unlocksaas/indie-saas-teardowns huggingface dataset:
ShipFast (Next.js SaaS boilerplate (codebase)) by Marc Lou

ShipFast gives you a codebase. Unlock SaaS gives you a customer. Different products, different rungs.

What it is: A production-ready Next.js + Stripe + Supabase boilerplate|Pre-wired auth, payments, and transactional email|A genuinely short path from zero to deployed product
What it is not: A named first customer|A diagnosis of why your live page is converting at zero|A mechanism that refunds you if you ship and nobody buys
Who it's for: Non-engineer (or engineer) founders who have NOT shipped yet and need a codebase to deploy quickly.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped on ShipFast (or anything) and have a flat Stripe line.

Verdict: ShipFast is excellent at its job. Its job is not to find your first paying customer — that was never the promise. Most Unlock SaaS members shipped on something like ShipFast, then hit the wall the codebase cannot fix: nobody knew the product existed, nobody wrote one real message to one real person, and the offer page was a feature list instead of a promise to a named human.

Pricing: ShipFast is approximately $299 one-time (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 for the Starter and $49/month for the Playbook.
Lovable (AI app builder) by lovable.dev

Lovable builds the product. Unlock SaaS finds the customer for the product Lovable built. Sequential, not interchangeable.

What it is: An AI tool that generates a working web application from prompts|A way for non-engineers to ship a real product in days|The input most Unlock SaaS members already use to ship
What it is not: A way to get someone to pay for what you generated|A diagnostic for why your page is converting at zero|A guarantee tied to your Stripe ledger
Who it's for: Non-engineers who want to ship a real product fast without writing code.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped on Lovable and have not found a single paying customer.

Verdict: Lovable solved the building problem. The customer problem is the next problem, and Lovable was never claiming to solve it. Unlock SaaS is built specifically for the Lovable-shaped founder: someone who shipped a real product with AI and is now staring at a flat Stripe line. The Playbook treats the customer-acquisition disease, not the building disease.

Pricing: Lovable has a free tier and paid subscription tiers. Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
One Funnel Away Challenge (30-day funnel-building information course) by Russell Brunson

Same lineage, different products. OFA is a 30-day information course. Unlock SaaS is software that runs the same frameworks against your already-shipped SaaS, with a refund tied to your Stripe ledger.

What it is: A 30-day Russell Brunson challenge with daily videos and assignments|An ideological cousin: same Dream Customer, Hook-Story-Offer, Value Ladder backbone|Generally applicable across info products, ecommerce, services, and SaaS
What it is not: Software that pushes back when your answer is vague|Specific to already-shipped SaaS built with AI tools|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger as a guarantee
Who it's for: Anyone newer to funnel-building who learns best by watching daily videos and turning in homework.
Who it's not for: Non-engineer SaaS founders who already shipped a product and need the framework applied to their specific stuck Stripe line, in code, with a refund-in-code if nothing changes.

Verdict: Unlock SaaS is built on Brunson's frameworks. If you have the time to do OFA from scratch, you will learn things the Playbook encodes. Unlock SaaS exists for the founder who already shipped a SaaS, does not want to take a 30-day course on info-product funnels, and wants the framework executed against their specific product with a refund-in-code if it does not produce a customer.

Pricing: OFA is approximately $100 one-time (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Starter Story (Indie-founder case studies and community) by Pat Walls

Starter Story is a library of founder case studies you read. Unlock SaaS is a playbook you run against your own product. Different shapes.

What it is: Thousands of case studies of indie SaaS and ecommerce founders|A community of indie founders sharing tactics and stories|Ambient inspiration for what is possible at small scale
What it is not: Software that runs a specific playbook against your specific product|A diagnostic of your live page|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger
Who it's for: Founders who want to read case studies, see what is possible, and absorb tactics passively.
Who it's not for: Founders who have already shipped and need diagnosis-plus-doing for their specific flat Stripe line.

Verdict: Starter Story is a good thing to read. It is not a thing that gets you a paying customer — that is not what reading is for. Unlock SaaS is the doing layer that sits underneath the reading.

Pricing: Starter Story has a paid subscription for premium content. Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Cursor (AI-native code editor) by Anysphere

Cursor makes you a faster coder. Unlock SaaS makes you a paid coder. Different jobs.

What it is: An AI-native code editor that lets non-experts write production code with model assistance|A faster path from idea to shipped product for indie founders building with AI|The tool many Unlock SaaS members already use to ship the product the Machine wraps around
What it is not: A diagnostic of why your shipped product is converting at zero|A named first customer|A guarantee tied to your Stripe ledger if no customer arrives
Who it's for: Indie founders, non-experts, and engineers who want AI-assisted code authoring for shipping a product faster.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped a product (often with Cursor) and have a flat Stripe line — they need the marketing-and-sales machine that gets the first customer, not better code-authoring.

