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Best SaaS Boilerplate in 2026: An Honest Comparison

July 20, 2026 · 8 min read

The best SaaS boilerplate in 2026 depends on what you're building. Quick verdict: ShipFast is the cheapest path for a solo B2C launch; Supastarter and Makerkit win for multi-tenant B2B with teams and roles; Ixartz and OpenSaaS are the strongest free, open-source options; and Weekendstack is built for people shipping with an AI coding agent — a codebase agents understand plus a prompt pack that builds features for you. Below is an honest, like-for-like comparison with current prices so you can pick in a couple of minutes.

Full disclosure: we make Weekendstack. That's exactly why this comparison is factual and fair — an honest table is more useful to you (and more likely to be trusted) than a rigged one. Prices are one-time and current as of mid-2026; verify before you buy, since launch discounts move.

The boilerplates at a glance

BoilerplatePrice (2026)StackTeams / multi-tenancyBest for
ShipFast$199–299 one-timeNext.js, Mongo/SupabaseNoCheapest solo B2C launch
MakerkitFree / $299 / $599Next.js, SupabaseYesBattle-tested B2B, plugins
Supastarter$349 / $799 / $1,499Next.js/Nuxt, SupabaseYes (deepest)Feature-dense multi-tenant B2B
Ixartz (OSS)Free (MIT)Next.js, Clerk, DrizzleYesBest free kit, more assembly
OpenSaaSFree (OSS)Wasp (React + Node)PartialFree, opinionated framework
Weekendstack€199 / €399 / €499Next.js 15, Firebase, R2No (single-tenant)Building with AI agents + prompts

ShipFast — the fastest, cheapest solo launch

ShipFast (from $199) is the best-known kit in the indie-hacker world, built by Marc Lou and backed by a large buyer community. It trades depth for velocity: there's no multi-tenancy, no admin panel, and no role-based access control. If you're a solo founder shipping a simple single-tenant B2C app on the smallest budget, it's the cheapest and most proven option — and the minimal feature set is the point.

Makerkit — battle-tested B2B

Makerkit ($299 Pro, $599 Teams) has shipped since 2022, making it the most mature kit here. Version 3 added a plugin system so you can bolt on features (AI chatbot, roadmap voting, changelog) without fighting core updates. If you're building a real multi-tenant B2B SaaS with teams, roles, and permissions, it's a safe, well-supported choice.

Supastarter — the most feature-dense

Supastarter ($349 Solo up to $1,499 Agency) is the deepest option: five payment providers, AI chatbot integration, i18n, Playwright E2E tests, Docker Compose, and the most complete multi-tenancy implementation in any Next.js kit, with row-level security. It supports multiple frameworks (Next.js, Nuxt, TanStack Start). If your SaaS genuinely needs organization billing and heavy multi-tenancy, this leads — but it's the priciest and has the most to learn.

Ixartz & OpenSaaS — the best free options

If budget is zero, two open-source kits stand out. Ixartz SaaS-Boilerplate (MIT) ships Next.js + Tailwind + Shadcn + TypeScript with multi-tenancy, RBAC, Clerk auth, Stripe, i18n, Drizzle ORM, Vitest/Playwright, and Sentry — remarkably complete for free, though you own the integration and upkeep. OpenSaaS(8,000+ GitHub stars) gives you a landing page, auth, dashboard, payments, SEO, and deploy scripts, but it's built on the Wasp framework rather than plain Next.js — a real consideration if you want to stay in the Next.js ecosystem. Free kits cost nothing upfront and more time later.

Weekendstack — built for AI coding agents

Most kits hand you code and wish you luck. Weekendstack (€199 codebase, €399 prompt pack, €499 bundle) is built for how people actually ship in 2026: with an AI coding agent. The codebase ships with AGENTS.md, .cursor/rules, and CLAUDE.md so Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and Copilot understand your repo and follow its conventions — and the prompt pack is a library of tested prompts that build real features (admin, usage tracking, billing flows) on top of it, so the agent ships instead of guessing. The stack is Next.js 15, Firebase auth + Firestore, Cloudflare R2 storage, Stripe, Resend email, and an admin dashboard, wired to a single .env.local.

Be clear on the trade-off: Weekendstack is single-tenant, like ShipFast — it is not the pick for a complex multi-tenant B2B product (that's Supastarter or Makerkit territory). Its edge is speed for solo builders and non-technical founders using AI, plus a mixed community where you might find a cofounder.

How to choose in 30 seconds

Whatever you pick, the boilerplate is only the foundation — the product is what you build on top. If that's the part you want moving fastest, see Weekendstack pricing or read more on the blog.

Frequently asked

What is a SaaS boilerplate?
A SaaS boilerplate (or starter kit) is a pre-built codebase that ships the parts every SaaS needs — authentication, billing, database, email, and deployment config — so you skip weeks of undifferentiated setup and start on your actual product. Most are built on Next.js.
What is the best SaaS boilerplate in 2026?
There's no single winner — it depends on the build. ShipFast is best for the cheapest solo B2C launch; Supastarter and Makerkit for multi-tenant B2B with teams; Ixartz and OpenSaaS if you want free and open-source; and Weekendstack if you're building with an AI coding agent and want a prompt pack that ships features for you.
What is the cheapest SaaS boilerplate?
Free, open-source kits like Ixartz SaaS-Boilerplate (MIT) and OpenSaaS cost nothing upfront but require more integration and upkeep. Among paid kits, ShipFast is the cheapest at $199 one-time.
Which SaaS boilerplate is best for AI coding agents like Cursor or Claude Code?
Weekendstack is built specifically for this: it ships AGENTS.md, .cursor/rules, and CLAUDE.md so agents follow the repo's conventions, plus a prompt pack of tested prompts that build real features. Supastarter and Makerkit also include agent config files, but lead with a developer rather than prompt-driven workflow.
Do I need to know how to code to use a SaaS boilerplate?
Increasingly no. Kits like Weekendstack are set up so you fill one environment file to boot, then use plain-English prompts with an AI agent to build features. A developer will go deeper and faster, but a non-technical founder can ship a working MVP.
Are free SaaS boilerplates good enough?
Yes, for the right person. Ixartz and OpenSaaS are genuinely capable. The trade-off is time: free kits leave the security-sensitive wiring and ongoing maintenance to you, while paid kits ship those done, documented, and updated — and some add prompts or a community on top.

Build yours this weekend

Weekendstack is the production-ready codebase plus the prompt pack that makes your AI coding agent ship real features instead of guessing.

See pricing