Where to Deploy a SaaS Boilerplate

For a boilerplate that has no paying customers yet, the cheapest place to run its app and a PostgreSQL database is Light Cloud at $5 a month, followed by Railway at $5 plus usage. Vercel, the host that ShipFast, Makerkit and Supastarter all point you to, costs $20 a month once the app takes money, plus the database. That gap matters most for Supastarter and Open SaaS, which keep their data in plain Postgres. ShipFast and Makerkit keep theirs in MongoDB Atlas or Supabase, so only the app moves and that service stays on its own bill.

We make Light Cloud, the first row below, so here is the method before the table. Every number links to the page it came from.

What the four kits actually need

A boilerplate is a promise that the boring parts are done. Where it runs is the part the kit can't decide for you, and each of the four says something different about it.

ShipFast is a Next.js app whose own stack list reads "MongoDB / Supabase" (shipfa.st). The deployment page is three lines long: push to a private GitHub repo, then "use your favorite hosting provider (Vercel for me)", or anywhere Next.js runs, naming Netlify and Render too (deployment docs). Its default database is a MongoDB Atlas cluster, opened to 0.0.0.0/0 so the host can reach it.

Makerkit's Next.js Supabase kit is built on Supabase for auth and data, and calls Vercel "the recommended hosting platform" (Vercel guide). It also documents Cloudflare and Docker. Its Docker guide generates a Dockerfile, switches Next.js to standalone output and runs the container with a 512 MB memory limit (Docker guide).

Supastarter runs on "any hosting provider that supports Node.js", recommends Vercel, and has guides for Render, Fly.io, Netlify, Docker, Coolify and Railway (deployment overview). Its database is PostgreSQL by default, through Prisma or Drizzle, with any Postgres provider (database docs).

Open SaaS sits on Wasp: a React client, a Node.js server and Postgres. The quickest route is Wasp's one-command deploy to Fly.io or Railway (Open SaaS docs), and Wasp has written guides for Render, Heroku, Netlify and Cloudflare as well (Wasp docs).

So the job is the same for all four: run one server-rendered app, keep a database next to it, and don't pay much for either before launch.

How we ranked

The reference app is one boilerplate app, server-rendered Next.js or a Wasp Node server, plus a PostgreSQL database and a custom domain, at about 1,000 requests a day. Each platform gets its cheapest plan that allows a paid product. Prices are list prices from the vendors' own pages, checked on 2026-10-13, in US dollars, no trial credits.

The first column shows which of the four kits names the platform in its own docs, because a written guide saves an evening. And the second shows whether the app costs anything while nobody is using it, which before launch is most of the day.

Kept running all month, with no scale to zero, the same app gets the Always on prices in the table. Light Cloud comes fifth of seven there at about $56, because an always-on instance needs the $19 Starter plan and a Micro costs about $52 a month. Platforms that run the app only as functions have no documented way to keep it running, so they're listed last.

The ranking

Scale to zeroAlways on

#PlatformNamed in the kits' docsApp while idleApp + Postgres a month

1

Light Cloud

Founders who want a boilerplate's Next.js or Node app and its Postgres database on one $5 bill while nobody is paying yet

$5

Founders who want a boilerplate's Next.js or Node app and its Postgres database on one $5 bill while nobody is paying yetPrice: all in, Lite plan

Named in the kits' docsNone of the fourApp while idleScales to zero, costs $0

$5

all in, Lite plan

2

Railway

Open SaaS and Supastarter users who want a documented one-command or guided deploy at the same starting price

$5+

Open SaaS and Supastarter users who want a documented one-command or guided deploy at the same starting pricePrice: plus usage over $5

Named in the kits' docsOpen SaaS, SupastarterApp while idleSleep is opt-in

$5+

plus usage over $5

3

Netlify

Next.js kits that want a first-party Postgres whose previews get a copy of production data

$9+

Next.js kits that want a first-party Postgres whose previews get a copy of production dataPrice: Personal plan credits

Named in the kits' docsShipFast, SupastarterApp while idleFunctions, idle is free

