Side-by-side roundup
Best GenerateSaaS alternatives, compared
The SaaS boilerplates buyers weigh against us, with prices and who each suits.
- Teams whose app runs on Nuxt or TanStack Start$299 one-time
supastarterTop pick - Builders shipping web, phone and browser extension together$249 one-time
TurboStarter - Teams that want Supabase underneath, with RLS in the code$349 one-time
MakerKit - Solo builders on the smallest budget who bill in credits$79 one-time
IndieKit - Makers who want the smallest single-tenant kit$199, from $299
ShipFast - Builders willing to learn Wasp and spend nothing$0
Open SaaS
At a glance
Every option, side by side
Tap a name to hide or show its column
| Feature |  GenerateSaaS | supastarter | TurboStarter | MakerKit | IndieKit | ShipFast | Open SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing & licence | |||||||
| Pricing model | Included: One-time, updates included | Included: One-time, updates included | Included: One-time, lifetime updates | Included: One-time, updates included | Included: One-time, updates included | Included: One-time; updates from All-in | Included: Free, MIT |
| Projects per licence | Included: Unlimited, per seat | Included: Unlimited, per framework | Included: Unlimited, one seat each | Included: Unlimited, per kit | Not available | Included: Unlimited | Included: Unlimited, MIT |
| Client work | Partial: Agency tier to deliver source | Included: Allowed, no client licence | Included: Unlimited clients, no source | Partial: Team tier; client buys a licence | Not available | Not available | Included: Allowed, MIT |
| White-label | Partial: Agency tier | Partial: Agency tier | Not available: Notices must stay in code | Not available | Not available | Not available: Notices must stay | Included: Allowed, keep the notice |
| Refund policy | Not available: All sales final | Not available | Not available: None once access redeemed | Not available: No refunds, stated | Partial: 3 days, before access shared | Not available: No refunds, stated | Not available |
| Tech stack | |||||||
| Frameworks | Included: Next.js 16.3 | Included: Next.js 16.3, Nuxt, TanStack | Included: Next.js 16.3, Expo, WXT | Included: Next.js 16.3, React Router 8, TanStack | Included: Next.js 16, React 19 | Included: Next.js, either router | Included: Wasp 0.25, React 19, Node |
| Database | Included: Postgres, Neon, Supabase | Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | Included: Supabase, Drizzle, Prisma 7 | Included: Neon, Supabase, PlanetScale | Included: MongoDB, Supabase Postgres | Included: Prisma 5.19, Postgres |
| Authentication | Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA | Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA | Included: Better Auth, passkeys, OTP, 2FA | Included: Supabase Auth, Better Auth | Included: Better Auth, Google, magic links | Partial: Google login, magic links | Included: Wasp auth, email, OAuth |
| Billing features | |||||||
| Payments | Included: Stripe, Polar | Included: Five providers, one API | Included: Four web, two store providers | Included: Three on Supabase kits, two elsewhere | Included: Six providers documented | Included: Stripe, Lemon Squeezy | Included: Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy |
| Subscriptions | Included: Month, year, lifetime | Included: Plans, seat-based pricing | Included: Plans, trials, per-seat, metered | Included: Flat, per-seat, metered, one-off | Included: Plans, one-time, LTD campaigns | Included: Stripe subscriptions | Included: Plans, customer portal |
| Usage credits | Included: Balances, grants, optional top-up | Partial: Metered usage, no balance | Partial: Core guide, AI Kit example | Partial: Build-it guide | Included: Balances, grants, expiry, top-up | Not available | Partial: Counter, one-off top-up |
| Finance dashboard | Included: Revenue, vendor cost, margin | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Core features | |||||||
| Organizations | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, RBAC, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Partial: Separate B2B kit and licence | Not available | Not available |
| Admin panel | Included: Eight admin tabs | Included: Users, organizations, bans | Included: Users, organizations, customers | Included: Users, organizations, RBAC, metrics | Included: Super admin dashboard | Not available | Included: Users, analytics, messages |
| Admin login as user | Included: Admin acts as user | Included: Admin acts as user | Included: Impersonate from admin | Included: Admin acts as user | Included: Admin acts as user | Not available | Not available |
| Onboarding | Included: Profile, first org, welcome drip | Included: Multi-step, org, avatar | Partial: Empty slots, build-it recipe | Partial: Recipe, build yourself | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Notifications | Included: In-app bell, email | Included: Notification centre, preferences | Partial: Expo push, no web centre | Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| File storage | Included: S3-compatible, local disk | Included: S3, R2, Supabase, UploadThing | Included: S3-compatible, presigned uploads | Included: S3, filesystem, Supabase Storage | Included: S3 | Not available | Included: AWS S3, presigned URLs |
| Multiple languages | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: i18next, switcher, three apps | Included: Locales, language switcher | Partial: Recipe: marketing, auth, email | Not available | Not available |
