Makerkit vs Nextacular

When choosing between Makerkit and Nextacular, 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 Makerkit?

MakerKit is a SaaS‑starter boilerplate built for modern React/Next.js (also supporting Remix/Supabase or Firebase variants) that tries to give you a production‑ready foundation, rather than a barebones template. At its core MakerKit bundles authentication (email, social login, magic‑link, optional MFA), user and team/organization management (multi‑tenancy, roles, invitations), and subscription/billing support via payment providers (Stripe or Lemon Squeezy). The boilerplate comes styled by default using a modern UI stack with Tailwind CSS (and Shadcn/Radix‑based UI components), with light/dark mode and includes UI scaffolding for dashboards, admin panels, marketing pages, blog/documentation pages, and a customizable layout structure. MakerKit aims to reduce the time and effort needed to ship a SaaS: instead of wiring up auth, payments, data layer, UI and common SaaS flows from scratch, you get a working skeleton that you can extend, customize, and build on. This includes also support for serverless or traditional hosting setups, built‑in support for sending stylized transactional emails, and optional plugins/features (like documentation/blog generation, admin dashboards, analytics hooks, and more) to help bootstrap both the product and its public-facing/marketing side.

Developed by Giancarlo Buomprisco, Makerkit has become a popular choice among developers looking for a reliable starting point for their SaaS projects.

What is Nextacular?

Nextacular is a free, open‑source SaaS boilerplate built on Next.js (with React), using Prisma for database/ORM and styled with Tailwind CSS. It comes pre‑wired with core SaaS features: user authentication (magic‑link, OAuth/social logins via NextAuth.js), database integration (Prisma + a relational DB, e.g. PostgreSQL), multi‑tenant and workspace/team support, billing and subscription management via Stripe, customizable landing page and frontend scaffold, basic SEO setup, and email/communication support (for transactional emails, etc.). It also offers deployment‑friendly setup (with a one‑click deploy option for Vercel) and a modular, modern stack which can save significant time compared to building all infrastructure yourself. Nextacular is a good fit when you want to build a SaaS product that expects multiple organizations/teams, subscription billing, user authentication, and you prefer a clean, battle‑tested tech stack (Next.js + Prisma + Tailwind + Stripe). It’s especially attractive if you want to go from idea to a working prototype or MVP quickly without wiring all backend and billing/payment logic manually.

Created by Arjay Osma, Nextacular 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 Makerkit and Nextacular.

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

Makerkit is ideal if you're looking for a more affordable option with built-in authentication.

Nextacular stands out for its comprehensive feature set 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.