Achromatic vs Horizon Boilerplate

When choosing between Achromatic and Horizon Boilerplate, it's essential to understand the key differences that make each boilerplate unique. Both are excellent choices for building SaaS applications, but they cater to different needs and development approaches.

What is Achromatic?

Achromatic is a Next.js 15–based SaaS starter that tries to cover most of the groundwork developers usually build themselves: authentication, organizations, role management, billing, email, and a consistent UI built on shadcn/ui and Tailwind. The appeal is that it doesn’t just drop in loose components — the pieces are wired together in a way that feels closer to a real application than a template. The onboarding flow, subscription logic, and organization system actually work out of the box, which makes it easy to jump into feature development without spending days on the usual boilerplate chores. There are a few things worth noting, though. The project is relatively new, and the ecosystem around it is still small, so you’re buying into a structure that depends heavily on the maintainer’s ongoing involvement. It’s an opinionated setup, which is great if you like the architecture as-is, but less ideal if you prefer a lighter, more minimal foundation. Achromatic positions itself as a time-saver for developers who want a polished starting point rather than assembling every piece manually, and it mostly succeeds at that. Still, it’s best suited for teams comfortable adopting someone else’s patterns and conventions anyone needing maximum flexibility might find it a bit heavier than they’d like.

Developed by Mahmut Jomaa, Achromatic has become a popular choice among developers looking for a reliable starting point for their SaaS projects.

What is Horizon Boilerplate?

Horizon UI Boilerplate is a full‑stack / UI‑kit + boilerplate template for web applications built on modern front‑end and backend technologies. It is designed to help developers jump‑start a project (dashboard, SaaS app, admin panel, landing pages, etc.) without building all the plumbing and UI from scratch. Under the hood, it uses Next.js (recent version), along with React, and it supports styling with Tailwind CSS. It also integrates with Supabase for database/auth (or backend services) and Stripe for payment/billing handling providing a foundation for SaaS‑style apps with user authentication, subscriptions, payments, and user sessions. It supplies a large library of ready-made frontend building blocks: dashboards, admin layouts, landing pages, authentication screens, UI components (buttons, cards, navbars, form elements, etc.), and example page templates. This offers a starting point with both structural and visual parts already assembled. The boilerplate is offered in multiple variants: including a version built with Chakra UI or integration with shadcn/ui / Shadcn‑styled components or Tailwind, depending on your preference.

Created by Vlad Mihalache, Horizon Boilerplate offers a robust foundation for building scalable SaaS applications.

When building a SaaS application, choosing the right payment integration is crucial for monetization success. Let's compare the payment options available in Achromatic and Horizon Boilerplate.

Both Achromatic and Horizon Boilerplate are excellent choices for building SaaS applications. Your decision should be based on your specific requirements, budget, and technical preferences.

Achromatic is ideal if you're looking for a feature-rich solution with built-in authentication.

Horizon Boilerplate stands out for its competitive pricing and is perfect for developers who need authentication.

Ultimately, both boilerplates will help you launch your SaaS product faster and more efficiently. Review the detailed comparison above, consider your project requirements, and choose the one that aligns best with your goals.