| Legal pages | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Included: Terms, privacy, i18n | Partial: Three pages, shipped empty | Included: Terms, privacy, cookies | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Partial: ChatGPT prompts | Not available |
| Marketing & growth | |||||||
| Included: SMTP, SES, Resend | Included: Resend, Postmark, Nodemailer | Included: Resend, Postmark, Plunk, Mailgun | Included: Resend, SMTP | Included: Resend, SES, Mailgun, more | Included: Resend, Mailgun | Included: SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP | |
| Newsletter | Included: Listmonk, Resend sync | Partial: Signup section, no provider | Partial: Homepage section, waitlist page | Partial: Signup form, no provider | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Blog | Included: Categories, tags, RSS | Included: MDX blog | Included: MDX per locale, tags | Included: Blog in every kit | Included: Blog posts, SEO | Included: Authors, categories, schema | Included: Astro Starlight, Markdown |
| SEO tools | Included: OG images, JSON-LD, sitemap | Included: Meta tags, sitemap | Included: Meta helper, sitemap, robots | Partial: Sitemap, robots, metadata | Included: Sitemap, metadata, Search Console | Included: Tags, sitemap, schema | Included: Meta tags, JSON-LD, llms.txt |
| Analytics | Included: Eight providers | Included: Eight providers | Included: Eight providers, consent-gated | Included: GA, PostHog, Umami, Meshes | Partial: PostHog built in, three by recipe | Partial: DataFast script, pasted | Included: Plausible, Google |
| Support chat | Included: Crisp, Chatwoot | Not available | Not available | Not available | Included: Crisp | Included: Crisp, one config key | Not available |
| Affiliate tracking | Included: Refgrow, Affonso, PromoteKit | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Cookie consent | Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies | Included: Consent banner | Included: c15t banner, regional packs | Included: Banner, consent hook | Included: Consent gate before PostHog | Not available | Included: Consent modal |
| Operations | |||||||
| Audit log | Included: With an admin viewer | Not available | Not available | Not available: Supamode, sold separately | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| User API keys | Included: Per-key rate limits | Not available | Partial: Recipe, not shipped | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| SMS | Included: Broadcast SMS, Twilio, SNS | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Error reporting | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger | Included: Sentry | Partial: Error and 404 pages | Not available |
| Rate limiting | Included: Per-route, per-key | Not available | Partial: AI Kit middleware only | Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits | Not available | Partial: Upstash tutorial, self-installed | Not available |
| Background jobs | Included: Inngest | Included: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase | Included: Trigger.dev, QStash, Inngest, Workflows | Not available | Included: Inngest, n8n | Not available | Included: Wasp Jobs, cron |
| Deploy targets | Included: Docker, Vercel, Fly, Railway, more | Included: Vercel, Docker, Fly, Railway, VPS | Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, Fly | Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, VPS | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render, Sherpa | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render | Included: Fly.io, Railway, manual |
| AI | |||||||
| AI assistant | Included: Chat, files, web search | Included: Chatbot, history, streaming | Partial: Core chat, AI Kit templates | Partial: Teams tier, separate templates | Not available: Build-it guide, Inngest or n8n | Not available | Partial: OpenAI demo app |
| User-supplied AI keys | Included: Users add provider keys | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| MCP server | Included: For your app's users | Not available: Agent Skills, no MCP | Included: Docs MCP for coding agents | Included: Kit, CLI servers | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Tooling & updates | |||||||
| Project setup CLI | Included: generatesaas init | Included: npx supastarter new | Included: turbostarter new | Included: @makerkit/cli new | Included: npx indiekit@latest | Not available | Included: wasp new -t saas |
| Version updates | Included: CLI update, AI merges | Partial: Updates included, manual merge | Included: CLI runs git merge | Included: CLI update, git merge | Partial: Git remote, manual merge | Partial: Updates included, All-in only | Not available: Docs advise against updating |
| End-to-end tests | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Included: Playwright on three platforms | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Not available | Not available | Partial: Playwright, no unit tests |
| Desktop app | Partial: Electron app, Pro tier | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mobile app | Partial: Expo, iOS and Android, Pro tier | Not available: Listed as work in progress | Included: Expo, iOS and Android | Partial: Expo plugin, Supabase only | Not available | Not available | Not available |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
The ranking
Every alternative, reviewed
supastarter
$299 one-timeTeams whose app runs on Nuxt or TanStack Start
Three framework kits from one vendor, at $299 one-time for whichever one you licence. Choose it ahead of GenerateSaaS when the app you are building is not Next.js. The trade is credits, broadcast SMS, an audit trail and user-issued API keys.
