ShipFast vs IndieKit

ShipFast and IndieKit, compared line by line on Pricing & licence, Tech stack, Billing features, Core features, Marketing & growth, Operations, Tooling & updates, AI.

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IndieKit wins on what the money buys: $79 against ShipFast's $199, off a $299 list, with credit balances ShipFast has none of.

Choose ShipFast if
- Included: Your codebase is JavaScript, or on the Pages Router
- Included: You store documents in MongoDB
- Included: You want 27 marketing components ready to paste
- Docs
- Pricing
Choose IndieKit if
- Included: You bill usage in credit balances
- Included: You want an admin panel and impersonation at the lowest price
- Included: You want a refund window, however short

GenerateSaaS is the alternative to bothThat is us$249 one-time

Included: Neither ships organizations in the kit: IndieKit sells a $119 B2B edition and ShipFast documents none. GenerateSaaS ships organizations, roles and invites for $249.
Included: GenerateSaaS ships IndieKit's credit balances and an audit log with an admin viewer, which neither IndieKit nor ShipFast documents.
Included: Updates run through a CLI that merges them, where IndieKit's are a git remote you merge by hand and ShipFast includes them from its All-in tier up.

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Every feature, compared

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Feature	ShipFast	IndieKit	GenerateSaaS	supastarter	MakerKit	Open SaaS
Starting price	$199, from $299	$79 one-time	$249 one-time	$299 one-time	$349 one-time	$0
Pricing & licence
Pricing model	Included: One-time; updates from All-in	Included: One-time, updates included	Included: One-time, updates included	Included: One-time, updates included	Included: One-time, updates included	Included: Free, MIT
Projects per licence	Included: Unlimited	Not available	Included: Unlimited, per seat	Included: Unlimited, per framework	Included: Unlimited, per kit	Included: Unlimited, MIT
Client work	Not available	Not available	Partial: Agency tier to deliver source	Included: Allowed, no client licence	Partial: Team tier; client buys a licence	Included: Allowed, MIT
White-label	Not available: Notices must stay	Not available	Partial: Agency tier	Partial: Agency tier	Not available	Included: Allowed, keep the notice
Refund policy	Not available: No refunds, stated	Partial: 3 days, before access shared	Not available: All sales final	Not available	Not available: No refunds, stated	Not available
Verdict	IndieKit starts at $79 against ShipFast's $199, shown off a $299 list, and refunds within three days before access is shared. ShipFast refuses refunds once access is granted.
Tech stack
Frameworks	Included: Next.js, either router	Included: Next.js 16, React 19	Included: Next.js 16.3	Included: Next.js 16.3, Nuxt, TanStack	Included: Next.js 16.3, React Router 8, TanStack	Included: Wasp 0.25, React 19, Node
Database	Included: MongoDB, Supabase Postgres	Included: Neon, Supabase, PlanetScale	Included: Postgres, Neon, Supabase	Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite	Included: Supabase, Drizzle, Prisma 7	Included: Prisma 5.19, Postgres
Authentication	Partial: Google login, magic links	Included: Better Auth, Google, magic links	Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA	Included: Better Auth, passkeys, 2FA	Included: Supabase Auth, Better Auth	Included: Wasp auth, email, OAuth
Verdict	Both are Next.js. ShipFast also supports JavaScript, the Pages Router and MongoDB; IndieKit is on Neon, Supabase or PlanetScale with Better Auth.
Billing features
Payments	Included: Stripe, Lemon Squeezy	Included: Six providers documented	Included: Stripe, Polar	Included: Five providers, one API	Included: Three on Supabase kits, two elsewhere	Included: Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy
Subscriptions	Included: Stripe subscriptions	Included: Plans, one-time, LTD campaigns	Included: Month, year, lifetime	Included: Plans, seat-based pricing	Included: Flat, per-seat, metered, one-off	Included: Plans, customer portal
Usage credits	Not available	Included: Balances, grants, expiry, top-up	Included: Balances, grants, optional top-up	Partial: Metered usage, no balance	Partial: Build-it guide	Partial: Counter, one-off top-up
Finance dashboard	Not available	Not available	Included: Revenue, vendor cost, margin	Not available	Not available	Not available
Verdict	IndieKit documents six payment providers and ships credit balances with grants and expiry. ShipFast wires Stripe and Lemon Squeezy, and its docs name no credits.
Core features
Organizations	Not available	Partial: Separate B2B kit and licence	Included: Organizations, roles, invites	Included: Organizations, roles, invites	Included: Organizations, roles, invites	Not available
Admin panel	Not available	Included: Super admin dashboard	Included: Eight admin tabs	Included: Users, organizations, bans	Included: Users, organizations, RBAC, metrics	Included: Users, analytics, messages
Admin login as user	Not available	Included: Admin acts as user	Included: Admin acts as user	Included: Admin acts as user	Included: Admin acts as user	Not available
Onboarding	Not available	Not available	Included: Profile, first org, welcome drip	Included: Multi-step, org, avatar	Partial: Recipe, build yourself	Not available
