Custom software for processes that no ready-made tool fits.
If you've lived with spreadsheets, three tools and a lot of manual work for years because nothing on the market quite fits, you've reached the point for your own application. I build internal tools, web apps and integrations, cut to exactly your process.
Planning in Excel, photos in WhatsApp, hours on paper: at the end of the month someone spends two days pulling it all together. As a small web app the team enters the data once and the summary is there immediately. Two days of collecting turns into one click on Report.
If the ready-made tool only fits 70 percent, you pay the other 30 in manual work.
Off-the-shelf software is almost always the cheaper answer and my first recommendation. But there's a point where the workaround costs more than a custom solution: when hours go into intermediate steps every month that only exist because the tool doesn't know the actual process.
The most important process in the company runs on spreadsheets only one person understands.
You pay licences for features you don't need and miss the ones you do.
Between two systems sits a person transferring data.
The process is part of what sets you apart from the competition.
What I build most often.
USE CASESThe tool for your core process
Planning, jobs, inspections, handovers: one interface that knows exactly your steps instead of fifty you never use.
Portals for customers and partners
Check status, upload documents, approve jobs. Fewer email follow-ups and everything in one place.
Connect systems that won't
If a system has no API, I build one. After that inventory, shop and accounting talk to each other.
Reporting without manual work
Numbers from every source in one place, at a glance instead of a chain of spreadsheets everyone maintains differently.
AI inside your own software
Read documents, suggest text, classify cases: AI exactly where it genuinely helps your process.
Replace a legacy system
Step by step out of the software nobody maintains any more. Migrate data, run in parallel, then switch over.
Your case isn't listed? The key question is whether it really needs software or whether an automation will do. Describe the process briefly and you'll get an honest read.
When a custom build adds up.
THE NUMBERSThe calculation only works if the process stays. For something that will change within six months anyway, a ready-made tool is the better choice, even at 70 percent fit.
Ready-made tool or custom solution
| CRITERION | READY-MADE TOOL | CUSTOM SOLUTION |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low, usable immediately | Higher, but one-off |
| Running cost | Per user, grows with the team | Hosting, independent of team size |
| Fit | You adapt to it | It adapts to you |
| Changes | When the vendor wants | When you need them |
| Dependency | Price and roadmap are someone else's | Code and data are yours |
| Right for | Standard tasks | Your core process |
How a software project works with me.
HOW IT RUNSUnderstand the process
We walk through the process as it really runs today, exceptions included. That defines the scope of the first version.
Fixed price for stage one
You get in writing what the first version does, what it costs and when it's ready. Later stages are commissioned separately.
Build with checkpoints
Every one to two weeks you see the current state in your browser and can use it. Course corrections cost little instead of a lot.
Roll out and hand over
Real data in, team briefed, documentation handed over. After that either I look after it or your team takes it on.
Proven technology instead of a builder with limits.
I build with a lean, widely used stack: TypeScript, Next.js and Postgres, hosted in Europe. That's deliberately unspectacular, because it means any developer after me can keep working on it. Where a no-code tool is enough, I say so and we skip the development.
How you can tell it's working
IN PRACTICE“My expectations were exceeded. I'm especially impressed by how great the booking tool turned out – and my customers love the website.”
The first version deliberately does less
Projects rarely fail on technology and often on scope. So the starting point is the smallest version that actually gets used day to day. What comes after is decided by usage, not by the wish list from the first workshop.
Talk through a first scope →Per stage, with no open-ended timesheet.
A version you can click through yourself.
Code, data and docs live in your accounts.
Common technology, so anyone can keep working on it.
What does custom software cost?
Fixed price per stage.
ALL PRICES EXCL. VATSmall tool
from €2,900One application for one process, with a few screens and no integrations.
- Mapping the process
- Two to four screens
- Users and permissions
- Hosting set up
- Introduction for the team
Application with integrations
from €8,900The solution for a core process, connected to your existing systems.
- Concept and data model
- Several roles and screens
- Integrations with your systems
- Optional AI features
- Documentation and training
Operations & further development
from €290/monthSo the application doesn't turn into a legacy system.
- Updates and security patches
- Monitoring and backups
- New features on request
- Direct contact via chat and phone
- Cancel monthly
The price depends on the number of screens, the systems connected and how many special cases the process has. After the first call you get a number for stage one that holds.
When I advise against a custom build.