Why people pick it
- Included: Kits for Nuxt and TanStack Start as well
- Included: Postgres, MySQL or SQLite underneath
- Included: Five payment providers reachable through one API
- Included: Jobs on trigger.dev, QStash or Queuebase
- Included: 22 Agent Skills aimed at coding agents
The trade-off vs GenerateSaaS
- Not available: A second framework means buying a second licence
- Not available: Seats stop at ten, even on the $1,499 tier
- Not available: Usage is metered, with no balance to draw down
- Not available: Their docs name neither an audit log nor API keys
- Not available: No broadcast SMS, announcements or site banners
Compare with GenerateSaaS- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best supastarter alternatives
Bottom line: supastarter is the GenerateSaaS alternative to pick when your app is not Next.js.
TurboStarter
$249 one-timeBuilders shipping web, phone and browser extension together
A $249 one-time kit whose single licence reaches three targets at once: the web through Next.js, iOS and Android through Expo, and the browser through WXT. Pick it over GenerateSaaS when an extension sits on the roadmap beside the web app, and give up the credit ledger, the audit log and SMS.
Why people pick it
- Included: One licence spanning web, Expo and a browser extension
- Included: Better Auth wired for passkeys, OTP and two-factor
- Included: Drizzle on Postgres, MySQL or SQLite
- Included: Four job runners documented, Trigger.dev and QStash among them
- Included: Playwright suites covering all three platforms
The trade-off vs GenerateSaaS
- Not available: Each developer needs their own licence; one tier exists
- Not available: No credits ledger and no top-up flow in Core
- Not available: Audit logging appears nowhere in their documentation
- Not available: Rate limiting waits behind the $399 bundle
- Not available: Nothing for SMS, affiliates or a finance dashboard
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
Bottom line: No other GenerateSaaS alternative puts a browser extension beside the web app and the phone, which is what TurboStarter sells at $249.
MakerKit
$349 one-timeTeams that want Supabase underneath, with RLS in the code
A Supabase-native kit beside Drizzle and Prisma 7 variants, at $349 one-time for each stack. It beats GenerateSaaS if the backend should be Supabase from the first commit. The trade is credit balances, the audit trail and SMS.
Why people pick it
- Included: Supabase Auth, with RLS written into the code
- Included: An Expo plugin that pairs with the Supabase kit
- Included: Testimonials, feedback and waitlist plugins, installed by command
- Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog or Honeybadger for errors
- Included: Two MCP servers, one for the kit, one for the CLI
The trade-off vs GenerateSaaS
- Not available: Every stack is a fresh licence at full price
- Not available: Their FAQ puts a licence on each client project
- Not available: Credits are documented as a build, not shipped
- Not available: The audit log is Supamode, a separate purchase
- Not available: No SMS blasts and no announcement banners
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best MakerKit alternatives
Bottom line: For Supabase Auth and RLS-native code, MakerKit is the strongest GenerateSaaS alternative.
IndieKit
$79 one-timeSolo builders on the smallest budget who bill in credits
A $79 one-time Next.js kit whose credits system is complete, with multi-tenancy sold as a second kit. Against GenerateSaaS it wins on price alone. The trade is organizations in the same kit, an audit trail and API keys for users.
Why people pick it
- Included: The cheapest way in among the paid kits, $79
- Included: Balances, grants, expiry and top-up purchases
- Included: Six payment providers written up in its docs
- Included: Refunds inside three days, before access is shared
- Included: Scaffolded by npx indiekit@latest
The trade-off vs GenerateSaaS
- Not available: Teams live in a separate $119 B2B kit
- Not available: Audit logs and API keys go unmentioned in its docs
- Not available: Updates arrive as a git remote you merge yourself
- Not available: No rate limiting, no broadcast SMS, no notifications
- Not available: Locales are a recipe, and the dashboard stays English
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best IndieKit alternatives
Bottom line: Among GenerateSaaS alternatives, IndieKit is the cheapest route to credit billing.
