Launch MVP Review: Best Supabase SaaS Starter PLG Audit 2026

Launch MVP is Sean Chen's open source SaaS boilerplate with 970+ stars. It includes Stripe subscriptions, email via Resend, and a built-in trial system.

We ran it through a comprehensive PLG skills audit. This is the highest-scoring Supabase starter we've analyzed.

Overall PLG Score: 5.9/10 — The best foundation for PLG among Supabase starters. Trial system works, onboarding exists (but disabled), PostHog is configured (but commented out).

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The full audit

Category	Score	Key finding
Signup flow	7.5/10	Email + Google OAuth, email verification flow
Feature gating	6/10	Dashboard gated by subscription/trial status
Trial optimization	6.5/10	48-hour auto-trial, proper expiry handling
Product analytics	5/10	PostHog configured but disabled
Self-serve motion	7/10	Stripe Buy Button, cancel/reactivate flows
Onboarding	6.5/10	Tour component exists, database tracking, but disabled
Paywall/upgrade CRO	5/10	Profile page paywall, needs copy optimization

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1. Signup flow analysis (7.5/10)

Form implementation

Location: /components/LoginForm.tsx (Lines 1-128)

// Lines 75-91
<form onSubmit={handleSubmit} className="space-y-6">
  <input type="email" placeholder="Email address" />
  <input type="password" placeholder="Password" />
</form>

Form fields: 2 required (email, password), 0 optional — minimal friction.

Authentication options

Email + Password:

• Standard Supabase Auth implementation
• Toggle between login/signup modes

Google OAuth:

Location: /contexts/AuthContext.tsx (Lines 143-149)

const signInWithGoogle = async () => {
  const { error } = await supabase.auth.signInWithOAuth({
    provider: 'google',
    options: { redirectTo: `${window.location.origin}/auth/callback` }
  });
};

Missing providers: No GitHub, Microsoft, or other OAuth options.

Email verification

Location: /app/verify-email/page.tsx (Lines 1-88)

// Lines 13-34
const [countdown, setCountdown] = useState(60);

// 60-second countdown before resend available
// Resend logic marked as TODO (line 34)

The verification flow:

1. User signs up
2. Redirected to /verify-email if !data.user.email_confirmed_at
3. 60-second countdown before resend option

What's missing

No form validation library:

• No Zod, Yup, or React Hook Form
• Basic HTML5 validation only

No signup analytics:

• No tracking events for signup funnel
• identifyUser() exists but is never called

---

2. Feature gating audit (6/10)

Pricing tiers

Location: /components/PricingSection.tsx (Lines 14-63)

const pricingTiers = [
  { id: "pro", name: "Pro", price: "$19/month" },
  { id: "enterprise", name: "Enterprise", price: "$49/month", popular: true },
  { id: "custom", name: "Custom", price: "Custom", cta: "Contact Sales" }
];

Each tier lists features:

• Pro: Templates, Priority support, Custom branding, Analytics, Team collaboration
• Enterprise: Everything in Pro + Advanced security, Custom integrations, 24/7 support, SLA
• Custom: Custom development, Dedicated support, On-premise, Training

Access control

Location: /app/dashboard/page.tsx (Lines 106-124)

const hasValidSubscription = ['active', 'trialing'].includes(subscription?.status || '');

if (!hasValidSubscription && !isInTrial) {
  router.replace('/profile');
}

The dashboard is gated — users without a subscription or trial are redirected to /profile.

What's missing

No feature-level gating:

• Entire dashboard is gated, not individual features
• No hasFeature() or canAccess() checks
• No "Upgrade to unlock" messaging for specific features
• No usage quotas or limits

---

3. Trial optimization (6.5/10)

Trial implementation

Location: /hooks/useTrialStatus.ts (Lines 1-97)

// Lines 60-62
const trialEndTime = new Date();
trialEndTime.setHours(trialEndTime.getHours() + 48); // 48-hour trial

Trial type: Opt-out (auto-created, no card required)

• New users automatically get 48-hour trial on first dashboard visit
• Trial stored in user_trials table

Trial flow:

1. User accesses dashboard
2. Hook checks if trial exists
3. If not, creates 48-hour trial via upsert
4. Stores trial_end_time, is_trial_used, trial_start_time

Trial expiry handling

Location: /app/profile/page.tsx (Lines 222-240)

{isInTrial ? (
  <p>Your trial will end on {trialEndTime}</p>
) : trialEndTime ? (
  <p>Your trial period ended on {trialEndTime}</p>
) : (
  <p>Subscribe to unlock the cooking experience</p>
)}

The UI properly handles:

• Active trial state
• Expired trial state
• Never-had-trial state

What's missing

No trial emails:

• No welcome email mentioning trial
• No reminder at 24 hours
• No expiry notification

The webhook handles customer.subscription.trial_will_end but doesn't send emails:

// /app/api/stripe/webhook/route.ts Lines 216-219
case 'customer.subscription.trial_will_end':
  // No email action implemented
  break;

No trial extension logic.

