Connect Stripe, Twilio and other services
In shortConnectors plug outside services into your app — Stripe for payments, Twilio for text messages, Resend for your own email domain and more. Ask for the feature in the chat and MonstarX shows a card for the keys, or open Backend → Cloud → Connectors and click Connect. No keys yet? Click Later and MonstarX builds everything anyway.
Your app already has a database, accounts, email, file storage and AI built in. Connectors add everything else: take payments with Stripe, send text messages with Twilio, pull data from any website with Firecrawl, and more. Each connector links one outside service to one app, using the keys (the secret passwords a service gives you for its API) from your own account with that service.
You rarely have to go looking for them. When you ask for a feature that needs a service — “let members buy class passes” — MonstarX writes the code and asks you for the keys right there in the chat.
Which services can my app connect to?
Section titled “Which services can my app connect to?”These connectors are for things your app does for the people who use it. You find them all under BackendCloud, in the Connectors list.
| Connector | What your app can do with it | What you paste |
|---|---|---|
| Stripe | Take payments, subscriptions and checkout. Sandbox (test) or production (live) keys. | Secret key, publishable key, webhook signing secret (optional) |
| Twilio | Send SMS and WhatsApp messages, and make voice calls. | Account SID, auth token, from number |
| Resend | Send email from your own domain instead of MonstarX Email. | API key, from address |
| OpenAI | Use your own OpenAI key instead of MonstarX AI. | API key |
| OpenRouter | Use your own OpenRouter key (any model) instead of MonstarX AI. | API key |
| Google Maps | Places search and autocomplete, business details and driving directions. | API key |
| Mapbox | Geocoding (turning an address into a map position), directions, and Mapbox’s map styles, including satellite. | Public access token |
| Firecrawl | Turn any website into clean text or structured data (scrape, crawl, search). | API key |
| Zernio | Connect your users’ social accounts (X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and more) and publish or schedule posts. | API key |
| ElevenLabs | Text-to-speech and voice generation. | API key |
| Google Analytics | Count page views and events with GA4. | Measurement ID |
Some connectors do bigger jobs and have their own pages:
- Supabase and Railway can hold your app’s data in your own Postgres database — see Supabase and Railway.
- Firebase gives your app your own Firestore, sign-in, file storage and push notifications — see Firebase.
- Cloudflare runs the whole app on your own Cloudflare account — see Your own Cloudflare account.
- Azure, AWS, Vercel and Google Cloud are places to publish your app — see Publish to other hosts.
How do I connect a service from the chat?
Section titled “How do I connect a service from the chat?”Ask for the feature in plain words, like “let people pay for a class pass with Stripe”. MonstarX builds it and shows a card asking you to connect the service, with the reason it needs it.
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Read the card. Where to find the keys opens the service’s own page that explains where its keys live.
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For Stripe, choose the Environment: Sandbox (test keys) while you try things out, Production (live keys) when real customers pay.
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Paste the keys into the fields and click Connect Stripe (the button always names the service).
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The card turns green: Stripe is connected. Your preview restarts with the keys, so you can try the feature straight away.
Only the project’s owner can connect a service. Anyone else looking at the project sees the card with “Only the project’s owner can connect it.”
What if I do not have the keys yet?
Section titled “What if I do not have the keys yet?”Click Later. The card folds to one line — “Stripe · you’ll connect it later” — and MonstarX builds everything anyway. Where the app needs the service, it shows a clear “Stripe is not connected yet” message instead of breaking. Click Connect now whenever you have the keys.
Your choice is saved with the project, so the card stays folded on every device until you connect.
What if MonstarX cannot go on without it?
Section titled “What if MonstarX cannot go on without it?”Sometimes the whole request depends on what is in your account, like “import my Stripe products”. Then the card is amber, says MonstarX needs Stripe to continue, and has no Later button. MonstarX builds the parts that do not need the service and waits. As soon as you connect, it carries on by itself.
How do I connect a service from the Backend tab?
