How much does it cost to build an app? What the figure doesn't tell you
How much should you budget to build an app? The figure alone is not enough: aim for a goal rather than a feature list, with users from the first month.
Bespoke software integration services
Do your accounting package, your ERP, your CRM and your payment tool have to keep working in isolation from one another? We develop the bespoke API integration that connects your software, usable within a month, on a fixed monthly budget, and keep adjusting it as your business evolves.
When to connect your software, and when an off-the-shelf tool is enough
Part of your business runs on software you will not replace, such as your accounting or invoicing package. Your application can connect to it, so that the same information is entered only once and stays consistent from one system to the next.
You keep that software. We develop what connects it, using the data exchange interface (API) each one offers. If your accounting software, Pennylane or Sage for example, offers an API, we can connect to it. We check this with you.
If the tool to connect does not exist yet, that is a different need: a bespoke CRM, a bespoke management system (ERP) or a bespoke business application.
To connect an AI to your software, see our page on automating processes with AI.
If off-the-shelf software already covers your need, and its vendor makes the adjustments you ask for, it remains the simplest choice.
What we connect
Your accounting and your invoicing
An invoice entered once in your application can go to your accounting software, with no second entry. We can connect to the one you use, provided it offers an API.
Your ERP and your CRM
Customers, orders and stock can move between your ERP, your CRM and your other tools without being re-keyed. We can connect the ones you keep, provided they offer an API.
Your online payments
Payment is handled by a specialist provider. We can connect its API to your application, so that a customer’s payment updates their order.
A connection monitored in production
In production, we monitor the system continuously: availability, response times, errors.
How your application moves forward
We start by talking with the users of your application, to understand their needs. From those needs, we specify each feature, then we develop it.
We test and sign off every feature before it goes live. If you would rather not delegate this, you test and approve it yourself.
What has been tested and signed off goes live. Every day, you see the application move forward on your acceptance environment.
The users of your application work with it from the first month of development, and how they use it determines the next feature or features.
What we have built
Week and Go, a marketplace connected to its business system
For Groupe Rapido, a leisure-vehicle manufacturer, we worked on the development of its marketplace, and in particular on its connection to its business system, the back office that manages the listings and their status: every exchange went through a single point, and the rest of the application did not depend on it.
A fixed monthly budget, and what belongs to you
The budget is built with you, from your numbers and your objectives: together we set the amount and the problem your application has to solve. Your application is usable within a month of development. From then on, the budget covers its maintenance and evolution for as long as you want, so that it keeps adapting to your business. Invoicing is monthly and fixed, with no surcharge for licences or number of users. You know your exact spend before you start.
The source code, infrastructure, deployment pipeline and documentation are your intellectual property once the first monthly invoice is paid.
The zero-regression guarantee applies from day one. If an accepted and approved feature starts behaving differently after a change, we fix it at no extra cost and we lock the behaviour with an automated test so it cannot come back.
You can terminate the contract in writing at any time, without justification. During the reversibility month, we support your team until they can build, test and deploy without us.
How much does it cost to integrate my software?
The budget is built with you, from your numbers and your objectives: together we set the amount and the problem your application has to solve. Your application is usable within a month of development. From then on, the budget covers its maintenance and evolution for as long as you want, so that it keeps adapting to your business. Invoicing is monthly and fixed, with no surcharge for licences or number of users. You know your exact spend before you start.
How long does it take to connect my software?
Your first connection is usable within a month of development. We then keep adjusting it as your needs evolve, for as long as you wish.
Can my accounting software or my ERP be connected to a new tool?
Yes, as long as that software offers a way to exchange its data, most often a data exchange interface (API). That way, each piece of information is entered only once and stays consistent from one system to the next.
What happens if the vendor of a connected system changes its API?
We route the exchanges with each connected system through a single point of the application. If the vendor changes its interface, we adapt that point, and the rest of the application is protected from the change.
Do I need a specification to get started?
If you have one, send it to us. We will look in it for your objectives, your constraints and the details that make this application yours, and unique. The only question we want to ask about your specification: was each feature defined with your users, based on their needs, or are they just your own ideas? At Microsoft, of the ideas tested with users, only a third improved the target metric, another third changed nothing, and the last third made it worse (Ronny Kohavi and Stefan Thomke, Harvard Business Review, 2017). That is why, from the first month of development, we aim for an application that is usable with a few essential features. It lets us complete a first full loop: start from your users’ needs, define with them what to build, develop it, put it online, then gather their reactions and their new needs. Each loop guides the next, feature by feature. The budget is set with you, according to the time you decide to invest in developing your application and in continuously adjusting it as your users’ needs evolve. We do not determine it from a list of features and estimates of the time needed to develop them.
Can an AI be connected to my software?
Yes, for a specific task in your business.
Who owns the code of my integration?
The source code, infrastructure, deployment pipeline and documentation are your intellectual property once the first monthly invoice is paid.
What happens during the trial period?
In the first month, the first 15 working days are a trial period. Delivered features are accepted as they come in, by you or by us if you delegate acceptance to us. If you do not want the deliverables and do not wish to continue, no invoice is issued and you owe nothing. If you want your application in production before the trial period ends, you can ask us in writing: we issue the invoice for the days worked, and we release to production once it is paid.
Can I stop the development of my application whenever I want?
No minimum commitment duration. You can terminate the contract in writing at any time, without justification.
Which software do you want to connect?
Thirty minutes to understand your situation. If we can help, a second meeting takes place within 48 hours to build the quote together.