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KitForStartups – The Open Source SvelteKit SaaS Boilerplate

110 points by segbedji 3y ago

This is a project I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks now, and I feel it’s now in a state I can share it with the community here on Discord. It all started when I saw Marc Lou launched ShipFast (a paid Next.js startup boilerplate). I wanted to build something similar for SvelteKit. I was planning to make it a paid product, but ended up open sourcing it. You can see KitForStartups as a toolkit you can use to prototype and ship faster your MVPs, web applications, etc. It comes with support for many databases (SQLite w/Turso, MySQL and Postgres), authentication (email + password, OAuth with Google and GitHub), email sending with Resend (local emails are configured to be sent with MailHog for faster debugging), toast notifications with Melt UI, etc… I’m still actively working on the project and on things like support for Supabase, magic link authentication, MailGun, a CLI, etc… Give a look at the repo here https://github.com/okupter/kitforstartups https://github.com/okupter/kitforstartups, and please feel free to open an issue or PR is there’s something you’d like to see included.

mtmail 3y ago
Worth adding to https://github.com/melvin0008/awesome-projects-boilerplates https://github.com/melvin0008/awesome-projects-boilerplates
- segbedji 3y ago
  Thanks, will do that.
lord-squirrel 3y ago
I think the name is pretty generic/bad. Maybe you could incorporate some nordic myth etc since they are adding the new runes api to svelte. One thing that could be nice is using something like Zod for input validation, I see alot of "// TODO: validation" ;) Otherwise it looks really cool and might be something I would use for my next sveltekit project, right now I just run with pocketbase + sveltekit for my app.
- segbedji 3y ago
  I've been thinking about the right balance for validation. Should I just do a simple checks (check if fields are not undefined, empty strings, etc…), or just plug in Zod. I will probably go with the latter.
wmal 3y ago
Good to see another start kit. I was recently looking for one. I was ready to trade the need of training myself in some technologies (Svelte in your case) for a good set of "batteries included". I would suggest that you either put an online demo and include a link in a prominent place in your README, or describe the features in a clearer way. You currently list Stripe, Lemon Squeezy etc. in your Tech Stack section. ShipFast has a better way of doing that on their website. They list features like email, payment, login, etc. When you click on the feature they display the options they support including the technical details.
- segbedji 3y ago
  I have kitforstartups.com, and yeah, the final goal is to add some example, and more documentation there.
  - breakfastduck 3y ago
    That returns a 404.
    - earthling8118 3y ago
      That's the intended response when the page can't be found. They never said there was a site hosted there. Just that the domain was owned.
      - breakfastduck 3y ago
        Yeah, I know how a 404 works. Their comment was misleading and I wasn't the only person who felt that way.
  - dikaio 3y ago
    Link is broken. Thanks for open sourcing this!
samsquire 3y ago
Wouldn't it be great to just: import authentication import authorisation import admin-dashboard import payments import backups import marketplace-ecommerce-frontend import email-provider import job-queue import database import ./mysaasmodel import analytics import omnichannel-notifications # email, web chat, post, notifications import code-hosting import business-rule-engine import subscriptions import landing-page import blog import government-tax-reporting import accounting import business-registration import business-banking import pricing-page import newsletter import server-vendor import product-database import enterprise-resource-planning import website import mobile-application And everything just ties itself together. You could wrap each service on a market exchange and they could all talk, negotiate on an event bus. EDIT: Integration and costs are painful, if I could do things based on "rates", rates could scale? Sorry to hijack your announcement, just a thought about SaaS kits, I always worry about their sustainability and maintenance into the future. It would be good if computing had some stable foundations. (The nobody got fired for picking X)
- ruslan_talpa 3y ago
  I guess i am only 20% there with authentication/authorization/rest/db :(
- chrismorgan 3y ago
  > import authorisation +153, I love being able to use regular English spelling instead of being pushed into using US spelling.
  - mixmastamyk 3y ago
    Little known fact but almost all “US spelling” came from Britain or was derived more directly from Greek (s/z). Also some incursions from French were dropped. Further, it was the British that changed during the 18/19th century in accent and spelling, around the decline of the British Empire. So avoiding the differences on purity grounds is not particularly logical.
    - 3y ago
fakedang 3y ago
Just tossing a question out there to more experienced folks. Doesn't it make more sense to use a more robust structure such as Django or Rails for the backend with React or Svelte for the front end, especially for starter kits like these? I think that would be more scalable when looking in the long term, as compared to relying on a single framework. There's the obvious disadvantage of having to learn more frameworks and possibly a language too, but won't it pay off later when you want to scale your SaaS?
- kevinak 3y ago
  Nah, it’s unnecessary- you can do everything in Kit, adding a pure backend would just add extra work for no reason. Kit is built for serverless so you won’t have any issues with scaling.
  - Grimburger 3y ago
    > adding a pure backend would just add extra work for no reason I see Django/React everywhere with clients though. It's far more popular than you might think, though the reasoning why can be wildly different.
- segbedji 3y ago
  +1 to what @kevinak said. SvelteKit already provides some good ways to handle basic backend features. API routes, form actions etc... work great. If needed, once can also plug in a customer Express or other Node.js servers, https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/adapter-node#custom-server https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/adapter-node#custom-server.
bcjordan 3y ago
You know I'm a bit surprised Stripe has not put out more boilerplates that include integration with their platform. It's often a feature not added / coming soon in the OSS SaaS boilerplates I've seen.
- brianbreslin 3y ago
  Agreed. What do you think the reason for not doing it would be? Liability? Are they responsible if someone takes it and modifies code? I've gotta assume they could cover their butts with a terms of use. This could be a very solid best practices utilizing product if they did put it out.
tarunvelli 3y ago
Looks great! I'm working on a similar starter kit for rails here https://github.com/tarunvelli/rails-tabler-starter https://github.com/tarunvelli/rails-tabler-starter
- segbedji 3y ago
  I don't know much about Rails. But how easy is it to add a CLI, where users can select the options they want and get a scaffold generated with those specifically.
  - tomcam 3y ago
    I think that’s called Rails
  - tarunvelli 3y ago
    Rails comes with a CLI scaffold generator, which can be customized too.
siliconc0w 3y ago
I recently looked at Django Pegasus and ended up just compiling my own 'kit'. There is some value on curation but ultimately the hard part is understanding your chosen libraries and customization for your use case.
swyx 3y ago
having a running demo would be great
gremlinsinc 3y ago
this looks really cool but what I'd like to see is something like this packaged as an addon to just a sveltekit install, as in you can choose which pieces you need, more modular, could even break it out into separate packages in a mono repo, @kfs/db, @kfs/auth, @kfs/stripe, @kfs/lemonsqueezy, the main reason being if I want updates I'd need to merge in upstream and manage merge conflicts etc with own changes, the other way I'd just update packages and fix breaking changes.
- segbedji 3y ago
  That's actually a very good idea. I was thinking about using a CLI, but this will make that not necessary, and easily scalable. Thanks for the idea.
tomcam 3y ago
Congratulations on releasing such a big project! This is exciting.

