# ShipFast vs BoringPush: Where Each One Loses

> Head-to-head: price, deploy target, database, billing, agents. Every ShipFast win admitted. Pick by bill shape.

Source: https://boringpush.com/blog/shipfast-vs-boringpush

## "vs" pages that read like victory laps

This page sells BoringPush — stated so you can discount accordingly. What earns your next three minutes anyway: every row is checkable (a file, a command, a bill), every BoringPush loss is printed, and prices are flagged verify-current because kit pricing moves yearly.

If a row is wrong, the repo is public enough to catch it — that's the entire brand promise in one sentence.

> **The 2-minute self-test:** open your Vercel Usage page (or imagine 10x traffic). Transfer over 500GB, or feel dread at the thought? Skip to "Decide in one paragraph" — the table below only confirms what you just felt.

## Head-to-head: 12 rows, no rigging

| Row | BoringPush ($199 once) | ShipFast (~$169 once, verify) |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy home | Vercel AND $5 VPS (`git push production main`), same codebase | Vercel, best-in-class DX |
| Year-one infra | ~$60 flat ($5/mo × 12, $0 meters) | ~$240 seat ($20/mo × 12) + usage meters on top |
| Database | SQLite/Mongo/Supabase, one-var switch, zero rewrites | Mongo/Supabase cloud-first |
| Billing | Stripe + LemonSqueezy + Dodo, one interface | Stripe + LemonSqueezy, polished |
| Auth | Google + magic + dev bypass | Google + magic, slicker UI |
| Agent protocol | Enforced `AGENTS.md` + lint gate | Guides + examples |
| Analytics | Self-hosted, cookie-free mode, $0 | Bring your own |
| Feedback boards | Built in | Not included |
| Background jobs | Zero-dep cron | Bring your own queue |
| Community/docs | Smaller, terse, complete | Larger, years of tutorials |
| Ship-from-phone story | First-class (mesh scripts + guardrails) | DIY |
| Best founder fit | Bill-sensitive + agent devs, either platform | Vercel-native shippers wanting polish |

![One repo with two deploy exits](/blog/shipfast-vs-boringpush/one-repo-two-exits.svg "One repo, two exits: Vercel polish today, $5 flat the day meters bite.")

Losses, plainly: community size, tutorial depth, auth UI polish, and click-to-deploy dashboard DX all go to ShipFast — some by years. (Push-to-deploy ease itself is matched: `git push production main` ships in ~20s with zero downtime, no dashboard needed.) Wins, plainly: deploy-anywhere freedom (Vercel today, VPS when meters bite — no rewrite), flat-bill option, database freedom, a third payment rail, and agents fenced by files instead of hopes.

Ship from anywhere on a Next.js stack whose conventions live in the repo: that row is the whole company, and it's the one ShipFast structurally can't match without becoming a different product.

## The row every comparison page buries: analytics built in

ShipFast says "Bring your own." That's $0 if you never measure, and $450+/year the moment you do (PostHog free tier crosses at ~40k events). BoringPush ships analytics in the box: event tracking into your own SQLite (one session cookie by default, none in cookie-free mode), SQL answers in 30 seconds, CSV export for investors.

The difference in practice:
- **No PostHog/Mixpanel bill** — ever. Analytics costs disk space, which costs $0.
- **Cookie-free mode** — one setting and no cookie is set. Consent walls bounce double-digit EU percentages before users read a word. That bounce is invisible on your analytics dashboard because the bouncer lives before the script loads.
- **Revenue joins that actually work** — "which source converted trial→paid last month?" takes one SQL query when events and orders live in the same database. Every cloud analytics tool makes you export-merge-dance to answer it.

ShipFast is genuinely excellent — tutorials, DX, polish. But buying analytics separately is a hidden meter that lands at exactly the wrong time (when you're growing and busy). One less subscription, one less third-party tag, one less export dance: that's what "in the box" means.

Launching on Vercel this weekend with tutorials on tap, never planning to leave? ShipFast, no hard feelings — the rational buy, said plainly.

Already wincing at meters, or wanting the VPS exit open without rewriting, or handing the repo to Claude from your phone? That's the left column — same Vercel DX today, $5 flat waiting when bills say so, and the $199 pays for itself against one avoided invoice.

Either way: verify current prices, trial the stack that matches your deploy target, and ignore every "vs" page — including this one — that won't print its losses.

## FAQ

### Did ShipFast respond to this page?

No — and nothing here needs their response. Every claim about us is verifiable in the repo; every claim about them is flagged verify-current and limited to public facts.

### One-time price vs subscription — what's the catch?

No catch, different model: you buy the repo (collaborator invite) plus lifetime updates. Subscriptions fund ongoing services; there's no service here, just code — so there's no subscription.

### Can I start ShipFast and switch later?

Yes: keep Mongo/Supabase, copy routes over a weekend (set the database choice to match your existing DB first), move deploys when bills say so. The [alternative guide](https://boringpush.com/blog/shipfast-alternative) details the weekend plan.

### Which ships faster this weekend?

Yes — BoringPush ships on Vercel too, same weekend, same platform. ShipFast edges it on onboarding smoothness and copy-paste tutorials. BoringPush on VPS takes an extra hour of server setup (scripted) and pays it back monthly — your call per project, same repo either way.

### Why should I trust a comparison written by the seller?

You shouldn't, fully — that's why every row points at something checkable instead of adjectives. Verify two rows that matter to you; they'll predict the rest.