Comparisons that tell you what you're locking into

Most comparison posts are ads with a table. Ours have one extra column the others skip: what each option locks you into — which provider gets welded into your code, what switching costs later, and who owns the maintenance. Including where Dough loses

This section covers the choices that are expensive to reverse: which SaaS boilerplate to build on, which payment providers to accept money through, which email service your password resets depend on, and whether to buy a foundation, build one, or vibe-code it from scratch.

Every comparison uses the same honest method — real criteria tables, current pricing, and a straight answer about who each option is actually right for. When a competitor does something better than we do, we say so; a comparison you can't trust is worth nothing. And when Dough appears in a comparison, it's held to the same criteria as everyone else, maturity included.

If you only read one thing here, make it the boilerplate roundups — they're the decision most builders get locked into without realizing they were making a lock-in decision at all. Then check the side-by-side pages against the tools you're already considering.

Active filters: Author: Hakim Belanouane