Side-by-side roundup
Best supastarter alternatives, compared
Five SaaS boilerplates teams move to when supastarter's per-framework licence stops fitting, with prices and what each adds.
- Teams billing in credits, above ten seats$249 one-time
GenerateSaaSTop pickThat is us - Teams that want Supabase Auth and RLS-native code$349 one-time
MakerKit - Solo builders billing usage in credits$79 one-time
IndieKit - Solo builders who never used the team layer$199, from $299
ShipFast - Builders who will adopt Wasp and pay nothing$0
Open SaaS
Why teams look beyond supastarter
- Not available: One licence covers one framework, so a second is a second purchase
- Not available: Seats cap at ten even on the $1,499 Agency tier
- Not available: Metered usage billing, 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
At a glance
Every option, side by side
Tap a name to hide or show its column
| Feature |  supastarter | GenerateSaaS | MakerKit | 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 framework | Included: Unlimited, per seat | Included: Unlimited, per kit | Not available | Included: Unlimited | Included: Unlimited, MIT |
| Client work | Included: Allowed, no client licence | Partial: Agency tier to deliver 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 | Not available | Not available: Notices must stay | Included: Allowed, keep the notice |
| Refund policy | Not available | Not available: All sales final | 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, Nuxt, TanStack | Included: Next.js 16.3 | 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, MySQL, SQLite | Included: Postgres, Neon, Supabase | 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: Supabase Auth, Better Auth | Included: Better Auth, Google, magic links | Partial: Google login, magic links | Included: Wasp auth, email, OAuth |
| Billing features | ||||||
| Payments | Included: Five providers, one API | Included: Stripe, Polar | Included: Three on Supabase kits, two elsewhere | Included: Six providers documented | Included: Stripe, Lemon Squeezy | Included: Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy |
| Subscriptions | Included: Plans, seat-based pricing | Included: Month, year, lifetime | Included: Flat, per-seat, metered, one-off | Included: Plans, one-time, LTD campaigns | Included: Stripe subscriptions | Included: Plans, customer portal |
| Usage credits | Partial: Metered usage, no balance | Included: Balances, grants, optional top-up | Partial: Build-it guide | 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, bans | Included: Eight admin tabs | 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: Admin acts as user | Included: Admin acts as user | Not available | Not available |
| Onboarding | Included: Multi-step, org, avatar | Included: Profile, first org, welcome drip | Partial: Recipe, build yourself | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Notifications | Included: Notification centre, preferences | Included: In-app bell, email | Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| File storage | Included: S3, R2, Supabase, UploadThing | Included: S3-compatible, local disk | 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: Locales, language switcher | Partial: Recipe: marketing, auth, email | Not available | Not available |
| Legal pages | Included: Terms, privacy, i18n | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Included: Terms, privacy, cookies | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Partial: ChatGPT prompts | Not available |
| Marketing & growth | ||||||
| Included: Resend, Postmark, Nodemailer | Included: SMTP, SES, Resend | Included: Resend, SMTP | Included: Resend, SES, Mailgun, more | Included: Resend, Mailgun | Included: SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP | |
| Newsletter | Partial: Signup section, no provider | Included: Listmonk, Resend sync | Partial: Signup form, no provider | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Blog | Included: MDX blog | Included: Categories, tags, RSS | Included: Blog in every kit | Included: Blog posts, SEO | Included: Authors, categories, schema | Included: Astro Starlight, Markdown |
| SEO tools | Included: Meta tags, sitemap | Included: OG images, JSON-LD, sitemap | 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: GA, PostHog, Umami, Meshes | 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: Consent banner | Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies | Included: Banner, consent hook | Included: Consent gate before PostHog | Not available | Included: Consent modal |
| Operations | ||||||
| Audit log | Not available | Included: With an admin viewer | Not available: Supamode, sold separately | 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 | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger | Included: Sentry | Partial: Error and 404 pages | Not available |
| Rate limiting | Not available | Included: Per-route, per-key | Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits | Not available | Partial: Upstash tutorial, self-installed | Not available |
| Background jobs | Included: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase | Included: Inngest | Not available | Included: Inngest, n8n | Not available | Included: Wasp Jobs, cron |
| Deploy targets | Included: Vercel, Docker, Fly, Railway, VPS | Included: Docker, Vercel, Fly, Railway, more | Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, VPS | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render, Sherpa | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render | Included: Fly.io, Railway, manual |
| AI | ||||||
| AI assistant | Included: Chatbot, history, streaming | Included: Chat, files, web search | Partial: Teams tier, separate templates | 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 | Not available: Agent Skills, no MCP | Included: For your app's users | Included: Kit, CLI servers | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Tooling & updates | ||||||
| Project setup CLI | Included: npx supastarter new | Included: generatesaas init | Included: @makerkit/cli new | Included: npx indiekit@latest | Not available | Included: wasp new -t saas |
| Version updates | Partial: Updates included, manual merge | Included: CLI update, AI merges | 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, 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 | Not available: Listed as work in progress | Not available | Partial: Expo plugin, Supabase only | Not available | Not available | Not available |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
The ranking
Every alternative, reviewed
GenerateSaaS
That is us$249 one-timeTeams billing in credits, above ten seats
A Next.js kit with credit balances, an audit log and user API keys, from $249 one-time. The closest fit when the billing model and the seat cap are what you outgrew.
