ShipFast vs Eden Stack: Which Starter Kit Should You Choose?
January 27, 2026 · Magnus Rødseth
ShipFast vs Eden Stack: Which Starter Kit Should You Choose?
If you're looking for a SaaS starter kit, you've probably come across ShipFast. It's a very popular boilerplate in the indie hacker community, and for good reason—it's helped thousands of founders get their ideas to market quickly.
Eden Stack is a newer alternative that I built. It takes a different approach, optimizing for scalability and AI-native development rather than pure simplicity.
This post breaks down the differences between the two. I'm obviously biased, but I'll try to be fair about when each tool makes sense.
The Quick Overview
ShipFast: The "Easy" Button
ShipFast, created by Marc Lou, is the most popular boilerplate in the indie hacker community. It's designed for one thing: speed to launch. It optimizes for simplicity and ease of use, making it perfect for solo founders who want to get a landing page and a Stripe checkout live as quickly as possible.
Eden Stack: The "Excellent" Foundation
Eden Stack is a premium, AI-native monorepo designed for serious SaaS products. It optimizes for excellence, scalability, and developer experience. It's built for technical founders who want to ship fast but also want a foundation that can scale to millions of users without a rewrite.
Philosophy: Easy vs. Excellent
The core difference between these two tools lies in their philosophy.
ShipFast follows the "ship fast, iterate later" mantra. It uses a monolithic architecture (Next.js) and simple integrations. It's great for validating an idea, but you might hit a "scale cliff" where the simple patterns start to break down as your app grows in complexity.
Eden Stack follows the "ship right, scale confidently" philosophy. It provides a pre-architected monorepo with 50+ primitives that are designed to work together. It's more complex to learn initially, but it ensures that your v1 is built on a production-ready foundation that won't need to be replaced.
Feature Comparison
| Dimension | ShipFast | Eden Stack |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | Easy and rapid | Excellent and scalable |
| Primary Value | Speed to launch | Speed to launch + scale + AI-native |
| Stack | Next.js + MongoDB/Supabase | TanStack Start + Elysia + Neon + Expo |
| Mobile | Not included | First-class Expo app (iOS + Android) |
| AI Capabilities | Basic | RAG pipeline, agent networks, chat UI |
| Type Safety | Partial | End-to-end (Eden Treaty) |
| Architecture | Monolith | Turborepo monorepo |
| Agentic Support | Basic | Tightly-knit ecosystem of skills + MCPs |
| Background Jobs | No | Yes (Inngest) |
| Video Creation | No | Yes (Remotion + ElevenLabs) |
When to Choose ShipFast
ShipFast is an incredible tool, and for many builders, it's exactly what they need. You should choose ShipFast if:
- You need to validate an idea quickly: If you're not sure if people want your product, ShipFast is the fastest way to find out.
- You're non-technical or learning: The simplicity of the stack makes it very approachable for beginners.
- You want the simplest possible setup: If you just need a landing page, auth, and Stripe, ShipFast handles this beautifully.
- You don't need mobile or advanced AI: If your product is web-only and doesn't require complex AI workflows, the extra features in Eden Stack might be overkill.
When to Choose Eden Stack
Eden Stack is for builders who are ready to invest in a long-term foundation. You should choose Eden Stack if:
- You're building a serious SaaS product: If you know you're going to be working on this for years, start with a foundation that scales.
- You need AI-native features: Eden Stack comes with a built-in RAG pipeline, agent networks, and a streaming chat UI.
- You want mobile apps: With a first-class Expo app included, you can ship to the App Store and Play Store alongside your web app.
- You value type safety: End-to-end type safety with Eden Treaty means that changing your API instantly shows you where your frontend needs updates.
- You use AI to code: Eden Stack is designed for agentic development. It includes Claude skills and MCP servers that help AI agents understand your codebase and build features correctly.
- You need background jobs: Built-in Inngest support handles durable workflows, cron jobs, and reliable webhook processing.
Conclusion
Both ShipFast and Eden Stack are excellent tools that solve the same problem—getting you to market faster—but they do it in different ways.
Choose ShipFast if you want the "easy" path to validation. It's the gold standard for simple, rapid launches.
Choose Eden Stack if you want the "excellent" path to a scalable product. It's the premium choice for builders who want a production-ready, AI-native foundation that grows with them.
Ultimately, the best tool is the one that helps you get your idea into the hands of users. Pick the one that matches your goals, and start building!