Custom Software & Business Applications
Purpose-built applications for businesses that have genuinely outgrown off-the-shelf tools — scoped to stay maintainable rather than to impress.
Investment
Starting at CA$2,500
A clearer way forward
Most businesses considering custom software shouldn't build it.
That's an odd thing to lead with on a page selling custom software, but it's the most useful thing we can tell you. Off-the-shelf tools are cheap, maintained by someone else, and improve without you paying for it. Custom software is none of those things. It's an asset you own and a liability you maintain, and the second half is the part people underestimate.
So the question isn't whether custom software would be better. It almost always would. The question is whether the gap between what you need and what you can buy is large enough, and permanent enough, to justify owning the thing.
Usually the signal is that the workarounds have become the job. There are four spreadsheets holding the process together and someone understands all of them. You're paying for three tools because no single one does it, and the gaps between them are filled by hand. Or the thing that makes your business distinctive is precisely the thing no vendor supports, and you've been contorting the business to fit the software instead of the other way round.
When that's genuinely true, purpose-built software is worth it — and then the risk shifts from "should we build" to "will this become a thing nobody can maintain." That's mostly a scoping problem. Build the narrow thing that solves the actual problem, in boring technology, with the complicated parts isolated. Resist the features that sound good in a meeting and get used twice.
We build this way because we also run our own products, which means we live with our own maintenance decisions. That tends to concentrate the mind about what's worth building.
Work that proves the point
runClear.app
A modular multi-tenant operations platform for a sales-driven business using scattered tools — consolidating inventory, quoting and pipeline, with feature-gated modules so each business enables only what it needs.
See runClear.app
ReviewProX
A multi-location reputation platform integrating the Google Business Profile API with AI review analysis, controlled reply automation, removal case tracking and monthly reporting — with higher-risk cases routed for human approval.
See ReviewProX
Private Transcribe
Transcribes audio and video entirely in the browser, with no account and no required upload, for people who can't send sensitive recordings to a third party.
See Private TranscribeWhat’s included
SaaS & Customer Platforms
Starting at CA$5,000Multi-user/customer-facing products, portals, subscription software, marketplaces, or digital platforms intended to be used by customers rather than just employees.
- Multi-user application architecture
- Authentication and permissions
- Billing or subscription integration
- Scalable backend and integrations
Custom Business Application
Starting at CA$10,000Internal software built around the way a company actually operates: dashboards, workflows, inventory, scheduling, reporting, internal tools, etc.
- Workflow-specific software
- User roles and permissions
- API and third-party integrations
- Reporting and dashboards
AI Chatbot
Starting at CA$2,500An AI assistant that helps customers find answers, understand your services, and take the next step. Grounded in your business information with clear paths to human support.
- Business knowledge integration
- Lead qualification
- Human handoff
- Conversation tracking
Private / Local AI
Starting at CA$5,000AI tools deployed in a private or local environment to support greater control over business data and access. Tailored to your infrastructure, workflows, and privacy requirements.
- Private data processing
- Local or controlled deployment
- Business knowledge integration
- Custom AI workflows
How the work moves
Decide whether to build at all
We look at what you're using now, where it fails, and whether something purchasable would close the gap. Sometimes the answer is that it would, and that's the end of it.
Find the narrow version
The smallest thing that solves the real problem. Most failed custom software failed because version one was too ambitious to finish or too large to maintain.
Build in production-shaped increments
Working software early, used by real people, extended from there — rather than a long build that meets reality only at the end.
Plan for the handover
Documentation, access, and a straight answer about what maintaining this costs. You should never be trapped with software only one person understands.
Who this is for
A good fit when the gap between what you need and what you can buy is real and permanent.
Particularly if:
- Spreadsheets and manual workarounds have become load-bearing
- You're paying for several tools and hand-filling the gaps between them
- What makes your business distinctive is what no vendor supports
- You've got a product idea and need someone who has shipped and operated software, not only written it
Who this is not for
Not the right fit if:
- An existing tool would do it with minor compromise. Take the compromise; it's cheaper for years.
- You want to build software to raise money rather than to use. Different job, different builder.
- Nobody internally can own it. Custom software needs somebody on your side who cares what it does.
- You need a fixed price on a vague scope. We'd both regret it — we'd rather do the scoping work properly first.
Questions before we start
Start with whether you should build
Tell us what you're using now and where it breaks down. If something you can buy would solve it, we'll point you there. If not, you'll get a straight assessment of what building it involves — including what it costs to keep.