diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/dev/index.tsx b/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/dev/index.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6fce113093
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/dev/index.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { createDevApp } from '@backstage/dev-utils';
+import { plugin } from '../src/plugin';
+
+createDevApp().registerPlugin(plugin).render();
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/package.json.hbs b/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/package.json.hbs
index d21a921a11..13fe34f682 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-app/plugins/welcome/package.json.hbs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
     "build": "backstage-cli plugin:build",
+    "start": "backstage-cli plugin:serve",
     "lint": "backstage-cli lint",
     "test": "backstage-cli test",
     "diff": "backstage-cli plugin:diff",
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@backstage/cli": "^{{version}}",
+    "@backstage/dev-utils": "^{{version}}",
     "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
     "@testing-library/react": "^9.3.2",
     "@types/testing-library__jest-dom": "^5.0.4",
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/dev/index.tsx b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/dev/index.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..812a5585d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/dev/index.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { createDevApp } from '@backstage/dev-utils';
+import { plugin } from '../src/plugin';
+
+createDevApp().registerPlugin(plugin).render();
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
index 42a1778141..c4a72c6b06 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   "private": true,
   "scripts": {
     "build": "backstage-cli plugin:build",
+    "start": "backstage-cli plugin:serve",
     "lint": "backstage-cli lint",
     "test": "backstage-cli test",
     "diff": "backstage-cli plugin:diff",
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@backstage/cli": "^{{version}}",
+    "@backstage/dev-utils": "^{{version}}",
     "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^4.2.4",
     "@testing-library/react": "^9.3.2",
     "@testing-library/user-event": "^7.1.2",
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json
index 5a3931ffce..b663b01fa2 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
   "extends": "../../tsconfig.json",
-  "include": ["src"],
+  "include": ["src", "dev"],
   "compilerOptions": {}
 }