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From Zero to SaaS: Building a Profitable Mobile App with Flutter + Supabase in 2025

#flutter #saas #mobile #startup

You have an app idea. You want recurring revenue. You're a solo developer with $25 to spare. Let's build a SaaS mobile app that actually makes money.

The Architecture

Clean Architecture keeps your app maintainable as it grows.

Layer Responsibility Components
Presentation UI & State Widgets, BLoC/Riverpod, Screens
Domain Business Logic Use Cases, Entities, Interfaces
Data Data Access Repositories, Models, APIs

External Services:

  • 🗄️ Supabase → Database, Auth, Storage, Edge Functions
  • 💳 RevenueCat → Billing, Receipts, Analytics
  • 💾 Local Cache → Hive, SQLite, SharedPrefs

Step 1: The Costs

Platform Cost Type
🤖 Google Play $25 One-time
🍎 Apple (optional) $99/year Annual
🗄️ Supabase $0 Free tier
💳 RevenueCat $0 Free tier
TOTAL $25 Android only

Google Play Service Fees

Your Revenue Google Takes You Keep
First $1M/year 15% 85%
Above $1M 30% 70%
Subs Year 1 15% 85%
Subs Year 2+ 10% 90%

💡 Retain subscribers 12+ months = Google takes only 10%!

Step 2: Supabase Setup

Feature 🆓 Free 💎 Pro ($25/mo)
Database 500 MB 8 GB
Storage 1 GB 100 GB
MAU 50K 100K
Edge Functions 500K/mo 2M/mo
Backups ❌ ✅ Daily
Auto-pause After 7 days Never

⚠️ Upgrade when: You have paying users and need reliability.

Step 3: Purchase Flow

User Journey:

👆 Tap → 💰 Paywall → 🏪 Google Play → ✅ Success!

Backend:

Google Play → RevenueCat (validate) → Webhook → Supabase (grant access)

Step 4: Code Setup

Dependencies 

dependencies:
  supabase_flutter: ^2.0.0
  purchases_flutter: ^6.0.0  # RevenueCat
  flutter_bloc: ^8.1.0
  get_it: ^7.6.0
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Supabase Init 

import 'package:supabase_flutter/supabase_flutter.dart';

Future<void> main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();

  await Supabase.initialize(
    url: 'YOUR_SUPABASE_URL',
    anonKey: 'YOUR_ANON_KEY',
  );

  runApp(MyApp());
}
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RevenueCat Service 

import 'package:purchases_flutter/purchases_flutter.dart';

class PurchaseService {
  static Future<void> init() async {
    await Purchases.configure(
      PurchasesConfiguration('your_api_key'),
    );
  }

  static Future<bool> purchase(Package pkg) async {
    try {
      final result = await Purchases.purchasePackage(pkg);
      return result.customerInfo
          .entitlements.active.containsKey('premium');
    } catch (e) {
      return false;
    }
  }

  static Future<bool> isPremium() async {
    final info = await Purchases.getCustomerInfo();
    return info.entitlements.active.containsKey('premium');
  }
}
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Step 5: Pricing Strategy

Plan Price Why
📅 Weekly $2.99 47% choose this - low commitment
📆 Monthly $9.99 Standard option
📅 Yearly $49.99 Best value (58% off)
♾️ Lifetime $99.99 Price anchor, high LTV

2025 Stats

Metric Value
Avg subscription $10.20/mo
7-day trial conversion 5.2%
Trial LTV boost +64%
Weekly sub preference 47%

📊 The Math: 100 users × $9.99 × 85% = $849/month

Indie Developer Reality

Level Revenue % of Devs
😢 First apps < $100 total ~60%
😐 Struggling $0-500/mo ~25%
🙂 Sustainable $1K-5K/mo ~10%
😊 Successful $5K-20K/mo ~4%
🤑 Top tier $20K+/mo ~1%

Success Stories

App Revenue Time
Postiz $2K MRR 4 months
Formula Bot $220K MRR 18 months
ShipFast $133K/mo Ongoing
Xnapper Sold $150K 21 months

Video Resources

Launch Checklist

  • [ ] Create Google Play account ($25)
  • [ ] Set up Supabase project
  • [ ] Configure RevenueCat
  • [ ] Implement auth + paywall
  • [ ] Add restore purchases button
  • [ ] Test with sandbox accounts
  • [ ] Create store listing
  • [ ] Submit & launch 🚀

Key Takeaways

  1. $25 to start - Android only, iOS later
  2. RevenueCat - Free up to $2.5K revenue
  3. Supabase - 50K users on free tier
  4. Weekly subs - 47% user preference
  5. 7-day trials - 5.2% conversion
  6. Year 2 subs - Google takes only 10%

Resources

Building your first SaaS? Share your journey in the comments!

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