next-js-boilerplate vs react-starter-kit
Two of the top projects in SaaS boilerplates, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
next-js-boilerplate
Next.js 16 starter with Clerk auth, Drizzle ORM, Tailwind 4 and tooling
react-starter-kit
Full-stack SaaS monorepo template on React 19, tRPC and Cloudflare Workers
Verdict
next-js-boilerplate ranks higher, 63 to 57. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, next-js-boilerplate leads on 2, react-starter-kit on 2 and 1 is even.
- Adoptionreact-starter-kit leads by 23 points, 64 to 41: a wide gap.
- Freshnessnext-js-boilerplate leads by 30 points, 100 to 70: a wide gap.
- Maintenancenext-js-boilerplate leads by 27 points, 87 to 60: a wide gap.
- Easy to runEven at 33.
- Agent-readyreact-starter-kit leads by 15 points, 85 to 70: a wide gap.
Pick next-js-boilerplate if you are
Developers starting a Next.js app with auth, database and tooling set up
- Runs locally with embedded PGlite database, no Docker or extra setup
- Broad dev tooling preconfigured: Vitest, Playwright, Storybook, Commitlint, Knip, i18n-check
Pick react-starter-kit if you are
TypeScript teams building a SaaS on Cloudflare's edge
- Auth, organizations and Stripe billing are already wired in
- One TypeScript type contract from Drizzle schema through tRPC to the React UI
| What we compare | next-js-boilerplate | react-starter-kit |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 41, known | 64, popular |
| Freshness | 100, active | 70, recent |
| Maintenance | 87, healthy | 60, fair |
| Easy to run | 33, some setup | 33, some setup |
| Agent-ready | 70, partly | 85, ready |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 13.1k | 23.7k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Aug 2015 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Docker | No | No |
| GPU | Not needed | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Not stated |
next-js-boilerplate
A clone-and-edit Next.js App Router starter in TypeScript with Tailwind CSS 4, Clerk authentication, and Drizzle ORM on PostgreSQL (PGlite locally, Neon suggested for production). It also wires in next-intl i18n, Vitest, Playwright, Storybook, Sentry, LogTape and Arcjet. It includes no AI features beyond agent instruction files and CodeRabbit review.
Who it is for: Developers starting a Next.js app with auth, database and tooling set up
Strengths
- Runs locally with embedded PGlite database, no Docker or extra setup
- Broad dev tooling preconfigured: Vitest, Playwright, Storybook, Commitlint, Knip, i18n-check
- Drizzle ORM supports PostgreSQL, SQLite and MySQL, with migration scripts
- Includes instruction files for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and Copilot
Weaknesses
- Auth depends on a hosted Clerk account and API keys
- No billing; Stripe, teams, RBAC and shadcn UI are in the paid Pro kit
- No built-in AI features such as chat or model calls
- Many sponsor-linked services (Sentry, Arcjet, Crowdin, Better Stack) to configure or strip out
- TypeScript
- Needs Node.js 24+, npm, Clerk, PostgreSQL (PGlite locally, Neon optional), Sentry, Crowdin, Arcjet
- GitHub template
- ⚠️ .env file committed
- sign-in: Clerk
react-starter-kit
A GitHub template for SaaS apps split into three Cloudflare Workers (Astro marketing site, React 19 SPA, Hono and tRPC API) joined by service bindings. Better Auth handles email OTP, passkeys, Google OAuth and organizations, with optional Stripe subscriptions. Drizzle ORM talks to Neon PostgreSQL through Hyperdrive, provisioned with Terraform.
Who it is for: TypeScript teams building a SaaS on Cloudflare's edge
Strengths
- Auth, organizations and Stripe billing are already wired in
- One TypeScript type contract from Drizzle schema through tRPC to the React UI
- Separate migrate and deploy scripts for staging and production, same script in CI
- A merge-seed skill pulls upstream template changes into your project
Weaknesses
- Tied to Cloudflare Workers, Neon PostgreSQL and Hyperdrive; no alternative runtime documented
- Requires Bun 1.4+ instead of Node.js and npm
- README describes no built-in AI features; they must be added yourself
- Email OTP sign-in needs a verified Resend domain for users other than you
- TypeScript
- Needs Cloudflare Workers, Neon PostgreSQL, Bun, Resend, Stripe (optional), Terraform
- GitHub template
- ⚠️ .env file committed
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