Source: github.com/mickasmt/next-saas-stripe-starter Core features: Next.js 14 (App Router) + TypeScript Auth: NextAuth v5 (email + OAuth) Payments: Stripe subscriptions Blog: MDX with SEO Marketing: Landing page, pricing, features Database: Prisma + PostgreSQL UI: shadcn/ui + Tailwind Email: Resend ---

Next SaaS Starter Review 2026: Free Next.js Billing

TL;DR

Next SaaS Starter is the best free Next.js SaaS boilerplate with billing. It includes Stripe, auth (NextAuth), blog (MDX), and marketing pages — features that T3 Stack doesn't ship. The code quality is good without being exceptional. Best for solo founders who want billing set up without paying $299 for ShipFast.

What You Get (Free)

Source: github.com/mickasmt/next-saas-stripe-starter

Core features:

Next.js 14 (App Router) + TypeScript
Auth: NextAuth v5 (email + OAuth)
Payments: Stripe subscriptions
Blog: MDX with SEO
Marketing: Landing page, pricing, features
Database: Prisma + PostgreSQL
UI: shadcn/ui + Tailwind
Email: Resend

What It Includes That T3 Stack Doesn't

T3 Stack gives you a foundation; Next SaaS Starter gives you a product:

T3 Stack ships:
├── Auth (NextAuth)
├── tRPC API layer
├── Prisma + Postgres
└── Basic Next.js app

Next SaaS Starter ships:
├── Auth (NextAuth) — same
├── Stripe billing
├── Subscription middleware (gate routes)
├── Marketing landing page
├── Pricing page
├── Blog with MDX
├── shadcn/ui components
└── SEO (meta, sitemap)

For a B2C SaaS where you need to launch with a marketing site and billing, this matters.

The Stripe Integration

// lib/subscription.ts — Stripe subscription utilities
export async function getUserSubscriptionPlan(userId: string) {
  const user = await prisma.user.findFirst({
    where: { id: userId },
    select: {
      stripeSubscriptionId: true,
      stripeCurrentPeriodEnd: true,
      stripeCustomerId: true,
      stripePriceId: true,
    },
  });

  if (!user) throw new Error('User not found');

  const isPro =
    user.stripePriceId &&
    user.stripeCurrentPeriodEnd &&
    user.stripeCurrentPeriodEnd.getTime() + 86_400_000 > Date.now();

  const plan = isPro
    ? pricingData.find((plan) => plan.stripeIds.monthly === user.stripePriceId ||
        plan.stripeIds.yearly === user.stripePriceId)
    : pricingData[0];  // Free plan

  return {
    ...plan,
    stripeSubscriptionId: user.stripeSubscriptionId,
    stripeCurrentPeriodEnd: user.stripeCurrentPeriodEnd,
    stripeCustomerId: user.stripeCustomerId,
    isSubscribed: isPro,
    isCanceled: false,
  };
}

// Subscription-based route protection
// app/(dashboard)/layout.tsx
export default async function DashboardLayout({ children }) {
  const session = await getServerSession(authOptions);

  if (!session?.user) redirect('/login');

  const userPlan = await getUserSubscriptionPlan(session.user.id);

  return (
    <DashboardLayoutClient userPlan={userPlan}>
      {children}
    </DashboardLayoutClient>
  );
}

The Marketing Pages

Unlike T3 Stack, Next SaaS Starter ships with a landing page:

// app/(marketing)/page.tsx — landing page structure
export default function HomePage() {
  return (
    <>
      <HeroSection />
      <FeaturesSection />
      <TestimonialsSection />
      <PricingSection />
      <FaqSection />
      <CTASection />
    </>
  );
}

Not the most beautiful design out of the box, but all the sections are there. Customize with your branding.

Where It Falls Short

1. NextAuth v5 Configuration

NextAuth v5 (Auth.js) has breaking changes from v4. Some community resources are outdated. Budget debugging time.

2. No Multi-Tenancy

Single-user only. No organizations or teams.

3. Less Polish Than ShipFast

ShipFast's UI and documentation are more polished. Next SaaS Starter has rough edges in the admin pages and some config confusion.

4. tRPC Not Included

If you want the type-safe API layer, you're adding it yourself (or use T3 Stack + billing setup).

Comparison: Free Tier Options

Boilerplate	Billing	Blog	Multi-tenant	tRPC	Cost
T3 Stack	❌	❌	❌	✅	Free
Next SaaS Starter	✅	✅	❌	❌	Free
Open SaaS (Wasp)	✅	✅	❌	N/A	Free
Epic Stack	❌	❌	❌	❌	Free

Next SaaS Starter wins for free options when billing + blog is a must.

