The Best SaaS Boilerplates in 2026
SaaS boilerplates and SaaS starters are one thing: auth, billing, teams and an admin panel already wired together, so you skip the months nobody wants to spend twice. Six are ranked below on what they ship, what a licence costs, and how they update.
- You are building a Next.js app with teams, credits billing and an audit trail.$249 one-time
GenerateSaaSTop pickThat is us - Your app is not Next.js, or you want MySQL or SQLite instead of Postgres.$299 one-time
supastarter - You want Supabase Auth, RLS-native code, and a mobile app off the same backend.$349 one-time
MakerKit - You are billing usage in credits on a tight budget, and teams can wait.$79 one-time
IndieKit - You are one person shipping a single-tenant Next.js app as cheaply as possible.$199, from $299
ShipFast - You will adopt Wasp, and want payments, an admin panel and uploads for nothing.$0
Open SaaS
Side by side
Every feature, compared
Tap a name to hide or show its column
| Feature | GenerateSaaS | supastarter | MakerKit | IndieKit | ShipFast | Open SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $249 one-time | $299 one-time | $349 one-time | $79 one-time | $199, from $299 | $0 |
| 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 seat | Included: Unlimited, per framework | Included: Unlimited, per kit | Not available | Included: Unlimited | Included: Unlimited, MIT |
| Client work | Partial: Agency tier to deliver source | Included: Allowed, no client licence | 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: All sales final | Not available | 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 | Included: Next.js 16.3, Nuxt, TanStack | 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, Neon, Supabase | Included: Postgres, MySQL, SQLite | 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: Stripe, Polar | Included: Five providers, one API | Included: Three on Supabase kits, two elsewhere | Included: Six providers documented | Included: Stripe, Lemon Squeezy | Included: Stripe, Polar, Lemon Squeezy |
| Subscriptions | Included: Month, year, lifetime | Included: Plans, seat-based pricing | Included: Flat, per-seat, metered, one-off | Included: Plans, one-time, LTD campaigns | Included: Stripe subscriptions | Included: Plans, customer portal |
| Usage credits | Included: Balances, grants, optional top-up | Partial: Metered usage, no balance | Partial: Build-it guide | Included: Balances, grants, expiry, top-up | Not available | Partial: Counter, one-off top-up |
| Finance dashboard | Included: Revenue, vendor cost, margin | Not available | 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: Eight admin tabs | Included: Users, organizations, bans | 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: Profile, first org, welcome drip | Included: Multi-step, org, avatar | Partial: Recipe, build yourself | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Notifications | Included: In-app bell, email | Included: Notification centre, preferences | Partial: Realtime, Supabase kits | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| File storage | Included: S3-compatible, local disk | Included: S3, R2, Supabase, UploadThing | 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 pages | Included: Terms, privacy, i18n | Included: Terms, privacy, cookies | Included: Terms, privacy pages | Partial: ChatGPT prompts | Not available |
| Marketing & growth | ||||||
| Included: SMTP, SES, Resend | Included: Resend, Postmark, Nodemailer | Included: Resend, SMTP | Included: Resend, SES, Mailgun, more | Included: Resend, Mailgun | Included: SendGrid, Mailgun, SMTP | |
| Newsletter | Included: Listmonk, Resend sync | Partial: Signup section, no provider | Partial: Signup form, no provider | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Blog | Included: Categories, tags, RSS | Included: MDX blog | Included: Blog in every kit | Included: Blog posts, SEO | Included: Authors, categories, schema | Included: Astro Starlight, Markdown |
| SEO tools | Included: OG images, JSON-LD, sitemap | Included: Meta tags, 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 | Included: Crisp, Chatwoot | Not available | Not available | Included: Crisp | Included: Crisp, one config key | Not available |
| Affiliate tracking | Included: Refgrow, Affonso, PromoteKit | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Cookie consent | Included: GDPR banner, four legal policies | Included: Consent banner | Included: Banner, consent hook | Included: Consent gate before PostHog | Not available | Included: Consent modal |
| Operations | ||||||
| Audit log | Included: With an admin viewer | Not available | Not available: Supamode, sold separately | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| User API keys | Included: Per-key rate limits | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| SMS | Included: Broadcast SMS, Twilio, SNS | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Error reporting | Included: Sentry, PostHog | Included: Sentry | Included: Sentry, SigNoz, PostHog, Honeybadger | Included: Sentry | Partial: Error and 404 pages | Not available |
| Rate limiting | Included: Per-route, per-key | Not available | Included: Drizzle, Prisma kits | Not available | Partial: Upstash tutorial, self-installed | Not available |
| Background jobs | Included: Inngest | Included: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase | Not available | Included: Inngest, n8n | Not available | Included: Wasp Jobs, cron |
| Deploy targets | Included: Docker, Vercel, Fly, Railway, more | Included: Vercel, Docker, Fly, Railway, VPS | Included: Vercel, Cloudflare, Docker, VPS | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render, Sherpa | Included: Vercel, Netlify, Render | Included: Fly.io, Railway, manual |
| AI | ||||||
| AI assistant | Included: Chat, files, web search | Included: Chatbot, history, streaming | Partial: Teams tier, separate templates | Not available: Build-it guide, Inngest or n8n | Not available | Partial: OpenAI demo app |
| User-supplied AI keys | Included: Users add provider keys | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| MCP server | Included: For your app's users | Not available: Agent Skills, no MCP | Included: Kit, CLI servers | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Tooling & updates | ||||||
| Project setup CLI | Included: generatesaas init | Included: npx supastarter new | Included: @makerkit/cli new | Included: npx indiekit@latest | Not available | Included: wasp new -t saas |
| Version updates | Included: CLI update, AI merges | Partial: Updates included, manual merge | 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 | Included: Electron app | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Mobile app | Not available | Not available: Listed as work in progress | Partial: Expo plugin, Supabase only | Not available | Not available | Not available |
- Included
- Partial
- Not available
The ranking
Every option, ranked
GenerateSaaS
Top pickThat is usThe most complete Next.js kit: credits, audit log, admin, desktop.