110 points by segbedji 3y ago

mtmail 3y ago

Worth adding to https://github.com/melvin0008/awesome-projects-boilerplates https://github.com/melvin0008/awesome-projects-boilerplates

segbedji 3y ago
Thanks, will do that.

lord-squirrel 3y ago

I think the name is pretty generic/bad. Maybe you could incorporate some nordic myth etc since they are adding the new runes api to svelte. One thing that could be nice is using something like Zod for input validation, I see alot of "// TODO: validation" ;) Otherwise it looks really cool and might be something I would use for my next sveltekit project, right now I just run with pocketbase + sveltekit for my app.

segbedji 3y ago
I've been thinking about the right balance for validation. Should I just do a simple checks (check if fields are not undefined, empty strings, etc…), or just plug in Zod. I will probably go with the latter.

wmal 3y ago

Good to see another start kit. I was recently looking for one. I was ready to trade the need of training myself in some technologies (Svelte in your case) for a good set of "batteries included". I would suggest that you either put an online demo and include a link in a prominent place in your README, or describe the features in a clearer way. You currently list Stripe, Lemon Squeezy etc. in your Tech Stack section. ShipFast has a better way of doing that on their website. They list features like email, payment, login, etc. When you click on the feature they display the options they support including the technical details.

segbedji 3y ago
I have kitforstartups.com, and yeah, the final goal is to add some example, and more documentation there.
- breakfastduck 3y ago
  That returns a 404.
  - earthling8118 3y ago
    That's the intended response when the page can't be found. They never said there was a site hosted there. Just that the domain was owned.
    - breakfastduck 3y ago
      Yeah, I know how a 404 works. Their comment was misleading and I wasn't the only person who felt that way.
- dikaio 3y ago
  Link is broken. Thanks for open sourcing this!