Who Should Use Next SaaS Starter

Good fit:

Solo founders who want billing without paying for ShipFast
Developers comfortable with the boilerplate's code quality
Products where B2C subscription billing is the main requirement
Founders who want to study the Stripe integration before building their own

Bad fit:

Teams needing tRPC type safety (use T3 Stack + add billing)
Products needing multi-tenancy (use Supastarter)
Founders who want ShipFast's community and polish (just buy ShipFast)
Apps needing extensive customization (codebase organization is less structured)

Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/mickasmt/next-saas-stripe-starter.git my-app
cd my-app && npm install
cp .env.example .env.local
# Required: NEXTAUTH_SECRET, NEXTAUTH_URL, GOOGLE credentials,
#           DATABASE_URL, STRIPE_SECRET_KEY, STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET,
#           STRIPE_PRO_MONTHLY_PLAN_ID, RESEND_API_KEY
npx prisma db push
npm run dev

The most common setup issue: creating Stripe products first, then copying price IDs into environment variables. The boilerplate expects STRIPE_PRO_MONTHLY_PLAN_ID — create your subscription product in the Stripe dashboard to get this.

How the Subscription Gate Works

// lib/subscription.ts — checks both price ID and period end
export async function getUserSubscriptionPlan(userId: string) {
  const user = await prisma.user.findFirst({
    where: { id: userId },
    select: { stripeCurrentPeriodEnd: true, stripePriceId: true },
  });

  const isPro =
    user?.stripePriceId === process.env.STRIPE_PRO_MONTHLY_PLAN_ID &&
    user.stripeCurrentPeriodEnd &&
    user.stripeCurrentPeriodEnd.getTime() + 86_400_000 > Date.now();

  return { isPro, plan: isPro ? 'pro' : 'free' };
}

This pattern covers the cancellation edge case (subscription ends but period hasn't expired yet — user retains access) with the + 86_400_000 buffer. For two-tier SaaS this is complete. For three tiers or usage-based pricing, you'll extend it.

The MDX Blog and SEO Setup

Next SaaS Starter's blog generates proper Open Graph tags, author metadata, and canonical URLs per post — more complete than some paid boilerplates:

// app/(marketing)/blog/[...slug]/page.tsx
export async function generateMetadata({ params }): Promise<Metadata> {
  const post = await getPostFromParams(params);
  return {
    title: post.title,
    description: post.description,
    openGraph: {
      title: post.title,
      type: 'article',
      images: [{ url: absoluteUrl('/og'), width: 1200, height: 630 }],
    },
  };
}

The OG image is a static URL (/og) rather than per-post dynamic images. For marketing blog content, this is acceptable. For a content-heavy blog, consider replacing with @vercel/og for per-post previews.

Choosing Between Free Next.js Options

For founders committed to the Next.js ecosystem, the free options each target different priorities:

T3 Stack: Type safety first (tRPC + Zod). Build the billing and marketing pages yourself. Best for teams where TypeScript strictness and end-to-end type inference are non-negotiable.

Next SaaS Starter: Billing + blog + landing page included. Standard patterns (no tRPC). Best for solo founders who want to launch with a complete marketing site and subscription billing, free.

Open SaaS (Wasp): Most features (admin panel, AI, background jobs). Requires learning Wasp. Best for founders who want maximum functionality and are willing to invest in a new framework.

The quality gap between these free options and ShipFast ($299) has narrowed since 2023. Experienced developers who know Next.js can launch production products from Next SaaS Starter without the premium.

Final Verdict

Rating: 3.5/5

Next SaaS Starter punches above its weight for a free boilerplate. Stripe billing, marketing pages, and blog in a free package is genuinely useful. The code quality is "good enough" but not exceptional. For budget-conscious founders or those who want to understand the implementation before paying for a premium boilerplate, it's an excellent starting point.

Getting Started

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mickasmt/next-saas-stripe-starter.git my-app
cd my-app && npm install

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env.local
# Required:
# DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...
# NEXTAUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000
# NEXTAUTH_SECRET=<openssl rand -base64 32>
# STRIPE_API_KEY=sk_test_...
# STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...
# NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PRO_MONTHLY_PLAN_ID=price_...
# NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PRO_YEARLY_PLAN_ID=price_...
# RESEND_API_KEY=re_...

# Generate Prisma client and push schema
npx prisma generate && npx prisma db push

# Start development
npm run dev  # → localhost:3000

The Stripe setup requires creating two price objects (monthly and pro) in your Stripe dashboard and adding their IDs to the environment. The getUserSubscriptionPlan function maps these price IDs to your plan configuration.

NextAuth v5 Configuration

NextAuth v5 (Auth.js) has a different configuration API than v4. The main gotchas:

// auth.ts — NextAuth v5 config
import NextAuth from 'next-auth';
import GitHub from 'next-auth/providers/github';
import Google from 'next-auth/providers/google';
import { PrismaAdapter } from '@auth/prisma-adapter';
import { prisma } from './lib/prisma';

export const { handlers, signIn, signOut, auth } = NextAuth({
  adapter: PrismaAdapter(prisma),
  providers: [
    GitHub({
      clientId: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_ID!,
      clientSecret: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET!,
    }),
    Google({
      clientId: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID!,
      clientSecret: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET!,
    }),
  ],
  callbacks: {
    session({ session, user }) {
      session.user.id = user.id;  // Add user ID to session
      return session;
    },
  },
});

// app/api/auth/[...nextauth]/route.ts
export { handlers as GET, handlers as POST } from '@/auth';

v5 exports auth() as a server-side function — use it in Server Components and Route Handlers instead of getServerSession(). The session object is the same; the import path changes.

