Bullet Train

Open Source Ruby on Rails SaaS Framework

Ruby
Tailwind CSS
Stripe
Ruby on Rails

Overview

Rails-based SaaS Framework

Bullet Train is an MIT-licensed Rails-based framework that saves you months of development by starting you off with all the features that are the same in every product, so you can focus on what makes your app unique.

It's more than a "Rails SaaS Template" - it's like "Rails on Rails".

Core Features

  • Next-Generation Scaffolding: Super Scaffolding generates production-ready views and allows adding fields to existing scaffolds
  • User Authentication: Built on Devise with a beautiful theme
  • Teams and Invitations: Industry-leading team implementation from day one
  • Security and Permissions: Integrated CanCanCan for comprehensive access control
  • Roles: Additional abstraction layer to simplify custom user roles
  • Tailwind CSS Theme: Professionally designed UI with full theme engine
  • Rich Form Fields: Library of native HTML and JavaScript-powered form components
  • Dark Mode: Supported out of the box
  • Server-Side Reactivity: Views update via ActionCable when data changes
  • REST API: JSON:API-compliant with OpenAPI schema
  • Outgoing Webhooks: User-configurable with in-app debugging UI
  • Internationalization: All strings extracted into I18N YAML files
  • Modern Asset Pipeline: Using Rails 7 with esbuild and PostCSS
  • Third-Party Integrations: Pre-built OAuth workflows for various platforms
  • Onboarding Workflows: Editable signup process with onboarding wizard
  • Mobile-Responsive Design: Works on all devices
  • Test Coverage: Comprehensive system tests with Magic Test for in-browser test writing
  • CI Configuration: Ready-to-use CircleCI setup with Knapsack Pro support
  • Framework Override Workflow: Easy customization with bin/resolve
  • One-Click Deploys: Production-ready configuration for Heroku and other platforms

Pro Features

  • Subscriptions and Billing: Integrated payment provider checkouts with plan limits
  • Action Models: Scaffold bulk actions, long-running actions, and scheduled actions
  • Real-Time Conversations: Add conversation threads with notifications throughout your app
  • In-App Audit Logs: User-facing activity logs using PaperTrail
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Andrew Culver

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Frequently Asked Questions

Ruby

What makes Ruby ideal for SaaS development?

Ruby excels in SaaS development due to its robust ecosystem, strong typing capabilities, and excellent library support. Ruby boilerplates leverage language-specific features to provide type-safe database queries, efficient API routing, and optimized runtime performance. The language's maturity means you get battle-tested packages for authentication, payment processing, and background jobs that integrate seamlessly.

Ruby on Rails

What Ruby on Rails-specific architecture patterns are implemented?

Ruby on Rails boilerplates leverage the framework's native architecture patterns including its routing system, middleware pipeline, and controller/handler structure. They implement Ruby on Rails's conventions for separating concerns, dependency injection, and service layer patterns. The codebase follows Ruby on Rails's best practices for organizing models, views/components, and business logic to ensure maintainability as your application grows.

Tailwind CSS

What Tailwind CSS-specific component architecture is used?

Tailwind CSS boilerplates follow the framework's component composition patterns with reusable, atomic design components. They implement Tailwind CSS's best practices for component structure, props handling, event management, and lifecycle methods. The component library includes authentication flows, dashboards, data tables, forms with validation, and navigation—all built with Tailwind CSS's native features like hooks (React), composition API (Vue), or directives (Angular).

Stripe

What Stripe API features are implemented?

Stripe boilerplates implement the provider's complete API suite including checkout sessions, subscription lifecycle management, customer portal, webhook event handling, and invoice generation. They use Stripe's latest API version with proper error handling, idempotency keys, and retry logic. The integration includes Stripe-specific features like payment intents, setup intents, subscription schedules, and tax calculation APIs.

Ruby

What Ruby-specific tools and libraries are included?

Ruby boilerplates include the language's most popular and production-proven tools. This typically includes testing frameworks, linters, formatters, build tools, and package managers specific to Ruby. You'll get pre-configured toolchains that enforce best practices, automated testing pipelines, and development environments optimized for Ruby development workflows.

Ruby on Rails

How does Ruby on Rails's ORM/database layer work in these boilerplates?

Ruby on Rails boilerplates use the framework's native ORM or query builder (Prisma, Eloquent, Active Record, SQLAlchemy, etc.) with pre-configured models for users, subscriptions, teams, and common SaaS entities. They include optimized queries, relationships, migrations, seeders, and database connection pooling. The implementation leverages Ruby on Rails's specific features like eager loading, query scopes, and transaction handling for performance.

Tailwind CSS

How is state management handled in Tailwind CSS boilerplates?

Tailwind CSS boilerplates use the framework's recommended state management approach—whether that's React Context + hooks, Redux Toolkit, Zustand, Pinia (Vue), NgRx (Angular), or Svelte stores. They include pre-configured state slices for authentication, user data, subscriptions, and UI state with proper TypeScript typing. The implementation follows Tailwind CSS's patterns for global state, local component state, and server state synchronization.

Stripe

How are Stripe webhooks handled securely?

Stripe webhooks are verified using the provider's signature validation to prevent spoofing attacks. The boilerplate includes webhook endpoints with proper Stripe signature verification, event type filtering, and idempotent event processing to handle duplicate deliveries. Events are processed asynchronously with retry logic, and the implementation handles Stripe's specific webhook events like subscription updates, payment failures, and customer changes.