Why Most SaaS Boilerplates Fail European Developers

If you're building a SaaS in Europe, you've probably looked at boilerplates. Ship faster, skip the boring setup, focus on your product. Sounds great.

But here's the problem: most boilerplates are built for the US market.

And that creates real issues when you're trying to launch in the EU.

The payment problem

Stripe is everywhere. Almost every boilerplate uses it. But Stripe isn't always the best choice for European businesses.

• Some EU countries have low Stripe adoption
• Local payment methods (iDEAL in Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium) aren't supported by default
• European customers often prefer local alternatives

Mollie is built for Europe. It supports local payment methods out of the box, has transparent pricing, and is designed with EU businesses in mind.

Yet almost no boilerplate includes Mollie. You're stuck integrating it yourself.

The GDPR gap

US-focused boilerplates treat GDPR as an afterthought. You get a cookie banner and a privacy policy template. That's it.

But being GDPR friendly is more than a banner:

• Where is your data stored?
• Are you using US-based analytics that transfer data across the Atlantic?
• Do your authentication and email providers have DPAs in place?
• Can users actually request their data or deletion?

Most boilerplates leave you to figure this out. By the time you realize it, you've already built on top of non-compliant infrastructure.

Documentation matters

This might seem minor, but it's not.

If you're a solo founder in France, Germany, or Spain, reading documentation in English is fine. But when you're debugging at 2am, having docs in your native language saves time and frustration.

Bilingual documentation (English + local language) is rare. But it makes a real difference for non-native speakers.

What to look for

If you're an EU-based developer looking for a boilerplate, here's a checklist:

• [ ] Supports Mollie (or other EU payment processors), not just Stripe
• [ ] GDPR-friendly defaults (EU data hosting, compliant analytics, proper consent flows)
• [ ] Documentation in your language
• [ ] Built by someone who understands EU business requirements
• [ ] Clear on data residency and third-party processors

The market gap

There's a reason most boilerplates ignore Europe: the US market is bigger and more vocal.

But that's changing. More developers are building from the EU, and they need tools that fit their reality.

If you're building for European customers, start with European infrastructure.

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Building a SaaS in Europe? I'd love to hear what challenges you've faced with existing tools. Drop a comment below.