Tools for Solo SaaS

Build and ship a software product by yourself. These tools handle the code, infrastructure, payments, and everything in between.

See also: The Solo SaaS Stack — our recommended combination with cost breakdown.

AI-Assisted Development

• Cursor — AI code editor built on VS Code. Write features in natural language, refactor entire files, debug with context. The #1 tool for solo SaaS builders.
• Bolt.new — Full-stack app generation in the browser. Lower floor than Cursor — great for prototyping and non-technical founders.

Backend & Database

• Supabase — Postgres database + auth + storage + real-time subscriptions. Generous free tier. Open source, so you can self-host if needed.
• PlanetScale — Serverless MySQL. Auto-scaling, branching for schema changes. Good alternative to Supabase if you prefer MySQL.
• Firebase — Google’s backend-as-a-service. Fast to prototype but higher lock-in risk.

Hosting & Deployment

• Vercel — Push-to-deploy for Next.js and other frameworks. Preview deployments for every PR. Free tier is solid.
• Railway — Simple hosting for any stack. Good for backend services that don’t fit Vercel’s serverless model.
• Fly.io — Deploy containers globally. Good for apps that need persistent connections or specific runtime environments.

Payments

• Stripe — Industry standard. Subscriptions, one-time payments, usage-based billing, invoicing. Extensive API, well-documented.
• Lemon Squeezy — Stripe alternative that handles sales tax/VAT as merchant of record. Simpler setup, slightly higher fees.

Support & Feedback

• Claude — Draft support responses, write documentation, generate FAQ pages from support tickets.
• Crisp — Free live chat widget. Good enough for early-stage SaaS.

Analytics

• Plausible — Privacy-friendly, lightweight analytics. No cookie banners needed. Self-hostable.
• PostHog — Product analytics, feature flags, session replay. Generous free tier. Open source.