$9+

Personal plan credits

4

Heroku

Teams that know git push to Heroku and want Wasp's written Heroku guide for Open SaaS

$10-12

Teams that know git push to Heroku and want Wasp's written Heroku guide for Open SaaSPrice: Eco or Basic dyno

Named in the kits' docsOpen SaaSApp while idleEco sleeps; Basic bills 24/7

$10-12

Eco or Basic dyno

5

Render

The kit with a separate long-running API, such as Supastarter's standalone API, on fixed monthly prices

$13.30

The kit with a separate long-running API, such as Supastarter's standalone API, on fixed monthly pricesPrice: Starter service + Postgres

Named in the kits' docsShipFast, Supastarter, Open SaaSApp while idleNo scale to zero documented

$13.30

Starter service + Postgres

6

Vercel

Next.js kits used exactly as their authors deploy them, with the least setup

$20+

Next.js kits used exactly as their authors deploy them, with the least setupPrice: Pro, plus a database

Named in the kits' docsShipFast, Makerkit, SupastarterApp while idleFunctions, nothing between requests

$20+

Pro, plus a database

7

Fly.io

Open SaaS through Wasp's one-command deploy, for apps that need regions close to users

~$40

Open SaaS through Wasp's one-command deploy, for apps that need regions close to usersPrice: with Managed Postgres

Named in the kits' docsOpen SaaS, SupastarterApp while idleMachines stop when idle

~$40

with Managed Postgres

List prices from each vendor's own pricing and docs pages, checked 2026-10-13, US dollars. Reference app: one server-rendered Next.js or Node.js app from a boilerplate, a PostgreSQL database, a custom domain and about 1,000 requests a day, on the cheapest plan that allows a paid product. Light Cloud usage uses the pricing page's assumption of 0.2 s of instance time per request. Kits that keep their data in Supabase or MongoDB Atlas add that service's bill on top. The Always on view keeps the app running all month with no scale to zero, at each platform's cheapest documented way to do that.

1. Light Cloud

Best for: founders who want the app and its Postgres on one $5 bill while nobody is paying.

Lite is $5 a month with $5 of usage included, a custom domain and one shared PostgreSQL database (pricing). The reference app uses about $4.24 of that: $4 for the database, about $0.20 for 1,000 requests a day at 0.2 s each, and a few cents of builds. Server-rendered Next.js runs on a Micro instance that scales between 0 and 3, and the Next.js tutorial shows the detection and the output: "standalone" setting that cut my image from 201 MB to 74 MB. That's the same switch Makerkit's Docker guide makes. For Supastarter or a Node backend, the Postgres tutorial covers the connection string, including the sslmode suffix that node-postgres needs.

None of the four kits mentions us, so you're on your own docs. We host Next.js and Node.js apps from a plain repository, and the database is a Postgres database on the same bill. Every branch gets branch preview URLs at no idle cost, and you can deploy from Cursor or Claude Code if that's how the kit got written in the first place.

Open SaaS deserves its own paragraph. The template gallery has an Open SaaS stack that creates the Wasp app and a shared Postgres database with DATABASE_URL already wired. But stacks are created always-on so the first visit is warm, and an always-on Micro is about $52 a month and needs Starter. Set min instances to 0 in Scaling afterwards and it bills like any other app, with a cold start of 3.1 to 3.7 seconds after a quiet spell.

What's missing: no MongoDB, so ShipFast's default database stays on Atlas. There are no cron jobs or background workers, which matters once the app needs a nightly job, and no built-in auth or email, which the kits bring themselves. Redirect files such as vercel.json are ignored. And the shared database tier runs in Belgium only.

2. Railway

Best for: Open SaaS and Supastarter users who want a documented deploy at the same starting price.

Hobby is $5 a month with $5 of usage included, and usage is billed by the RAM and CPU the services actually use: $10 per GB of RAM a month and $20 per vCPU a month (plans). Wasp's Railway command creates the client, the server and a Postgres service and wires DATABASE_URL for you (Wasp on Railway). Supastarter's docs quote Railway's $5 starting price themselves.

