GenerateSaaS vs MakerKit
GenerateSaaS and MakerKit, compared line by line on Pricing & licence, Tech stack, Billing features, Core features, Marketing & growth, Operations, AI, Tooling & updates.
Both are deep kits; the split is the backend. MakerKit is built around Supabase, GenerateSaaS around its own Postgres stack.
- Choose GenerateSaaS ifThat is us
- Included: You bill users in credits
- Included: You need an audit log on day one
- Included: You send broadcast announcements and site banners
- Choose MakerKit if
- Included: You want Supabase Auth and RLS-native code
- Included: You want the Expo mobile plugin
- Included: You want plugins installed by one command
Side by side
Every feature, compared
Tap a name to hide or show its column
| Feature | GenerateSaaS | MakerKit |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $249 one-time | $349 one-time |
| Pricing & licence | ||
| Pricing model | Included: One-time, updates included | Included: One-time, updates included |
| Projects per licence | Included: Unlimited, per seat | Included: Unlimited, per kit |
| Client work | Partial: Agency tier to deliver source | Partial: Team tier; client buys a licence |
| White-label | Partial: Agency tier | Not available |
| Refund policy | Not available: All sales final | Not available: No refunds, stated |
| Verdict | MakerKit costs $100 more to start and licenses each stack separately, so Supabase and Drizzle are two purchases. GenerateSaaS licenses per seat across everything it ships. | |
| Tech stack | ||
| Frameworks | Included: Next.js 16.3 | Included: Next.js 16.3, React Router 8, TanStack |
| Database | Included: Postgres, Neon, Supabase | Included: Supabase, Drizzle, Prisma 7 |
| Authentication | Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA | Included: Supabase Auth, Better Auth |
| Verdict | MakerKit gives you Supabase Auth with RLS-native code and a choice of three ORM stacks. GenerateSaaS gives you Better Auth on Postgres, Neon or Supabase. | |
| Billing features | ||
| Payments | Included: Stripe, Polar | Included: Three on Supabase kits, two elsewhere |
| Subscriptions | Included: Month, year, lifetime | Included: Flat, per-seat, metered, one-off |
| Usage credits | Included: Balances, grants, optional top-up | Partial: Build-it guide |
| Finance dashboard | Included: Revenue, vendor cost, margin | Not available |
| Verdict | MakerKit's docs show how to BUILD credits; GenerateSaaS ships balances, grants and top-ups as code. One is a guide, the other is a feature. | |
| Core features | ||
| Organizations | Included: Organizations, roles, invites | Included: Organizations, roles, invites |
| Admin panel | Included: Eight admin tabs | Included: Users, organizations, RBAC, metrics |
| Admin login as user | Included: Admin acts as user | Included: Admin acts as user |
| Onboarding | Included: Profile, first org, welcome drip | Partial: Recipe, build yourself |
| Notifications | Included: In-app bell, email | Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits |
| File storage | Included: S3-compatible, local disk | Included: S3, filesystem, Supabase Storage |
| Multiple languages | Included: Locales, language switcher | Included: Locales, language switcher |
| Legal pages | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Included: Terms, privacy, cookies |
| Marketing & growth | ||
| Included: SMTP, SES, Resend | Included: Resend, SMTP | |
| Newsletter | Included: Listmonk, Resend sync | Partial: Signup form, no provider |
| Blog | Included: Categories, tags, RSS | Included: Blog in every kit |
| SEO tools | Included: OG images, JSON-LD, sitemap | Partial: Sitemap, robots, metadata |
| Analytics | Included: Eight providers | Included: GA, PostHog, Umami, Meshes |
| Support chat | Included: Crisp, Chatwoot | Not available |
| Affiliate tracking | Included: Refgrow, Affonso, PromoteKit | Not available |
| Cookie consent | Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies | Included: Banner, consent hook |
| Operations | ||
| Audit log | Included: With an admin viewer | Not available: Supamode, sold separately |
| User API keys | Included: Per-key rate limits | Not available |
| SMS | Included: Broadcast SMS, Twilio, SNS | Not available |
| Error reporting | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger |
| Rate limiting | Included: Per-route, per-key | Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits |
| Background jobs | Included: Inngest | Not available |
| Deploy targets | Included: Docker, Vercel, Fly, Railway, more | Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, VPS |
| Verdict | GenerateSaaS ships an audit log with an admin viewer. MakerKit sells that separately as Supamode, which is a second product and a second price. | |
| AI | ||
| AI assistant | Included: Chat, files, web search | Partial: Teams tier, separate templates |
| User-supplied AI keys | Included: Users add provider keys | Not available |
| MCP server | Included: For your app's users | Included: Kit, CLI servers |
| Tooling & updates | ||
| Project setup CLI | Included: generatesaas init | Included: @makerkit/cli new |
| Version updates | Included: CLI update, AI merges | Included: CLI update, git merge |
| End-to-end tests | Included: Playwright, pre-configured | Included: Playwright, pre-configured |
| Desktop app | Included: Electron app | Not available |
| Mobile app | Not available | Partial: Expo plugin, Supabase only |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
Read from each vendor's site and docs in 2026. A cross means their docs and site do not show it.
The trade-offs
What each one gets right
GenerateSaaS
That is usA Next.js 16 boilerplate for team SaaS, billed by subscription or by credits.
Organizations, roles and invitations ship as code. Credit balances carry plan grants and top-ups, user API keys come with per-key rate limits, and the audit log has an admin viewer over it.
The licence is per developer seat - one, five, or unlimited - and caps no projects: every tier covers unlimited private and commercial work, client projects included. Handing a client the source, white-labelling and open-source projects need the Agency tier. All sales are final.
- Solo $249
- Pro $499
- Agency $1,999
Strengths
- Included: Credit balances, grants and top-ups
- Included: Audit log with an admin viewer
- Included: User API keys with rate limits
- Included: CLI generates and merges updates
- Included: Finance dashboard: revenue, cost, margin
Trade-offs
- Not available: Next.js only, no Nuxt or TanStack
- Not available: No Expo or React Native app
- Not available: Postgres only, no MySQL or SQLite
MakerKit
Three kits built around Supabase, with Drizzle and Prisma variants and a plugin catalogue.
Drizzle and Prisma variants sit beside the Supabase kit, each a separate product at the same price. Thirteen plugins install by one command, and four error providers are wired, SigNoz and Honeybadger among them.
Client work needs the Teams tier, and every client who receives the source code must hold their own licence. Their licence states plainly that refunds are not offered.
- Pro $349
- Teams $649
Strengths
- Included: Supabase Auth with RLS-native code
- Included: Expo mobile plugin, Supabase kit
- Included: Fourteen plugins installed by one command
- Included: Four error providers, SigNoz included
- Included: Two MCP servers for coding agents
Trade-offs
- Not available: Each stack is a separate licence
- Not available: A licence per client project
- Not available: Credits are a guide, not code
- Not available: No audit log or user API keys
- Not available: No broadcast SMS or announcements
FAQ
GenerateSaaS vs MakerKit, answered
Short answers to the questions people actually ask.
Does GenerateSaaS support credit-based billing?
Yes. Credit balances, plan grants and optional top-up purchases ship as code, with a finance dashboard showing revenue against vendor cost.
Can I use GenerateSaaS with Nuxt or TanStack Start?
No. It is a Next.js 16 boilerplate and no other framework kit exists. If your app is not Next.js, supastarter is the closer fit.
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.
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.
Ready to decide?
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