Three-way comparison
next-forge vs Makerkit vs TanStack Ship: Turborepo, or something else entirely?
next-forge is free Turborepo. Makerkit is paid Turborepo. TanStack Ship skips Turborepo for a modules pattern. Different bets on architecture.
2026-07-01
Comparison of two Turborepo kits: - next-forge: Free, requires self-assembly - Makerkit: Paid, features pre-installed I chose Makerkit Pro for an enterprise project because its RBAC and billing features work out-of-the-box. But if you just need a Turborepo Next.js foundation, next-forge is fully sufficient. Below, I'll help you calculate the time cost of "DIY vs. paid".
TL;DR
- Pick next-forge if you want free Turborepo and will build SaaS features yourself.
- Pick Makerkit if you want paid Turborepo with SaaS features pre-built.
- Pick TanStack Ship if you want SaaS + growth ops without Turborepo overhead.
| Dimension | next-forge | Makerkit | TanStack Ship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $299 – $999 | $99 – $299 |
| Monorepo | Turborepo | Turborepo | Single-app + modules |
| Multi-tenant | DIY | Baked deep | Baked |
| Billing | DIY | Baked | Baked + MRR |
| RBAC | DIY | Very deep | Deep |
| UTM / MRR | No | No | Built in |
| Deploy | Vercel | Vercel / self | Cloudflare edge |
What Makerkit adds over next-forge
The SaaS-specific pieces: teams, RBAC, per-seat Stripe, admin dashboard, invitation flows. All 40–120 hours to build well.
Priced $299–$999 vs free, Makerkit pays for itself vs spending your own time.
How TanStack Ship handles this
TanStack Ship adds the same SaaS-specific pieces + growth attribution + edge deploy at $99 base — cheaper than Makerkit and with modules more B2B founders actually use (UTM/MRR) than the Turborepo monorepo depth.
Who next-forge is best for
- Free-first builders
- Solo devs with time
- Non-SaaS Next.js products
Who Makerkit is best for
- Paid B2B SaaS with enterprise RBAC needs
- Multi-app teams
- Buyers of active maintenance
Who TanStack Ship is best for
- B2B founders wanting SaaS + growth ops at base tier
- Founders who don't need Turborepo
- Cloudflare edge deployment
Which should you pick?
Three concrete scenarios. Find the closest match, take the recommendation.
Team of 4 planning 3 related B2B products with enterprise buyers
Makerkit Turbo's Turborepo + enterprise RBAC pay off.
Content site or non-SaaS Next.js project on zero budget
next-forge free foundation is right; you don't need SaaS features.
Solo B2B SaaS founder wanting growth ops on a budget
TanStack Ship $99 base with SaaS + growth ops built in.
Frequently asked questions
Is next-forge free forever?
MIT license, yes.
Which is faster to a paid SaaS?
Makerkit or TanStack Ship — SaaS pieces pre-built.
Which for content sites?
next-forge — no SaaS overhead.
Which has UTM/MRR?
Only TanStack Ship.
Can I mix them?
Not really. Pick one philosophy.
Related Links
Ready to see TanStack Ship in action?
Ship a paid SaaS on TanStack Start with UTM attribution, MRR dashboards, and 14 growth modules built in — from $99.