Side-by-side roundup
Best MakerKit alternatives, compared
Five SaaS boilerplates teams move to when MakerKit's per-stack licence stops fitting, with prices and what each adds.
- Teams tired of buying a licence per stack and per client$249 one-time
GenerateSaaSTop pickThat is us - Agencies whose clients should not need their own licence$299 one-time
supastarter - Solo builders who want credits shipped, not documented$79 one-time
IndieKit - Solo builders who never used the team layer$199, from $299
ShipFast - Agencies and builders who want no licence at all$0
Open SaaS
Why teams look beyond MakerKit
- Not available: Each stack is a separate licence, at the same price
- Not available: A freelancer needs a licence for each client project, per their FAQ
- Not available: Credits are a build-it guide, not shipped code
- Not available: No audit log: Supamode is sold separately
- Not available: Their licence states plainly that refunds are not offered
At a glance
Every option, side by side
Tap a name to hide or show its column
| Feature |  MakerKit | GenerateSaaS | supastarter | IndieKit | ShipFast | Open SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing & licence | ||||||
| Pricing model | Included: One-time, updates included | Included: One-time, updates included | 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 kit | Included: Unlimited, per seat | Included: Unlimited, per framework | Not available | Included: Unlimited | Included: Unlimited, MIT |
| Client work | Partial: Team tier; client buys a licence | Partial: Agency tier to deliver source | Included: Allowed, no client licence | Not available | Not available | Included: Allowed, MIT |
| White-label | Not available | Partial: Agency tier | Partial: Agency tier | Not available | Not available: Notices must stay | Included: Allowed, keep the notice |
| Refund policy | Not available: No refunds, stated | Not available: All sales final | Not available | Partial: 3 days, before access shared | Not available: No refunds, stated | Not available |
| Tech stack | ||||||
| Frameworks | Included: Next.js 16.3, React Router 8, TanStack | Included: Next.js 16.3 | Included: Next.js 16.3, Nuxt, TanStack | Included: Next.js 16, React 19 | Included: Next.js, either router | Included: Wasp 0.25, React 19, Node |
| Database | Included: Supabase, Drizzle, Prisma 7 | Included: Postgres, Neon, Supabase | Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | Included: Neon, Supabase, PlanetScale | Included: MongoDB, Supabase Postgres | Included: Prisma 5.19, Postgres |
| Authentication | Included: Supabase Auth, Better Auth | Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA | Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA | Included: Better Auth, Google, magic links | Partial: Google login, magic links | Included: Wasp auth, email, OAuth |
| Billing features | ||||||
| Payments | Included: Three on Supabase kits, two elsewhere | Included: Stripe, Polar | Included: Five providers, one API | Included: Six providers documented | Included: Stripe, Lemon Squeezy | Included: Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy |
| Subscriptions | Included: Flat, per-seat, metered, one-off | Included: Month, year, lifetime | Included: Plans, seat-based pricing | Included: Plans, one-time, LTD campaigns | Included: Stripe subscriptions | Included: Plans, customer portal |
| Usage credits | Partial: Build-it guide | Included: Balances, grants, optional top-up | Partial: Metered usage, no balance | Included: Balances, grants, expiry, top-up | Not available | Partial: Counter, one-off top-up |
| Finance dashboard | Not available | Included: Revenue, vendor cost, margin | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Core features | ||||||
| Organizations | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Partial: Separate B2B kit and licence | Not available | Not available |
| Admin panel | Included: Users, organizations, RBAC, metrics | Included: Eight admin tabs | Included: Users, organizations, bans | 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: Admin acts as user | Included: Admin acts as user | Not available | Not available |
| Onboarding | Partial: Recipe, build yourself | Included: Profile, first org, welcome drip | Included: Multi-step, org, avatar | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Notifications | Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits | Included: In-app bell, email | Included: Notification centre, preferences | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| File storage | Included: S3, filesystem, Supabase Storage | Included: S3-compatible, local disk | Included: S3, R2, Supabase, UploadThing | Included: S3 | Not available | Included: AWS S3, presigned URLs |
| Multiple languages | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: Locales, language switcher | Partial: Recipe: marketing, auth, email | Not available | Not available |
| Legal pages | Included: Terms, privacy, cookies | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Included: Terms, privacy, i18n | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Partial: ChatGPT prompts | Not available |
| Marketing & growth | ||||||
| Included: Resend, SMTP | Included: SMTP, SES, Resend | Included: Resend, Postmark, Nodemailer | Included: Resend, SES, Mailgun, more | Included: Resend, Mailgun | Included: SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP | |
| Newsletter | Partial: Signup form, no provider | Included: Listmonk, Resend sync | Partial: Signup section, no provider | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Blog | Included: Blog in every kit | Included: Categories, tags, RSS | Included: MDX blog | Included: Blog posts, SEO | Included: Authors, categories, schema | Included: Astro Starlight, Markdown |
| SEO tools | Partial: Sitemap, robots, metadata | Included: OG images, JSON-LD, sitemap | Included: Meta tags, sitemap | Included: Sitemap, metadata, Search Console | Included: Tags, sitemap, schema | Included: Meta tags, JSON-LD, llms.txt |
| Analytics | Included: GA, PostHog, Umami, Meshes | Included: Eight providers | Included: Eight providers | Partial: PostHog built in, three by recipe | Partial: DataFast script, pasted | Included: Plausible, Google |
| Support chat | Not available | Included: Crisp, Chatwoot | Not available | Included: Crisp | Included: Crisp, one config key | Not available |
| Affiliate tracking | Not available | Included: Refgrow, Affonso, PromoteKit | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Cookie consent | Included: Banner, consent hook | Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies | Included: Consent banner | Included: Consent gate before PostHog | Not available | Included: Consent modal |
| Operations | ||||||
| Audit log | Not available: Supamode, sold separately | Included: With an admin viewer | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| User API keys | Not available | Included: Per-key rate limits | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| SMS | Not available | Included: Broadcast SMS, Twilio, SNS | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Error reporting | Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry | Included: Sentry | Partial: Error and 404 pages | Not available |
| Rate limiting | Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits | Included: Per-route, per-key | Not available | Not available | Partial: Upstash tutorial, self-installed | Not available |
| Background jobs | Not available | Included: Inngest | Included: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase | Included: Inngest, n8n | Not available | Included: Wasp Jobs, cron |
| Deploy targets | Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, VPS | Included: Docker, Vercel, Fly, Railway, more | Included: Vercel, Docker, Fly, Railway, VPS | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render, Sherpa | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render | Included: Fly.io, Railway, manual |
| AI | ||||||
| AI assistant | Partial: Teams tier, separate templates | Included: Chat, files, web search | Included: Chatbot, history, streaming | Not available: Build-it guide, Inngest or n8n | Not available | Partial: OpenAI demo app |
| User-supplied AI keys | Not available | Included: Users add provider keys | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| MCP server | Included: Kit, CLI servers | Included: For your app's users | Not available: Agent Skills, no MCP | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Tooling & updates | ||||||
| Project setup CLI | Included: @makerkit/cli new | Included: generatesaas init | Included: npx supastarter new | Included: npx indiekit@latest | Not available | Included: wasp new -t saas |
| Version updates | Included: CLI update, git merge | Included: CLI update, AI merges | Partial: Updates included, manual 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, pre-configured | Not available | Not available | Partial: Playwright, no unit tests |
| Desktop app | Not available | Included: Electron app | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mobile app | Partial: Expo plugin, Supabase only | Not available | Not available: Listed as work in progress | Not available | Not available | Not available |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
The ranking
Every alternative, reviewed
GenerateSaaS
That is us$249 one-timeTeams tired of buying a licence per stack and per client
A Next.js kit with organizations, credits billing and an audit log, from $249 one-time. The closest fit when the per-stack and per-client licensing is what you outgrew.
Why people pick it
- Included: Every tier covers client projects, with no client licence
- Included: Credit balances with plan grants and top-ups
- Included: An audit log with an admin viewer, in the kit
- Included: User API keys with per-key rate limits
- Included: A CLI that generates and merges updates
The trade-off vs MakerKit
- Not available: Next.js only, where MakerKit also ships React Router and TanStack
- Not available: No Supabase Auth, and no RLS-native code
- Not available: No Expo mobile plugin
- Not available: Postgres only, no Drizzle or Prisma variants
- Not available: All sales are final
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- Compare with Open SaaS
- See the best GenerateSaaS alternatives
Bottom line: GenerateSaaS is the best MakerKit alternative for a team that wants client work and credits without a second licence.
supastarter
$299 one-timeAgencies whose clients should not need their own licence
One kit for Next.js, Nuxt or TanStack Start, from $299 one-time per framework. The move when client work is the part MakerKit made expensive.
