StartOne documentation
StartOne is a production-grade AI SaaS boilerplate. Four editions share one architecture — start free, and buy the one that matches what you're building.
Community
Free, open source. Streaming chat and a watermarked image demo, running locally in minutes.
Developer — Web
The full Next.js boilerplate: media studio, gallery, auth, database, storage.
Developer — Message
One AI bot across eight messaging platforms, in both Western and Chinese markets.
Business
Everything in Developer, plus the money layer: credit ledger, payment rails, multi-tenancy.
Which edition do I need?
The honest version:
| If you want to… | Buy |
|---|---|
| Read the architecture and decide whether you like it | Community — free |
| Build and ship an AI web app | Developer — Web |
| Build and ship an AI bot on messaging platforms | Developer — Message |
| Charge customers — billing, credits, multi-tenancy | Business |
What's in each edition
| Community | Dev — Web | Dev — Message | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streaming chat | 6 models | 6 models | 4 models | 6 models |
| Image generation | Watermarked, 512×512 | Full | Full | Full |
| Video & audio | — | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gallery | — | Yes | — | Yes |
| Messaging channels | — | — | 8 | 8 |
| Authentication | — | Clerk | — | Clerk |
| Database | — | Postgres | Redis (sessions) | Postgres |
| Billing / credits | — | — | — | Yes |
| License | MIT | Commercial | Commercial | Commercial |
A note on billing
Neither Developer edition contains billing. That is deliberate, not an omission — they are unmetered. Everything runs without limits, and you add your own payment logic if you need it.
If you want to charge customers out of the box — a prepaid credit ledger, payment rails, multi-tenancy — that is Business.
Common ground
Every edition shares the same foundations, so what you learn in the free tier carries over:
- TypeScript throughout, with strict typing.
- Graceful degradation — every edition boots with zero API keys. Unconfigured features return labelled placeholder responses instead of crashing, so you can explore before you configure.
- Provider-agnostic seams — AI providers and media providers sit behind one contract each. Swap a provider by editing one module.
- You own the source. No black boxes, no vendor lock-in, no per-seat pricing.