Side-by-side roundup
Best ShipFast alternatives, compared
The kits ShipFast buyers weigh once one user per account is not enough, with prices and trade-offs.
- Teams that outgrew a single-tenant kit$249 one-time
GenerateSaaSTop pickThat is us - Teams moving off Next.js as well as off ShipFast$299 one-time
supastarter - Makers whose next build is an extension or app$249 one-time
TurboStarter - Teams staying on Supabase after ShipFast$349 one-time
MakerKit - Makers after credits and an admin panel, cheaply$79 one-time
IndieKit - Builders who want an admin panel for nothing$0
Open SaaS
Why teams look beyond ShipFast
- Not available: Organizations, roles and invitations appear in neither the docs nor the pages
- Not available: No admin panel is documented, and no audit log with it
- Not available: It ships one language, with nothing to switch between
- Not available: No credit billing, no SMS broadcasts, no in-app announcements
- Not available: The Starter tier comes without updates, Discord or discounts
At a glance
Every option, side by side
Tap a name to hide or show its column
| Feature |  ShipFast |  GenerateSaaS | supastarter | TurboStarter | MakerKit | IndieKit | Open SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing & licence | |||||||
| Pricing model | Included: One-time; updates from All-in | 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: Free, MIT |
| Projects per licence | Included: Unlimited | Included: Unlimited, per seat | Included: Unlimited, per framework | Included: Unlimited, one seat each | Included: Unlimited, per kit | Not available | Included: Unlimited, MIT |
| Client work | Not available | 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 | Included: Allowed, MIT |
| White-label | Not available: Notices must stay | Partial: Agency tier | Partial: Agency tier | Not available: Notices must stay in code | Not available | Not available | Included: Allowed, keep the notice |
| Refund policy | Not available: No refunds, stated | 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 |
| Tech stack | |||||||
| Frameworks | Included: Next.js, either router | 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: Wasp 0.25, React 19, Node |
| Database | Included: MongoDB, Supabase Postgres | Included: Postgres, Neon, Supabase | Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | Included: Supabase, Drizzle, Prisma 7 | Included: Neon, Supabase, PlanetScale | Included: Prisma 5.19, Postgres |
| Authentication | Partial: Google login, magic links | 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 | Included: Wasp auth, email, OAuth |
| Billing features | |||||||
| Payments | Included: Stripe, Lemon Squeezy | 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, Polar, Lemon Squeezy |
| Subscriptions | Included: Stripe 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: Plans, customer portal |
| Usage credits | Not available | 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 | Partial: Counter, one-off top-up |
| Finance dashboard | Not available | Included: Revenue, vendor cost, margin | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Core features | |||||||
| Organizations | Not available | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, RBAC, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Partial: Separate B2B kit and licence | Not available |
| Admin panel | Not available | Included: Eight admin tabs | Included: Users, organizations, bans | Included: Users, organizations, customers | Included: Users, organizations, RBAC, metrics | Included: Super admin dashboard | Included: Users, analytics, messages |
| Admin login as user | Not available | 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 |
| Onboarding | Not available | 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 |
| Notifications | Not available | Included: In-app bell, email | Included: Notification centre, preferences | Partial: Expo push, no web centre | Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits | Not available | Not available |
| File storage | Not available | Included: S3-compatible, local disk | Included: S3, R2, Supabase, UploadThing | Included: S3-compatible, presigned uploads | Included: S3, filesystem, Supabase Storage | Included: S3 | Included: AWS S3, presigned URLs |
| Multiple languages | Not available | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: i18next, switcher, three apps | Included: Locales, language switcher | Partial: Recipe: marketing, auth, email | Not available |
| Legal pages | Partial: ChatGPT prompts | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Included: Terms, privacy, i18n | Partial: Three pages, shipped empty | Included: Terms, privacy, cookies | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Not available |
| Marketing & growth | |||||||
| Included: Resend, Mailgun | Included: SMTP, SES, Resend | Included: Resend, Postmark, Nodemailer | Included: Resend, Postmark, Plunk, Mailgun | Included: Resend, SMTP | Included: Resend, SES, Mailgun, more | Included: SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP | |
| Newsletter | Not available | Included: Listmonk, Resend sync | Partial: Signup section, no provider | Partial: Homepage section, waitlist page | Partial: Signup form, no provider | Not available | Not available |
| Blog | Included: Authors, categories, schema | Included: Categories, tags, RSS | Included: MDX blog | Included: MDX per locale, tags | Included: Blog in every kit | Included: Blog posts, SEO | Included: Astro Starlight, Markdown |
| SEO tools | Included: Tags, sitemap, schema | 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: Meta tags, JSON-LD, llms.txt |
