You have decided to build your next project with Laravel? Smart choice! But the big question remains: do you start from scratch, or do you take advantage of a starter kit like Butchr? While Laravel is flexible enough to create almost anything, building everything from the ground up can take a lot of time. That is where Butchr comes in; it is much more than just a collection of files - it's a pre-packaged boilerplate packed with power.
Laravel serves as the engine running everything, Vue forms the sleek, interactive body, and Inertia.js connects the front and back for seamless page transitions. TailwindCSS handles the clean, responsive styling, while shadcn/ui adds polished UI components. TypeScript ensures type safety throughout the codebase. TanStack Table gives you advanced table functionality out of the box, and Stripe is fully integrated to handle payments with ease. For animations and smooth transitions, GSAP takes care of all the magic. With Butchr, you skip the tedious setup and jump straight into building the real deal.
This post will help you figure out when using a starter kit like Butchr makes sense and when starting from scratch with Laravel might be the better approach.
Butchr
1. Speed of development
Time is money, and Butchr lets you skip the setup and repetitive tasks that come with every new Laravel project. Instead of configuring advanced authentication (users, admins, roles, permissions, social auth, etc.), routing, or building out Vue components from scratch, you can dive straight into building out features. If you are focused on delivering MVPs, SaaS apps, or internal tools, Butchr will cut down your development time significantly.
2. Pre-configured best practices
Starting from scratch can sometimes lead to messy code and quick fixes. With Butchr, best practices are baked in from day one. You get a clean folder structure, reusable Vue components, and optimized front-end assets with TailwindCSS and shadcn, all set up for you. This ensures scalability and keeps things maintainable as your project grows. I`m not saying the code is perfect, but it follows all the current coding standards.
3. Tailored for modern stack developers
Butchr is not just about Laravel. It is designed for modern web apps. By integrating Vue and Inertia.js, you are ready to create fast, single-page applications without starting from zero. TailwindCSS gives you utility-first styling, and Vue offers reactivity where needed. With Butchr, the entire setup is ready to go, so you can focus on building your app, not configuring your stack. Yes, there are official Laravel starter kits like Breeze and Jetstream, but they lack a lot of things that Butcher comes with, like rich user and admin panels, datatables, payments, beautiful and reusable components, multiple pre-defined themes, light and dark mode, etc.
4. Avoid reinventing the wheel
Every project requires essentials like authentication (even though default Laravel comes with really strong authentication), user management, dashboards and some common components like header, footer, main menu, hero, features, and pricing tables, among others. Rebuilding these from scratch every time, or even copying it from previous project is inefficient. Butchr comes with these foundational pieces ready out of the box, letting you skip the repetitive work and get to the parts that make your project unique.
Starting from scratch
1. Full control over the codebase
Starting from scratch gives you complete control over every piece of code. If you want to implement something highly custom or avoid any dependencies that come with a starter kit, this is your playground. You can tailor your project exactly to your specific needs, without any predefined constraints. Also, every starter kit works in an opinionated way, same as every package you will use in your custom-made application.
2. Learning Opportunity
Building a project from scratch can teach you a lot about Laravel. You will gain a deeper understanding of the framework, which can help you tackle problems in a more hands-on way. The learning curve may be steeper and the development time longer, but it offers valuable experience for developers looking to sharpen their skills.
3. Customization without limitations
If you are working on something highly unique or experimental, starting from scratch might be the best path. You are not tied to any pre-set stack and can introduce cutting-edge tools or different CSS frameworks. While Butchr is optimized for most projects, there are times when full flexibility is essential.
When to choose Butchr?
Quick turnaround projects: Perfect for MVPs, client projects, or anything that needs to be launched quickly, and in the same time very efficiently.
Small-to-medium sized applications: Ideal for SaaS apps, dashboards, or presentational websites with a modern stack.
You prefer structure and best practices: If you are looking for a solid foundation without needing to set up core features yourself, Butchr gives you that head start.
When to start from scratch?
Large-scale projects: If you are working on a massive application with highly specific requirements, starting from scratch might make more sense. But, Butchr can also handle such applications.
Highly custom projects: When your project deviates significantly from typical use cases, starting with a blank slate can give you more freedom.
You want full control: If you are a developer who enjoys building every part of your application, starting from scratch offers the flexibility to do just that.
Conclusion
The decision between using Butchr and starting from scratch with Laravel comes down to your project's needs and how much control you want over the development process. Butchr is the right choice if you are looking to speed up development and work within a modern web stack. But if your project requires complete customization or a unique setup, starting from scratch with Laravel could be the way to go.
The choice is yours: efficiency and structure with Butchr, or full customization by building from the ground up? Either way, Laravel has you covered.