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
supastarter
The only kit shipping Next.js, Nuxt and TanStack Start.
Five payment providers sit behind a single API, background jobs run on trigger.dev, QStash or Queuebase, and the database may be Postgres, MySQL or SQLite.
A licence is bought per framework, so a second framework is a second purchase. Client work is allowed on every tier and needs no client licence. Seats run 1, 5 and 10 by tier. Their terms publish no refund policy at all.
- Solo $299
- Startup $799
- Agency $1,499
Strengths
- Included: Nuxt and TanStack Start kits too
- Included: MySQL and SQLite, plus Postgres
- Included: Five payment providers behind one API
- Included: Background jobs: trigger.dev, QStash, Queuebase
- Included: 22 Agent Skills for coding agents
Trade-offs
- Not available: One licence covers one framework
- 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
- Not available: No broadcast SMS or announcements
MakerKit
Supabase-native kits, with RLS code and an Expo mobile plugin.
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
IndieKit
The cheapest kit that ships real credits - teams cost extra.
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
ShipFast
The cheapest way in: one-time price, unlimited projects, no teams.
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
Open SaaS
$0Free and MIT: payments, admin and uploads, on the Wasp framework.
Wasp is a framework of its own, not a Next.js codebase. Auth, routes and background jobs are declared in a main.wasp file, and its compiler generates the React client and Node server around your own code.
MIT allows unlimited projects, client work and white-label, provided the notice travels with the code. Their docs show no organizations, no 2FA and no i18n, and their own update guide advises against merging template changes.
Strengths
- Included: Stripe, Polar and Lemon Squeezy
- Included: Admin dashboard: users, analytics, messages
- Included: AWS S3 uploads and cron jobs
- Included: MIT licensed, no paid tier
- Included: 21 documentation pages, plus an llms.txt
Trade-offs
- Not available: Requires the Wasp framework and CLI
- Not available: No organizations or teams documented
- Not available: Their docs advise against updating
- Not available: No 2FA, i18n or rate limiting
- Not available: No unit tests; no CI workflow in the generated project
How we compared
What we weighed
- Features shipped as working code, not a tutorial that shows you how to build them
- Price and licence scope: what one purchase covers, and how many projects or seats
- The update path: whether later versions reach a project you have already edited
- Agent-readiness: typed code, an AGENTS.md or skills, and docs a coding agent can read
Read from each vendor's site and docs in 2026. A cross means their docs and site do not show it.
FAQ
Common questions
Short answers to the questions people actually ask.
Are free SaaS boilerplates good enough?
For a solo project, often yes. Open SaaS ships payments, an admin panel, file uploads and cron jobs for nothing, under an MIT licence with no paid tier. Where it stops is teams: its docs show no organizations, no 2FA and no audit log, and its own update guide advises against pulling template changes into a project you have changed. Take the free one if you can write those parts yourself.
What is the difference between a SaaS boilerplate and a starter kit?
Nothing consistent. Vendors use both words for the same thing: a codebase with authentication, billing and an app shell already wired together. What separates them is scope, so compare the feature rows rather than the label.
Do I pay once or subscribe?
Every paid kit here is a one-time purchase. What differs is what the purchase covers - one framework, one stack, or unlimited projects - and whether later versions are included.
Can I use a SaaS boilerplate for client work?
It depends on the licence, and the answer is rarely on the pricing page. Some kits require a separate licence per client project, so read the licence scope row before you quote a fixed price.
How often are these rankings checked?
Every product file carries the date its cells were last read against the vendor's own docs, and a comparison whose facts are over 180 days old stops publishing rather than going stale in place.
Ready to decide?
Pick the plan that fits and start today.
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