Why people pick it
- Included: Client work allowed with no client licence
- Included: Nuxt and TanStack Start, not only React
- Included: MySQL and SQLite as well as Postgres
- Included: Five payment providers behind one API
- Included: Organizations, roles and invitations
The trade-off vs MakerKit
- Not available: One licence still covers one framework only
- Not available: Seats cap at ten even on the Agency tier
- Not available: Metered usage, but no credit balances
- Not available: No audit log or user API keys in its docs
- Not available: Their terms publish no refund policy at all
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best supastarter alternatives
Bottom line: supastarter is the best MakerKit alternative for an agency that ships client work without buying a licence per client.
IndieKit
$79 one-timeSolo builders who want credits shipped, not documented
A Next.js kit at $79 one-time with a complete credits system, sold beside a separate multi-tenant edition. The move when the credits guide was the chapter you needed shipped as code.
Why people pick it
- Included: Credit balances, grants, expiry and top-ups
- Included: Six payment providers documented
- Included: The lowest paid entry price here, $79
- Included: A three-day refund window, where MakerKit offers none
- Included: An admin panel that can act as a user
The trade-off vs MakerKit
- Not available: Organizations are a separate B2B kit at $119
- Not available: No audit log or user API keys in its docs
- Not available: Updates are a git remote you merge by hand
- Not available: No rate limiting, broadcast SMS or notifications
- Not available: No Expo mobile plugin, and no Supabase kit
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best IndieKit alternatives
Bottom line: IndieKit is the best MakerKit alternative for a solo builder who wants credits shipped as code at the lowest price.
ShipFast
$199, from $299Solo builders who never used the team layer
A compact single-tenant Next.js starter from $199 one-time, with unlimited projects. The move when a team layer was never the part you needed.
Why people pick it
- Included: Unlimited projects on one licence
- Included: JavaScript and the Pages Router
- Included: MongoDB as well as Supabase Postgres
- Included: 27 marketing components and a blog
- Included: Crisp support chat behind one config key
The trade-off vs MakerKit
- Not available: No organizations, roles or invitations
- Not available: No admin panel or audit log
- Not available: One language, with no language switcher
- Not available: No credits, broadcast SMS or announcements
- Not available: No refunds once access is granted
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- See the best ShipFast alternatives
Bottom line: ShipFast is the best MakerKit alternative for a solo builder shipping a single-tenant app as cheaply as possible.
Open SaaS
$0Agencies and builders who want no licence at all
A free, MIT-licensed template on the Wasp framework, with Stripe, an admin dashboard and S3 uploads. The move when a licence per stack and a licence per client both have to go.
Why people pick it
- Included: Free and MIT, with no paid tier
- Included: Unlimited projects, client work and white-label
- Included: Stripe, Polar and Lemon Squeezy
- Included: An admin dashboard: users, analytics, messages
- Included: Wasp jobs and cron, with AWS S3 uploads
The trade-off vs MakerKit
- Not available: Requires the Wasp framework and its CLI
- Not available: No organizations or teams documented
- Not available: Their own update guide advises against updating
- Not available: No 2FA, locales or rate limiting
- Not available: No Supabase Auth, RLS code or Expo plugin
Bottom line: Open SaaS is the best MakerKit alternative for a builder who will adopt Wasp and pay for no licence at all.
FAQ
MakerKit alternatives, answered
Short answers to the questions people actually ask.
What is the best MakerKit alternative?
It depends what stopped fitting. GenerateSaaS covers client work and ships credits, supastarter adds frameworks, IndieKit ships credits at $79, and Open SaaS charges nothing.
Does one MakerKit licence cover every kit?
No. Each stack is licensed separately at the same price, and their FAQ says a freelancer needs a licence for each client project.
Which MakerKit alternative is cheapest?
Open SaaS, which is free under MIT. The cheapest paid one is IndieKit at $79, then ShipFast at $199, GenerateSaaS at $249 and supastarter at $299.
Does MakerKit ship credit-based billing?
Not as code. Its documentation shows how to build credits on top of the billing it ships, so the schema and the deduction logic are yours to write.
Does MakerKit have an audit log?
Not in the kits. MakerKit sells Supamode, a Supabase admin panel with an audit log, separately. GenerateSaaS ships one with an admin viewer over it.
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