When choosing a SaaS starter kit for Laravel, your decision should be based on the features you need, your budget, and how actively maintained the project is. I'll break down the kits you mentioned, as well as a couple of other popular options.
1. Larafast
- Website: https://larafast.com/
- Features: Comes packed with authentication, subscriptions (with Stripe), teams, two-factor auth, invoicing, role/permission management, profile management, and more.
- Pros: Modern stack, polished UI, active development.
- Cons: No true multi-tenancy (as in separate databases per tenant), but has team-based features.
- Best for: SaaS apps using a single database with team support.
2. SaasyKit
- Website: https://saasykit.com/
- Features: Auth, billing (subscriptions and one-time payments), Teams, various integrations, good documentation.
- Pros: Handles both recurring and one-time payments, quick setup.
- Cons: Multi-tenancy isn’t a primary focus (check what type of isolation you need).
- Best for: Quick MVPs, standard SaaS apps.
3. Other Notable Kits
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Wave (by TheDevDojo)
- Website: https://wave.devdojo.com/
- Features: Auth, profile, payments (via Paddle/Stripe), roles, notifications, teams, and more.
- Open Source: Yes (free).
- Multi-tenancy: Not out of the box; can be extended.
- Good for: Free and feature-rich starter.
-
Laravel Spark
- Website: https://spark.laravel.com/
- Features: Billing (Stripe/Braintree/Paddle), teams, coupons, invoices, etc.
- Pros: Maintained by Laravel team; clean codebase.
- Cons: Paid; does not offer multi-tenancy beyond teams.
- Multi-tenancy: Teams only, not true database isolation.
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Lunar SaaS Kit (LunarTenancy)
- Website: https://github.com/tenancy/tenancy
- Features: True multi-tenancy with the ability to use separate DBs per tenant.
- Pros: Best if you require tenant database isolation.
- Cons: Requires hands-on setup; not as "batteries-included."
What to Consider:
- Subscriptions & One-Time Payments: Most commercial kits now handle both (usually via Stripe), so you’re covered.
- Multi-Tenancy: There’s a difference between "teams" (shared DB with permission scoping) versus "true multi-tenancy" (separate DB/schema per tenant). The latter is more advanced and designed for B2B SaaS apps.
Recommendations:
- For standard SaaS with teams and billing, go for Larafast or Saasykit.
- For free and simple setup, try Wave.
- For true multi-tenancy, look into the tenancy/tenancy package and integrate it with your preferred starter kit (this requires more coding).
- For long-term support, Laravel Spark is a solid bet.
Example: Using Tenancy for Laravel If you want to add multi-tenancy to any of these kits, you can use the tenancy package. Here’s a minimal setup example:
composer require tenancy/tenancy
php artisan tenancy:install
php artisan migrate
You would then adjust your app to provision database/schema per tenant and scope logic accordingly.
Summary Table
| Kit | Auth | Billing | Teams | True Multi-Tenancy | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larafast | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Paid |
| Saasykit | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Paid |
| Wave | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Free |
| Spark | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Paid |
| Laravel Tenancy | No | No | No | Yes | Free/open |
Final Tip: Always check the latest docs/releases for each kit, as their offerings change over time.
Let me know if you want code samples for integrating any specific payment or multi-tenancy solution!