The Features That Actually Matter for SaaS Success
When you're building a SaaS, there's a massive gap between "getting started" and "making money." Jetstream gets you started beautifully, but Stack Toast bridges that gap with features that directly impact your bottom line.
Multi-Payment Processor Support: Your Revenue Insurance Policy
Here's something most developers learn the hard way: payment processors can freeze your account without warning. It happened to us, and we watched weeks of zero revenue while scrambling to integrate a backup processor.
Stack Toast includes 4 payment processors out of the box:
- • Stripe (the gold standard)
- • Paddle (handles EU VAT automatically)
- • Lemon Squeezy (great for digital products)
- • Coinbase Commerce (crypto payments)
The magic? Switch between processors with a single config change:
// In your .env file
PAYMENT_PROCESSOR=paddle # Switch from Stripe to Paddle instantly
// OR use the configure-stacktoast script
// In your code (no changes needed)
$subscription = PaymentService::createSubscription($user, $plan);
// Works with any processor automatically
Real talk: When Stripe froze our account for "review" (standard procedure for growing SaaS), we switched to Paddle in 10 minutes and kept making sales. That flexibility is worth the entire Stack Toast price.
AI Integration: The Future is Already Here
While other boilerplates are still figuring out basic auth, Stack Toast ships with AI Cocktail - a unified interface to 100+ AI models. This isn't just about ChatGPT integration; it's about building AI-native features that your competitors can't match.
What you can build in minutes:
// Generate personalized onboarding content
$welcome = Cocktail::chat("Create a welcome message for {$user->name} who works in {$user->industry}");
// Create custom graphics for user dashboards
$chart = Cocktail::image("Professional chart showing {$data} in modern style");
// Generate voice tutorials
$tutorial = Cocktail::voice("Welcome to your dashboard, {$user->name}. Here's how to get started...");
The competitive advantage: While your competitors are still building basic CRUD apps, you're shipping AI-powered features that feel like magic to users. That's how you justify premium pricing.
Admin Dashboard: Know Your Numbers or Lose Your Business
Jetstream gives you user management. Stack Toast gives you business intelligence. There's a huge difference.
What Stack Toast's admin dashboard shows you:
- • MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) with trend analysis
- • Churn rate and which customers are at risk
- • Customer Lifetime Value to optimize your acquisition spend
- • Trial conversion rates to improve your funnel
- • Revenue by plan to see what's actually profitable
Why this matters: We've seen too many SaaS founders realize too late that their unit economics don't work. Stack Toast puts these metrics front and center so you can course-correct before burning through your runway.
Enterprise Security: Pass the Reviews That Matter
Here's what nobody tells you about selling to businesses: they'll send you a 47-page security questionnaire before signing any meaningful contract.
Stack Toast includes enterprise-grade security that passes these reviews:
- • SOC 2 Type II compliance ready features
- • GDPR compliance with data export/deletion
- • Activity logging for audit trails
- • Role-based permissions with granular controls
- • Two-factor authentication with backup codes
- • Session management with device tracking
The hidden cost: Building this yourself takes 40+ hours and requires security expertise. Getting it wrong costs you enterprise deals.
Notification System: Keep Users Engaged or Lose Them
User engagement is everything in SaaS. Stack Toast includes a multi-channel notification system that keeps users coming back:
- • Onboarding sequences that guide new users to success
- • Usage alerts when users hit plan limits (upsell opportunities)
- • Payment reminders that reduce involuntary churn
- • Feature announcements that drive adoption
- • In-app notifications with read/unread tracking
The retention impact: Proper notifications can improve 30-day retention by 25%. That's the difference between a growing SaaS and one that's bleeding users.
Frontend Stack: Built for AI Development
Here's where Stack Toast makes a controversial choice: Blade + Alpine.js instead of Vue + Inertia.
Why this matters for AI development:
- • Predictable patterns that AI coding assistants understand perfectly
- • Zero build complexity - no webpack configs or compilation issues
- • Server-rendered for better SEO and faster initial loads
- • Progressive enhancement - works without JavaScript
Real experience: Using Cursor with Stack Toast feels like pair programming with a Laravel expert. The AI suggests exactly the right patterns because the codebase is consistent and predictable.
Service Architecture: Code That Scales
Jetstream puts everything in controllers. Stack Toast uses a service-based architecture that keeps your code maintainable as you grow:
// Jetstream style (everything in the controller)
public function createSubscription(Request $request) {
// 50+ lines of billing logic mixed with HTTP concerns
}
// Stack Toast style (clean separation)
public function createSubscription(Request $request) {
$subscription = PaymentService::createSubscription(
$request->user(),
$request->plan
);
return response()->json($subscription);
}
Why this matters: When you're adding features at 2am (and you will be), clean architecture is the difference between a quick fix and a debugging nightmare that breaks production.
