28 Oct 2026 · Hardening & Ops
Next.js 15 AI SaaS Starter Kits, Self-Hosted vs Cloud-Locked
What you actually get from a self-hosted Docker starter versus a Vercel-shaped boilerplate, and how AgenticPacks Pro compares on auth, Stripe, RAG, and ops.
Most Next.js starters assume you will stay on a cloud app platform. That is fine until the product is streaming agents, Postgres with vectors, and a bill you can explain to a cofounder. Then the lock-in is not ideological. It is duration caps and a second vendor for every feature.
This is the buying guide. The hosting math is in self-hosting architecture and cost and serverless vs VPS at 25k MAU.
AgenticPacks OSS is the free MIT baseline: Agentic-Packs/agenticpacks-oss. Pro is the paid pack at $149. Live UI: production demo.
The problem
Search "Next.js AI boilerplate" and you get three families:
- Cloud-locked. Ship on Vercel. Auth from a MAU vendor. Vector DB from a third vendor. Fine for a launch weekend. Painful when a graph needs three minutes and the function dies.
- Generic SaaS kits. Auth and Stripe, maybe a blog. No LangGraph, no pgvector, no SSE story. You still write the AI product.
- Self-hosted AI kits. Docker, Postgres, your own Auth.js, optional Caddy. You run it on a VPS. That is this stack.
If you want Clerk plus Pinecone plus Vercel, plenty of templates exist. This post is for the other buyer.
What to compare, not logos
| Question | Cloud-locked kit | AgenticPacks OSS (MIT) | AgenticPacks Pro ($149) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where does it run? | Platform first | Docker Compose, laptop or VPS | Docker Compose on Hetzner via Terraform |
| Auth | Often Clerk or similar | Auth.js v5, credentials + Google | Auth.js v5, magic links, workspace RBAC |
| Database | Hosted Postgres + a vector vendor | PostgreSQL 16 + Prisma | Same, plus pgvector RAG |
| Agents | Rarely a real graph | Streaming chat only | LangGraph supervisor, Tavily, summarizer |
| Billing | Stripe or the platform | Single-plan Stripe + credits | 3-tier Stripe, portal, proration, team pools |
| Streaming | Often untested behind a proxy | Works locally | Caddy flush_interval -1 |
| Observability | Vendor dashboards | Logs | Prometheus + Grafana token burn |
| License | Varies | MIT, clone, no checkout | One-time GitHub access via Creem |
AgenticPacks OSS has no Caddy and no Terraform. If a comparison table on the internet says otherwise, it is wrong. Caddy, Terraform, LangGraph, and pgvector are Pro. See the OSS vs Pro page.
ShipFast and friends
ShipFast-class kits are good at shipping a marketing site, auth, and Stripe fast. They are not a LangGraph plus pgvector plus a Caddyfile. If your product is an AI workspace, you will rewrite the middle of that kit. If your product is a directory with a chat widget, you may not need Pro.
The honest alternative to Pro is AgenticPacks OSS plus your own time: add Caddy, add a graph, add vectors. The cost post puts a floor on that time.
What you should try before you pay
- Clone AgenticPacks OSS.
docker composeand sign in. - Hit the Pro demo for the graph and threaded chat.
- Read LangGraph streaming and pgvector vs Pinecone so you know what you are buying. The layer map is in the self-hosted AI SaaS stack.
Do not buy a kit because the landing page says AI. Buy it because the repo has the Route Handler, the Compose file, and the billing table.
Tired of a starter that assumes Vercel, Clerk, and Pinecone?
Start on MIT: Agentic-Packs/agenticpacks-oss.
The self-hosted Pro pack is on the self-hosted Pro comparison.
Where to Go From Here
You do not have to assemble five vendors to launch an AI SaaS.
Option A: Free open-source baseline (MIT)
- GitHub: github.com/Agentic-Packs/agenticpacks-oss
- What is included: Next.js 15, Compose, Postgres, Auth.js v5, streaming chat, single-plan Stripe. No Caddy, no LangGraph, no pgvector.
- Cost: free, MIT.
Option B: Ship with AgenticPacks Pro ($149 one-time)
If you want the self-hosted product, not a cloud-locked skeleton:
- Automated Hetzner provisioning: Terraform, firewall, Caddy SSL, Compose.
- Production multi-agent core: LangGraph, pgvector RAG, Redis, threaded chat.
- Usage & Unit Economics: 3-tier Stripe, team pools, token ledger, Prometheus and Grafana.