Caylem vs Makerkit for South African agencies
Makerkit offers substantial team and billing foundations. Caylem offers an MIT-licensed application release that you can adapt and hand over. For a South African agency, the decision should include the client’s product requirements, source rights and ongoing operating responsibilities.
By Caylem · Reviewed
Published by Caylem. Based on public vendor documentation and our source, not a private-code audit or a claim that every product has been tested. Scope: Makerkit Next.js Supabase Turbo and the current Makerkit license. Other kits may differ. We did not audit the paid repository.
Compare the client product, not just the demo
Makerkit’s Supabase architecture is built around personal and team accounts. Its billing gateway offers Stripe, Lemon Squeezy and Paddle. Those are useful starting points when a brief calls for customer organisations, staff access and recurring charges.
Caylem’s connected application implements source purchases and library access using Clerk, Convex and Polar. The two storefronts share one backend. It also includes a separate UI prototype, shared page templates and release tooling. The rand purchase covers that selected source release.
At a glance
The trade-offs that change what you need to build.
Customer workspaces
- Caylem
- Design and build the client product’s own tenant and permission model.
- Makerkit
- Account-centred Supabase architecture and documented data policies.Makerkit Supabase architecture
Source handover
- Caylem
- MIT permits commercial distribution with required notices retained.
- Makerkit
- Current terms require a Team license for client work and a client license for source delivery or dedicated client instances.Makerkit license & client work
Billing routes
- Caylem
- Polar for one-time source purchases. No PayFast, Paystack or Yoco adapter is included.
- Makerkit
- Stripe, Lemon Squeezy and Paddle in the reviewed Supabase billing gateway.Makerkit Supabase billing
Update access
- Caylem
- The selected release only. Separate projects need deliberate maintenance.
- Makerkit
- Advertised lifetime updates for the purchased kit. Your client changes still need review when adopting them.Makerkit product & current plans
Price source rights into the client brief
Makerkit’s license distinguishes SaaS end users from bespoke clients. Its current client-work conditions affect repository handover and separate client deployments. Confirm the licenses for the intended arrangement before fixing the project price.
Caylem’s MIT terms allow reuse and distribution with notices retained. That can suit an agency that wants a common source baseline for independent projects. It does not settle your client contract, assign ownership of third-party services or include ongoing engineering support.
Multiple gateways still need local validation
Makerkit is not limited to a direct Stripe account. Assess its alternative providers against the client’s entity and product. An integration’s presence does not prove that a specific business is approved to use it.
Polar lists South Africa for payouts, with account review required. That makes Caylem’s included path worth evaluating for eligible digital products. The source purchase in ZAR is separate from your client’s payment setup. For service invoices or local EFT requirements, scope an appropriate payment route.
Start with a realistic first delivery
Consider a client portal that will initially deliver paid digital files. Caylem’s purchase and library journey is a concrete starting reference. Now change the brief to ten customer organisations with staff invitations and seat billing. That changes the value of an included team-account model.
Use the first version of the brief to compare implementation effort. Keep separate client repositories and service accounts appropriately isolated. Shared templates can reduce repeated UI work, but they do not automatically propagate fixes into every client project. Someone must own that maintenance.
Which should you choose?
Choose Caylem if…
- You want MIT source handover and a release you can keep as a client-project baseline.
- The demonstrated purchase and library workflow is relevant to the brief.
- Your team wants to maintain Clerk and Convex integrations.
Choose Makerkit if…
- Customer teams and subscriptions are central to the first release.
- Your developers prefer Supabase and its account-data patterns.
- The applicable kit, team and client licenses fit the contract.
Before you decide
Can an agency use Makerkit for client work?
Its current terms allow client work under specific Team and client licensing conditions. Read those terms for source handover and dedicated client deployments. We do not describe Makerkit as unavailable to agencies.
Does Caylem include a finished customer-tenant system?
No. Its storefronts share the source-store backend. A new client product still needs its own data and access rules, including tenant isolation where required.
What belongs in the delivery quote?
Include the source purchase, licences where needed, client-specific development, service setup, payment approval work, testing, handover and maintenance. Rand source pricing does not mean all operating costs are in rand.
Inspect the application you would build on
Check the selected release and its current ZAR price before purchase. You receive the source under MIT. Hosting, service approval, custom development and maintenance are separate. Your source purchase does not approve your future business to accept payments.
See release & rand price