samsquire 3y ago

Wouldn't it be great to just: import authentication import authorisation import admin-dashboard import payments import backups import marketplace-ecommerce-frontend import email-provider import job-queue import database import ./mysaasmodel import analytics import omnichannel-notifications # email, web chat, post, notifications import code-hosting import business-rule-engine import subscriptions import landing-page import blog import government-tax-reporting import accounting import business-registration import business-banking import pricing-page import newsletter import server-vendor import product-database import enterprise-resource-planning import website import mobile-application And everything just ties itself together. You could wrap each service on a market exchange and they could all talk, negotiate on an event bus. EDIT: Integration and costs are painful, if I could do things based on "rates", rates could scale? Sorry to hijack your announcement, just a thought about SaaS kits, I always worry about their sustainability and maintenance into the future. It would be good if computing had some stable foundations. (The nobody got fired for picking X)

ruslan_talpa 3y ago
I guess i am only 20% there with authentication/authorization/rest/db :(
chrismorgan 3y ago
> import authorisation +153, I love being able to use regular English spelling instead of being pushed into using US spelling.
- mixmastamyk 3y ago
  Little known fact but almost all “US spelling” came from Britain or was derived more directly from Greek (s/z). Also some incursions from French were dropped. Further, it was the British that changed during the 18/19th century in accent and spelling, around the decline of the British Empire. So avoiding the differences on purity grounds is not particularly logical.
  - 3y ago

fakedang 3y ago

Just tossing a question out there to more experienced folks. Doesn't it make more sense to use a more robust structure such as Django or Rails for the backend with React or Svelte for the front end, especially for starter kits like these? I think that would be more scalable when looking in the long term, as compared to relying on a single framework. There's the obvious disadvantage of having to learn more frameworks and possibly a language too, but won't it pay off later when you want to scale your SaaS?

kevinak 3y ago
Nah, it’s unnecessary- you can do everything in Kit, adding a pure backend would just add extra work for no reason. Kit is built for serverless so you won’t have any issues with scaling.
- Grimburger 3y ago
  > adding a pure backend would just add extra work for no reason I see Django/React everywhere with clients though. It's far more popular than you might think, though the reasoning why can be wildly different.
segbedji 3y ago
+1 to what @kevinak said. SvelteKit already provides some good ways to handle basic backend features. API routes, form actions etc... work great. If needed, once can also plug in a customer Express or other Node.js servers, https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/adapter-node#custom-server https://kit.svelte.dev/docs/adapter-node#custom-server.

bcjordan 3y ago

You know I'm a bit surprised Stripe has not put out more boilerplates that include integration with their platform. It's often a feature not added / coming soon in the OSS SaaS boilerplates I've seen.

brianbreslin 3y ago
Agreed. What do you think the reason for not doing it would be? Liability? Are they responsible if someone takes it and modifies code? I've gotta assume they could cover their butts with a terms of use. This could be a very solid best practices utilizing product if they did put it out.

tarunvelli 3y ago

Looks great! I'm working on a similar starter kit for rails here https://github.com/tarunvelli/rails-tabler-starter https://github.com/tarunvelli/rails-tabler-starter

segbedji 3y ago
I don't know much about Rails. But how easy is it to add a CLI, where users can select the options they want and get a scaffold generated with those specifically.
- tomcam 3y ago
  I think that’s called Rails
- tarunvelli 3y ago
  Rails comes with a CLI scaffold generator, which can be customized too.

siliconc0w 3y ago

I recently looked at Django Pegasus and ended up just compiling my own 'kit'. There is some value on curation but ultimately the hard part is understanding your chosen libraries and customization for your use case.

swyx 3y ago

having a running demo would be great

gremlinsinc 3y ago

this looks really cool but what I'd like to see is something like this packaged as an addon to just a sveltekit install, as in you can choose which pieces you need, more modular, could even break it out into separate packages in a mono repo, @kfs/db, @kfs/auth, @kfs/stripe, @kfs/lemonsqueezy, the main reason being if I want updates I'd need to merge in upstream and manage merge conflicts etc with own changes, the other way I'd just update packages and fix breaking changes.

segbedji 3y ago
That's actually a very good idea. I was thinking about using a CLI, but this will make that not necessary, and easily scalable. Thanks for the idea.

tomcam 3y ago

Congratulations on releasing such a big project! This is exciting.