Verdict: Cursor is excellent at what it does and most Unlock SaaS members use it. But the Machine sits one rung above on the staircase: after Cursor helped you ship, the question is who pays for what you shipped. Unlock SaaS is the machine that answers that question, with a refund in code if it does not.

Pricing: Cursor has a free tier and a Pro tier in the low-tens-of-dollars per month range (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Machine.
v0 (AI UI and app generator) by Vercel

v0 generates React UIs from prompts. Unlock SaaS gets paying customers for the UI you generated.

What it is: An AI tool that generates production-quality React and Next.js UIs from natural language prompts|A way for non-engineers and engineers alike to ship a polished app surface in days|Tight integration with the Vercel hosting and deployment stack
What it is not: Software that pushes back when your customer description is vague|A diagnosis of why your live page is converting at zero|A guarantee tied to your Stripe ledger as a refund-in-code if no customer arrives
Who it's for: Founders building on the Vercel + React + Next.js stack who want AI-generated UI as a starting point.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped with v0 (or anything else) and have not produced a paying customer.

Verdict: v0 is doing the building job well. The customer-acquisition job is the next problem, and v0 was never built to solve it. Unlock SaaS is the machine specifically for the founder who shipped a v0-generated app and is now staring at a flat Stripe line. The Machine treats the customer-acquisition disease, not the UI-building disease.

Pricing: v0 has a free tier and paid tiers integrated with Vercel pricing (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Machine.
Bolt.new (AI full-stack app builder) by StackBlitz

Bolt.new builds the full-stack app in your browser. Unlock SaaS gets the first customer for the app you built.

What it is: A browser-based AI tool that generates full-stack web applications from prompts|A direct competitor to Lovable in the AI-app-builder category|A way for non-engineers to ship a real product in days without leaving the browser
What it is not: A way to get someone to pay for what you generated|A diagnostic for why your shipped page is converting at zero|A guarantee tied to your Stripe ledger
Who it's for: Non-engineers and engineers who want to ship a working full-stack app fast, in the browser, with AI assistance.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped on Bolt.new and have a flat Stripe line — they need the customer-acquisition machine, not better app generation.

Verdict: Bolt.new is in the same category as Lovable and v0 — AI app builders that handle the ship-the-product half of the founder job. Unlock SaaS handles the other half: getting a verified paying customer for what you built, with a refund in code if no customer arrives in 60 days. Most Unlock SaaS members come from one of these AI builders; the question 'why is nobody buying' is what brings them.

Pricing: Bolt.new has a free tier and paid Pro tiers (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Machine.
Indie Hackers (Indie-founder community and content platform) by Courtland Allen (acquired by Stripe in 2017)

Indie Hackers is where you read about other founders. Unlock SaaS is where you become one. Different shapes.

What it is: A community and content platform of indie founder interviews, podcasts, and forums|A place where founders share progress, ask questions, and absorb tactics passively|Owned by Stripe and integrated with the broader Stripe ecosystem
What it is not: Software that runs a specific machine against your specific live product|A diagnostic of your page that labels what is broken|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger if you ship and nobody buys
Who it's for: Founders who learn by reading interviews and community discussion, and who want ambient inspiration from peers shipping in public.
Who it's not for: Founders who have already shipped and need diagnosis-plus-doing for their specific flat Stripe line — reading more interviews will not produce the first customer.

Verdict: Indie Hackers is a great place to read about people doing the thing. It is not the place that does the thing for you — and it was never built to be. Unlock SaaS is the doing layer: a specific machine that runs against your specific product, with a Stripe-verified outcome.

Pricing: Indie Hackers is free to read; community participation is free. Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Machine.
Carrd (Single-page website builder) by AJ

Carrd is a beautiful single-page site builder. Unlock SaaS gets the first customer for whatever you built — Carrd or otherwise.

What it is: A minimalist single-page website builder beloved by indie founders for fast landing pages|A tool many founders use to ship their first product page before going deeper|A long-standing solo-founder operation with a famously affordable Pro plan
What it is not: Software that diagnoses what is broken about your offer on the Carrd page|A way to get someone to pay for what you put on the Carrd page|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger if no customer arrives
Who it's for: Founders shipping a single-page landing or simple SaaS marketing surface who value Carrd's minimalist constraint and tiny price tag.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped a Carrd (or other) page and have a flat Stripe line — the next problem is what the page says, not which tool built it.

