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Custom Applications

Applications, portals, and integrations that work alongside a website rather than inside it.

Not everything an organization needs fits inside a website. We build the tools that sit alongside one: portals, booking systems, internal dashboards, and integrations that move data between the systems you already run. We will also take on an application somebody else built.

Beyond the website Tools that run alongside and outside it
Two-way integrations Salesforce, HubSpot, Fonteva and custom APIs
Whatever the stack Drupal, PHP, React, Ruby on Rails
Yours or ours We take on applications we did not build

Custom application work we do

Plenty of what we build never renders as a page: a design tool that drives factory laser cutters, a backend that aggregates reports from outside sources, an integration that keeps two systems in agreement. Everything we build for you, both code and design, is yours. You paid for it, you own it.

We also take on applications other teams built, work out how they actually function, and keep them running and improving from there.

Applications & Portals

Member portals with real-time availability and booking, commerce and subscription platforms, event registration with linked accounts, internal dashboards and custom reporting, and front-end tools that do real work rather than just display content.

  • Member & Client Portals
  • Booking & Registration
  • Dashboards & Reporting

Integrations & Data Flow

Moving data between the systems you already run, in both directions. We have pulled events from Fonteva into a website, built the registration forms around them, and written attendees straight back into Salesforce, and we run scheduled syncs against existing databases and directories.

  • Salesforce & HubSpot
  • Custom & Third-Party APIs
  • Scheduled Data Syncs

Existing Applications

You do not have to start over. We take on applications built by other teams, work out how they actually function, then extend, modernize and maintain them. Several of the applications we look after now were running long before we were involved.

  • Takeover & Handover
  • Extending & Modernizing
  • Ongoing Support

Maintenance & Support

Launch is the start of an application's life, not the end of it. Dependencies age out, third-party APIs change, and a scheduled sync can fail silently for weeks. All of it needs someone paying attention. We offer retainer and as-needed plans, and we support sites whether or not we built them. Every plan includes dedicated hours beyond the update work, so you can spend them on whatever matters most that month.

  • Framework, dependency and security updates
  • Integration and API monitoring
  • Scheduled sync and job failure alerts
  • Performance tuning and database work
  • Automated backups and tested recovery
  • Bug fixes and technical support
  • Feature development and enhancements
  • Documentation and handover for your team
Talk about a support plan

How we approach custom applications

Custom work goes wrong in predictable ways: it is built once and never documented, it depends on one person who then leaves, or an integration quietly stops running and nobody notices for a month. We build against those outcomes.

The website is rarely the whole system

A lot of what we build never appears on a page. One client's design tool turns customer drawings into cut files for the laser cutters on their factory floor. Another pulls project reports from a range of outside sources into a single searchable index.

Integrations that write back

Pulling data in to display it is the easy half. The useful half is writing back: creating records, registering attendees, updating accounts, and keeping two systems in agreement without someone re-keying it by hand.

We work with what you already run

We build in Drupal, WordPress, PHP, React and Ruby on Rails, and pick based on the problem rather than on what we would prefer to sell. If you already have an application, we will work in it.

Applications outlive websites

A site gets redesigned every few years. The application behind it keeps running, often for a decade or more, so it has to be documented, maintainable, and handed over properly. Everything we build is yours.

Recent application work

All projects
Pathlight homepage

Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center

A custom application that pulls events from Fonteva, builds the registration forms around them, and signs attendees up in Salesforce, alongside intake forms feeding both Salesforce and HubSpot.

View project
OMD Homepage

Organize My Drawer

A browser-based design tool that converts customer drawer layouts into cut files for the factory's laser cutters, with back-office workflows built for production.

View project
ETCC Homepage

ETCC

An autonomous backend API pulling project reports from a range of outside sources, a granular report lookup built on Drupal's Search API, and custom JavaScript rendering PDFs as in-browser images.

View project

Questions we get asked

What kinds of custom applications have you built?

Member portals with real-time availability and booking, commerce and subscription platforms, event registration systems with linked parent and player accounts, patient intake flows, a web-based product design tool, internal dashboards and custom reporting, and backend APIs that aggregate data from several outside sources.

Can you build something that lives outside our website?

Yes, and a good deal of our application work does. For Organize My Drawer we built a browser-based design tool that converts a customer's drawer layout into cut files for the laser cutters on their factory floor, along with the back-office workflows the factory runs on. The website is the entry point, not the system.

Can you integrate with Salesforce, HubSpot or other systems we use?

Yes. For Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center we built a custom application that pulls events from Fonteva, generates the registration forms around them, and signs attendees up in Salesforce. Their intake forms also create and manage contacts in both Salesforce and HubSpot. We have run scheduled syncs against client databases and HR directories, and integrated with existing authentication systems.

Can you build payments, ecommerce or subscriptions into an application?

Yes. We have built commerce-enabled event registration with Authorize.Net payments, a configurator that prices a custom-manufactured product from the customer's own specification and takes payment for it, and a membership platform running subscription plans of different lengths alongside individual purchases and physical product sales, with receipts and order emails handled automatically. Where it suits the project we build on Drupal Commerce; where it does not, we build the commerce logic directly into the application.

Can you work on an application we already have?

Yes, and we do this often. We review the existing codebase, hosting and data model first, tell you honestly what is worth keeping, and then extend and maintain it. We have looked after client applications for years that were built before we were involved.

What technologies do you build with?

Drupal and WordPress where a CMS belongs underneath, PHP and MySQL, React and modern JavaScript on the front end, Ruby on Rails where that fits, and modern frameworks such as Astro and Payload. We choose based on the problem, the systems you already run, and who will maintain it afterwards.

Can you build an API for a mobile app or another service?

Yes. We build APIs for use by mobile applications, partner systems and internal services, and we consume third-party APIs the same way. For one client we built an autonomous backend API that pulls project reports in from a variety of different sources.

Do you support applications after launch?

Yes, and this is where most of the real cost of an application sits. We offer retainer and as-needed plans covering dependency and security updates, integration monitoring, alerts when a scheduled sync fails, bug fixes and ongoing feature development.

Who owns the application you build?

You do. Every piece of code and design is yours, documented and structured so your own team or another vendor could pick it up. You paid for it, you own it.

How do you work with our team?

However suits you. We work in whatever your team already uses, whether that is Slack, Teams, email, or a project tool like Monday, Wrike, Teamwork or Asana. For some clients we are effectively the web team: their editors and staff come to us directly with requests rather than routing everything through one point of contact, and we take in, prioritize and run that work ourselves. For others a single contact is simpler. Either way the developer doing your work is the one managing it, so there is no account layer between you and the person writing your code, and none to pay for. We fit how you already work rather than asking you to adopt our process.

Ready for a fresh start?

Whether you need a new website, ongoing support, a custom application, better performance, or just another perspective, our team is ready to help. We usually respond the same day.