Your idea deserves a foundation that won't crack under pressure.
Staxless gets you to a live, production-ready SaaS in under 2 weeks — then scales with you when traction hits. No replatforming. No vendor lock-in. No rewriting what already works.
Built on Next.js 15, Kafka, Kong, and Docker Swarm — pre-wired, production-tested, yours to own.
$ staxless init
✓ Project initialized
$ staxless dev start
✓ All services running
Sound familiar?
You shipped lean. You promised yourself you'd refactor later. Then users arrived — and "later" started getting expensive.
Evenings debugging setup instead of talking to users.
Features drag because everything's fused together.
More time fixing the base than building on top of it.
Every deploy feels like a risk you shouldn't have to take.
The stack that launched you is now quietly capping your ceiling.
That's not a you problem. That's a foundation problem.
Before Staxless. After Staxless.
Where You Are Now
Hours every week just keeping services alive.
Every new feature is an archaeological dig through tangled dependencies.
Constantly switching between product work and infra firefighting.
Every deploy feels like defusing a bomb.
Mornings lost to auth, payments, and routing glue-code.
Security gaps and performance bottlenecks that keep coming back.
Where You Could Be
Work starts immediately — one command spins up a fully connected stack.
Features ship fast — services are independent, changes stay isolated.
Stay focused on product and customers — infra runs quietly in the background.
Deploy with confidence — zero-downtime updates and automatic rollback built in.
Write business logic from day one — auth, payments, and gateway are already handled.
Sleep better — security, rate limiting, and performance are built in, not bolted on.
You're no longer a DevOps engineer who codes. You're a founder who ships.
Hey, I'm Zach. 👋
Zach
Solo Founder @ Staxless
I wanted to spend my time building products — not rebuilding infrastructure from scratch every time.
Every side project started the same way: weeks gone on auth, payments, Docker configs, Kafka — before I'd validated a single assumption.
I talked to dozens of founders. Same story every time. Excited about the product. Stuck on the plumbing.
So I built the foundation I wished already existed. Not a monolith that would explode at scale. Not an overcomplicated microservices setup that killed momentum before you validated anything. The right thing, done once — for all of us.
20 months. 265+ commits. Everything self-hostable, swappable, and free of vendor handcuffs. Next.js, Kong, Kafka, Lucia auth, MongoDB, Stripe, Docker Swarm — wired together so you don't have to.
"Your idea — not a fractured foundation — sets the ceiling."
My secret? I call it Microservices that actually work for solo founders
I call it Staxless.
Staxless
Your Idea Is Your Ceiling—Not Some Fractured Architectural Foundation
Simple from minute one: One-command setup and dev environment—skip weeks of glue code and jump straight to building your product
Secure by default: Kong RBAC, rate limiting, non-root containers, Cloudflare Tunnel automation—enterprise-grade protection without manual config headaches
Scalable without drama: Independent services via Kafka, one-command service generation, zero-downtime deploys—add capacity or features as traction hits, no replatforming
Performant out of the box: Optimized stack (Next.js 15, Docker Swarm orchestration, efficient event bus)—fast responses, low overhead, ready for real users from launch
Ship faster. Reduce risk. Scale confidently.
Every capability you need is already built, wired, and production-tested. Here's what's in the box.
Core Infrastructure
Stop writing auth from scratch. It's done.
Lucia-powered authentication with 50+ OAuth providers, sessions, and user profiles — pre-integrated.
✓ Auth Service
Add a new service without touching anything else.
Kafka event bus connects all services asynchronously — loose coupling means independent scaling.
✓ Kafka Event Bus
Accept money from day one.
Stripe subscriptions, one-time payments, webhooks, and invoices — production-ready out of the box.
✓ Payments Service
Reliable communication without the setup.
Mailgun-powered transactional email with templates, deliverability tracking, and event handling.
✓ Email Service
Professional interfaces, ready to white-label.
40+ pre-built components — landing pages, auth flows, dashboards, checkout — built with Tailwind + shadcn/ui.
✓ Frontend Service
Developer Experience
One command. Full stack. Stay in flow.
15+ CLI commands for init, dev, deploy, and service generation — fully hot-reloadable dev environment.
