diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 91981d0..eda6e04 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -25,4 +25,18 @@ clean:          ## Clean up any temporary files
 hot-reload:
 	awslocal lambda update-function-code --function-name ScoringFunction --s3-bucket hot-reload --s3-key "$$(pwd)/lambdas/scoring"
 
-.PHONY: usage deploy web save-state load-state clean
+start:          ## Start LocalStack
+	@test -n "${LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN}" || (echo "LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN is not set. Find your token at https://app.localstack.cloud/workspace/auth-token"; exit 1)
+	@LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN=$(LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN) localstack start -d
+
+stop:           ## Stop LocalStack
+	@localstack stop
+
+ready:          ## Wait until LocalStack is ready
+	@echo Waiting on the LocalStack container...
+	@localstack wait -t 30 && echo LocalStack is ready to use! || (echo Gave up waiting on LocalStack, exiting. && exit 1)
+
+logs:           ## Save the logs in a separate file
+	@localstack logs > logs.txt
+
+.PHONY: usage deploy web save-state load-state clean start stop ready logs
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9f9969b..ea82dbf 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ The following diagram shows the architecture that this sample application builds
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- [`localstack` CLI](https://docs.localstack.cloud/getting-started/installation/#localstack-cli) with a [`LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN`](https://docs.localstack.cloud/getting-started/auth-token/) (required for Pro features)
+- A valid [LocalStack for AWS license](https://localstack.cloud/pricing). Your license provides a [`LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN`](https://docs.localstack.cloud/getting-started/auth-token/) to activate LocalStack.
+- [`localstack` CLI](https://docs.localstack.cloud/getting-started/installation/#localstack-cli).
 - [AWS CLI](https://docs.localstack.cloud/user-guide/integrations/aws-cli/) with the [`awslocal` wrapper](https://docs.localstack.cloud/user-guide/integrations/aws-cli/#localstack-aws-cli-awslocal)
 - [AWS CDK](https://docs.localstack.cloud/user-guide/integrations/aws-cdk/) with [`cdklocal` wrapper](https://github.com/localstack/aws-cdk-local) (**optional**)
 - [Python 3.11+](https://www.python.org/downloads/) & `pip` for testing and Lambda functions