10 Years of React Starter Kit (⭑23k)

Hey everyone,

I'm excited to finally share my project here on Indie Hackers – React Starter Kit. I've been tinkering with this since way back in 2014 when I first threw it up on GitHub. At the time, React was just starting to blow up, and Webpack was this new hot thing for bundling everything together. A lot of devs, including me, were scrambling to figure out how to integrate them without reinventing the wheel every time. It caught on pretty quick because it gave folks a straightforward way to jump into modern web dev without the usual setup headaches.

Over the years, it's grown into more than just a basic boilerplate. It's become this solid foundation for building real apps, and honestly, a great way to learn best practices along the way. Early on, it was all about that "isomorphic" setup – code that runs on both client and server sides. That meant sharing logic between them, which sped things up and saved a ton of duplicate work. But as tech evolved, I shifted it to a lighter single-page app (SPA) structure with some partial server-side rendering for essentials like meta tags and critical CSS. It keeps things snappy without overcomplicating the build.

Fast forward to July 2025, and I rolled out a big update that's got me really pumped. I wanted to make sure it sets devs up for the long haul, especially with how fast everything's changing. Here's what I focused on:

- AI-first mindset: I built in hooks for popular AI tools and services right out of the box. If you're like me and want to experiment with adding smart features – think chatbots, recommendations, or even content generation – it's way easier now. No more wrestling with APIs from scratch; it's all wired up to get you prototyping fast.

- Bun.js under the hood: Switched to this as the runtime because it's quicker and leaner than Node.js for a lot of tasks. I've noticed real gains in build times and performance, especially for apps that need to handle a bunch of traffic without bogging down.

- Better Auth system: Ditched relying on third-party stuff like Firebase or Clerk. Now it's a self-hosted auth setup that's secure, flexible, and includes org/team management – super handy for SaaS ideas where you need roles and permissions without the vendor lock-in.

- ShadCN UI with Tailwind CSS: This combo has been a game-changer for me. ShadCN gives you ready-to-go components that look great and are accessible, all powered by Tailwind's utility classes. It means you can whip up custom UIs without drowning in CSS files, and everything stays responsive.

- Terraform integration: For folks deploying to the cloud, I added support for defining infrastructure as code. It's declarative, so you can track changes in version control and automate setups. Makes scaling or switching providers less of a nightmare.

I've used this kit myself for side projects and even some client work, and it's saved me countless hours. But the best part? It's open source, so you can fork it, tweak it, and make it your own. If you're building something React-based – maybe a tool, a dashboard, or your next MVP – give it a spin and let me know what you think.

What's your go-to stack these days? Have you run into any pain points with auth or AI integrations that I should consider for future updates? I'd love to hear your stories or feedback – that's what makes communities like this awesome.

Cheers,
Konstantin

P.S. Check it out on GitHub if you're curious: https://github.com/kriasoft/react-starter-kit