Custom software is the most expensive answer to a problem. In these four cases I'll say so in the first call, even when it costs me the job.
A tool exists that fits
For accounting, time tracking or inventory there are mature products. Replacing them costs a multiple and rarely delivers more.
The process is still changing constantly
Software sets a process in concrete. As long as it changes monthly, an automation or a spreadsheet is the more honest interim answer.
Nobody owns it
An application needs one person on your side who decides questions and brings the team along. Without them the project gets expensive and still goes unused.
The benefit isn't on paper
If nobody can say how many hours or errors should disappear, there's no yardstick. Then we settle that first, before anyone develops anything.
Custom software for small and mid-sized companies
By Chris Pump, developer since 2021Last updated: August 2026
Custom software was long seen as something for corporations: long projects, big teams, matching budgets. That has shifted. With today's tools a single developer builds in weeks what used to take months, and hosting costs about as much as a tool licence. That makes a custom application realistic for a company of ten people too — when it's about the process the business runs on.
Buy or build
The rule of thumb is simple: anything that works the same way in every company, you buy. Accounting, payroll, time tracking, email. You only build what sets you apart or what simply doesn't exist. And don't compare licence against development, compare total cost over three years including the manual work a not-quite-fitting tool causes every month. Often the honest answer is a mix: standard software at the core, one small custom application at the point where it hurts.
Why the first version should be small
The most expensive mistake in software projects is scope. A wish list from the first workshop reliably contains features nobody ever uses but that cost time, money and complexity. So I build the smallest version that genuinely carries the day-to-day first, and let it run for two weeks. After that, usage decides what comes next. That doesn't just reduce risk, it keeps the application lean, because only what someone actually asked for gets built.
Who owns the code and why it matters
Code, data and documentation live in your accounts, the repository is yours, the hosting runs in your name. On top comes a deliberately unspectacular technology choice: common languages and tools, so any developer after me can take over without rewriting everything. Together those two things are the difference between an application you own and a dependency on one person or agency.
Why Kasoria
At Kasoria you talk to the developer who builds the software, with no project manager in between and no translation loop. I've been developing since 2021 and work with AI daily, which is why AI only ends up in an application where it genuinely improves the process. And if an off-the-shelf product covers your case, I'll say so before you commission a build.
Common questions about software development.
How long until the first version?
A small internal tool is usually usable in two to four weeks. Larger applications with several roles and integrations take two to three months to stage one, and you see a real version every one to two weeks along the way.
How is the fixed price determined?
From the scope of the respective stage: number of screens, roles, integrations and special cases. Whatever isn't in scope doesn't get built, it goes into the next stage. That keeps the price a number rather than an estimate.
Do I own the code?
Yes, entirely. Repository, database, hosting and documentation run on your accounts. You can keep working on it yourself or commission someone else at any time, without asking me for access.
What if you're no longer available?
That's what the common stack and the documentation in the repository are for. Any developer with TypeScript experience will find their way around. For an orderly transition I'll hand over to a developer of your choice on request.
Can we migrate existing data?
Yes, that's the normal case. Excel, Access, legacy systems with database access or exports can be migrated. Data migration is planned as its own step, because it almost always surfaces old dead records.
Where does the application run?
By default with a European provider, on your own server on request. Hosting for a typical internal application costs €20 to €60 a month, backups included.
What about data protection and security?
Access is handled through roles, passwords are never stored in plain text, backups run automatically and connections are encrypted. For personal data we settle retention periods and processing agreements before the start.
Can the software be extended later?
Yes, that's exactly what the stages are for. Each extension is commissioned separately with its own scope and price. There's no obligation to continue after stage one.
Do you build mobile apps?
In most cases a web app is the better answer: it runs in the phone's browser, can be pinned to the home screen and needs no app store. A native app only pays off when you genuinely need the camera, offline use or push.
What if the project is bigger than one developer?
Then I'll say so. For larger undertakings I bring in developers I know while staying your point of contact. What I won't do is take on a project I don't have the capacity for.
Do you handle running it too?
On request, yes: updates, security patches, monitoring and backups are part of the support plan. Without it you get the application handed over so your team or another provider can run it.
Does this work fully remote?
Yes, I work remotely only. Coordination runs via video call and shared access to the current version, which you can try out in your browser at any time.
Tell me which process at your company fits into no software.
30 minutes, free and without obligation. Afterwards you'll know whether it needs a custom build, what stage one costs and how long it takes.
Usually answered the same working day.