ShipFast
$199, from $299Makers who want the smallest single-tenant kit
A lean Next.js starter, written in JavaScript or TypeScript, at $199 one-time, with no project cap. Take it over GenerateSaaS when price and speed are what decide. The trade is organizations, the admin panel and the audit log.
Why people pick it
- Included: One licence, and no limit on the projects
- Included: JavaScript and the Pages Router both supported
- Included: Documents can sit in MongoDB instead of Postgres
- Included: 27 marketing components, plus a blog with authors
- Included: Crisp chat switched on by one config key
The trade-off vs GenerateSaaS
- Not available: Neither its docs nor its pages name organizations
- Not available: An audit log is missing, and so is the admin panel
- Not available: It ships in one language, with no switcher
- Not available: No credits, no SMS blasts, no site banners
- Not available: The Starter tier drops updates, Discord and discounts
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- See the best ShipFast alternatives
Bottom line: If one person is shipping one single-tenant app, ShipFast undercuts every other GenerateSaaS alternative.
Open SaaS
$0Builders willing to learn Wasp and spend nothing
A free MIT template on the Wasp framework, with Stripe, an admin dashboard and S3 uploads. Prefer it to GenerateSaaS when the budget is nothing at all. The trade is organizations, 2FA, locales and a way to update.
Why people pick it
- Included: MIT licensed, and there is no paid tier
- Included: Projects, client work and white-label all unrestricted
- Included: Payments through Stripe, Polar or Lemon Squeezy
- Included: An admin dashboard covering users, analytics and messages
- Included: S3 uploads on presigned URLs, plus cron jobs
The trade-off vs GenerateSaaS
- Not available: Wasp and its CLI are the price of entry
- Not available: Teams and organizations appear nowhere in its docs
- Not available: Their update guide tells you not to update
- Not available: No 2FA, no locales, no rate limiting
- Not available: No unit tests, and the generated project carries no CI
Bottom line: Open SaaS is the GenerateSaaS alternative for anyone whose budget is zero.
Being straight with you
When another kit is the better buy
ShipFast
If you are the only developer, shipping one single-tenant app on the smallest budget
It is $100 less at $199, and the organizations, admin panel and audit log you would be paying us for are things you would never switch on.
supastarter
If your app runs on something other than Next.js, or needs MySQL or SQLite
Only this one adds Nuxt and TanStack Start, and only its database list runs past Postgres.
MakerKit
If you want Supabase Auth with RLS-native code, or an Expo app off Supabase
Its kits are built around Supabase rather than adapted to it, and its Expo plugin talks to that same backend.
Open SaaS
If you are spending nothing and can write the team layer yourself
It is MIT and free, with payments, an admin dashboard and file uploads already wired. No paid licence beats free on price.
FAQ
GenerateSaaS alternatives, answered
Short answers to the questions people actually ask.
What is the best GenerateSaaS alternative?
There is no single winner. supastarter suits teams off Next.js, MakerKit Supabase teams, TurboStarter multi-platform products, IndieKit credit billing, ShipFast solo makers, and Open SaaS a budget of nothing.
Which SaaS boilerplate is cheapest?
Open SaaS, at nothing under MIT. Among the paid kits IndieKit asks $79, ShipFast $199 off a $299 list, and ours $249.
Do they all support multi-tenant organizations?
supastarter, MakerKit, TurboStarter and GenerateSaaS all document organizations, invitations and roles. IndieKit sells them as a separate B2B kit, and neither ShipFast nor Open SaaS documents them.
Which SaaS boilerplate has an audit log and API keys built in?
Only GenerateSaaS documents both. We read every other vendor's full documentation, not only their marketing pages.
Do any SaaS boilerplates support credit-based billing?
GenerateSaaS and IndieKit ship credit balances with grants. MakerKit and TurboStarter document how to build them, supastarter meters usage, and Open SaaS counts with a one-off top-up.
Which SaaS boilerplate is best for AI coding agents?
MakerKit ships two MCP servers, supastarter 22 Agent Skills, and TurboStarter a hosted docs server. Ours serves your app's own users, so pick by which job you mean.
Ready to decide?
Pick the plan that fits and start today.
Lifetime updates
Unlimited projects