The canonical Clean Architecture .NET template is a starter scaffold demonstrating layered architecture; CleenUI is a complete production codebase with 14 functional modules.
Jason Taylor's Clean Architecture template (20,241 GitHub stars, 255,700+ NuGet downloads) is the canonical .NET reference architecture — a layered teaching scaffold that demonstrates Domain → Application → Infrastructure → Presentation structure. It's genuine, well-regarded, and widely forked. What it doesn't include: no vertical-slice modules (you build every domain), EF Core is the only data-access option (no Dapper or stored-proc path), no RBAC, no multi-tenancy, no background services, no real-time, no React frontend — and no maintainer funding model. CleenUI is the same layered architecture, already filled with 14 functional modules, a React 18 frontend, 700+ stored procedures, and Azure Functions + WebJobs background services. One is the pattern; the other is the pattern plus 39 months of production application built on top of it.
| Category | CleenUI | Clean Architecture Template |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution model | Licensed source code (one-time license) | Open-source GitHub template (MIT) |
| What's in the box | Layered scaffold + 14 functional modules + 60+ React components | Layered project scaffold (Domain / Application / Infrastructure / WebUI). EF Core only — no Dapper or stored-procedure data access option. |
| Architecture style | Modular monolith (vertical-slice modules sitting on layered architecture) | Clean Architecture (layered) |
| Frontend | React 18 SPA, 61 components in 12 categories | Angular SPA in default template; community React variants exist |
| Authentication | Auth0 + JWT wired end-to-end with RBAC + row-level scoping | Identity scaffolded; you wire the rest |
| Multi-tenancy | Built-in (account / company hierarchy) | Not included by default |
| Onboarding model | Architect-led delivery available | Clone the repo, follow the docs |
| Pricing model | Custom-scoped engagement (one-time license) | Free |
| Adoption signal | Private licensed deployments — customer count not published | 20,241 GitHub stars · 255,700+ NuGet downloads |
Pick the Clean Architecture template when you want to study the architectural pattern, when you're starting a small project where day-one functional scope is light, or when budget rules out a licensed codebase.
Pick CleenUI when you want the architectural pattern AND the functional modules pre-built — i.e., when the goal is to ship a multi-tenant SaaS to production, not to study how Clean Architecture is organized.