✓ CLI Tool
New microservice, ready to build — in seconds.
staxless generate service scaffolds a new service and wires it to Kafka instantly. No boilerplate to write.
✓ Service Generator
Security & Production
Enterprise-grade protection. Zero manual config.
Cloudflare WAF, Kong RBAC, rate limiting, Docker secrets, non-root containers — defense-in-depth from day one.
✓ Defense-in-Depth Security
Ship updates without touching crossed fingers.
Docker Swarm orchestration with health checks, zero-downtime rolling updates, and automatic rollback.
✓ Zero-Downtime Deploys
Documentation & Support
Never stuck. Never waiting.
14 task-based tutorials and full CLI reference — written by the person who built it.
✓ Docs & Tutorials
Still on the fence?
Here's what early builders experienced.
"I've been burned by boilerplates before. They promise much and deliver mess. Staxless is opinionated where it helps and flexible where it counts. Finally a foundation I trust."
Beta Tester
Founder
Why Staxless Actually Works Long-Term
Most boilerplates feel great for the first weekend—then quietly turn into anchors when you actually try to grow. Staxless is built the opposite way.
No hidden tech debt trap
The CLI handles the hard parts so you ship fast today without rewriting everything tomorrow. What starts simple stays maintainable.
Security that doesn't need babysitting
Defense-in-depth is already wired in—WAF, RBAC, secrets management, non-root containers, auto firewall/VPC/DNS—so you're protected from day one without constant manual patching.
Growth doesn't force a rebuild
True microservices from the start, but abstracted so adding services or capacity is one command. No "we have to replatform" panic when users multiply.
Speed and reliability that last
Optimized Next.js + Docker Swarm orchestration delivers fast responses and zero-downtime deploys out of the box—your app performs like a funded startup without the ops team.
Most boilerplates optimize for Day 1. Staxless optimizes for Day 1 and Day 1,000.
Not just another boilerplate.
Built for this kind of founder.
You'll love Staxless if:
- You want to ship fast and still be able to scale cleanly.
- You'd rather own your stack than rent it.
- You're comfortable with Node.js, Docker, and CLI tools.
- You've been burned by shortcuts and want the right foundation.
- You want to focus on the product — not the plumbing.
It's probably not a fit if:
- You're brand new to coding.
- You need a no-code solution.
- Your stack requires Python, Ruby, or other non-Node runtimes.
- You need enterprise SLAs and dedicated support.
- You want someone else to manage your infrastructure.
One command. New microservice. Ready to build.
Service Generator
✓ Created microservices/notifications-service/
✓ Kafka consumer configured
✓ Ready to build!
Need notifications, webhooks, or analytics? Scaffold a new service and it's already wired to Kafka and the rest of the stack. Add capability without adding complexity.
One price. Lifetime access. No subscription tax on your MRR.
You own the code. Every update included. Unlimited projects. No vendor holds your business hostage.
One-time purchase. Lifetime code access. No subscriptions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got questions? Here are the answers.
If you can run npm install and use Docker, you're good. The CLI hides the complexity—you don't need to master Kafka or Kong to benefit from them.
Direct email support from me, plus detailed docs, 14 task-based tutorials, and a growing community of builders using Staxless.
Yes—license covers unlimited personal and business projects.
Next.js 15, React 19, Express, MongoDB, Kafka, Kong, Stripe, Mailgun, Docker Swarm, Terraform. Modern and production-tested.
No—one-time purchase. Lifetime access to code and updates.
Due to the digital nature of code products, no refunds—but reach out and I'll help you succeed if it's a fit.
With a monolith, you ship fast and pay for it later — tangled code, risky deploys, and a painful replatform when you hit scale. Staxless gives you microservices from day one so you never hit that wall. The CLI abstracts the complexity, so you get the architecture benefits without the overhead. Independent services, independent deploys, no rewrite when traction hits.
You own everything. Every service runs in Docker on infrastructure you control. Kong replaces managed API gateways. Kafka replaces managed event buses. MongoDB, Mailgun, and Stripe are all swappable for alternatives. No platform holds your business hostage.
Email me at [email protected] — I reply personally.