The Solo SaaS Stack
Build, launch, and run a SaaS product completely alone. Cursor + Supabase + Vercel + Stripe — from idea to paying customers.
Last updated: February 18, 2026
The Solo SaaS Stack
Build a real SaaS product — auth, database, payments, deployment — by yourself, in a weekend. This stack pairs AI-assisted coding with modern infrastructure that has generous free tiers. You write the prompts, the tools write the code, and you ship.
Who It’s For
- Best for: Solo developers, indie hackers, and technical founders who want to validate ideas fast without hiring or burning runway.
- Not for: Non-technical founders (yet — see Bolt.new for a no-code-friendly alternative). Also not for enterprise-grade apps that need SOC2, complex RBAC, or multi-region from day one.
The Tools
| Tool | Role | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cursor / Bolt.new | AI-powered development — write features in natural language | $0–20/mo |
| Supabase | Backend — database, auth, storage, real-time | $0 (free tier covers most MVPs) |
| Vercel | Hosting & deployment — push to deploy, edge functions | $0 (free tier) |
| Stripe | Payments — subscriptions, one-time, usage-based | 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction |
How They Connect
Your Idea
│
▼
┌──────────┐
│ Cursor / │ → Write frontend (Next.js/React) + API routes
│ Bolt.new │
└────┬─────┘
│
├──── connects to ──── Supabase (DB + Auth + Storage)
│
├──── connects to ──── Stripe (Payments + Subscriptions)
│
▼
┌──────────┐
│ Vercel │ → git push = live deployment, preview URLs for every PR
└──────────┘
│
▼
Live Product (yourapp.com)
Total Monthly Cost
| Stage | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Building / MVP (all free tiers) | $0–20/mo (just Cursor Pro) |
| Launched, <1K users | $0–25/mo |
| Growing, 1K–10K users | $25–45/mo (Supabase Pro + Vercel Pro) |
| Revenue | Stripe takes 2.9% + 30¢ per charge |
The beauty: You don’t pay real money until you’re making real money. All four tools have free tiers that cover the build-and-launch phase.
Freedom Score: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3/5)
- Why 3: You own your code and can deploy anywhere. But you’re building on Supabase (Postgres, so portable) and Vercel (Next.js, somewhat portable). Stripe is the industry standard but takes a cut forever. The cloud dependency is real.
- Lock-in risk: Medium. Supabase uses standard Postgres (easy to migrate). Vercel is trickier — Next.js edge features can lock you in. Stripe is sticky by design.
- Mitigation: Use standard Postgres queries (not Supabase-specific RPCs), keep Next.js usage vanilla, and you can migrate to any host + any Postgres provider.
Getting Started (This Weekend)
- Set up Cursor with your preferred framework. Recommended: Next.js 14+ with App Router.
- Create a Supabase project. Set up your database schema — let Cursor help you write the SQL migrations.
- Implement auth. Supabase Auth + Next.js middleware. Cursor can scaffold this in minutes.
- Build your core feature. The one thing your SaaS does. Forget settings pages, admin panels, and fancy dashboards. One feature, working.
- Add Stripe. Create a product in Stripe Dashboard, implement checkout + webhook handler. Cursor knows the Stripe API well.
- Deploy to Vercel. Connect your GitHub repo. Every push auto-deploys. Set up your custom domain.
- Ship it. Landing page → pricing → sign up → use → pay. That’s your V1.
Expected timeline: Working MVP in 1-2 weekends. First paying customer within a month if you pick the right problem.