Next.js: The Core Framework

As a solo developer, you need a framework that simplifies the creation of full-stack applications. Next.js is a superb option for building SaaS, as it’s a React framework that allows you to develop modern applications with ease.

I utilize Next.js for both the user dashboard and the marketing site. The frontend is crafted in React, while the backend employs Next.js Route Handlers, which create a RESTful API that can be accessed by React components and other clients, including mobile apps.

Using the same framework for both the marketing site and the dashboard enables me to reuse components and styles across the SaaS application, leading to a more consistent design and improved development efficiency. Sharing code between the frontend and backend is also straightforward thanks to Next.js.

TypeScript: One Language for All

To enhance productivity, I work exclusively with TypeScript. When paired with Next.js, TypeScript allows me to write both frontend and backend code within a single framework and language, simplifying the development process and minimizing context switching.

Shadcn UI and Tailwind CSS for UI Design

For the user interface, I opt for Shadcn UI, which is built on Radix UI and offers unstyled React components. Shadcn UI enhances Radix UI components using Tailwind CSS, providing an aesthetically pleasing UI for the SaaS. The advantage is that I can share these components effortlessly between the marketing site and the user dashboard.

Authentication Made Easy

Authentication is a critical aspect of any SaaS. I implement Clerk for authentication, which provides extensive features, including email/password and social login. While many open-source libraries offer basic functionality, Clerk excels when advanced features are required.

It supports multi-factor authentication, user impersonation, multi-session capabilities, blocking disposable emails, and robust protection against brute-force attacks and bots. Clerk also supplies a complete React UI for authentication, which can be tailored to fit your branding. This eliminates the need to develop authentication systems from scratch. Some of the pre-built UIs from Clerk include Sign Up, Sign In, Forgot Password, Reset Password, and User Profile.

Supporting Team Collaboration

A solid SaaS should facilitate teamwork within organizations. Clerk offers a comprehensive multi-tenancy and team management system, complete with a user-friendly UI for team management and user invitations. This means I don’t need to create backend logic or UI for team management, as Clerk manages everything, including sending invitation emails and allowing users to switch between teams effortlessly.

Managing Roles and Permissions

With multi-tenancy, effective management of roles and permissions becomes essential. Clerk enables the creation of custom roles and permissions, allowing for role assignments. For instance, an Admin possesses full privileges within the team, while a Read-Only role can only view resources. This ensures secure and appropriate access.

Database Management with Drizzle ORM

I rely on Drizzle ORM for database management, as it provides type safety and seamless integration with TypeScript. With Drizzle, I can define models and relationships directly in TypeScript, eliminating the need for an external schema file.

Drizzle also comes with Drizzle Kit, a CLI tool that streamlines the migration process by generating a migration folder for easy updates to your database schema. Furthermore, Drizzle Studio offers a visual interface to manage your database, allowing you to view your schema, execute queries, and explore your data.

Payment Processing with Stripe

Stripe is my go-to solution for managing payments and subscriptions effortlessly. By using the Stripe SDK, I can integrate payment processing into my Next.js application. Stripe provides a checkout page that users are redirected to, where they can review their subscription plan and pricing details before entering their payment information.

Once a user subscribes, Stripe sends a webhook event to my REST API endpoint, notifying me of the subscription status, allowing me to update my database accordingly.

Additionally, Stripe offers a self-service portal where users can manage their subscriptions, such as changing plans, updating payment methods, canceling subscriptions, and accessing invoices.

Internationalization (i18n)

To cater to a global audience, I utilize the Next-Intl library to implement multilingual support in Next.js. Next-Intl guarantees type-safe translations, ensuring the correct translation key is being utilized, thus minimizing runtime errors associated with missing or incorrect translations.

For efficient translation management, I leverage Crowdin, a localization platform that integrates seamlessly with GitHub. Crowdin facilitates collaborative translation management, ensuring the application is available in the desired languages.

Managing Forms

For form management and validation, I employ React-Hook-Form in conjunction with Zod. React-Hook-Form simplifies form handling in React, while Zod provides robust data validation. The Zod schema can be easily shared between the frontend and backend, ensuring data integrity on both sides.