| Analytics | Partial: DataFast script, pasted | Included: Eight providers | Included: Eight providers | Included: Eight providers, consent-gated | Included: GA, PostHog, Umami, Meshes | Partial: PostHog built in, three by recipe | Included: Plausible, Google |
| Support chat | Included: Crisp, one config key | Included: Crisp, Chatwoot | Not available | Not available | Not available | Included: Crisp | Not available |
| Affiliate tracking | Not available | Included: Refgrow, Affonso, PromoteKit | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Cookie consent | Not available | Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies | Included: Consent banner | Included: c15t banner, regional packs | Included: Banner, consent hook | Included: Consent gate before PostHog | Included: Consent modal |
| Operations | |||||||
| Audit log | Not available | Included: With an admin viewer | Not available | Not available | Not available: Supamode, sold separately | Not available | Not available |
| User API keys | Not available | Included: Per-key rate limits | Not available | Partial: Recipe, not shipped | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| SMS | Not available | Included: Broadcast SMS, Twilio, SNS | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Error reporting | Partial: Error and 404 pages | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger | Included: Sentry | Not available |
| Rate limiting | Partial: Upstash tutorial, self-installed | Included: Per-route, per-key | Not available | Partial: AI Kit middleware only | Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits | Not available | Not available |
| Background jobs | Not available | Included: Inngest | Included: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase | Included: Trigger.dev, QStash, Inngest, Workflows | Not available | Included: Inngest, n8n | Included: Wasp Jobs, cron |
| Deploy targets | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render | 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: Fly.io, Railway, manual |
| AI | |||||||
| AI assistant | Not available | 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 | Partial: OpenAI demo app |
| User-supplied AI keys | Not available | Included: Users add provider keys | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| MCP server | Not available | 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 |
| Tooling & updates | |||||||
| Project setup CLI | Not available | Included: generatesaas init | Included: npx supastarter new | Included: turbostarter new | Included: @makerkit/cli new | Included: npx indiekit@latest | Included: wasp new -t saas |
| Version updates | Partial: Updates included, All-in only | 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 | Not available: Docs advise against updating |
| End-to-end tests | Not available | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Included: Playwright on three platforms | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Not available | Partial: Playwright, no unit tests |
| Desktop app | Not available | Partial: Electron app, Pro tier | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mobile app | Not available | 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 |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
The ranking
Every alternative, reviewed
GenerateSaaS
That is us$249 one-timeTeams that outgrew a single-tenant kit
Organizations, an admin panel and credits billing, in one $249 Next.js kit. It earns the switch when the single-tenant shape is what you outgrew.
Why people pick it
- Included: A team layer: organizations, roles, invitations
- Included: Eight admin tabs, impersonation included
- Included: Credit balances granted by plan
- Included: An audit trail with a viewer in the admin
- Included: Locales, and a switcher your users see
The trade-off vs ShipFast
- Not available: $50 dearer than ShipFast's entry tier
- Not available: TypeScript only: no JavaScript codebase
- Not available: MongoDB is not supported here
- Not available: App Router only, so no Pages Router
- Not available: One framework, though ShipFast is one too
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- Compare with Open SaaS
- See the best GenerateSaaS alternatives
Bottom line: GenerateSaaS is the ShipFast alternative once more than one person shares an account.
supastarter
$299 one-timeTeams moving off Next.js as well as off ShipFast
A team-ready kit sold per framework at $299, on Next.js, Nuxt or TanStack Start. Worth the switch when leaving ShipFast also means leaving Next.js.
Why people pick it
- Included: Nuxt or TanStack Start instead of Next.js
- Included: MySQL or SQLite, if Postgres is not it
- Included: Five providers wired behind a single payments API
- Included: Organizations, roles and invites in the kit
- Included: 22 Agent Skills sold for coding agents
The trade-off vs ShipFast
- Not available: $100 above ShipFast's entry price
- Not available: A framework per licence, so a second costs again
- Not available: Metered usage only, with no credit balance
- Not available: Neither an audit log nor per-user API keys
- Not available: Rate limiting is absent from its docs
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best supastarter alternatives
Bottom line: A team whose next app is not Next.js should read supastarter as the ShipFast alternative.
TurboStarter
$249 one-timeMakers whose next build is an extension or app
A $249 kit that answers the single-tenant gap with organizations, RBAC and an admin panel, then adds an Expo app and a WXT extension on the same licence. The one to take when the roadmap runs past the browser.
