apptension/saas-boilerplate

Build SaaS products faster in React, Django and AWS.
A complete SaaS starter kit based on a battle-tested stack with out-of-the-box features every SaaS should have

📖 SaaS Boilerplate Documentation

🌟 SaaS Boilerplate Page

🚀 SaaS Boilerplate Demo

Supercharge your SaaS development with our comprehensive starter kit, designed to accelerate your project and save you valuable time and resources. Our battle-tested boilerplate eliminates the need for extensive configuration and development work, allowing you to focus on innovation from day one.

SaaS Boilerplate includes essential features that every SaaS application requires, such as frontend, backend API, admin panel, and workers. With a scalable AWS-based architecture and continuous deployment, you can easily deploy multiple environments representing different stages in your pipeline.

Say goodbye to weeks of setup and coding. Our proven stack and ready-to-use features empower you to jumpstart your project and prioritize building your product's intellectual property. Unlock your SaaS potential faster than ever before and seamlessly transition from setup to innovation.

Features

This boilerplate includes plenty of ready to use features that you can adjust to you needs:

• Authentication and authorization
• Notifications
• Emails
• Payments and subscriptions (Stripe integration)
• Infrastructure as a Code (AWS) with pre-configured CI/CD
• CMS integration (Contentful)
• Admin panel
• CRUD generators

... and more

The full list with the descriptions can be found in the features documentation.

Getting started

Requirements

• Install Docker
• Install Node.js version 16.14 or above (which can be checked by running node -v). You can use nvm for managing multiple Node versions installed on a single machine.
• Install Python version 3.8 (which can be checked by running python3 -v). You can use pyenv for managing multiple Python versions installed on a single machine.
• Install pnpm version 8 or above (which can be checked by running pnpm --version)
• Install nx version 15.4.5. After you install Node.js call npm install -g [email protected]

Optional

• Install PDM version 2.3 or above (which can be checked by running pdm --version)
  • you need this one if you want to run pdm install command in packages/backend or packages/workers outside docker container
• Install AWS CLI version 2 (which can be checked by running aws --version)
  • you need this one if you want to deploy SaaS Boilerplate to AWS from your machine

Fresh installation

Setup using CLI starter kit

You can use a special CLI tool to run a new local instance of the SaaS Boilerplate as soon as possible. It will clone the repository and take care of setting up the environment. Run the following command in the directory where you would like to create a new project:

Using npm:

npm init saas-boilerplate

Using pnpm:

pnpm create saas-boilerplate

Using yarn:

yarn create saas-boilerplate

Manual setup

For the manual setup clone this repository and follow the steps in Getting started guide.

Run existing project

Install dependencies

The project is configured to use pnpm workspaces, which means that you can install node_modules of all packages in repository, with single command:

pnpm install

Start the app

Start backend

nx run core:docker-compose:up

or a shorter version:

make up

Start webapp

nx start webapp

Local documentation

In order to run your local documentation server execute following command:

nx start docs

Tech stack

Front-end stack:

• React
• GraphQL
• Apollo Client
• styled-components
• jest
• Storybook
• Vite

Back-end stack:

• Python
• Django
• Django REST Framework
• Graphene Django
• dj-stripe
• Postgres

Infrastructure:

• NX
• AWS infrastructure written in AWS CDK
• Github or Bitbucket

3rd party services:

• Stripe
• Contentful
• Sentry
• SonarCloud
• OpenAI

The detailed stack description is available in the documentation.

How was the SaaS Boilerplate created?

In our experience in Apptension, we have built hundreds of web and mobile applications over the years and saw a bunch of standard features. For example, all applications (or at least 99% of them) need a login, email templating, payments and subscriptions, CMS integration, and more.

A broader list of elements that can be implemented in projects in this way was created after building dozens of different types of SaaS products. We analyzed them and noticed many common parts appeared virtually unchanged. So we created SaaS Boilerplate that is the base, and while it requires design or functional customization for a specific SaaS product, it dramatically reduces development time.

That's why you don't have to start by writing the code for that login or payment function. Instead, you can use off-the-shelf elements in those places and focus on creating the rest of the features unique to the project.

The development process is ongoing as we continually add new features and improve existing ones. We started with AWS Boilerplate, which evolved into the current SaaS Boilerplate. It originally contained only infrastructure (a configured AWS account) and was a template for the project, which had blanks for the back-end and front-end.

We saw that it was already a handy and very well-received tool, so the next natural step was to add more elements to it – front-end, back-end, and pack the relevant features that were most often repeated in different projects, including logging, CRUD, payments, integration with content pool, etc.

Our idea was that it shouldn't be just the code itself because SaaS Boilerplate also contains our know-how – because we gathered everything needed for development and around development in one package. So you don't have to think about choosing code formatting, matching different tools and their subsequent configuration, etc. Moreover, such a package is proven and battle-tested – you can just upload it to the cloud and start so-called heavy development.

Who are we?

We're Apptension, a team that turns ideas into world-class software using expertise in technology, design, and product management. We work with founders, investors, and creative agencies to help them bring uncommon ideas to the market.

Our partners value our outside-the-box thinking, clear and honest communication, and reliability – even in the most dynamic and time-compressed projects. Among our clients – plenty of early-stage startups, as well as international tech behemoths like Netflix and Uber. We live and breathe tech – and we're darn good at it.

To bring even more value to our partners, we create bespoke tools (like SaaS Boilerplate), allowing us to shorten time-to-market while avoiding technical debt.

License

SaaS Boilerplate is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing to SaaS Boilerplate

We welcome contributions from anyone interested in improving SaaS Boilerplate. Please keep in mind that this project follows a Code of Conduct to ensure a welcoming community for all.

For more detailed information on how to contribute to this project, please refer to our Contributing Guide.

Thank you for considering contributing to SaaS Boilerplate!