Why people pick it
- Included: Credit balances with plan grants and top-ups
- Included: An audit log with an admin viewer
- Included: User API keys with per-key rate limits
- Included: Unlimited seats on the Agency tier
- Included: A finance dashboard: revenue, cost, margin
The trade-off vs supastarter
- Not available: Next.js only, no Nuxt or TanStack Start
- Not available: Postgres only, no MySQL or SQLite
- Not available: No Expo or React Native app
- Not available: One framework, where supastarter publishes three
- 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 supastarter alternative for a team that bills in credits and needs an audit trail.
MakerKit
$349 one-timeTeams that want Supabase Auth and RLS-native code
Three kits built around Supabase, with Drizzle and Prisma variants, from $349 one-time per stack. The move when Supabase is what you actually want underneath.
Why people pick it
- Included: Supabase Auth with RLS-native code
- Included: An Expo mobile plugin for the Supabase kit
- Included: Fourteen plugins installed by one command
- Included: Four error providers, SigNoz included
- Included: Rate limiting in the Drizzle and Prisma kits
The trade-off vs supastarter
- Not available: The highest entry price here, at $349
- Not available: Each stack is a separate licence, at the same price
- Not available: A freelancer needs a licence per client, per their FAQ
- Not available: Credits are a build-it guide, not shipped code
- Not available: Their licence states that refunds are not offered
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with IndieKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best MakerKit alternatives
Bottom line: MakerKit is the best supastarter alternative for a team that wants Supabase Auth and a mobile app off the same backend.
IndieKit
$79 one-timeSolo builders billing usage in credits
A Next.js kit at $79 one-time with a complete credits system. The move when credit billing matters more than the team layer you are paying for.
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
- Included: Locales by recipe; the dashboard stays English
The trade-off vs supastarter
- 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
- Compare with GenerateSaaS
- Compare with supastarter
- Compare with MakerKit
- Compare with ShipFast
- See the best IndieKit alternatives
Bottom line: IndieKit is the best supastarter alternative for a solo builder who bills in credits and can wait on teams.
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 one framework was always enough and the team layer never got used.
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 supastarter
- Not available: No organizations, roles or invitations
- Not available: No admin panel or audit log in its docs
- 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 supastarter alternative for one person shipping a single-tenant Next.js app cheaply.
Open SaaS
$0Builders who will adopt Wasp and pay nothing
A free, MIT-licensed template on the Wasp framework, with Stripe, an admin dashboard and S3 uploads. The move when a licence per framework is one licence too many.
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 supastarter
- 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 unit tests, and no CI in the generated project
Bottom line: Open SaaS is the best supastarter alternative for a builder who will adopt Wasp and spend nothing.
FAQ
supastarter alternatives, answered
Short answers to the questions people actually ask.
What is the best supastarter alternative?
It depends what stopped fitting. GenerateSaaS adds credits and an audit log, MakerKit is Supabase-native, and IndieKit is the cheapest way to bill in credits.
Does one supastarter licence cover every framework?
No. A licence covers one framework, so a Nuxt kit beside a Next.js one is a second purchase.
Which supastarter 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 MakerKit at $349.
Does supastarter have credit-based billing?
Not as balances. Its docs cover metered usage billing, which charges for what was consumed rather than drawing down a balance you granted.
How many developer seats does supastarter allow?
One on Solo, five on Startup, ten on Agency. GenerateSaaS's Agency tier is unlimited seats.
Ready to decide?
Pick the plan that fits and start today.
Lifetime updates
Unlimited projects