with typed request/response
Central async error handler. Never leak stack traces in prod
Rate limit sensitive endpoints. Add a circuit breaker around flaky dependencies
Health endpoint returns liveness and database connectivity
PostgreSQL Design in React + Node + Postgres Projects
Normalize first then use JSONB for flexible attributes that you genuinely filter on
Materialized views for expensive aggregates with refresh cadence
Partition time‑series tables. Keep partitions small enough for vacuum and backups
Always write migrations with a rollback plan. Avoid locking DDL during peak usage
If you prefer an ORM, add a prisma postgres example with React and Express in a small demo branch. Show raw SQL for reports when the ORM gets in the way. Cite why you chose one path.
Grounding references for wiring the stack and ideas you can adapt:
- React + Node + PostgreSQL CRUD architecture and steps
- React + Express + Postgres full‑stack tutorial with modern tooling
- Postgres + Node fundamentals and React client walkthrough
Shipping, Demoing, and Selling Your Work
Hosting
Frontend on Vercel or Netlify
Backend on Render, Fly.io, or Railway
Postgres on Supabase, Neon, or Railway
Demo polish
Seed data that tells a story. Avoid lorem ipsum
Two‑minute screencast that shows the happy path then a tricky edge case
README with one‑command run, architecture diagram, schema diagram, env samples
Public URL and test credentials with non‑admin role
Resume bullets
Lead with outcomes. Example: “Built a multi‑tenant analytics dashboard that processed 2M events per day and cut p95 query latency 45% with pre‑aggregation and proper indexes”
Metrics to show
p95 API latency and error rate
Lighthouse score for key pages
Test coverage and number of Cypress end-to-end tests
Cold start time and DB connection pool settings
FAQs About React + Node + Postgres (PERN) Projects
How big should each project be?
Ship an MVP in 2–3 weeks. Add one advanced feature that proves depth in week 4.
Do I need TypeScript?
Use it. Reviewers read types faster than prose.
Can I mix ORMs and SQL?
Yes. Use an ORM for CRUD speed. Drop to SQL for performance‑critical reports or complex joins.
What about realtime features?
Add Socket.IO or native WebSockets for presence, notifications, and live updates where it adds value.
Any good starter guides?
These tutorials show React + Express + PostgreSQL end to end with code you can run and adapt
Where can I see more PERN examples?
Browse trending PERN repositories to study repo layout, auth patterns, and deployment scripts
Next Steps — Build Your First React + Node + Postgres Project This Week
Pick one of the six projects that matches your target role
Sketch the schema and list your top 10 endpoints
Draft primary user flows and empty/error/loading states
Implement MVP in 10 days then add one advanced feature in 4 days
Ship, record a 2‑minute demo, and ask for feedback
