How to choose which projects to put in your portfolio

Project Selection Is a Filtering Problem

You do not need many projects. You need the right ones. Every project in your portfolio should pass three tests before it earns a slot.

The Three-Test Filter

Test 1 — Is it live? Deploy your project before adding it. A GitHub link to undeployed code is the same as no link. Use Vercel, Netlify, or GitHub Pages for frontend projects. Use Railway or Render for backends. No excuses.

Test 2 — Does it solve something real? A weather app that calls an API is a tutorial. A weather app that alerts farmers to frost risk in their specific region is a project. The difference is specificity and intent.

Test 3 — Can you talk about it for 10 minutes? Every technical interview will include "walk me through a project." If you cannot explain the architecture, trade-offs, and what you would do differently, cut it.

How Many Is Enough

Two to three strong projects beat eight weak ones. One flagship project — something larger, more complex, and more polished — should anchor your portfolio. The other one or two projects can demonstrate range or depth in a specific stack.

Make sure your flagship project's README includes: what problem it solves, how to run it locally, the tech stack, and a link to the live demo. That README is read almost as often as the portfolio itself.