Frequently asked questions
Electrik 5.x, licensing, install, and billing.
Product
What is Electrik?
Electrik is a Laravel SaaS starter kit distributed as a Composer package. It includes authentication, team workspaces, role-based permissions, Stripe billing on teams, onboarding, and a Slate 3 UI.
How is Electrik 5.x different from 4.x?
Version 5 is a rebuild on Electrik Slate 3 with code in the Electrik namespace, Cashier on teams, working subscribe flows, and honest install docs. APIs and migrations changed; treat 5.x as a new product line.
Does Electrik lock billing behind a paid tier?
No. Billing, teams, and permissions ship in the same source for grant and commercial users. The license gate is who may use the code commercially, not which features exist.
Install and stack
What are the requirements?
PHP 8.3+, Laravel 12+, Livewire 4, Tailwind CSS v4, and electrik/slate ^3.0@alpha. Stripe keys are required for live billing; test keys work locally.
How do I install Electrik?
Run composer require electrik/electrik:^5.0@alpha on a Laravel app, then php artisan electrik:install. See the install guide on electrik.dev for migrations, assets, and Stripe sync.
Where is the UI documented?
Electrik Slate lives at slate.electrik.dev with components, blocks, examples, and themes. electrik.dev covers the product, license, and install path.
License
Is Electrik open source?
Source is public under BSL 1.1 with a free Additional Use Grant for personal, educational, open-source, and pre-revenue indie use. Commercial use by companies requires a paid license.
Can my startup use the free grant?
Pre-revenue indie experimentation by individuals or small informal teams qualifies. Once you are a company shipping a commercial product, raising as a legal entity, or doing client work, you need a commercial license.
When does it become Apache 2.0?
Four years after first public release, Electrik relicenses to Apache 2.0 automatically per the BSL change date in LICENSE.
Billing and teams
Who is the Stripe customer?
The team is the Cashier billable model by default. Subscriptions, payment methods, and invoices are scoped to the current team workspace.
Does Electrik support seat billing?
Yes. Seat counts can sync with team membership on supported plans. Configure plan features in config/electrik.php and Stripe price metadata.
Can I try a demo?
Use demo.electrik.dev when hosted, or run php artisan electrik:seed-demo locally for [email protected] with password password.