Launch · 2026-04-19 · 7 min read
Launch checklist for a self-hosted AI SaaS
A practical checklist for shipping a self-hosted creative SaaS with auth, billing, legal pages, and production routing.
Public pages come first
Before opening traffic, the site needs public pricing, docs, privacy, terms, acceptable use, and billing policy pages. These are not filler pages. They set user expectations, improve trust, and create the first indexable surface area for search.
Operational dependencies should be explicit
Google OAuth, SMTP, Stripe, HTTPS, and database backups all need to be configured before launch. Treat each one as a launch gate, not as a post-launch nice-to-have.
SEO should start before the server phase
Metadata, sitemap coverage, structured data, and information architecture can all be built locally. The public server phase is where you verify canonical URLs, Search Console, and indexing, not where you begin planning the content structure.