HeartCo vs ShipFast
ShipFast is perfect for shipping a minimalist MVP fast. HeartCo is a complete, production-ready SaaS with mobile, AI, audited security and business modules.
| Criterion | ShipFast | HeartCo Starter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | from $199 | see current pricing |
| DB models | ~10 | 160+ |
| Type-safe API | 70+ tRPC routers | |
| Tests included | Vitest + Playwright (4,000+ tests) | |
| Security audit | Dedicated audit (8 vectors) | |
| Realtime (Pusher/WS) | Pusher built in | |
| Built-in AI | Mistral API | |
| Multi-tenant | Native Prisma $extends | |
| Business modules | CRM, Invoicing, HR, Accounting | |
| Updates |
Checked September 22, 2026. Sources: shipfa.st, heartco.fr/#pricing.
What ShipFast does well
ShipFast wins on a specific ground: speed to start and community size. Marc Lou has documented his maker journey in public for years, which built an audience of over 8,400 makers (checked on shipfa.st, 22/09/2026) who help each other out on Discord and X. For testing an idea over a weekend, that community matters as much as the code itself. It's not just about the entry price: ShipFast's docs are built for a solo developer, with few concepts and a marked path from cloning the repo to your first Stripe payment. If your project fits that scope, a single-tenant tool with no complex business logic, ShipFast does what it promises, and does it well.
- Massive community (8,000+ makers)
- Strong personal branding (Marc Lou)
- Simplicity for fast MVPs
Why choose HeartCo
HeartCo starts from a different premise: the code has to hold up against a real multi-tenant business schema, not just a demo. Data isolation is checked by versioned tests in the repo, not just claimed on the sales page. The business modules aren't stubs to finish yourself — they're complete features, each with their own tRPC routers and their own test coverage. That comes at the cost of a steeper start: understanding 73 tRPC routers and a 163-model schema takes longer than cloning ShipFast. The trade-off is deliberate, not hidden — HeartCo isn't trying to be the easiest to pick up, but the most complete to ship to a paying client.
- Production-ready with audited security
- Complete business modules (CRM, Invoicing, HR, Accounting)
- Built-in realtime (Pusher) for chat and notifications
- Vibe-coding ready, with a codebase the AI understands
HeartCo is for you if
- You ship SaaS apps to clients (freelance or agency) and want a reusable base.
- You want business modules already coded: CRM, invoicing, quotes, HR, accounting.
- You target the FR/EU market: Factur-X, GDPR, SEPA, legal pages in French.
- You want to start from a secure, audited base, not a skeleton to harden yourself.
ShipFast is for you if
- You're testing an idea over a weekend and want the bare minimum.
- Landing + auth + payment is enough; you code all the business logic afterwards.
- You're part of the US indie-hacker scene and its community carries you.
Pricing in detail
ShipFast
from $199
One-time payment. Auth + Stripe + landing foundation. The rest is yours to code.
HeartCo Starter
One-time payment, depending on licence
Launch pricing, one-time payment, lifetime updates. 160+ models, 70+ routers, business modules included.
Competitor price verified in September 2026. Prices change — confirm on the official site before deciding.
Price comparison
ShipFast offers three one-time tiers (checked September 22, 2026 on shipfa.st): Starter at $199, All-in at $249, and a Bundle at $299 that adds access to CodeFast, a 12-hour coding course. The page shows a "$100 off for the first 8,430 customers (6 left)" banner — a scarcity claim worth verifying yourself before you buy, not urgency to take at face value.
HeartCo is also a one-time purchase, across several license tiers (see current pricing). The price doesn't cover the same thing: with ShipFast you're paying for a foundation to build on; with HeartCo, for 163 Prisma models, 73 tRPC routers, tested multi-tenant isolation and complete business modules already written. The comparison isn't symmetric, and that's the point: the two boilerplates don't ship the same level of finish.
This comparison has its limits: ShipFast doesn't claim to do multi-tenancy or French e-invoicing, so faulting it for their absence would be unfair — that's simply not its territory. The right question isn't "which costs less upfront" but "how many weeks of development does the price cover, for my specific project."
Migrating from ShipFast
Both boilerplates share Next.js and Stripe, so the migration is mostly about data structure and API calls, not the framework. Budget one to two weeks for a mid-sized project, depending on how many business models are already coded on the ShipFast side.
Start from the multi-tenant schema
HeartCo's Prisma schema carries an organizationId on every scoped model from the start. Rebuild your business entities in that schema rather than trying to merge it with yours.
Port the logic, not the routes
ShipFast doesn't enforce a type-safe API layer. Rewrite your logic in HeartCo's tRPC routers: end-to-end typing between client and server replaces manual fetch calls.
Reconnect Stripe
Both use Stripe. You'll need to recreate products and webhooks on HeartCo's side, but existing billing logic can be adapted rather than rewritten from scratch.
Verify isolation before you reopen
Before putting the SaaS back online, run the provided multi-tenant isolation tests against the models you added.
Document what changes for your clients
If you're already shipping this SaaS to users, the migration changes their data schema. Plan a maintenance window and an export-then-import, rather than a live cutover on a production database.
Frequently asked questions
Can I migrate from ShipFast to HeartCo?
Yes. Both are Next.js with Stripe: you carry over your business logic and plug it into HeartCo's tRPC + Prisma architecture. No lock-in — the full source code is yours.
HeartCo is more expensive than ShipFast — why?
ShipFast (~$199) gives you the foundation and you code the rest. HeartCo ships 160+ Prisma models, 70+ tRPC routers, complete business modules and audited security. You pay once to avoid re-coding three weeks of plumbing.
ShipFast has several tiers — which one should I compare to HeartCo?
The table above compares ShipFast's entry tier (Starter, $199) to HeartCo's current license price. The All-in ($249) and Bundle ($299, with CodeFast access) tiers mostly add learning content, not extra product features.
Does ShipFast handle French electronic invoicing (Factur-X)?
Not to our knowledge: ShipFast does not document a French e-invoicing module (checked in September 2026). HeartCo includes a Factur-X module (EN 16931 profiles) and an iopole integration to connect to a dematerialization platform.
Which one should I pick to ship SaaS apps to clients?
HeartCo: commercial license, ready-made business modules and FR compliance. ShipFast is built to launch your own MVP fast, not to industrialize client deliveries.
Does ShipFast offer modules like CRM or accounting?
No, not natively. ShipFast provides the foundation (auth, payment, landing) and leaves the rest of the product for you to code. HeartCo ships those business modules written and tested, which accounts for most of the price gap.
Is the table above up to date?
Prices and features are checked as of the date shown under the table. Both boilerplates change over time — reconfirm on shipfa.st and on HeartCo's current pricing before deciding, rather than trusting a frozen snapshot.
Do I have to pick just one, or does each have its place?
Both have their place, at different moments. A freelancer testing several ideas a month before one sticks can reasonably start with ShipFast for prototypes, then switch to HeartCo once a project earns a real multi-tenant foundation worth industrializing.
Verdict
ShipFast is built for shipping a solo MVP over a weekend: auth, Stripe and a landing page are ready, and you code the rest yourself. HeartCo starts from a different premise: a multi-tenant B2B SaaS with business modules already written (CRM, invoicing, HR, accounting) and data isolation that's tested, not just promised. If you're billing French clients, Factur-X and GDPR compliance come built in. The choice comes down to what you want to start from: a fast skeleton to build out, or a business-ready base to customize. Both are good picks, just for different projects.