Testing for Quality Assurance

To ensure that my application functions correctly, automated testing is essential, especially as a solo developer. I rely on Vitest and React Testing Library for unit testing. Vitest serves as a test runner that supports TypeScript and ESM, providing a modern alternative to Jest, complemented by its official VSCode extension and user interface. React Testing Library offers utilities for interacting with React components.

For end-to-end (E2E) and integration testing, I utilize Playwright. This tool automates browser interactions and is ideal for testing the full functionality of my application, enabling simulations of user interactions across multiple browsers and ensuring consistent performance. Playwright is particularly effective for testing Next.js Route Handlers by allowing easy HTTP requests and response validation.

Continuous Integration with GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions is an excellent tool for Continuous Integration (CI). It automates the process of running tests and checks on my code before merging changes into the main branch.

Whenever I push a new commit or create a pull request, GitHub Actions triggers workflows defined in my repository. These workflows execute unit tests with Vitest, perform end-to-end tests with Playwright, and carry out linting and code formatting checks. If any issues arise, GitHub Actions will alert me, preventing the merging of faulty code.

By continuously testing and validating my code, I have a safety net that allows me to focus on developing new features, which is crucial for a solo developer with limited time for manual testing.

Logging with Pino

I utilize Pino, a fast and lightweight logging library for Node.js. Pino features a straightforward API for logging messages and supports structured logging, facilitating easy search and analysis of logs. In a production environment, I further enhance logging by sending data to Better Stack, a robust logging platform that allows real-time monitoring, alerting, and visualization of logs. By integrating Pino with Better Stack, I ensure efficient log data management, enabling swift identification and resolution of live issues.

Error Monitoring with Sentry

For monitoring errors, I rely on Sentry, which captures exceptions and provides detailed reports, including stack traces and user context, simplifying issue identification.

In local development, I use Spotlight to capture Sentry events, leveraging Sentry’s telemetry without overloading the production instance.

Environment Variable Management

T3 Env is a library I employ to validate and transform environment variables using Zod, ensuring that all variables are accurately defined and validated.

Code Quality with Linting and Formatting

Maintaining a clean codebase is crucial. I use ESLint and Prettier for linting and code formatting. ESLint enforces best practices and identifies potential errors, while Prettier maintains a consistent coding style, enhancing code readability and maintainability.

I recommend the Airbnb style guide as a foundational configuration for ESLint, as it is one of the most widely used JavaScript style guides. Additionally, I incorporate eslint-plugin-playwright to ensure that my Playwright tests adhere to best practices and eslint-plugin-tailwind for Tailwind CSS.

VSCode: My Development Environment

Visual Studio Code (VSCode) is my preferred code editor, thanks to its extensive ecosystem of extensions. Here are some recommended extensions that integrate well with my tech stack:

• vscode-eslint: Integrates ESLint into VS Code
• vscode-tailwindcss: Offers IntelliSense and syntax highlighting for Tailwind CSS
• vscode-github-actions: Manages GitHub Actions workflows directly in VSCode
• i18n-ally: Supports internationalization and translation key management for working with multiple languages

Conclusion

In summary, developing a SaaS as a solo developer can be quite demanding. However, selecting the right tech stack can simplify the process, allowing you to concentrate on providing value to your users. The combination of Next.js, TypeScript, Shadcn UI with Tailwind CSS, Clerk, Drizzle ORM, Stripe, and other tools discussed in this article creates a scalable environment for SaaS product development.

These tools not only streamline the development process but also ensure that your application is secure, efficient, and user-friendly. They manage everything from authentication and multi-tenancy to payment processing, database management, testing, and continuous integration, enabling you to focus on your core business logic and user experience.

If you’d like to see the final outcome, feel free to check out the live demo.

I’ve also developed a Next.js SaaS boilerplate, which serves as a comprehensive starting point for creating your own SaaS product using the same tech stack outlined in this article.

The key to success as a solo developer lies in utilizing the right tools and technologies. This tech stack represents my personal choice based on experience and requirements. Depending on your project's specifications, you may opt for different tools, but the underlying principle remains: choose tools that enhance your productivity.

I hope this article has provided you with valuable insights and inspiration for your own SaaS development journey. Happy coding!