---

4. Product analytics (5/10)

PostHog infrastructure

Location: /utils/posthog.ts (Lines 1-33)

posthog.init(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEY, {
  api_host: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOST || 'https://app.posthog.com',
  autocapture: false,
  capture_pageview: false,
  persistence: 'localStorage'
});

Location: /contexts/PostHogContext.tsx (Lines 1-30)

PostHog provider is configured with:

• PostHogProvider component
• Page view tracking component
• User identification utilities

Tracking utilities

Location: /utils/analytics.ts (Lines 1-27)

export const trackEvent = (eventName: string, properties?: EventProperties) => {
  if (posthog && posthog.capture) {
    posthog.capture(eventName, properties);
  }
};

export const identifyUser = (userId: string, properties?: EventProperties) => {
  if (posthog && posthog.identify) {
    posthog.identify(userId, properties);
  }
};

The critical problem

PostHog is disabled:

Location: /app/layout.tsx (Lines 23-32)

// <PostHogProvider>
//   {children}
// </PostHogProvider>

The entire PostHog provider is commented out.

No events are tracked:

• trackEvent() is defined but never called
• identifyUser() is defined but never called
• Only $pageview would be captured (if enabled)

What you'd get by enabling

Uncomment the PostHog provider and you immediately get:

• Page view tracking
• Session recording capability
• Feature flag infrastructure
• A/B testing capability

But you'd still need to add custom events for signup, payment, and feature usage.

---

5. Self-serve motion (7/10)

Checkout flow

Location: /app/pay/page.tsx (Lines 1-80)

Entry points:

• Direct URL: /pay
• CTA from profile page (trial expiry)
• CTA from pricing section

Checkout component:

Location: /components/StripeBuyButton.tsx (Lines 1-66)

<stripe-buy-button
  buy-button-id="${buyButtonId}"
  publishable-key="${publishableKey}"
  client-reference-id="${user.id}"
  customer-email="${user.email}"
  success-url="${NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL}/profile?payment=success"
  cancel-url="${NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL}/pay?canceled=true"
/>

Uses Stripe's embedded Buy Button — minimal checkout friction.

Billing management

Location: /app/profile/page.tsx (Lines 170-289)

Features implemented:

1. Status display (Lines 181-187)

   • Status badge (active, trialing, canceled)
   • Start date, period end date

2. Cancellation (Lines 256-289)

   • Modal confirmation required
   • Preserves access until period end
   • API: POST /api/stripe/cancel

3. Reactivation (Lines 199-209)

   • Resume button for canceled subscriptions
   • API: POST /api/stripe/reactivate

What's missing

No team/seat management:

• Single user per subscription
• No invite functionality
• No team tables

No invoice management:

• No invoice history in-app
• Delegated to Stripe

---

6. Onboarding audit (6.5/10)

Onboarding tour component

Location: /components/OnboardingTour.tsx (Lines 1-205)

This is the most complete onboarding implementation among the templates we analyzed:

// Lines 20-66 — Tour steps definition
const steps = [
  { title: "Start with a Template", targetClass: "recipe-templates" },
  { title: "Voice Start", targetClass: "ai-assistant-button" },
  { title: "Voice Stop", targetClass: "ai-assistant-button" },
  { title: "Add Your Own Recipe", targetClass: "add-recipe-button" }
];

Features:

• Multi-step guided tour
• Element highlighting with CSS classes
• Smooth scrolling to target elements
• Progress indicator ("X of Y steps")
• Next/Previous navigation

State persistence

Location: Database table user_preferences

CREATE TABLE public.user_preferences (
  user_id uuid NOT NULL,
  has_completed_onboarding boolean DEFAULT false,
  created_at timestamp,
  updated_at timestamp
);

Completion tracking:

// OnboardingTour.tsx Lines 124-132
await supabase.from('user_preferences').upsert({
  user_id: user.id,
  has_completed_onboarding: true
}, { onConflict: 'user_id' });

The problem

Onboarding is disabled:

Location: /app/dashboard/page.tsx (Line 11)

// import OnboardingTour from '@/components/OnboardingTour';

The import is commented out. The full onboarding system exists but isn't active.

