Launch a Subscription Store with Vercel and Stripe

You have a great idea that you want to sell, but you need a place to sell it. Building a SaaS app can send you down a rabbit hole. Authentication. Payments. Protecting premium features. Managing subscriptions. Each one pulls you deeper, and before you know it, you've spent three weeks on deciding on how to build instead of building.

Let's build a production-ready subscription storefront with Next.js 16, Supabase Auth, and Stripe, a solid stack for building SaaS apps. You'll understand exactly how the pieces fit together, not because you copied code that magically works, but because you built it yourself.

By the end, you'll have a complete billing system ready for your next big idea.

What you'll build (hands-on)

We're going to build a subscription storefront for a small business called The Forager's Guild. Use that example or build your own idea that will include:

Authentication System:

Sign up and sign in flows with Supabase Auth
Protected routes with Next.js 16 proxy
Session management across server and client components

Subscription Billing:

Pricing page with multiple subscription tiers
Stripe Checkout integration with Server Actions
Subscription management (view, cancel via Customer Portal)
Stripe webhooks syncing data to Supabase

Feature Access Control:

Gate content based on subscription status
Server-side and client-side subscription checks
Protected API routes with access control

Prerequisites

Before diving in, make sure you have:

JavaScript/TypeScript: Comfortable with modern JS syntax and basic TS concepts
React: Familiar with components, hooks, and state management
Git: Version control system for cloning the starter code
Node.js: Latest LTS version (v20 or later recommended)
pnpm: Package manager used throughout the course
Vercel account: Create one for free
Supabase account: Create one for free
Stripe account: Create one for free

Getting Started

You'll begin by deploying a pre-configured starter repo with one click:

Deploy with Vercel button creates your project instantly
Next.js 16, React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, and shadcn/ui already configured
Clone locally and start building immediately

No boilerplate setup - you focus on the interesting parts from lesson one.

Section 1: Setup & Auth

Build complete authentication:

Deploy Starter: One-click deploy, clone locally, explore structure
Supabase Setup: Create project, configure environment variables
Client Utilities: Build browser and server Supabase clients
Auth Pages: Sign-up and sign-in with Server Actions
Protected Routes: Proxy for session management and route protection (Next.js 16)

Section 2: Stripe Integration

Implement subscription billing:

Stripe SDK: Configure server and browser Stripe clients
Pricing Page: Display subscription tiers from Supabase
Checkout Flow: Create checkout sessions and redirect to Stripe
Subscription Management: View active subscriptions with status
Subscription Actions: Customer Portal for billing self-service

Section 3: Access Control

Gate features by subscription:

Understanding Access Control: Subscription-based gating concepts
Server-Side Checks: Gate Server Components and pages
Client-Side Checks: Build interactive premium features
Protected APIs: Secure API routes with subscription validation

Section 4: Production Ready

Ship with confidence:

Error Handling: Loading states and graceful error recovery
Navigation: Complete header and sidebar with auth state
Deploy: Production configuration and verification

Tech Stack

Next.js 16 - React framework with App Router and Turbopack
React 19 - UI library with Server Components
Supabase - Authentication and database
Stripe - Payment processing and subscriptions
Tailwind CSS 4 - Utility-first styling
shadcn/ui - Component library

Your idea is good. Let's bring it to life.