If you've ever wanted to build a full-stack web app but felt overwhelmed by the maze of JavaScript tooling decisions, Freedom Stack was made for you. Created by Cameron Pak — the founder of faith.tools — Freedom Stack is a free, open-source starter kit designed to make web development approachable, efficient, and genuinely fun again.^1
Now in its third major version, Freedom Stack v3 takes a no-build, no-bundle approach built entirely on Web Standards. The stack pairs Hono (a fast, lightweight web framework) with Datastar for hypermedia-driven interactivity, Bknd for backend services like auth, database, and storage, UnoCSS for styling, and Basecoat UI for components — all running on Bun.^2 Previous versions used Astro, Alpine.js, HTMX, and DaisyUI, and the original v1 repo earned over 180 GitHub stars.^3
The philosophy behind Freedom Stack is refreshingly simple: keep state on the server where it belongs, minimize client-side complexity, and make the whole thing deployable anywhere. It's AI coding agent-ready out of the box, with an AGENTS.md file and MCP server integrations included.^2 Freedom Stack has been featured on the Astro blog, Startup Fame, SaaS Boilerplates, and Uneed.^1
"Enjoyed learning about Freedom Stack, Cam. Really a refreshing take on SaaS boilerplates." — Carl Poppa^1
Cameron's own journey with Freedom Stack is part of the story — he built the first version after recovering from a seven-month illness, finding that coding with Astro DB felt freeing and fun. After exploring Laravel and coming back, he wrote: "I then tasked myself with creating the same exact tool but with Freedom Stack. Took one day. Deployed with no friction. Use what works."^4
Notable- Created by Cameron Pak, founder of faith.tools, professing Christian^5
- v1 repo: 186 GitHub stars, now archived; v3 repo: 30 stars, 119 commits, actively maintained^3
- Featured on the Astro blog (November 2024), Startup Fame, SaaS Boilerplates, and Uneed^1
- Listed in the Astro themes directory^6
- Used to build the Wisephone II homescreen^1
- Free and open source under MIT license^2
