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Choose a kit
Compare Core, AI, Edge, and OpenClaw by product model, platforms, billing, runtime, and AI depth, then pick the kit that owns your application.
TurboStarter ships several kits. Each one is a standalone repository with its own stack, documentation, and updates. This recipe walks through the requirements that decide which kit should own your application, and when adding a second kit makes sense.
One kit owns your application
Kits are separate codebases, not plugins. Core and Edge use different frameworks and runtimes, and Core and AI define packages with the same names but different responsibilities. Choose one kit as the base, then port selected features from another kit into it.
Kits
| Kit | Stack | Platforms | Included foundation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Next.js, Hono, PostgreSQL, Drizzle, Better Auth | Web, mobile (Expo), browser extension | Full authentication, organizations, admin, multi-provider billing, emails, CMS, analytics, monitoring |
| AI | Next.js, Expo, Hono, AI SDK, PostgreSQL with pgvector | Web, mobile (Expo) | Chat, RAG, image, voice, and text-to-speech templates, with anonymous sessions and credits |
| Edge | TanStack Start, Vite, Cloudflare Workers, D1, Drizzle | Web | Authentication, Stripe subscriptions, R2 storage, KV, Queues, email, and an AI foundation |
| OpenClaw | Next.js, Hono, Docker, PostgreSQL, Stripe | Web | Per-customer OpenClaw provisioning, subscriptions, and an admin dashboard |
The All-in-One license includes Core, AI, and Edge. Each kit has a live demo and public documentation, so you can compare the actual product flows before you decide.
Choose the base kit
Work through the steps in order. An earlier answer usually narrows the later ones.
Identify the product model
OpenClaw is an open-source, self-hosted AI assistant that connects chat apps to AI agents. If your business sells customers their own hosted OpenClaw instance, choose OpenClaw Kit. It provisions a dedicated instance for each customer on a VPS, Google Cloud, or Fly.io, exposes it over HTTPS, and bills it with Stripe subscriptions.
For any other product, including products that use AI agents, continue with the next step.
List the platforms you ship
Include everything on your roadmap for the next year, not only the first release.
- Browser extension: choose Core. Its extension is a client of the same API and auth system as the web app.
- Mobile app with paid plans: choose Core. Its Expo app shares the backend and includes native in-app purchases through RevenueCat and Superwall.
- Web only: Core and Edge both fit. Continue with the next steps to decide.
AI Kit also includes an Expo app for its templates. It does not include subscriptions or store billing, so paid mobile products still use Core as the base.
Check accounts and billing
Compare the account and payment features your product needs on day one:
| Capability | Core | Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Email and password, OAuth, anonymous access | Included | Included |
| Magic links, OTP, passkeys, two-factor auth | Included | Not included |
| Organizations, invitations, and roles | Included | Not included |
| Super admin and user impersonation | Included | Not included |
| Stripe subscriptions and customer portal | Included | Included |
| Lemon Squeezy, Polar, and Dodo Payments | Included | Not included |
| One-time, metered, per-seat, and credit billing | Included | Not included |
If your product sells to teams or companies, choose Core. Organizations and per-seat billing are hard to retrofit after customers rely on individual accounts. Edge is a strong fit for products sold to individual customers on Stripe subscriptions.
Choose the runtime and database
Core is a Node.js application with PostgreSQL by default. It deploys to Vercel, Docker, a VPS, and other hosts, including Cloudflare Workers through OpenNext with Hyperdrive connecting to your database.
Edge is designed for Cloudflare Workers. The whole app deploys as one Worker, D1 is its application database, and services such as R2, KV, Queues, Email, Turnstile, and Workers AI connect through Wrangler bindings. An existing Postgres database can be reached through the Hyperdrive recipe, but auth and billing stay on D1.
Choose Core when PostgreSQL must be your system of record or when you depend on Node-only packages. Choose Edge when you want the product, its data, and its infrastructure on one Cloudflare account.
Decide how much AI you need
If AI is a feature of your product, the base kit already includes a starting point. Core has an authenticated streaming chat endpoint on the AI SDK with multiple providers. Edge has an AI foundation on TanStack AI with Workers AI and AI Gateway.
If AI is the product, add AI Kit for its complete chat, RAG, image, voice, and text-to-speech templates. Then decide which repository owns the application:
| Situation | Base | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| New paid AI product | Core | Integrate AI Kit |
| Existing AI Kit app that now needs accounts and billing | AI | Integrate Core Kit |
| Prototype or internal tool without billing | AI | AI Kit introduction |
Create the project
Bootstrap the base kit with the TurboStarter CLI. The -k flag skips the kit prompt:
npx @turbostarter/cli@latest new -k coreThe CLI asks which apps to include, so you can start with web only and add mobile or the extension later.
npx @turbostarter/cli@latest new -k aiThe AI Kit CLI guide covers provider, model, tool, voice, and storage setup.
npx @turbostarter/cli@latest new -k edgeThe Edge Kit CLI guide covers Wrangler bindings and the local D1 database.
OpenClaw Kit is not part of the CLI. Clone its repository after purchase and follow the setup included with the kit.
Common products
| You are building | Base kit | Add later |
|---|---|---|
| B2B SaaS with teams and seat-based pricing | Core | AI Kit templates when AI becomes part of the product |
| SaaS across web, mobile, and a browser extension | Core | Nothing required |
| Web-only SaaS on Cloudflare | Edge | AI Kit as a reference for advanced AI features |
| Paid chat, document, image, or voice AI product | Core | AI Kit templates through the integration recipe |
| AI prototype without billing | AI | Core features when you start charging |
| Hosted OpenClaw assistant business | OpenClaw | Nothing required |
Combining kits
Combining kits means porting features into one base, never merging repositories. Replacing shared directories such as packages/auth or packages/db with another kit's version removes features and breaks updates.
- Core and AI share the same foundations (Next.js, Expo, Hono, Better Auth, Drizzle, PostgreSQL), so AI templates port into Core as vertical slices. Start with chat, which exercises authentication, streaming, persistence, and storage. Both directions are documented in Integrate AI Kit and Integrate Core Kit.
- Edge and AI use different frameworks, routing, and AI libraries. Use AI Kit's templates as a reference for features you build on Edge's TanStack AI foundation rather than copying their code.
- Core and Edge are separate products. Run them as separate applications, for example a Core B2B app alongside a smaller Cloudflare-native product on Edge.
Changing kits later
Your product logic, data model design, copy, and UI decisions carry over between kits. The framework, runtime, authentication, and billing wiring do not.
Moving from Edge to Core, or the reverse, is a framework migration: routes, server code, database access, and bindings or providers all change. Adding AI Kit features to a Core app is incremental and can happen at any point. When a requirement is likely within your first year, such as teams, mobile, or PostgreSQL, choose the kit that already supports it.
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