Why I Chose Next.js and Vercel for My SaaS MVP
Building an MVP means moving fast without compromising quality. As a solo founder, I needed a stack that would let me prototype, test, and iterate rapidly, but remain flexible enough to evolve into a full-scale SaaS product.
After evaluating multiple stacks, I chose Next.js as the backbone and deployed everything on Vercel. And to accelerate development even further, I started with a battle-tested boilerplate: next-saas-stripe-starter.
Here’s why this combination turned out to be the ideal foundation for my MVP.
1. The Fastest Path from Idea to Production Next.js offers everything I need in one framework:
- SSR and Server Components
- API routes
- built-in routing
- caching and performance optimizations
This means:
- no extra backend setup
- no custom Webpack gymnastics
- no multi-service architecture at the MVP stage
With Vercel, deployment becomes trivial: git push → automatic build → live preview → production. I was able to ship a working version and show it to real users within days — not weeks.
2. High Performance Without Engineering Overhead For SaaS, speed is not a luxury — it’s conversion. Thanks to Next.js:
- server components load only what’s needed
- routing is optimized
- rendering is predictabl
- images and assets are auto-optimized
Thanks to Vercel:
- global CDN
- edge functions
- smart caching
- instant rollbacks
Users get a snappy experience no matter where they are. I didn’t need manual caching config, NGINX setup, or Cloudflare rules — everything worked out of the box.
3. A Powerful Ecosystem for Building Modern SaaS Products A real SaaS requires much more than just pages and API endpoints. You need:
- login and authentication
- subscription billing
- teams and roles
- user dashboards
- transactional emails
- secure server logic
- protected routes
- UI components that scale
- database migrations
- environment separation
The Next.js ecosystem gives me everything through well-integrated, production-ready tools:
- Auth.js / NextAuth for authentication
- Prisma + PostgreSQL for clean data access
- Tailwind CSS for fast UI iteration
- Stripe / Paddle integrations
- Next API routes to skip separate backend setup at MVP stage
- React Server Components for a clean architecture
This reduces friction dramatically — I focus on building features, not wiring infrastructure.
4. Zero-Pain Scaling with Vercel Most MVPs break when they start growing. Vercel solves this automatically. It handles:
- scaling API routes
- scaling pages
- separate environments
- automatic CI/CD
- versioned deployments
- traffic spikes
And all without managing:
- Docker clusters
- VPS servers
- Kubernetes
- load balancers
- SSL certificates
- reverse proxies
My infrastructure grows as the user base grows, without me touching DevOps.
5. The Game-Changer: Using next-saas-stripe-starter I didn’t start from scratch — and this saved me weeks. next-saas-stripe-starter provides a production-grade foundation that most SaaS projects need: Authentication & User Accounts Everything is already configured:
- sign-in flows
- protected routes
- user sessions
- error handling
Stripe Billing (Monthly & Yearly) Out of the box:
- subscription tiers
- Stripe Checkout
- webhooks
- customer portal
- automatic status sync
Tailwind-Based UI Ready layouts:
- dashboard shell
- settings pages
- pricing page
- modals & components
Instead of reinventing login logic, subscriptions, dashboards, API layers, and UI scaffolding — I jumped straight to core product logic, which is where the actual value is created.
Conclusion Building a SaaS MVP is a race against time, but also a long-term investment. That’s why I chose this stack:
- Next.js → modern architecture and developer speed
- Vercel → performance, scaling, and effortless deployment
- next-saas-stripe-starter → removes weeks of boilerplate work and gives me a production-ready base
This combination lets me move quickly, validate features fast, stay focused on users, and build on a foundation that can scale. If you’re a solo founder, indie hacker, or developer building a SaaS — this stack is one of the strongest you can start with today.
Read the full article here: https://medium.com/@philipnedelev/why-i-chose-next-js-and-vercel-for-my-saas-mvp-4f4a36418a59