Adding tRPC If Needed

Next SaaS Starter doesn't include tRPC, but adding it is straightforward:

npm install @trpc/server @trpc/client @trpc/react-query @trpc/next @tanstack/react-query superjson

// server/trpc/init.ts
import { initTRPC, TRPCError } from '@trpc/server';
import { auth } from '@/auth';
import superjson from 'superjson';

const t = initTRPC.context<{ session: Awaited<ReturnType<typeof auth>> }>().create({
  transformer: superjson,
});

export const router = t.router;
export const publicProcedure = t.procedure;
export const protectedProcedure = t.procedure.use(async ({ ctx, next }) => {
  if (!ctx.session?.user) throw new TRPCError({ code: 'UNAUTHORIZED' });
  return next({ ctx: { ...ctx, session: ctx.session } });
});

If type-safe API layer is important, T3 Stack (which includes tRPC) is a better starting point than adding tRPC to Next SaaS Starter.

Key Takeaways

Next SaaS Starter is the best free Next.js boilerplate with Stripe billing — T3 Stack doesn't include billing
The getUserSubscriptionPlan implementation is clean and worth studying before building your own billing layer
NextAuth v5 is a breaking change from v4: use auth() server-side, handlers for the route handler, and session.user.id from the callback
No tRPC, no multi-tenancy — for those requirements, use T3 Stack or Supastarter respectively
ShipFast's $299 price is justified if you want documentation quality, community support, and more polished UI

Contributing and Keeping Up to Date

Next SaaS Starter is an open-source project on GitHub with an active contributor community. The maintainer (mickasmt) keeps the Next.js and dependency versions reasonably current — this is the advantage a community-maintained free project has over abandoned boilerplates.

To keep your fork current:

# Add upstream remote (once)
git remote add upstream https://github.com/mickasmt/next-saas-stripe-starter.git

# Pull upstream changes
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/main

# Resolve conflicts — most common: package.json, auth config, Stripe integration

The merge conflict pattern is predictable: your customizations touch the same files that upstream updates change. After 3-4 months of divergence, merging upstream changes requires reviewing each conflict. This is why some founders "graduate" from the free boilerplate to a paid alternative after their initial project grows — the ongoing maintenance cost of a highly-customized fork starts to exceed the cost of a well-supported commercial boilerplate.

Why Next SaaS Starter Wins for Solo Founders

The zero cost is genuinely significant for founders validating an idea. Before you know whether a SaaS product will find customers, committing $149-$299 to a boilerplate is a real psychological and financial hurdle. Next SaaS Starter removes that hurdle entirely — you can build, validate, and launch without spending anything on tooling.

The trade-off is explicit and knowable: you own the maintenance, the documentation gaps require reading source code, and you won't have a community Discord to answer edge case questions. For founders who have shipped software before and can read React and TypeScript fluently, these trade-offs are manageable. For first-time SaaS builders, the lack of documentation and community support is a meaningful cost that doesn't show up in the price comparison.

The right mental model: Next SaaS Starter is a well-structured starting point, not a product. You're not buying something someone built for you — you're starting from a codebase someone shared with you. The distinction matters for expectations about support, updates, and the degree to which you're on your own when you hit edge cases in production.

Key Takeaways

Next SaaS Starter is the best free Next.js boilerplate with Stripe billing — T3 Stack doesn't include billing, Open SaaS uses Wasp
The subscription plan checking pattern (getUserSubscriptionPlan) is well-implemented and worth studying before building your own
NextAuth v5 breaks from v4 — use the auth() function and handlers export, not getServerSession()
No tRPC, no organizations: add T3 Stack's tRPC or Supastarter if those are requirements
Forking a free boilerplate means owning future maintenance — evaluate ShipFast's support ecosystem if community help matters

Next SaaS Starter continues to receive community contributions that keep it current with Next.js releases, and its GitHub issue tracker is an underrated source of patterns and workarounds for common integration challenges — a hidden documentation layer that supplements the official README for teams willing to search it.

The boilerplate that works best is the one your team can productively extend. Documentation quality, community activity, and the clarity of the codebase architecture matter as much as the feature list when you're making the decision for a product you'll maintain for years.

Compare Next SaaS Starter with other free boilerplates in our best open-source SaaS boilerplates guide.

See our ShipFast review for the premium alternative with better documentation.

See how authentication integrations compare in our NextAuth vs Clerk vs Better Auth guide.

The SaaS Boilerplate Matrix (Free PDF)