Next SaaS Stripe Starter vs Next.js Starter Kit (Michael Shimeles)
Next SaaS Stripe Starter ranks higher on current evidence: 98 commits by 1 contributor in the last 90 days (25 in the last 30).
| Next SaaS Stripe Starter | Next.js Starter Kit (Michael Shimeles) | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | A | F |
| Verdict | ActiveCurrent deps | Dormant2+ majors behind |
| Category rank | #6 | #84 |
| Model | Open core | Free |
| Commits, 90 days | 98 | 0 |
| Contributors, 90 days | 1 | 0 |
| Last activity | Sep 28, 2026 | Dec 14, 2025 |
| Listed price | — | Free |
| Evidence source | Code | Code |
| Latest release | v2.0.0 | — |
| License | MIT | None detected |
| TypeScript | 5.0.0 (latest 7.0.2) | 5.0.0 (latest 7.0.2) |
| Stripe SDK | 22.6.2 (latest 23.0.0) | — |
| Better Auth | 1.7.5 ✓ | 1.2.8 ✓ |
| Drizzle | 0.45.2 ✓ | 0.43.1 (latest 0.45.4) |
| Next.js | 16.3.4 ✓ | 15.3.8 (latest 16.4.2) |
| React | 19.2.8 ✓ | 19.0.0 ✓ |
| Tailwind CSS | 4.0.0 ✓ | 4.1.7 ✓ |
| Zod | 4.6.5 ✓ | 3.24.3 (latest 4.6.7) |
| Vercel AI SDK | — | 4.3.16 (latest 7.0.143) |
| Framework | Next.js | Next.js |
| Auth | Better Auth | Better Auth |
| Payments | Stripe | Polar |
| Database / ORM | Drizzle, Neon | Drizzle, Neon, node-postgres |
| UI | Tailwind CSS | Tailwind CSS, Radix UI |
| AI | — | Vercel AI SDK |
| API layer | — | TanStack Query |
| Monitoring | — | PostHog, Vercel Analytics |
Evidence checked . ✓ = on the latest major version. "Claimed" = a version the vendor's public pages mention, not verified code. Evidence as of Oct 19, 2026. Rankings never depend on affiliate or paid status. Method.