Why people pick it
- Included: Organizations, invitations and role checks already written
- Included: An admin panel over users, organizations and customers
- Included: i18next with a switcher, where ShipFast ships one language
- Included: Eight analytics providers, gated by a c15t banner
- Included: Lifetime updates on both tiers, run by the CLI
The trade-off vs ShipFast
- Not available: $50 above ShipFast's $199 entry
- Not available: No support chat, where ShipFast wires Crisp
- Not available: Audit logging is absent from their documentation
- Not available: Core grants no credit balance, only metered usage
- Not available: Every developer needs a seat of their own
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
Bottom line: TurboStarter is the ShipFast alternative that carries the same product into the app stores and the Chrome Web Store.
MakerKit
$349 one-timeTeams staying on Supabase after ShipFast
Supabase-native kits, with Drizzle and Prisma 7 alternatives, from $349 for each stack. The upgrade to make when Supabase is the part you are keeping.
Why people pick it
- Included: RLS-native code over Supabase Auth
- Included: Organizations, roles and RBAC metrics in the admin
- Included: An Expo mobile plugin, Supabase kit only
- Included: One CLI command installs a plugin
- Included: MCP servers for the kit and the CLI
The trade-off vs ShipFast
- Not available: The dearest entry here, at $349
- Not available: One licence per stack, each at the full price
- Not available: Freelancers buy a licence for every client, their FAQ says
- Not available: Credits must be built from a documented guide
- Not available: No audit log in the kit, and no user API keys
- 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 with RLS-native code, MakerKit is the ShipFast alternative.
IndieKit
$79 one-timeMakers after credits and an admin panel, cheaply
At $79 it is the cheapest paid kit on this page, and the only route under $100 to credit billing. Worth a look when credits and an admin panel both matter and the bill should not rise.
Why people pick it
- Included: Balances with grants, expiry and top-up purchases
- Included: Six documented payment providers
- Included: A super admin dashboard, with impersonation
- Included: A three-day window for refunds
- Included: Locales by recipe, where ShipFast ships one language
The trade-off vs ShipFast
- Not available: Multi-tenancy costs another $119 on a second licence
- Not available: Its docs describe neither audit logs nor API keys
- Not available: Upgrades mean pulling a remote and resolving conflicts
- Not available: No JavaScript, and no Pages Router
- Not available: MongoDB is not one of its databases
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with TurboStarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best IndieKit alternatives
Bottom line: IndieKit is the ShipFast alternative for a maker billing in credits who still wants an admin panel.
Open SaaS
$0Builders who want an admin panel for nothing
A no-cost MIT template on Wasp, admin dashboard and uploads included. Take it when an admin panel matters and the price should be nothing.
Why people pick it
- Included: Free under MIT, with nothing to buy
- Included: An admin dashboard, free, with analytics and messages
- Included: Client work and white-labelling, both allowed
- Included: Wasp jobs, cron, and uploads to S3
- Included: Stripe, Polar or Lemon Squeezy at checkout
The trade-off vs ShipFast
- Not available: Wasp is a framework to learn before anything else
- Not available: No teams, no organizations, nothing multi-tenant
- Not available: Their guide recommends leaving the template alone
- Not available: 2FA, locales and rate limiting: none of the three
- Not available: No MongoDB, and no Pages Router either
Bottom line: Wanting an admin panel without paying makes Open SaaS the ShipFast alternative to try.
FAQ
ShipFast alternatives, answered
Short answers to the questions people actually ask.
What is the best ShipFast alternative?
It depends what you outgrew. GenerateSaaS adds organizations and an admin panel, supastarter adds frameworks, MakerKit is Supabase-native, and IndieKit adds credits at $79.
Can ShipFast run a multi-tenant app?
Not as it ships. Roles, invitations and organizations are named nowhere on its pages or in its docs, so an account is one person. GenerateSaaS, supastarter and MakerKit document the three; IndieKit sells them as a second kit, and Open SaaS has none.
Which ShipFast alternative is cheapest?
The MIT-licensed Open SaaS costs $0. IndieKit is the cheapest paid answer at $79, under ShipFast's own $199 shown off a $299 list.
Does ShipFast have an admin panel or an audit log?
Neither appears in its docs or on its public pages. GenerateSaaS documents both; supastarter, MakerKit, IndieKit and Open SaaS each document an admin panel but no audit log.
Can I ship in more than one language with ShipFast?
Its docs and pages name no locales or language switcher. GenerateSaaS, supastarter and MakerKit document both; IndieKit adds locales by recipe, and Open SaaS documents none.
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