Web Applications and Software Development

The cost of a web application cannot be accurately stated without a carefully prepared requirements catalog. All agencies that do otherwise plan unfair and inflated buffers or discussions about renegotiations from the outset. Therefore, it depends on you how seriously your project is taken and how precise the initial cost estimation can be. The more relevant information on requirements, ideas and wishes is transmitted in a bundled manner, the clearer the idea of what you plan to do becomes.

Before we talk about costs, we fundamentally want to talk to you. We also want to find out if the chemistry is right and both parties are on the same level. After all, it's about a significant investment in the future of your company. During such customer discussions, it regularly turns out that interested parties are not adequately able to formulate the requirements. For these cases, we offer workshops in which we get to know you and your company, the unique selling points and target groups, and based on that, provide strategic and technology-related advice to clarify the project together. After that, we are usually able to make a cost estimate.

Now, we've been skillfully navigating around this original question, about the cost of a web application, for some time. However, it remains vague, because there is an extreme range and variety. From our own experience, we can say that simple web applications start in the low five-figure range and have no upper limit.

Are you considering a custom web application? Then contact us and tell us more about your project and the requirements.

Web applications can be smaller applications that are integrated into an existing website, or large and extremely complex, standalone software applications. The development of a web application is usually the more advantageous alternative to a program to be installed locally on a computer. Since the program itself is located on a web server, it can be operated on any device via the browser. Thus, a web application is not only independent of the device, but also independent of the operating system. The web application is not installed locally on a device and is therefore also very flexible and can be accessed from any location with an internet connection via a browser. Updates and maintenance only apply to the central installation on the server. The IT architecture is also simplified, for example, different system interfaces do not have to be implemented.

We operate using principles of agile software development in small developer teams, which cover both backend and frontend development comprehensively. We maintain a personal exchange with each other and with you as the client, and you will benefit from our flat hierarchies. This makes all of us more effective and efficient.

Referring to the Agile Manifesto from 2001, we propagate the formulated principles:

The individuals and interactions in the team are more important than processes and tools. The working software or web application is more important than comprehensive documentation. Productive collaboration with you, our customer, is more important than contract negotiations. Responding to change and making adjustments is more important than adhering to a plan. Notably, with these principles, it should be pointed out that all the mentioned values are very relevant for a software project and a successful collaboration. However, the first ones mentioned take precedence over the latter.

The basis of our web applications is usually the server-side programming language PHP with the Laravel Framework. Alternatively, and depending on requirements, we also implement Single Page Applications and more complex JavaScript applications based on Vue.js.

In general, we rely on established workflows and tools that increase quality and productivity. Gitlab, Github for version control, Tailwind CSS as the best available CSS framework, and sophisticated and extremely fast build processes using Vite or webpack or mix from the Laravel cosmos.

We also rely on MySQL and PostgreSQL for databases, and Apache or Nginx as web servers. For powerful and scalable servers or cloud infrastructures, we rely on Digital Ocean, Forge, and AWS or alternatively the German company Hetzner.

This is a question we hear quite often. The answer, however, is simple. WordPress is a CMS and primarily an excellent tool for managing small to medium-sized websites. Web applications such as SaaS products, online shops, and portals can also undoubtedly be implemented with WordPress. Usually, however, nothing works without plugins - and lots of them. This aspect alone is a deal-breaker for us because one should not entrust the success of their company to dozens of different developers one will never meet. It creates substantial dependencies on third-party manufacturers, which will inevitably lead to problems in any growth-oriented digital product sooner or later.

Beside the issue of dependency situations, WordPress is also unsuitable for an ambitious web application in terms of its application architecture and database structure. Explaining this would veer too much into technical jargon, so we'll leave it at that. If you want to know more about the reasons against WordPress or a CMS in general as a basis for a professional web application, please tell us about your project plans through our inquiry form.