This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Shola Jegede
In 2011, Stripe made something sacred: a developer's time.
Its promise was simple: add payments to your app in minutes, not weeks.
What made Stripe magical wasn’t just its API. It was its developer experience (DX):
- Copyable code snippets
- Instant test cards
- Hosted checkout pages
- Webhook explorers
- Gorgeous documentation
Stripe didn't treat developers like gatekeepers. It treated them like the primary customer.
That idea changed everything.
Today, there's a new wave of infra startups building with that same DNA. But it's harder now: APIs are more complex, auth is no longer optional, and "platforms" span UI, billing, and access control.
One of the companies working in that gap is Kinde.
And if Stripe perfected the payment flow, Kinde is attempting to do the same for identity, access, and growth primitives — a new dev experience for a very different layer of the stack.
This post is a breakdown of what made Stripe work for developers, where most DX platforms fall short, and how Kinde is quietly evolving a new model for shipping growth-critical features without losing your mind.
Stripe's Playbook
Let’s start with why Stripe became a verb.
Stripe’s DX worked because it made five things true:
1. First Use = First Win
You could:
- Open the docs
- Copy a curl request
- See it working instantly
You got a working response within minutes.
2. Hosted, Not Just Headless
Stripe didn't say "Here’s the API, good luck."
They gave you:
- Hosted checkout
- Hosted customer portal
- Hosted webhooks dashboard
You could integrate deeply or lightly. That spectrum was key.
3. Visuals + APIs
Stripe combined low-code flows with real APIs:
- Build a product in dashboard
- Fetch it via API
- Observe the event logs live
It respected both frontend and backend devs.
4. Shared Mental Models
Stripe didn’t invent "products", "plans", "invoices", or "subscriptions". It mapped to what businesses already knew.
DX wasn’t about being clever. It was about matching intuition.
5. Beautiful, Useful Docs
Stripe docs were clean, versioned, interactive, and copy-paste ready. Code snippets were language-switchable. Error codes were searchable.
It respected your time.
Where Most DX Tools Break Today
Fast-forward to 2025.
New platforms try to "be Stripe for X" — for auth, for analytics, for usage metering, for onboarding.
But most of them fail to replicate that same trust because:
- Docs don’t run. The hello world requires setup across 3 dashboards.
- APIs are hidden behind sales. Or behind vague SDKs.
- UI doesn’t match the backend. You create something in the dashboard, but can’t read it in your code.
- DX is buried under abstraction.
Which is why Kinde caught my attention.
They’re not just copying Stripe’s polished UI. They’re rethinking how core business logic — auth, roles, pricing, usage — can become part of your first working product, not the last minute addition to your product.
What I Built: Learnflow AI
A few weeks ago, I built and launched Learnflow AI, a voice-first AI learning tool.
It used:
- Vapi for voice AI
- Convex for the realtime backend
- Next.js for frontend
- Kinde for auth, plans, and gating
I wasn’t just looking for a login box. I needed to:
- Let users pick Free or Pro on signup
- Track usage (credits per voice session)
- Gate features by plan
- Nudge upgrades contextually
Kinde enabled all of this without a custom backend layer for auth or billing.
Let me show you how.
Kinde as a Developer Primitive
Kinde's SDKs are clean, but its hosted flows are what make it Stripe-like:
1. Hosted Pricing Pages
Instead of building my own pricing UI + checkout:
- I redirected users to a pricing table hosted by Kinde
- Then Kinde handled plan selection + checkout
- On success, metadata was written to the user profile
2. Plan Metadata in Session
From the server:
const { profile } = useUserContext();
const { isAuthenticated, getAccessTokenRaw } = useKindeAuth();
const [entitlements, setEntitlements] = useState<EntitlementsData | null>(null);
if (!isAuthenticated) {
return <div>You are not logged in, please log in.</div>;
}
useEffect(() => {
const fetchEntitlements = async () => {
const accessToken = await getAccessTokenRaw();
try {
const res = await fetch(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_KINDE_ISSUER_URL}/account_api/v1/entitlements`, {
headers: {
Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
},
cache: "no-store",
});
const data = await res.json();
console.log("Entitlements payload:", data);
setEntitlements(data as EntitlementsData);
} catch (error) {
console.error("Error fetching entitlements:", error);
}
};
fetchEntitlements();
}, [getAccessTokenRaw]);
let plan: "free" | "pro" = "free";
const plans = entitlements?.data?.plans ?? [];
console.log("Plans:", plans);
if (plans.some((p: any) => p.key === "pro")) {
plan = "pro";
} else if (plans.some((p: any) => p.key === "free")) {
plan = "free";
}
console.log("Plan:", plan);
This powered UI gating and backend logic alike:
if (plan === 'free') throw new Error('Upgrade to access this tutor')- Show/hide components based on plan
Designing for Trust: DX as a Product Principle
If I learned anything from using Kinde + Convex + Vapi together, it’s this:
DX is not a layer. It’s the product.
Developers trust Stripe because the first thing they try works.
They’ll trust Kinde for the same reason — if it helps you:
- Ship gated plans on Day 1
- Add billing without backend glue
- Enforce access with 2 lines, not 20
Stripe taught us that payments should be boring.
Kinde might do the same for pricing + access.
Final Thoughts
The best DX doesn’t dazzle.
It disappears.
Stripe made payments fade into the background so you could focus on product.
Kinde is doing the same for identity, access, and pricing.
If you're building something ambitious:
- Pick tools with hosted primitives
- Design upgrade paths from Day 1
- Make access and value obvious
DX isn't about speed. It's about trust.
And trust starts with your very first call.
Your Turn
What infra tool surprised you with a great developer experience?
What made it click?
Let me know in the comments.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Shola Jegede
Shola Jegede | Sciencx (2025-08-03T13:41:22+00:00) What Stripe Got Right About Dev Experience — and What Kinde Is Evolving. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/08/03/what-stripe-got-right-about-dev-experience-and-what-kinde-is-evolving/
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