Service
Custom apps
Software built around how your team works, from one tool to a full back office. Priced in a written plan after a short call. You own the code and the accounts.
Updated October 17, 2026
What does a custom app for a small business include?
A custom app for a small business usually gives each person a login and a role, with screens designed at phone size first, whether it runs one internal tool or the whole back office. We price ours by the number of workflows and roles in a written plan after a short call, before any work begins, and the code is yours from the first day.
A custom app: A custom app is software written for one business's way of working, instead of a product sold to many businesses at once. It usually runs in a web browser, on a phone or at a desk, with a login for each person and the screens their job needs. It suits work that ready-made tools handle badly, such as a process with steps unique to the business, or data that has to move between tools nobody connected. Because the business owns the code, it can change the app later without asking a vendor.
Key facts
NIST's SP 800-63B-4, final since July 2025, says a password used alone to sign in must be at least 15 characters, and it bans forced periodic password changes.
Source: NIST, SP 800-63B-4, Digital Identity Guidelines: Authentication and Authenticator Management, checked October 17, 2026
CISA's StopRansomware Guide, updated in September 2023, tells organizations to keep offline, encrypted backups of critical data and to test them regularly in a disaster recovery scenario.
Source: CISA, #StopRansomware Guide, checked October 17, 2026
Apple's WebKit team said in February 2023 that iOS and iPadOS 16.4 bring push notifications to web apps saved to the Home Screen.
Source: WebKit, Web Push for Web Apps on iOS and iPadOS, checked October 17, 2026
What you get
Every app we build comes with the list below, whatever job it does. The written plan then adds the screens and connections your work needs, each one on its own line with its price.
- A login for each person, with roles that decide which screens they see
- Screens designed at phone size first, so the app works on the floor as well as at a desk
- A working version early, on a private preview, while the rest is built
- Email sent from your own accounts
- Nightly database backups, with a restore that has been tested
- The code in a private repository in your name from day one
How it goes
We start by mapping the work as it runs today, step by step, including the places where things get lost between people. That map becomes the written plan: the screens, the roles, the price and the deposit.
Once the deposit clears, you get a working version early on a private preview, and your team tries each piece as it lands while we build the rest. Every change runs through automated tests before it reaches your staff, and at launch the app runs on hosting in your name.
Where it fits
An app is priced by what it has to do. A focused tool with one workflow is the smallest build, and a typical one adds several workflows and an admin view. An app that takes card and bank payments, with the invoicing that comes with them, is the largest, and the written plan prices each screen and connection after a short call. After launch, an app support retainer covers fixes and updates if you want one, priced as a share of the build each year with a monthly minimum.
- Your price
- Set in a written plan after a short call
Three ways to get the software you need
In short
A subscription tool is the fastest start. A custom app pays off when your process is unusual, or when the tools you already pay for cannot share their data.
Most owners try a subscription tool first, and many should stay with it. The table shows where each route tends to strain as a business grows.
| A DIY tool | A template | Custom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A subscription app or a no-code builder | A ready-made app kit adapted to your business | Software written for your workflow |
| Cost over time | A monthly fee for each person, rising as the team grows | A license fee, then a developer for each change | A build price set in the written plan, then hosting on your own account |
| Fit with your work | You change how you work to suit the tool | Close, once the kit is bent to your steps | Built around the steps you already follow |
| Your data | Inside the vendor's system, exported on its terms | In your database, in the shape the kit chose | In a database you own, in the shape your work needs |
| Best fit | A common process with standard steps | A process close to one the kit already handles | A process no product handles well |
Swipe sideways to see every column
A worked example (hypothetical)
Picture a tutoring center with eight tutors who plan the week in a shared spreadsheet. Parents text the owner to move sessions, and on Sunday night the owner works out from memory who taught what.
A focused app would cover it: a calendar of sessions that each tutor sees through their own login, with notes written on the session itself. At the end of each week it adds up the hours for payroll.
If the center later wants parents to book and pay online, that means payments and a customer login, which makes it a larger build. The written plan would price that step before anyone agreed to it.
From the work
Each build below is an app with its own logins and roles. We can walk through either one on a call, with sample data on the screens.
- Bakery, Los Angeles, name changedMeadowlark BakeryAn order and production system for a Los Angeles bakery, live for its front desk and its kitchen.Read the case study
- Wholesale trading, internal toolA deal desk for a trading businessA deal desk for a wholesale trading business, with a WhatsApp bridge that turns inbound offers into deals.Read the case study
Common questions
What does a custom app for a small business cost?
It depends on how much the app has to do. A focused tool with one workflow is the smallest build, and payments and a customer portal make it a larger one. The written plan prices your screens after a short call, before you commit to anything.
When should we build custom instead of buying a tool?
When your team has bent its work around a tool for a year and it still does not fit, or when the tools you pay for cannot share data. If a common tool already covers your process, the honest advice is to keep it, and we say so on the first call.
Can you build an internal tool for my team?
Yes, and it makes a sensible first build: the screens your staff use for one job, such as scheduling or tracking orders, behind a login for each person.
Who owns the app when it is finished?
You do. The code is in a private repository in your name from the first day, and the hosting runs on your own account. The license to the work vests in you on full payment.
Will it work on phones?
Yes. We design each screen at phone size first, because staff often use an app on their feet, then widen it for a desk. It runs in the browser, so there is no app store listing to manage.
What happens after launch?
A 30-day warranty covers bugs. After that, the app support retainer covers fixes and updates, or any developer you choose can work on the code, since it is yours.
Start with a written plan
Tell us about the business and what you need. We reply with questions, then a written plan that lists the work and its price, and nothing starts until you have read it.