---
title: "What Is Open SaaS?"
description: "Understand Open SaaS, a production-ready full-stack SaaS starter template built on Wasp"
image: "https://tractiongrowth.com/og/open-source/open-saas-wasp-starter/image.png"
---

# What Is Open SaaS?

# What Is Open SaaS?

<Callout title="TL;DR for Product Managers">
  Open SaaS is a **starter kit** for building SaaS products. Instead of spending months building authentication, payments, and admin dashboards from scratch, developers clone this template and get all of that on day one. Think of it as a "business in a box" for software products — auth, billing, AI features, analytics, and admin UI all included.
</Callout>

Open SaaS is a production-ready SaaS starter template built on Wasp that bundles authentication, payments, AI features, file uploads, analytics, and admin tooling into a single starting point. This explainer shows what Open SaaS includes, how its full-stack architecture works, and how teams can use it as the base for their own product.

## Open SaaS at a Glance

**Open SaaS** is a production-ready, full-stack SaaS starter template built on the **Wasp** framework. It provides a complete foundation for building modern SaaS applications — the kind that charge subscriptions, handle user accounts, and process payments.

It's not a SaaS product itself — it's the starting point developers use to build *their own* SaaS product.

### The Product at a Glance

| Dimension                   | Details                                                              |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it is**              | A starter template for building subscription-based SaaS apps         |
| **Who uses it**             | Solo developers, startups, and small teams building SaaS products    |
| **What's included**         | Auth, payments, file uploads, AI integration, analytics, admin panel |
| **Core tech**               | Wasp (React + Node.js + Prisma + PostgreSQL)                         |
| **Business model built in** | Freemium + subscription tiers + one-time credit purchases            |
| **Get started**             | `wasp new -t saas` — one command                                     |

## What's Inside the Box

Open SaaS ships with **everything a SaaS product needs** on day one:

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        Open SaaS                            │
│                                                             │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐   │
│  │   Auth   │  │ Payments │  │    AI    │  │  Admin   │   │
│  │          │  │          │  │          │  │Dashboard │   │
│  │• Email   │  │• Stripe  │  │• OpenAI  │  │• Users   │   │
│  │• OAuth   │  │• Lemon   │  │• GPT-3.5 │  │• Stats   │   │
│  │• Verify  │  │  Squeezy │  │• Credits │  │• Revenue │   │
│  │• Reset   │  │• Plans   │  │• Demo App│  │• Metrics │   │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘   │
│                                                             │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐   │
│  │  Files   │  │Analytics │  │  Email   │  │   Blog   │   │
│  │          │  │          │  │          │  │  & Docs  │   │
│  │• S3      │  │• Google  │  │• SendGrid│  │• Astro   │   │
│  │• Upload  │  │• Plausible│  │• Mailgun │  │• Starlit │   │
│  │• Presign │  │• Custom  │  │• Verify  │  │• SEO     │   │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

## The Tech Stack — Why Each Piece Exists

| Layer               | Technology                   | Why It's Used                                                    |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Meta-framework**  | Wasp 0.18+                   | Full-stack glue: auto-generates auth, routes, API, and DB client |
| **Frontend**        | React 18                     | Component-based UI                                               |
| **Type safety**     | TypeScript 5.8               | End-to-end type safety from DB schema to frontend                |
| **Styling**         | Tailwind CSS 3 + ShadCN UI   | Utility-first CSS + accessible component library                 |
| **Form handling**   | React Hook Form + Zod        | Validated forms with schema-based validation                     |
| **Backend runtime** | Node.js 22+                  | JavaScript runtime for server-side logic                         |
| **ORM**             | Prisma 5.19                  | Type-safe database access with auto-generated client             |
| **Database**        | PostgreSQL                   | Relational database for structured SaaS data                     |
| **Job queue**       | PgBoss (via Wasp)            | Background jobs using the existing PostgreSQL instance           |
| **Payments**        | Stripe + Lemon Squeezy       | Dual payment processor support for global reach                  |
| **AI**              | OpenAI GPT-3.5-turbo         | AI features with function calling                                |
| **File storage**    | AWS S3                       | User file uploads via presigned URLs                             |
| **Analytics**       | Google Analytics + Plausible | Traffic and user behavior tracking                               |
| **Email**           | SendGrid / Mailgun           | Transactional emails (verification, password reset)              |
| **E2E tests**       | Playwright                   | End-to-end testing with CI integration                           |
| **Blog/Docs**       | Astro + Starlight            | Marketing site and documentation                                 |