What you'd get by enabling

Uncomment the import and render the component:

1. First-time users see guided tour
2. Tour completion tracked in database
3. Users won't see tour again after completion

---

7. Paywall & upgrade CRO (5/10)

Paywall location

Location: /app/profile/page.tsx (Lines 149-290)

The profile page serves as the paywall for:

• Users with expired trial
• Users without subscription
• Users who canceled

Paywall copy

Trial active:

"You are currently in your 48-hour trial period.
Your trial will end on {date}."

Trial expired:

"Your trial period ended on {date}.
Subscribe now to regain access to the cooking experience."

CTA:

"Subscribe now to unlock the amazing cooking experience"

What's missing

No feature-level paywalls:

• No "Upgrade to unlock" on specific features
• No usage limit displays

No upgrade prompts:

• No contextual upsells during product usage
• No milestone-based upgrade suggestions

No price anchoring:

• Stripe Buy Button shows price, but no comparison
• No "Save 20% with annual" messaging

---

Database schema

Tables for PLG

Table	Purpose
user_preferences	Onboarding state (has_completed_onboarding)
user_trials	Trial tracking (trial_end_time, is_trial_used)
subscriptions	Subscription state synced from Stripe

Missing tables

• No feature_usage for usage tracking
• No teams or organizations
• No analytics_events for custom tracking

---

Email infrastructure

Location: /utils/resend.ts and /app/api/email/ routes

Resend is configured with email templates for:

• Welcome email on signup
• Billing confirmation
• Cancellation notification

Missing:

• Trial reminder emails
• Trial expiry emails
• Re-engagement emails

---

Quick wins: Enable what's already built

1. Enable PostHog

File: /app/layout.tsx

// Uncomment these lines:
<PostHogProvider>
  {children}
</PostHogProvider>

You'll immediately get page views and session tracking.

2. Enable onboarding tour

File: /app/dashboard/page.tsx

// Uncomment:
import OnboardingTour from '@/components/OnboardingTour';

// Add to render:
{!hasCompletedOnboarding && <OnboardingTour />}

3. Add user identification

File: /contexts/AuthContext.tsx

After successful login, add:

import { identifyUser } from '@/utils/analytics';

// After auth success:
identifyUser(user.id, { email: user.email });

---

What still needs work

Priority 1: Add custom event tracking

// Signup funnel
track('signup_started');
track('signup_completed');
track('email_verified');

// Trial funnel
track('trial_started');
track('trial_expired');

// Payment funnel
track('checkout_started');
track('checkout_completed');
track('subscription_canceled');

Priority 2: Add trial emails

Create email templates for:

• Trial welcome (day 0)
• Trial reminder (24 hours before expiry)
• Trial expired (day 2)

Priority 3: Feature-level gating

Replace dashboard-level gating with feature-level:

function canAccessFeature(user, feature) {
  if (isPro(user)) return true;
  if (isInTrial(user)) return TRIAL_FEATURES.includes(feature);
  return FREE_FEATURES.includes(feature);
}

---

Comparison to other starters

Template	PLG score	Best feature
Launch MVP	5.9/10	Trial system + onboarding (disabled)
Vercel Subscription Payments	3/10	Stripe billing infrastructure
Nextbase	3.2/10	Signup flow (8/10)

Launch MVP is the only template with:

• Working trial system
• Onboarding component with database tracking
• Analytics infrastructure (even if disabled)
• Cancel/reactivate subscription flows

---

First steps to PLG

Launch MVP has the best foundation — here's how to activate it:

Day 1: Enable what's already built

1. Uncomment PostHog in /app/providers.tsx
2. Uncomment the onboarding import in /app/dashboard/page.tsx
3. Add your PostHog project key to .env
4. You now have analytics and onboarding working

Week 1: Add custom event tracking

The PostHog provider is there, now use it:

// After successful signup
posthog.capture('signup_completed', { method: 'email' });

// When trial starts
posthog.capture('trial_started', { plan: 'pro' });

// When user completes key action
posthog.capture('aha_moment_reached', { action: 'first_project_created' });