Verdict: Carrd is excellent for what it does — one-page sites, fast, cheap, beautiful. It is not a marketing-and-sales machine and was never trying to be. Many Unlock SaaS members started on Carrd; the Machine is the next step, applied to whatever page they built.

Pricing: Carrd has a free tier and a Pro tier at approximately $19/year (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Machine.
MicroConf (Indie SaaS community and content hub) by Rob Walling

MicroConf is the canonical indie SaaS community. Unlock SaaS is a focused machine. Different shapes of the same job — community vs. specific software.

What it is: Rob Walling's decade-plus indie SaaS hub: conferences, podcast, YouTube, Connect community|A peer-to-peer mastermind environment for indie SaaS founders at every stage|Long-form content (Startups for the Rest of Us podcast, MicroConf On Air) that compounds into a deep prior
What it is not: Software that runs a specific machine against your specific live product|A diagnostic of your page that labels what is broken|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger if you ship and nobody buys
Who it's for: Indie SaaS founders who learn through peer conversations, podcasts, and conferences, and who value long-running community access over individual software outcomes.
Who it's not for: Founders who have already shipped and need diagnosis-plus-doing on their specific flat Stripe line — peer conversations help but they do not run the marketing-and-sales machine for you.

Verdict: MicroConf is the gold-standard indie SaaS community and most Unlock SaaS members benefit from being adjacent to it. The two are complementary: MicroConf gives you the peer network and long-running content; Unlock SaaS runs the specific machine against your specific page. The mistake is treating either as a substitute for the other.

Pricing: MicroConf has a free YouTube channel and blog; MicroConf Connect membership is approximately $475/year; in-person conferences are several hundred to over a thousand per ticket (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Stacking the Bricks (30x500) (Indie SaaS curriculum and methodology) by Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman

Stacking the Bricks teaches you to find your audience and validate before you build. Unlock SaaS runs the machine after you have already shipped. Same lineage, opposite ends of the timeline.

What it is: Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman's decade-long indie SaaS curriculum focused on audience and validation before product|The 30x500 course: a structured methodology for finding pain, building Sales Safari, shipping safe-bet products|Long-form essays, podcast appearances, and a contrarian voice in the indie SaaS canon
What it is not: Software that runs against your already-shipped product|A diagnostic of your live page|A guarantee tied to your Stripe ledger
Who it's for: Pre-product founders who have not yet shipped and want a rigorous methodology for finding audience and validating ideas before building.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped a product (with or without Stacking the Bricks methodology) and have a flat Stripe line — the next problem is the customer-acquisition machine, not more upstream methodology.

Verdict: Stacking the Bricks is the most respected pre-product curriculum in the indie SaaS canon. If you have not shipped yet and have $2K to invest in a rigorous methodology, 30x500 is one of the strongest options. Unlock SaaS exists for the founder who already shipped and needs the machine that produces the first paying customer for what they built. Different rungs of the same staircase.

Pricing: Stacking the Bricks publishes free content; 30x500 (the flagship course) is approximately $1,995 (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Demand Curve (Modern marketing curriculum and growth agency) by Julian Shapiro and team

Demand Curve teaches startup marketing in long-form courses and ships growth-agency work. Unlock SaaS runs the focused machine for the indie SaaS first-customer problem.

What it is: Julian Shapiro's startup-marketing curriculum, originally the Growth Program|Long-form essays and frameworks on positioning, ads, landing pages, and growth experiments|An agency arm that runs growth campaigns for funded startups
What it is not: Software calibrated for the pre-revenue indie SaaS founder specifically|A diagnostic of your live page with a Stripe-verified guarantee|A focused machine that refuses to let you skip the work that gets paid
Who it's for: Founders and early growth hires at funded startups who want comprehensive marketing curriculum and frameworks across paid acquisition, positioning, and CRO.
Who it's not for: Pre-revenue indie SaaS founders specifically — Demand Curve is calibrated for startups with marketing budgets and team capacity, not for the solo founder with a flat Stripe line and no ad spend.

Verdict: Demand Curve is excellent for what it is: comprehensive startup-marketing education for founders with budget and team. Unlock SaaS is narrower and indie-focused: one machine for the one job of getting the first paying customer when you shipped alone and have no marketing budget. Different audiences, different scopes, both legitimate.

Pricing: Demand Curve's Growth Programs are approximately $1,995-2,995 per cohort; agency services are project-based (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Replit (Browser IDE and AI agent platform) by Amjad Masad

Replit builds and deploys the app in your browser, with an AI agent that can take multi-step actions. Unlock SaaS finds the first paying customer for whatever you built — Replit or otherwise.