Notifications	Not available	Not available	Included: In-app bell, email	Included: Notification centre, preferences	Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits	Not available
File storage	Not available	Included: S3	Included: S3-compatible, local disk	Included: S3, R2, Supabase, UploadThing	Included: S3, filesystem, Supabase Storage	Included: AWS S3, presigned URLs
Multiple languages	Not available	Partial: Recipe: marketing, auth, email	Included: Locales, language switcher	Included: Locales, language switcher	Included: Locales, language switcher	Not available
Legal pages	Partial: ChatGPT prompts	Included: Terms, privacy pages	Included: Terms, privacy pages	Included: Terms, privacy, i18n	Included: Terms, privacy, cookies	Not available
Verdict	IndieKit ships an admin panel, impersonation and legal pages, and adds locales by recipe. ShipFast's docs name none of them, and its legal pages are ChatGPT prompts.
Marketing & growth
Email	Included: Resend, Mailgun	Included: Resend, SES, Mailgun, more	Included: SMTP, SES, Resend	Included: Resend, Postmark, Nodemailer	Included: Resend, SMTP	Included: SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP
Newsletter	Not available	Not available	Included: Listmonk, Resend sync	Partial: Signup section, no provider	Partial: Signup form, no provider	Not available
Blog	Included: Authors, categories, schema	Included: Blog posts, SEO	Included: Categories, tags, RSS	Included: MDX blog	Included: Blog in every kit	Included: Astro Starlight, Markdown
SEO tools	Included: Tags, sitemap, schema	Included: Sitemap, metadata, Search Console	Included: OG images, JSON-LD, sitemap	Included: Meta tags, sitemap	Partial: Sitemap, robots, metadata	Included: Meta tags, JSON-LD, llms.txt
Analytics	Partial: DataFast script, pasted	Partial: PostHog built in, three by recipe	Included: Eight providers	Included: Eight providers	Included: GA, PostHog, Umami, Meshes	Included: Plausible, Google
Support chat	Included: Crisp, one config key	Included: Crisp	Included: Crisp, Chatwoot	Not available	Not available	Not available
Affiliate tracking	Not available	Not available	Included: Refgrow, Affonso, PromoteKit	Not available	Not available	Not available
Cookie consent	Not available	Included: Consent gate before PostHog	Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies	Included: Consent banner	Included: Banner, consent hook	Included: Consent modal
Verdict	Both ship a blog, SEO and Crisp. ShipFast adds 27 marketing components; IndieKit wires PostHog behind a consent gate and adds three more by recipe.
Operations
Audit log	Not available	Not available	Included: With an admin viewer	Not available	Not available: Supamode, sold separately	Not available
User API keys	Not available	Not available	Included: Per-key rate limits	Not available	Not available	Not available
SMS	Not available	Not available	Included: Broadcast SMS, Twilio, SNS	Not available	Not available	Not available
Error reporting	Partial: Error and 404 pages	Included: Sentry	Included: Sentry, PostHog	Included: Sentry	Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger	Not available
Rate limiting	Partial: Upstash tutorial, self-installed	Not available	Included: Per-route, per-key	Not available	Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits	Not available
Background jobs	Not available	Included: Inngest, n8n	Included: Inngest	Included: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase	Not available	Included: Wasp Jobs, cron
Deploy targets	Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render	Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render, Sherpa	Included: Docker, Vercel, Fly, Railway, more	Included: Vercel, Docker, Fly, Railway, VPS	Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, VPS	Included: Fly.io, Railway, manual
Verdict	IndieKit wires Sentry and runs jobs on Inngest or n8n. ShipFast ships error and 404 pages, and its rate limiting is an Upstash tutorial.
AI
AI assistant	Not available	Not available: Build-it guide, Inngest or n8n	Included: Chat, files, web search	Included: Chatbot, history, streaming	Partial: Teams tier, separate templates	Partial: OpenAI demo app
User-supplied AI keys	Not available	Not available	Included: Users add provider keys	Not available	Not available	Not available
MCP server	Not available	Not available	Included: For your app's users	Not available: Agent Skills, no MCP	Included: Kit, CLI servers	Not available
Tooling & updates
Project setup CLI	Not available	Included: npx indiekit@latest	Included: generatesaas init	Included: npx supastarter new	Included: @makerkit/cli new	Included: wasp new -t saas
Version updates	Partial: Updates included, All-in only	Partial: Git remote, manual merge	Included: CLI update, AI merges	Partial: Updates included, manual merge	Included: CLI update, git merge	Not available: Docs advise against updating
End-to-end tests	Not available	Not available	Included: Playwright, pre-configured	Included: Playwright, pre-configured	Included: Playwright, pre-configured	Partial: Playwright, no unit tests
Desktop app	Not available	Not available	Included: Electron app	Not available	Not available	Not available
Mobile app	Not available	Not available	Not available	Not available: Listed as work in progress	Partial: Expo plugin, Supabase only	Not available

