Custom web development, when a template is not enough
Some projects are held back by WordPress: products with their own logic, integrations with internal systems, critical performance, or volume no plugin survives. There I write the application from scratch, no plugins, only what’s needed. And what gets written has to still make sense in a year, whether I am the one maintaining it or somebody else.
Who it is for
- Products with their own logic: calculations, bookings, states or permissions that do not fit in a form
- E-commerce with requirements Shopify or WooCommerce only cover by forcing them
- Companies that need the site to talk to their ERP, their CRM or an internal API
- Private areas where each client signs in and sees their own thing, and nothing else
Who it is not for
- Five-page brochure sites: WordPress works out cheaper there, and I tell you so before quoting
- Projects with nobody able to make technical decisions: without a counterpart this stalls in week two
- Anyone after the lowest price: I don’t compete on price
What I work with
Astro
Content sites where speed rules: zero JavaScript by default and HTML that arrives whole. It is what this very site uses: run PageSpeed on it and see for yourself.
Next.js and React
Applications with state: private areas, data that changes, and screens that depend on who is looking.
Node.js and NestJS
The server side when you need your own API, scheduled jobs, or to talk to other systems without going through the browser.
PHP
When the hosting allows nothing else, I write it without a framework. My own client panel and portal are written that way: sessions, file uploads, and contracts signed with an audit trail.
Custom WordPress
When the client edits the content and the project fits a CMS: a custom WordPress theme, no extra plugins, and performance measured before delivery.
Databases
MariaDB and SQL. The schema is designed before the first screen, which is what avoids the emergency migration six months in.
Infrastructure and delivery
Automatic deployment from the repository, a staging environment, and checks that block the release if something breaks.
Frequently asked questions
Can you connect the site to the ERP or CRM we already use?
It depends on what your system exposes, and that is the first thing I look at. If it has an API, it integrates and the work is predictable. If it does not, there are routes, such as reading its database with controlled writes or a file exchange, and they are slower and more expensive. What I will not do is promise it before having looked.
Do you work in PHP or only in JavaScript?
Both. In production I have delivered with Node.js, NestJS, PHP, WordPress and Astro, and inside a company also with .NET and Java with Spring Boot. The problem and whoever maintains it afterwards choose the technology.
What is the difference between “custom WordPress” and “custom development”?
Custom WordPress is a theme written for you on top of WordPress: you edit the content, I decide the structure. Custom development is writing the whole application, with no content manager in between. The line is the logic: if what you need is to publish and organise content, WordPress; if you need the system to calculate, decide or hold state, custom.
How much does custom development cost?
It has no starting price: it depends too much on what needs building. I fix it in writing after a half-hour call, with the scope and timeline, before a line is written.
Who owns the code when we are done?
You do. The code and the domain are in your name from day one and the repository is handed over whole. There is no monthly licence and no piece of the system that stays with me.
And if one day I want to take it elsewhere?
You can, and it is handed over so that you can: repository, deployment instructions, and the reason behind each decision written inside the code itself. It is exactly what I would want to find if I inherited the project from somebody else.
Where to start
First
Website X-ray
free
I look at your site and within 48 working hours tell you what is wrong and what I would fix first.
Request X-rayThen
Custom
custom quote
For you if the website has to talk to your software: invoicing, clients or bookings.
Get a free quoteTo make it last
Ongoing maintenance
€49per month
Backups, updates, security and an alert if the site goes down, from the first month. Three tiers, depending on how much you want to change each month.
See pricing
Shall we talk about your project?
Tell me what you need and I will send a first assessment within 24 working hours.
Reply within 24 working hours