Building a Complete SaaS Application with AI

Phase 1: Planning Your SaaS

1.1 Validate Your Idea

1.2 Define Your MVP Features

Phase 2: Technical Architecture

2.1 SaaS-Optimized Tech Stack

2.2 Database Schema Design

-- Users table (managed by auth provider)
users
  - id (uuid)
  - email (string)
  - created_at (timestamp)

-- Organizations (for multi-tenant)
organizations
  - id (uuid)
  - name (string)
  - owner_id (uuid -> users)
  - plan_id (string)
  - stripe_customer_id (string)
  - trial_ends_at (timestamp)

-- Subscriptions
subscriptions
  - id (uuid)
  - organization_id (uuid)
  - stripe_subscription_id (string)
  - status (active|trialing|canceled)
  - current_period_end (timestamp)

-- User memberships
memberships
  - user_id (uuid)
  - organization_id (uuid)
  - role (owner|admin|member)
  - joined_at (timestamp)

Phase 3: Building with AI

3.1 The Master Prompt

"Build a [YOUR SAAS TYPE] SaaS application for [TARGET AUDIENCE].

Core Features:
1. User authentication with email/password and Google OAuth
2. Organization management with team invites
3. [YOUR CORE FEATURE DETAILS]
4. Subscription billing with Stripe (Basic: $29/mo, Pro: $99/mo, Enterprise: custom)
5. Admin dashboard showing MRR, user growth, and churn
6. API with rate limiting for external integrations

Technical Requirements:
- Next.js 14 with App Router and TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS with shadcn/ui components
- Supabase for database and auth
- Stripe for payments with webhook handling
- Resend for transactional emails
- Row Level Security for multi-tenancy
- Responsive design with dark mode

Include:
- Professional landing page with pricing
- User onboarding flow
- Settings pages for profile and billing
- Email templates for welcome, trial ending, payment failed
- SEO optimization and meta tags
- Error handling and loading states
- Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA)"

3.2 Incremental Development Strategy

Phase 4: Authentication & User Management

4.1 Authentication Best Practices

4.2 Onboarding Flow

Phase 5: Subscription & Billing

5.1 Stripe Integration Architecture

// Key Stripe webhook events to handle
- customer.subscription.created
- customer.subscription.updated
- customer.subscription.deleted
- invoice.payment_succeeded
- invoice.payment_failed
- customer.updated
- checkout.session.completed

5.2 Pricing Strategy

5.3 Revenue Optimization

Phase 6: Multi-Tenant Architecture

6.1 Data Isolation Strategies

-- Example RLS policy for multi-tenancy
CREATE POLICY "Users can only see their organization's data"
ON your_table
FOR ALL
USING (
  organization_id IN (
    SELECT organization_id 
    FROM memberships 
    WHERE user_id = auth.uid()
  )
);

6.2 Team Management Features

• • Role-based permissions (Owner, Admin, Member, Viewer)
• • Invite system with email notifications
• • Audit logs for compliance
• • SSO for enterprise customers
• • API keys per organization

Phase 7: Growth & Analytics

7.1 Key SaaS Metrics

7.2 Analytics Implementation

// User Events
- user_signed_up
- user_completed_onboarding
- user_invited_teammate
- user_upgraded_plan

// Feature Events  
- feature_used
- feature_limit_reached
- integration_connected

// Revenue Events
- trial_started
- trial_converted
- subscription_upgraded
- subscription_downgraded
- subscription_cancelled

Phase 8: Email Automation

8.1 Transactional Email Templates

Phase 9: API Development

9.1 RESTful API Design

GET    /api/v1/organizations
POST   /api/v1/organizations
GET    /api/v1/organizations/:id
PUT    /api/v1/organizations/:id
DELETE /api/v1/organizations/:id

// Rate limiting
X-RateLimit-Limit: 1000
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 999
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1640995200

// Authentication
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Phase 10: Launch Strategy

10.1 Pre-Launch Checklist

10.2 Launch Channels

Common SaaS Pitfalls to Avoid

Scaling Your SaaS

Growth Strategies

Real SaaS Success Story

Conclusion

Building a SaaS with AI is no longer a months-long endeavor. With the right approach and tools like Stakly, you can go from idea to revenue in days, not months. The key is to start simple, validate quickly, and iterate based on real user feedback.

Remember: The best SaaS businesses solve real problems for real people. Focus on delivering value, and the technical implementation becomes just a means to that end—one that AI has made remarkably accessible.