<Callout type="info" title="For PMs: What is Wasp?">
  Wasp is a **full-stack framework** that acts as the glue between React (frontend), Node.js (backend), and Prisma (database). You define your app's structure in a single `.wasp` config file — routes, authentication, background jobs, and data model — and Wasp generates the boilerplate code for all of it. This means less code to write and maintain, and fewer integration bugs.
</Callout>

## Built-In Business Model

Open SaaS includes a complete **freemium + subscription** monetization system:

| Tier        | Price          | What Users Get                  |
| ----------- | -------------- | ------------------------------- |
| **Free**    | $0             | 3 AI credits on signup          |
| **Hobby**   | $9.99/month    | Unlimited access (subscription) |
| **Pro**     | $19.99/month   | Premium features (subscription) |
| **Credits** | $9.99 one-time | 10 additional AI credits        |

<Callout type="info" title="For PMs: The Credit System">
  The credit system is a common SaaS monetization pattern. Free users get a taste (3 credits) to try AI features. Once credits run out, they either subscribe for unlimited access or buy more credits one-time. Active subscribers bypass the credit system entirely. This gives three conversion paths: free → subscriber, free → credit buyer, credit buyer → subscriber.
</Callout>

## Key Statistics

| Metric             | Value                                      |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------ |
| Total files        | 300+ TypeScript/React files                |
| Lines of code      | \~50,000+ LOC                              |
| Language           | 100% TypeScript                            |
| React components   | 80+                                        |
| Backend operations | 35+                                        |
| E2E test coverage  | Critical paths (landing, pricing, AI demo) |

## Why Use Open SaaS?

### 1. Weeks of Work — Done in One Command

Instead of building auth, payments, and admin from scratch (typically 4-8 weeks), you start with everything working:

```bash
# That's it. Full SaaS app ready to customize.
wasp new -t saas
```

### 2. Dual Payment Provider Support

Most starters only support Stripe. Open SaaS supports both **Stripe** and **Lemon Squeezy**, making it viable for creators and businesses in regions where Stripe isn't available.

### 3. AI-Ready

Ships with a working **OpenAI integration** including function calling, a demo scheduling app, and the credit system to monetize AI features.

### 4. Complete, Not Minimal

Unlike "bare bones" starters, Open SaaS includes the features you'd eventually build anyway: admin dashboard, analytics integration, email templates, file uploads, and E2E tests.

## What's Next

<Cards>
  <Card title="Open SaaS Architecture Overview" description="Database schema, authentication, payment processing, and system design." href="/open-source/open-saas-wasp-starter/architecture" />

  <Card title="Open SaaS Workflows and Data Flows" description="User signup, payment processing, AI features, and file uploads traced end-to-end." href="/open-source/open-saas-wasp-starter/workflows" />

  <Card title="Open SaaS User Stories and Growth Insights" description="Builder personas, adoption loops, and the monetization logic behind the starter." href="/open-source/open-saas-wasp-starter/user-stories-and-growth" />

  <Card title="How Open SaaS Is Built" description="Repository structure, Wasp configuration, dependencies, and deployment." href="/open-source/open-saas-wasp-starter/how-it-is-built" />
</Cards>

## Resources

* [Live Demo](https://opensaas.sh)
* [Documentation](https://docs.opensaas.sh)
* [GitHub Repository](https://github.com/wasp-lang/open-saas)
* [Wasp Framework](https://wasp.sh)
* [Wasp Discord](https://discord.gg/aCamt5wCpS)