# Pagoda

A free, MIT-licensed Go full-stack starter kit with an admin panel, HTMX, and Alpine.js

https://topboilerplates.com/pagoda

Framework: Go | Pricing: Free | GitHub stars: 2951

## Verdict

Best for: Go developers who want a server-rendered, HTMX/Alpine-based full-stack starter with an admin panel and auth, avoiding a heavy client-side JS framework.

Skip if: You want a React/Vue single-page app frontend, or need Postgres/MySQL instead of the default SQLite setup.

## Description

Pagoda is an open-source, MIT-licensed Go starter kit by Mike Stefanello for building server-rendered web apps without a heavy JavaScript framework. It combines the Echo web framework and Ent ORM on the backend with Gomponents, HTMX, and Alpine.js on the frontend, styled with Tailwind CSS and daisyUI. It includes a dynamic admin panel, built-in authentication (login, registration, password reset, email verification), background task queuing, session management, CSRF protection, and file uploads - positioned as a template repo rather than a locked-in framework.

## Pros and cons

+ Free, open source, MIT licensed, with a large and active GitHub following (~2,950 stars, updated August 2026)

+ HTMX + Alpine + server-rendered approach keeps the frontend simple and JS-light

+ Built-in admin panel, auth flows, background jobs, and file uploads cover a lot of common app needs out of the box

- SQLite as the default database may need swapping out for production-scale relational workloads

- Go + HTMX/Gomponents is a different mental model than typical React/Next.js SaaS starters

- No built-in payments/billing - it's a general app starter, not SaaS-specific

## Features

- auth-included
- admin-dashboard
- file-uploads
- background-jobs
- caching
- open-source
- mit-licensed
- free-tier

## Stack

- Tailwind
- daisyUI
- SQLite

## Links

- Website: https://topboilerplates.com/go/pagoda
- GitHub: https://github.com/mikestefanello/pagoda

## Alternatives

- [CoreUI React](https://topboilerplates.com/coreui-react)
- [Rails Tabler Starter](https://topboilerplates.com/rails-tabler-starter)
- [Vue Vben Admin](https://topboilerplates.com/vue-vben-admin)