I built a SaaS boilerplate marketplace that works outside the US
I'm a solo developer and I kept hitting the same wall: every Next.js boilerplate on the market requires Stripe for payments. Stripe only operates in 46 countries. That excludes developers in most of the world.
So I built CheapStack: 8 affordable starter kits with Polar.sh payments that work in 130+ countries.
What's included:
- SaaS Boilerplate ($59) with multi-tenancy, Stripe + Polar dual payments, admin dashboard
- SaaS Starter ($49) with auth, payments, database
- Landing Page Kit, Admin Dashboard, API Starter, Component Pack, Newsletter Template, AI Chatbot Starter
- All 8 kits in a Pro Bundle for $79 — one-time, lifetime access
First sale came within days of launching. Still early, but the thesis is validated: developers outside the US want affordable tools that work in their countries.
One thing I learned: building the content site around the products (comparisons, boilerplate feature pages, blog) has been the biggest traffic driver so far. 90+ pages, all statically generated, zero hosting cost on Cloudflare.
Happy to answer questions about payments outside the US, pricing strategy, or the tech stack.
The payment constraint gives you something most boilerplates don't have: a reason to be chosen before anyone compares features.
A developer who can't use the default payment stack isn't looking for a slightly better starter kit. They're looking for one that doesn't make them redesign billing before they've even started building.
Exactly. This is an issue that I personally faced as well and spent days trying to discover a platform that will actually approve my site and let me add products, considering the region contrainst. Feature lists don't matter when you can't process payments at all.
I appreciate you sharing that. The fact that the constraint came from something you personally ran into makes the decision more interesting.
I'd be interested in continuing the conversation by email if you're open to it. What's the best email to reach you on?
Congrats on launch! But, I have a feeling you only focus on boilerplate's price. I don't see any working examples of products that could be created with your boilerplates, and this is actually a crucial part. Good luck, anyway!
Fair point. The biolerplate kits ship with working code, the SaaS Boilerplate includes a full dashboard, auth flow, and Stripe+Polar webhook handlers that run out of the box.
But I totally get what you're saying: real-world "built with" examples can enhance the overall idea. Really nice feedback, and what I was also looking for here from a 2nd person's pespective. THanks.
From your POV, I would love to hear what format you consider most convincing, like full walkthroughs, or short "here's the result + stack" posts?
Getting to paid this early is a strong signal.
The biggest unlock now is understanding why those users chose you.
Have you spoken to them about what made them convert?
Honestly? Not yet. First sale came in within days of launch and I haven't interviewed the buyer yet, I've been developing for others till now and this is just me starting on my own product, so a learning phase. Thanks for the guiding tip.
Whereas, what I can infer from the data so far: they came through the searching on ChatGPT, landed on the product page, and bought the Pro Kit at.
How about if I'll add a short post-purchase email asking three questions: what problem were you solving, what nearly stopped you from buying, and what would make you buy again, along with contacting the existing buyer. Would you think this is the correct approach?
"What would make you buy again" is speculative. People are terrible at predicting future behavior. Replace it with: "What happened in your workflow right before you searched for this?" That gives you the trigger moment — which is what you'll use in your landing page headline.
The bigger risk you're not seeing: You have one buyer who came through ChatGPT search and bought the Pro Kit. That's a "high-intent, problem-aware, price-insensitive" buyer. But you don't know if that's your only buyer or your best buyer. What about the person who isn't problem-aware yet? Or the person who wants the free tier but would upgrade if you showed them the Pro Kit's ROI?
If you optimize your whole funnel around the ChatGPT searcher, you might build a great product for 5% of your TAM while the other 95% bounces because your page assumes they're already searching.
Quick test before you send that email: Look at your traffic sources. If 80% came from ChatGPT/organic search, you're fishing in a small pond. The simulation question is: who should be buying this but isn't searching for it yet?
I run PreLaunch AI — we simulate 5 buyer segments for early-stage products to find the "invisible" buyer who converts at 3x the rate of the obvious one. Happy to model your ChatGPT buyer vs. the 4 segments you're not seeing yet. No strings — could save you from building the next 3 features for the wrong person.