diff --git a/build-api.js b/build-api.js
index 74a1058d..736b9b80 100644
--- a/build-api.js
+++ b/build-api.js
@@ -2,34 +2,75 @@
 import fs from "fs";
 import path from "path";
 import { fileURLToPath } from "url";
+import * as esbuild from "esbuild";
 
 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 
-console.log("Preparing API routes for Vercel...");
+console.log("Building API routes for Vercel with esbuild...");
 
 const srcApi = path.resolve(__dirname, "api");
 const destApi = path.resolve(__dirname, "..", "api");
 
-function copyDir(src, dest) {
-  if (fs.existsSync(dest)) {
-    fs.rmSync(dest, { recursive: true, force: true });
-  }
-  fs.mkdirSync(dest, { recursive: true });
+// Ensure destination exists
+if (fs.existsSync(destApi)) {
+  fs.rmSync(destApi, { recursive: true, force: true });
+}
+fs.mkdirSync(destApi, { recursive: true });
 
-  const entries = fs.readdirSync(src, { withFileTypes: true });
+// Find all TypeScript files in src/api
+const tsFiles = [];
+
+function findTsFiles(dir, prefix = "") {
+  const entries = fs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
   for (const entry of entries) {
-    const srcPath = path.join(src, entry.name);
-    const destPath = path.join(dest, entry.name);
-
+    const fullPath = path.join(dir, entry.name);
     if (entry.isDirectory()) {
-      copyDir(srcPath, destPath);
-    } else {
-      fs.copyFileSync(srcPath, destPath);
+      findTsFiles(fullPath, prefix + entry.name + "/");
+    } else if (entry.name.endsWith(".ts") && !entry.name.endsWith(".d.ts")) {
+      tsFiles.push(fullPath);
     }
   }
 }
 
-console.log(`Copying TypeScript API files from ${srcApi}...`);
-copyDir(srcApi, destApi);
-console.log(`✓ API files copied to ${destApi}`);
-console.log("Vercel will compile TypeScript automatically.");
+findTsFiles(srcApi);
+
+if (tsFiles.length === 0) {
+  console.log("No TypeScript files found");
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+
+console.log(`Found ${tsFiles.length} TypeScript files`);
+
+// Build each file separately to preserve structure
+async function buildAll() {
+  for (const tsFile of tsFiles) {
+    const relativePath = path.relative(srcApi, tsFile);
+    const outFile = path.join(destApi, relativePath.replace(/\.ts$/, ".js"));
+    const outDir = path.dirname(outFile);
+
+    if (!fs.existsSync(outDir)) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });
+    }
+
+    try {
+      await esbuild.build({
+        entryPoints: [tsFile],
+        outfile: outFile,
+        platform: "node",
+        target: "es2020",
+        format: "esm",
+        external: ["@supabase/supabase-js", "nodemailer", "stripe", "ethers"],
+        bundle: false,
+        sourcemap: false,
+        logLevel: "silent",
+      });
+      console.log(`✓ ${relativePath}`);
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error(`✗ Failed to build ${relativePath}:`, error.message);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+await buildAll();
+console.log(`\n✓ API build complete! ${tsFiles.length} files compiled.`);