Built the way we audit
Custom platforms, APIs and integrations for SMBs and funded startups, engineered by the team that reviews everyone else's. Every build passes the same senior review we sell as the Vibe Code Audit before it ships.
Clear prices in writing · senior engineers only · your IP, your codeSystems businesses run on
Not brochure sites and not experiments: operational software with real users, real data and real consequences when it fails.
Platforms and systems
End-to-end custom systems: client portals, booking and operations platforms, internal tools. Designed, built and run by the same senior team.
APIs and integrations
The connective tissue between your systems: payment providers, CRMs, accounting packages and third-party services, with failure handling that does not lose data.
Legacy modernisation
Extending and carefully replacing systems that resist change. Incremental, reversible steps; a rewrite is the last resort, not the first proposal.
AI-built MVPs, productionised
You vibe coded something that works and won customers. We audit it, harden it and build it out to carry the business it created.
Design is part of the build. UX and interface design happen in-house, alongside the engineering, so the system is as usable as it is sound. No agency handoffs, no translation loss.
Craftsmanship, then proof
Senior hands only
Every build is led by an engineer with a decade or more of production experience; most of the team hold doctorates. There are no juniors learning on your project.
Audited before it ships
Every release passes the review we sell as the Vibe Code Audit: security, data handling, failure paths. We do not ship what we would fail in someone else's codebase.
Modern tools, accountable output
We use the best tooling available, AI assistance included, the way a good workshop uses good machines. Every line still goes through senior review, and a named engineer signs the release.
We ship our own products too
Under the zegapps name we build and sell commercial modules for Perfex CRM on CodeCanyon: support management, permissions, compliance, integrations and more. Hundreds of businesses worldwide run their operations on code we wrote, maintained and supported as a product.
It keeps us honest. Product code faces strangers' servers, strangers' data and public reviews, and it is the same discipline we bring to bespoke work. Run Perfex CRM yourself? We customise it: bespoke modules, integrations and fixes, from the team behind the catalogue.
Working software early, no surprises late
Discovery
The workflow, the users, the systems it must talk to. A written spec and a quote, agreed before any build starts.
Design and build
In-house design and senior engineering, with working software in your hands early and progress you can see, not status decks.
Audit and sign-off
The internal audit before release: security, data posture, failure handling. A named engineer signs it off in writing.
Handover or support
Documented handover to your team, or ongoing support under a plain monthly retainer. Your code and IP either way.
Priced by the system, not by the hour
Bespoke builds vary too much for a price list. The shape of every engagement is the same; the figures are confirmed in writing after discovery, before any build starts.
A short, scoped piece of work with a written output: the spec, the architecture and a firm quote for the build. The findings are yours to keep, whoever builds.
Quoted after discovery: a fixed price when the scope is clear, or logged time billed monthly when the work will evolve. We recommend the model that fits and confirm it, with any deposit, in the proposal.
Optional ongoing support: updates, monitoring, backups and improvements under a plain retainer. How support works.
Asked before every build
What does bespoke software cost?
Honestly: it depends on the system, which is why we will not publish a misleading price list. What we do promise is the shape: a fixed-fee discovery first, then either a fixed price or logged time for the build, whichever fits, quoted in writing before any work starts, with a deposit confirmed in the proposal. No day rates that drift, no surprise invoices.
Do you work fixed-price or by time?
Both, and we recommend the one that fits the work in writing. A fixed price suits a clearly scoped build: you get certainty and we carry the estimate. When the work will evolve, or you would rather just send tasks as they come, we work to logged time billed monthly, so you pay for the time the work actually takes, with no quote to wait for on every change and no penalty when scope grows. AI work is new enough that forcing a fixed price on exploratory work means either padding it or absorbing overruns, neither of which is fair to you, so time-based is often the honest choice there. Whichever model we use, the rate and the shape are agreed in writing first.
Do you use AI to write code?
We use modern tooling, including AI assistance, the way any good workshop uses good machines. The difference between us and a vibe-coded project is what happens next: every line goes through senior review, every release passes the same audit we sell to others, and a named engineer signs it off. The tools speed up the typing; they are never the judgement.
Who owns the code?
You do. Intellectual property in the bespoke work transfers to you as set out in our terms, and you receive the source, the documentation and every credential at handover. We earn renewal by being good, not by holding your system hostage.
Can you take over a system someone else built?
Yes, and we start with a short review (an audit, in our language) so both of us know exactly what we are taking on. That review prices the takeover honestly and surfaces any risks before they become our shared problem. This applies to AI-built MVPs especially: working software is the start of the conversation, not the end.
How long does a build take?
It depends on scope, and discovery gives you a real answer in writing rather than a guess in a sales call. What we commit to in every build: working software in your hands early, visible progress throughout, and no surprises in the final month.
Tell us what you need built
We reply within one working day with how we would approach it and a fixed fee for discovery. No call required unless you want one.