// When trial converts
posthog.capture('trial_converted', { plan: 'pro', trial_days_used: 7 });

Week 2: Customize onboarding for your product

1. Edit /components/OnboardingTour.tsx with your actual features
2. Point users to their first "aha moment" action
3. Track completion: posthog.capture('onboarding_completed')
4. A/B test different tour lengths

Week 3: Add feature-level gating

Move beyond dashboard-level access:

// Check subscription for specific features
const canExport = subscription?.plan === 'pro';

{canExport ? (
  <ExportButton />
) : (
  <UpgradePrompt feature="export" />
)}

Week 4: Optimize trial conversion

1. Add trial countdown banner in dashboard
2. Send email on day 7: "You've used X features so far"
3. Send email on day 12: "Your trial ends in 2 days"
4. Create a "What you'll lose" summary for expiring trials

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When to use Launch MVP

Good fit:

• Monetized SaaS with subscriptions
• Products needing trial-to-paid conversion
• Teams who want PLG infrastructure with minimal setup

Considerations:

• PostHog is disabled by default
• Onboarding needs customization for your product
• Feature gating is binary (dashboard or not)
• No team/seat management

---

Conclusion

Launch MVP scores 5.9/10 for PLG readiness — the highest among Supabase starters.

The infrastructure exists:

• Trial system works
• Onboarding component is ready
• PostHog is configured
• Cancel/reactivate flows are implemented

The main issue: critical features are disabled. Two quick changes (uncommenting PostHog and the onboarding import) would significantly improve the user experience.

For a monetized SaaS, this is the strongest starting point. Add custom event tracking, enable the built-in features, and you'll have a genuinely PLG-capable foundation.

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Appendix: Key file locations

Component	File
Login form	/components/LoginForm.tsx
Auth context	/contexts/AuthContext.tsx
Email verification	/app/verify-email/page.tsx
Dashboard (gated)	/app/dashboard/page.tsx
Profile/paywall	/app/profile/page.tsx
Pricing section	/components/PricingSection.tsx
Trial hook	/hooks/useTrialStatus.ts
Subscription hook	/hooks/useSubscription.ts
Onboarding tour	/components/OnboardingTour.tsx
PostHog config	/utils/posthog.ts
PostHog context	/contexts/PostHogContext.tsx
Analytics utilities	/utils/analytics.ts
Stripe buy button	/components/StripeBuyButton.tsx
Stripe webhook	/app/api/stripe/webhook/route.ts

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This analysis was performed using PLG Skills, an open-source framework for product-led growth audits. Skills used: signup-flow-cro, feature-gating, trial-optimization, product-analytics, self-serve-motion, paywall-upgrade-cro, product-onboarding.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Launch MVP the best Supabase SaaS starter?

For PLG, yes. Launch MVP scores 5.9/10 — the highest among Supabase starters we analyzed. It has a working 48-hour trial system, an onboarding tour component, PostHog analytics configuration, and cancel/reactivate subscription flows. The main issue: some features are disabled by default.

Does Launch MVP include free trials?

Yes. Launch MVP has a working 48-hour auto-trial system stored in the user_trials table. New users automatically get a trial on first dashboard visit — no credit card required. The trial expiry is properly handled with clear UI messaging for active, expired, and never-had-trial states.

Why is PostHog disabled in Launch MVP?

The PostHog provider is commented out in /app/layout.tsx by default. The infrastructure is fully configured — posthog.init(), trackEvent(), identifyUser() — but not active. Uncomment the <PostHogProvider> wrapper to enable page views and session tracking immediately.

How do I enable the onboarding tour in Launch MVP?

The OnboardingTour component import is commented out in /app/dashboard/page.tsx. Uncomment the import and add {!hasCompletedOnboarding && <OnboardingTour />} to render the 4-step guided tour. Completion state is tracked in the user_preferences table.

Does Launch MVP support team billing?

No. Like other Supabase starters, Launch MVP is single-user per subscription. There are no team tables, invite functionality, or seat-based pricing. For team billing, you'll need to add teams and team_members tables and modify the Stripe integration.

What's missing in Launch MVP for production PLG?

Three things: (1) Custom event tracking — you need to add track() calls for signup, payment, and feature usage events. (2) Trial emails — no welcome, reminder, or expiry emails configured. (3) Feature-level gating — the dashboard is gated, but individual features aren't. See our Priority 1-3 recommendations in the audit.