Guides

Building SaaS billing and payment integration with Stripe...

This guide provides a structured approach to building core SaaS functionality with focus on billing, authentication, and compliance. Follow these steps to implement critical components with production-grade considerations.

2-3 hours5 steps
1

Set up authentication and tenant identification

Configure Clerk for user authentication and create a tenant identifier schema. Use Supabase's row-level security to isolate data between tenants.

ALTER TABLE tenants ADD COLUMN tenant_id UUID NOT NULL DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(); GRANT SELECT ON tenants TO anon; CREATE POLICY tenant_policy ON tenants FOR ALL USING (tenant_id = current_setting('app.current_tenant')::UUID);

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Forgetting to set app.current_tenant in database connections
  • •Not validating tenant_id in API routes
2

Implement subscription billing with Stripe

Create products and pricing tiers in Stripe Dashboard. Set up webhooks to handle subscription events and update tenant status in your database.

const stripe = require('stripe')('sk_test_...'); stripe.webhooks.on('checkout.session.completed', async (event) => { const session = event.data.object; const tenant = await getTenantByCustomerId(session.customer); await updateSubscriptionStatus(tenant, session); });

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Not verifying webhook signatures with Stripe's endpoint secret
  • •Ignoring trial periods in subscription logic
3

Configure multi-tenancy database schema

Design a shared database schema with tenant-specific data partitions. Use Supabase's built-in row-level security to enforce data isolation.

CREATE TABLE tenant_features (id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(), tenant_id UUID NOT NULL REFERENCES tenants(id), feature_type TEXT NOT NULL, enabled BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT true); CREATE INDEX idx_tenant_features_tenant ON tenant_features(tenant_id);

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Not indexing tenant_id columns in multi-tenant tables
  • •Using global UUIDs instead of tenant-specific identifiers
4

Add AI API cost tracking

Instrument API calls to track usage against tenant quotas. Implement rate limiting and cost alerts using a time-series database.

from prometheus_client import Counter ai_api_calls = Counter('ai_api_calls_total', 'Total AI API calls per tenant', ['tenant_id', 'model']) def track_call(tenant_id, model): ai_api_calls.labels(tenant_id=tenant_id, model=model).inc()

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Not sampling API usage data for cost estimation
  • •Ignoring rate-limiting thresholds in production
5

Implement GDPR data management

Create endpoints for data export and deletion. Use Supabase's built-in retention policies to automatically purge inactive tenant data.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION delete_tenant_data(tenant_id UUID) RETURNS void AS $$ BEGIN DELETE FROM user_activity WHERE tenant_id = tenant_id; DELETE FROM api_logs WHERE tenant_id = tenant_id; END; $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Not anonymizing user data before deletion
  • •Forgetting to update audit logs when data is removed

What you built

This implementation sequence addresses core SaaS requirements with production considerations. Verify each component with integration tests and monitor metrics through PostHog for user behavior insights.