Railway also has cron jobs and private networking on every plan, the two things a SaaS tends to want by month three. Two catches: Railway recommends Pro, $20 a month, for commercial apps, and the free plan has no custom domains.

3. Netlify

Best for: Next.js kits that want first-party Postgres with real data in every preview.

Personal is $9 a month for 1,000 credits (plans). Function compute is 10 credits per GB-hour, so 1,000 requests a day at 0.2 s each with the default 1 GB of memory comes to about 17 credits a month; production deploys cost 15 credits each, so a busy week of shipping eats more than the traffic does. Netlify Database is a first-party managed Postgres, and each deploy preview gets its own database branch with a copy of the production data taken when the preview is created.

Netlify hasn't published a storage rate for the database yet, so the long-run price has a blank in it. Password protection is a Pro feature, not on Personal. When credits run out without auto recharge, every project on the team pauses.

4. Heroku

Best for: teams who already know git push heroku and want Wasp's Heroku guide.

An Eco dyno is $5 for 1,000 shared hours and sleeps after 30 minutes idle, but only personal apps can use it; Essential-0 Postgres is $5 (pricing). That's $10, or $12 with an always-on Basic dyno. Wasp keeps a written Heroku guide, so Open SaaS has a known path there.

Heroku needs a card before you deploy, and it moved to a sustaining engineering model on 2026-02-06: stability and security, not new features. Fine for an app you'll run for a while. Odd for one you're starting today.

5. Render

Best for: a kit with a separate long-running API, on fixed prices.

A Starter web service is $7 a month for 512 MB, and the smallest Postgres is $6 plus $0.30 per GB (pricing): $13.30. Render and Vercel are the two hosts named by three of the four kits; for Render it's ShipFast's deployment page, Supastarter's guide and Wasp's Blueprint guide. If you run Supastarter's API as its own service, which its docs suggest for a "long-running" API, Render's fixed instances and private network suit that shape.

The free tier spins down after 15 minutes and takes about a minute to wake, and free Postgres expires after 30 days (free tier docs), so a real product starts on paid instances that bill around the clock.

6. Vercel

Best for: Next.js kits deployed exactly the way their authors do it.

This is the path of least resistance, and three kits say so. The catch is the plan. ShipFast's FAQ says Vercel lets you "host a project for free", but Vercel's own fair use guidelines limit Hobby to non-commercial use and count taking payments as commercial. A SaaS needs Pro: $20 a month per deploying seat with $20 of usage included (Pro plan). The database comes from a Marketplace partner, billed separately.

Previews are excellent and on every plan. A shared password on staging costs $20 per project a month on Pro since the September 2026 change.

7. Fly.io

Best for: Open SaaS through Wasp's one-command deploy, with regions near your users.

Wasp's Fly command creates three apps: the client, the server and the database (Wasp on Fly). The smallest always-on machine is $2.19 a month, but Fly calls its self-managed Postgres officially unsupported, and Managed Postgres starts at $38 plus $0.28 per GB (Postgres docs). That puts a supported setup near $40.

There's no free tier for new accounts, and Fly doesn't support billing alerts yet.

Where the others beat us

The written guide is the big one. Every other row has at least one kit that tells you, step by step, how to deploy there; we have none, so you follow our Next.js tutorial instead of the kit's. If you picked Makerkit or ShipFast for Supabase or MongoDB, we only take the app, not the data layer. Railway gives Open SaaS a one-command deploy at our price, with the cron jobs a SaaS eventually needs. Netlify's previews copy production data into a database branch, while ours share the production database until you point them elsewhere. And if you want Vercel's Next.js features as the kit authors use them, Vercel is the honest answer.

Where we're ahead is the month before launch: one bill of $5 covering the app and Postgres, no cost while nobody visits, a preview of every branch, and a password on staging on any plan (the five-minute setup). If that is the stretch you're in, SaaS boilerplate hosting can stay at $5 until the first invoice goes out.

Which kit did you buy, and where did its docs send you?