What it is: A browser-based IDE that ships apps without leaving the browser|Replit Agent: an AI agent that builds, deploys, and iterates on applications autonomously|A long-running platform with one of the broadest indie + education + hobbyist user bases
What it is not: A way to get someone to pay for what you generated|A diagnostic for why your shipped page is converting at zero|A guarantee tied to your Stripe ledger
Who it's for: Indie founders, non-engineers, students, and hobbyists who want a browser-first build-and-deploy environment with strong AI agent assistance.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped on Replit (or anything else) and have a flat Stripe line. The next problem is the customer, not better building.

Verdict: Replit is one of the strongest browser-first builders in the AI-app-builder category, with a long-running platform advantage and broad user base. Most Unlock SaaS members ship with Replit or one of its peers (Lovable, v0, Bolt.new, Cursor). The Playbook treats whatever you shipped as input and works on the customer-acquisition problem the builders do not solve.

Pricing: Replit has a free tier and paid plans (Replit Core, Replit Teams) with AI agent usage credits (verified 2026-05-17). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Asana (Project management software) by Asana, Inc.

Asana organises your team's work. Unlock SaaS gets your product its first paying customer. Different jobs, different shelves.

What it is: A project- and work-management platform that coordinates tasks, timelines, and dependencies across a team|A workspace for shipping work in a structured way once you already know what to ship|A horizontal tool used across product, marketing, ops, and engineering
What it is not: A named first paying customer or an outreach mechanism|A diagnostic of why your already-shipped product is converting at zero|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger if no customer arrives
Who it's for: Teams (and disciplined solo operators) who already have a clear backlog and need a shared place to coordinate the work.
Who it's not for: Solo non-engineer founders whose problem is not 'we are not coordinated' but 'we shipped a product and nobody is paying for it'.

Verdict: Asana is excellent at coordinating work that has already been scoped. Unlock SaaS is the upstream step Asana presumes: deciding what work is worth coordinating in the first place — namely, the small set of moves that produces the first paying customer. Most Unlock SaaS members do not need a project manager; they need a verdict on whether their offer page is broken, and a script to send to one named human today.

Pricing: Asana has a free Personal tier and paid Starter, Advanced, and Enterprise plans billed per user per month (verified 2026-05-18). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Airtable (Spreadsheet-database hybrid / no-code data platform) by Airtable, Inc.

Airtable structures the data behind your business. Unlock SaaS turns the product you already shipped into a paying customer. Different layers of the stack.

What it is: A flexible relational base that mixes spreadsheet UX with database structure|A no-code platform for building internal tools, CRMs, content calendars, and ops trackers|A horizontal tool used across product, marketing, ops, and project management
What it is not: A diagnostic of why your offer page is converting at zero|A script for the next outreach message you should send to a named human today|A Stripe-verified guarantee that a paying customer arrives in 60 days
Who it's for: Founders and teams who need a flexible structured-data layer for their workflow and prefer a no-code surface over SQL.
Who it's not for: Solo non-engineer founders whose Stripe line is flat and who do not have a data-modelling problem — they have a customer-acquisition problem.

Verdict: Airtable is a great place to store and shape your data. Storing your data better does not produce a paying customer. Unlock SaaS exists for the upstream problem: deciding which one human you should talk to this week, what to say, and whether the offer page is even survivable. Use Airtable to track the results of the Playbook if you want; the Playbook itself is the thing that produces the result.

Pricing: Airtable has a free tier and paid Team, Business, and Enterprise plans billed per editor per month (verified 2026-05-18). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.
Framer (Visual web-design and site builder) by Framer B.V.

Framer builds the page. Unlock SaaS turns the page Framer built into a paying customer. Sequential, not interchangeable.

What it is: A visual website builder with CMS, animations, and design-tool ergonomics|A fast way for non-engineers to ship a polished marketing site|The page surface many Unlock SaaS members already host their offer on
What it is not: A diagnostic that labels whether the page you built actually converts|An outreach mechanism that sends one real message to one real human|A refund tied to your Stripe ledger if no customer arrives
Who it's for: Non-engineers who want to ship a beautiful marketing site fast without writing HTML or CSS.
Who it's not for: Founders who already shipped on Framer and still have a flat Stripe line — pretty is not the problem.

Verdict: Framer is great at building the page. The page is rarely the problem once it exists. Unlock SaaS is built for the next step Framer cannot help with: deciding whether the offer is even survivable, who specifically to send it to, and what to do when 30 days of polished landing pages have produced no Stripe charges. Keep Framer for delivery; let the Playbook decide what the page should be saying.

Pricing: Framer has a free tier and paid Mini, Basic, Pro plans billed per site, plus per-seat workspace pricing (verified 2026-05-18). Unlock SaaS is $1 Starter + $49/month Playbook.