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

ShipFast
A compact single-tenant Next.js starter, sold for unlimited projects at the lowest entry price.
JavaScript and the Pages Router are supported beside TypeScript, and documents may live in MongoDB rather than Postgres. Twenty-seven marketing components and a blog ship with it.
Its docs name no organizations, no admin panel and no language switcher. Access cannot be refunded once granted, their licence keeps copyright and trademark notices in the code, and updates are announced only in a newsletter archive that has been silent since 2024.
Starter $199
All-in $249
Bundle $299
Strengths
Included: The lowest entry price here
Included: JavaScript and the Pages Router
Included: MongoDB or Supabase Postgres
Included: 27 marketing components, a blog
Included: Crisp support chat, one key
Trade-offs
Not available: No organizations, roles or invitations
Not available: No admin panel or audit log
Not available: One language, no language switcher
Not available: No credits, broadcast SMS or announcements
Not available: Starter drops Discord, updates and discounts
- Docs
- Pricing
Visit ShipFast
IndieKit
A low-cost Next.js kit with a full credits system, sold separately from its multi-tenant edition.
Credit balances, grants on signup and plan change, expiry, top-up purchase and admin adjustment ship as code, across five of its six payment providers.
The multi-tenant edition is a separate repository on a separate B2B licence: $119 on its own, or $169 for the Full Kit bundling both, against $79 for the base kit. Refunds run three days, and only before you have shared access.
Indie Kit $79
Multi-Tenant Kit $119
Full Kit $169
Strengths
Included: Credit balances, grants and expiry
Included: Six payment providers documented
Included: The lowest paid entry price, $79
Included: A three-day refund window
Included: npx indiekit@latest scaffolds it
Trade-offs
Not available: Organizations are a separate kit and licence
Not available: No audit log or user API keys in its docs
Not available: Updates are a git pull you merge by hand
Not available: No rate limiting, broadcast SMS or notifications
Not available: Teams are a second kit at $119, or $169 for both
Visit IndieKit

FAQ

ShipFast vs IndieKit, answered

Short answers to the questions people actually ask.

Does ShipFast support multi-tenant organizations?

Its documentation and public pages name no organizations, roles or invitations. Treat it as a single-tenant starter, where each account is one user.

Why is ShipFast cheaper than the others?

It covers less. There is no admin panel, audit log, credits billing or language switcher, so a team app needs work the other three ship as code.

Does IndieKit support credit-based billing?

Yes, and completely: balances, grants on signup and plan change, expiry, top-up purchases and admin adjustment are all documented. It is the only kit here besides ours that ships credits rather than a guide to building them.

Does IndieKit support teams and organizations?

Through a separate product. Their docs describe the multi-tenant kit as a separate boilerplate needing its own B2B licence and repository: $119 on its own, or $169 for the Full Kit bundling both against $79 for the base kit.

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