SaaS Starters — how to jump start your software as a service
Work in Progress – Still looking for Ruby on Rails starters to add. DM me if you have one!
Introduction
In a quest to learn Django & Vue, I found a project, SaaS Pegasus, that had great examples of how to build a software as a service using that stack.
A few commands later I had a working project locally with:
- Stripe integration
- A Postgres database
- A cron job runner connected to Redis
- Authentication and authorization
- Configured webpack
- A project hierarchy
- Naming conventions
and I'm probably missing much more the project provides.
Should I use a SaaS starter?
Yes. Unequivocally yes.
Save yourself time, money, and effort & spend those resources finding product-market fit instead of setting up auth for the thousandth time.
Node coding the app yourself? Cool. Generate the codebase in a language your developer knows and hand it to them. You'll save one week of consulting fees and plenty of wasted time.
React SaaS starters
Divjoy
In the past, I've used Divjoy to jump start my Next.js software projects. I built:
- QuickerQuestions (abandoned, wrote about it here)
- QuarantineCup (a free to play remote drinking game)
What's included
- UI kit integration (Bootstrap, Bulma, or MaterialUI)
- Can generate Next.js or Create-React-App projects
- Auth (Firebase or Auth0)
- Database (Firebase)
- Stripe integration
- Vercel or Netlify hosting configurations
- Newsletter integration (Mailchimp)
- Contact forms (Amazon SES, Google Sheets, Formspree, Airtable)
- Analytics (Simple Analytics, Google Analytics)
Pros
- High quality React code
- Author actively develops features & is easy to get in touch with
- Long list of included features
- Visual editor
Cons
- No TailwindUI integration
- No Supabase or AWS Amplify option for database
- No opinion on your backend architecture
Price: $149 one-time purchase
If you'd like more info, I've written an extensive review of Divjoy and keep it updated as new features launch.
Gravity
Note: I have not used Gravity, this information is all publicly available info on their marketing website.
Update: I am using Gravity on a current project. Review inbound. So far, so good.
What's included
- Payments with Stripe
- React UI
- REST API with Auth
- Email with Mailgun
- Admin / user management UI
- Onboarding flow
- Pre-built components
- Team support
- Authentication and Authorization
- Pick your database (MySQL, Mongo, Postgres, SQLite and more with Knex & Mongoose)
Pros
- Seems pretty fully featured
- Comes with Slack Community & 1 yr of support
- One of the few with "user onboarding"
Cons
- One of the higher prices
Price: $795
Their tagline is as follows:
Save $16,403 by not writing these 10,000+ lines of code
A bold claim, but this starter includes a lot of features and lines of code.
Next SaaS starters
Next.js Subscription Payments
I'm using this starter right now for a project I have not yet launched. Under the hood it uses Supabase.
In depth review coming soon
Price: $0 – it's open source!
Divjoy
We talked about Divjoy a few sections up. It has the ability to generate Next.js projects as well as Create-React-App projects.
Django SaaS starters
SaaS Pegasus
I purchased this starter to learn what a mature Django & Vue architecture could look like.
What's included
- Stripe integration
- A Postgres database
- A cron job runner connected to Redis
- Authentication and authorization
- Great documentation
Pros
- This is some of the best documentation I've seen with a starter project
- The interactive examples make creating your own functionality a breeze. Copy and paste. Done.
Cons
- Honestly, hard to think of any if this is your tech stack of choice
Price: $295 for a single site, $750 for unlimited
Laravel SaaS starters
Jetstream + Spark
If you are a Laravel dev, I'm sure you've already heard of these options. They're amazing and should be your default choice.
Price: $99 per project or $199 for unlimited (Spark only, Jetstream is free)
Ruby SaaS starters
Used a good Ruby on Rails starter before? DM me and I'll add it to the list!
.NET SaaS starters
AspNetZero
I couldn't find many .NET options, but this one seemed to be the most legit. Disclaimer: I didn't spend two grand on a .NET SaaS starter, so this info is all from their marketing pages.
What's included
- .NET Core and Angular SPA
- .NET Core and jQuery web app
- ASP.NET MVC Angular SPA
- ASP.NET MVC jQuery web app
- XAMARIN mobile app that integrates with the above apps
Pros
- includes 15 incident support
- 30 day money back guarantee
- Really includes the whole gamut (front end, back end, native)
- If you're reading this section, you probably want a .NET solution (which this is)
Cons
- Price tag
- .NET (all joking aside, I love .NET Core and think C# is an awesome language)
- This offers so many features, I'm assuming it's a massive codebase. Probably too much code for simply starting a side project.
Price: $1,999 🤯
This is the by far the most expensive option, but I think this company's target market is companies and not developers trying to build a side project. (Check out the brands listed on their marketing page — Deloitte has a pretty big budget)
Have a starter to add?
DM me your starter on Twitter and I'll add it do the list.
Twitter thread
See you on the other side,
Drew