We address the notorious metastability of the standard model (SM) Higgs potential and promote it to a model building task: What are the new ingredients required to stabilize the SM up to the Planck scale without encountering subplanckian Landau poles? Using the SM extended by vector-like fermions, we chart out the corresponding landscape of Higgs stability. We find that the gauge portal mechanism, triggered by new SM charge carriers, opens up sizeable room for stability in a minimally invasive manner.
We also find models with Yukawa portals into Higgs stability opening up at stronger coupling. Several models allow for vector-like fermions in the TeV-range, which can be searched for at the LHC. For nontrivial flavor structure of Yukawa couplings severe FCNC constraints arise which complement those from stability, and push lower fermion masses up to O(10^3 TeV).