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Nishkarsh Pandey
Nishkarsh Pandey

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⚙️ Part 2: Setting Up the Fastest SaaS Stack (Step-by-Step Guide)

#nextjs #webdev #ai #saas

From npx create-next-app to live Stripe subscriptions — all in under 10 minutes.

🏁 1. Create Your Next.js App

npx create-next-app@latest my-saas
cd my-saas
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Set up Shadcn UI starter to get beautiful pre-built components:

npx shadcn-ui@latest init
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Boom. Your UI foundation is ready

🧩 2. Add Convex — Your Real-Time Backend

Install Convex:

npm install convex
npx convex dev
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Convex
Follow the CLI to set up your project and backend environment.
Convex gives you:

Instant database
Auto-generated types
Real-time reactivity

Add a simple query:

// convex/messages.ts
import { query, mutation } from "./_generated/server";

export const list = query(async ({ db }) => {
  return await db.query("messages").order("desc").collect();
});

export const send = mutation(async ({ db }, { text, userId }) => {
  await db.insert("messages", { text, userId });
});
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And that’s it — data now updates instantly in your frontend.

🔐 3. Add Clerk Authentication

Install Clerk:

npm install @clerk/nextjs
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Clerk

Set up via dashboard:

Create a new app on Clerk.
Copy API keys into .env.local.
Protect routes with Clerk’s middleware.

Clerk handles:

Email/password and social logins
User management
Session handling
Prebuilt UI components

🤝 4. Integrate Clerk + Convex

Convex uses Clerk’s JWT templates for auth sync.
Configure your environment variables as per their docs:

CONVEX_DEPLOYMENT=...
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=...
CLERK_SECRET_KEY=...
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Clerk
In Convex, you can directly access ctx.authfor user verification — no custom logic needed.

💳 5. Enable Billing in Clerk

Go to your Clerk dashboard → Billing tab.
There, you can:

Create plans (Free, Pro, etc.)

Connect your Stripe account
Drop in prebuilt billing UI
No more webhook handling, customer syncing, or payment status mapping — Clerk automates it all.

🧾 6. Deploy on Vercel

Deploy with one command:

vercel
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vercle

Your app auto-scales, uses environment variables securely, and is live globally within seconds.

⚙️ 7. Final Architecture Overview

Next.js (frontend + backend)
│
├── Clerk (auth + billing)
│
├── Convex (real-time DB + backend logic)
│
└── Vercel (hosting + CI/CD)
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Everything is serverless, type-safe, and reactive by default.

🎯 Why This Stack Wins

✅ Zero DevOps overhead
✅ Real-time updates out of the box
✅ Native Stripe integration
✅ Instant type safety
✅ Free to start

You focus on what matters — the unique value of your SaaS, not the plumbing.

✨ Final Thoughts

This stack isn’t hype — it’s the natural evolution of SaaS development.
If you’ve ever wanted to build your own product, this is your perfect 2025 starting point.

Build fast. Ship faster. Monetize immediately.

If you found this helpful, follow me for more practical SaaS tutorials, real-world setups, and indie dev breakdowns. 🚀

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