RP Next.js Starter is a free, MIT-licensed Next.js boilerplate that scaffolds a production-ready web project with Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, and built-in SEO out of the box.
What is RP Next.js Starter?
RP Next.js Starter is a GitHub template by Rishit Patel (imrishit98) for kick-starting Next.js applications. It takes a fresh clone from the repository and produces a working Next.js project configured with Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui components, and automated search-engine features. It runs on any Next.js deployment target, including Vercel and Netlify, and includes both the new app directory structure and the legacy pages directory for backward compatibility. If you prefer only the pages directory, the author maintains a separate starter called rp-nextjs-starter-pages-dir.
Key Features
- Dual directory structure — Ships with the Next.js app router in src/app but remains compatible with the older pages directory, so you can migrate gradually.
- Tailwind CSS styling — Tailwind is preconfigured for utility-first styling, with documentation linked to tailwindcss.com.
- shadcn/ui components — The starter includes shadcn/ui, a collection of copy-paste React components built on Radix UI and Tailwind.
- Automatic robots.txt — The src/app/robots.js file generates a robots.txt using values from site-config.js, letting you allow or disallow crawler paths from one file.
- Sitemap generation — The src/app/sitemap.js script recursively scans the src/app directory for pages, ignores paths in an ignorePaths array, and handles dynamic routes and nested folders.
- One-line setup — You can scaffold a new project with
yarn create next-app -e https://github.com/imrishit98/rp-nextjs-starteror the equivalent npx command. - One-click deployment — The README includes deploy buttons for Vercel and Netlify that clone the repository into those platforms.
- Proven in production — Four public projects, including aitools.fyi, PDFPeer, Amazing Newsletters, and revrn, are listed as built with this starter.
Who should use RP Next.js Starter?
- Next.js developers building a new product or side project who want TailwindCSS and shadcn/ui preconfigured without wiring them manually.
- SaaS founders who need SEO basics (robots.txt and sitemap) set up from the start so search engines can index their marketing pages.
- Developers migrating an existing pages-directory app to the App Router can keep both structures side by side during the transition.
- Agency or freelance developers shipping client sites quickly on Vercel or Netlify with a single deploy button.
What can you do with RP Next.js Starter?
- Launch an AI tools directory: Use the starter to build sites like aitools.fyi, which lists AI tools, with Tailwind styling and built-in sitemap for SEO.
- Create a document chat SaaS: PDFPeer, a "chat with any document" product, was built on this starter, showing it can handle authentication and API routes.
- Publish a newsletter hub: Amazing Newsletters uses it to rank and display newsletter recommendations with automatic sitemap for discoverability.
- Ship a revenue-focused product: revrn uses the starter as the foundation for an "idea to revenue in days" tool.
How does RP Next.js Starter work?
The quick start is simply running npx create-next-app -e https://github.com/imrishit98/rp-nextjs-starter in your terminal. Once the project is downloaded, you run npm run dev or yarn dev to start the development server at localhost:3000, then edit src/app/page.js to change the homepage. To deploy, you either push to Vercel/Netlify via their deploy buttons or follow the standard Next.js deployment docs.
FAQ
Is RP Next.js Starter free?
Yes, the starter is open source under the MIT License, so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely, including in commercial projects.
Does it support the pages directory?
Yes, it includes both the new app directory and the old pages directory for backwards compatibility. If you only want the pages-directory version, the author provides a separate repository called rp-nextjs-starter-pages-dir.
What SEO features are included?
The starter generates a robots.txt file from src/app/robots.js and a sitemap from src/app/sitemap.js. The sitemap scans the app directory, respects an ignorePaths list, and handles dynamic routes and nested folders.
How do I customize the site URL?
Both the robots and sitemap features read from a site-config.js file. You update this file with your production URL and the generated files will use it.
Which platforms can I deploy to?
Vercel and Netlify both have one-click deploy buttons in the README, and because it's a standard Next.js app, any Next.js-compatible hosting service works.