Section titled “How do I connect a service from the Backend tab?”-
Open your project and click Backend in the top bar, then Cloud.
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Scroll to Connectors and click Connect beside the service.
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Fill in the fields. Optional ones say “(optional)”, and many have a line of help under them.
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Click Connect followed by the service’s name.
A connected service shows a green Connected label (for Stripe, Connected · sandbox or Connected · production), plus two buttons:
- Update keys to replace one or more keys. Leave a field empty to keep its current value.
- Disconnect to remove the service and its keys from this app.
The small arrow icon beside each connector opens the service’s own documentation.
How do I know which services my app is still waiting for?
Section titled “How do I know which services my app is still waiting for?”MonstarX notices when your app’s code uses a service that is not connected yet, and tells you in three places:
- Backend → Cloud lists those connectors first, labelled Your app uses it · connecting later, Your app uses it · not connected or Needed to continue.
- Publish gets an amber dot, and inside it a note like “Stripe and Twilio aren’t connected yet”, with a Connect button for each. You can still publish; those parts will not work for anyone until the keys are in.
- QA testing checks a flow up to the step that needs the service and marks it as needing keys, rather than failing it. See QA testing.
If you remove the feature that used a service, the reminder goes away by itself.
Where do the keys go?
Section titled “Where do the keys go?”Keys are stored encrypted with the app, under fixed names such as STRIPE_SECRET_KEY. You can see their names (never their values) in BackendSecrets, next to any keys you added yourself. See Secrets.
- Secret keys are only ever used by your app’s server. Nobody visiting your app can see them.
- Public keys, like Stripe’s publishable key, a Google Maps key or a Google Analytics measurement ID, are meant to be used in the browser. That is safe for those keys, which is why services give you two kinds.
- Keys belong to one app. Another of your apps never sees them.
Can I use my own service instead of a built-in one?
Section titled “Can I use my own service instead of a built-in one?”Yes. Some connectors are made to take the place of a MonstarX Cloud service, and the list marks them replaces MonstarX …:
| Built-in service | Replace it with |
|---|---|
| Email (sends from MonstarX’s mail domain) | Resend, to send from your own domain |
| AI (managed models with fallbacks) | OpenAI or OpenRouter, billed to your own account |
| Database | Supabase — or Railway Postgres, which is not marked but can hold the data too. See Supabase and Railway. |
Connect the replacement, then ask MonstarX to use it — for example “send the app’s emails through Resend”. Once nothing in the app uses the built-in service any more, you can switch Email, AI, Web Search or Storage off in BackendCloud. See Can I switch a service off and use my own?
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- Builds never wait for keys. MonstarX writes the code from the service’s documentation, so a missing key only stops that one feature from working.
- Test first. Stripe’s sandbox keys let you run a checkout with test cards and no real money.
- Your account, your bill. A connected service charges your account with that service, on its own pricing. MonstarX does not add anything.
- Connectors for MonstarX itself are different: Business tools let the builder read your Google Sheets, HubSpot or Jira, and MCP connectors give it other tools.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Do I need to know how to code to connect Stripe?
No. Ask for the feature in the chat, paste your two Stripe keys into the card MonstarX shows, and click Connect Stripe. MonstarX writes all the code.
Can I build the app before I have the keys?
Yes. Click Later on the card. MonstarX builds everything, shows a friendly "not connected yet" message where the service is needed, and reminds you in Publish before the app goes live.
Where do I change or remove a key?
In Backend → Cloud → Connectors, click Update keys or Disconnect beside the service. The key names are also listed in Backend → Secrets.
Can people using my app see my keys?
Not your secret keys — they stay on your app's server. Only public keys that are made for browsers, such as Stripe's publishable key, reach the page.
Do my keys work in the preview and the published app?
Yes. Connecting restarts the preview with the new keys, and the next time you publish, the live app gets them too.
Is there a connector for a service not on the list?
You can still use it. Ask MonstarX to integrate the service, then add its key yourself in Backend → Secrets. The app reads it the same way.