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Written scope within 48 hours

APIs and backends that do not become the bottleneck.

We design and build APIs, auth, integrations and services for products whose backend has to keep up with growth: clear contracts, tests on the paths that matter.

Nobody budgets for the hours already being lost. Tell us the outcome: you get a written scope within 48 hours.

  • 48h

    To a written scope

  • Week 1

    Clickable prototype

  • 6–14 wks

    To first release

  • 100%

    Code and IP yours

Get your free estimate

Three quick questions: scope, approach and a price range back within 48 hours. No sales call required first.

What do you need built?
When do you want to start?
Where should we send the estimate?

Answer all three questions above, then send.

NDA-friendly · IP yours from day one

Trusted by companies worldwide

  • Bloomford
  • Contractor Plus, Inc.
  • Snappy Stats
  • Ad Lunam
  • Local Buzz
  • CyberFind
  • Hellory
  • 5.0Clutch · 8 client reviews
  • 4.9Google · 18 reviews
  • Top ratedUpwork · 100+ reviews · 5K+ hours worked
  • TopTracker7K+ hours tracked with clients

Why teams call us

Three reasons a team calls us about their backend.

Backend and API work rarely starts from a blank page. Recognise yours and the rest of this page gets more useful.

  • The app has a frontend but no real backend

    A mobile or web app that still calls a mocked API, a spreadsheet, or a backend one person built as a favour. It works in a demo and nowhere else.

    We design the API and data model before the next release, not after it breaks.

  • The API works until real traffic hits it

    Endpoints built for a hundred users start timing out at ten thousand: no caching, no queueing, no plan for what happens when two requests hit the same row at once.

    We find the actual bottleneck and fix the cause, not the symptom.

  • Every integration is a one-off script

    Payments, calendars, CRM and SMS each bolted on separately, with its own auth, its own retries and its own way of quietly failing overnight. When one of them sends back a malformed payload at 2am, a JSON formatter for reading raw webhook payloads turns it back into something you can actually read.

    One integration layer, consistent auth, one place that logs what happened.

An engineering desk with code, a system diagram and a server rack
Code · diagram · rack

What you actually get

What a backend engagement actually hands you.

Six artefacts a backend build produces, not a slide about frameworks.

  1. An API contract before a line of code

    Endpoints, request and response shapes, and error formats agreed and written down before the backend is built, so your frontend or mobile team is never guessing.

  2. Working authentication in week one or two

    Sign-up, login, tokens and roles wired end to end early, because almost everything else in the product depends on knowing who is calling.

  3. A demo of real endpoints every two weeks

    Not a slide about architecture: staging endpoints and a request collection you or your frontend team can call yourselves.

  4. Code and infrastructure in your accounts from day one

    Your GitHub, your cloud account and your database, with commit and admin access from the first sprint.

  5. Tests on the endpoints that move money or data

    Automated coverage on payments, auth and anything that writes to the database, not a coverage percentage chased for its own sake.

  6. API documentation and a handover

    Versioned API docs, a data model diagram and a walkthrough, so your team can extend the backend without calling us first.

What it costs

Three ways to start, priced honestly.

Ranges, not single numbers, because the real figure depends on integrations and migration scope. You get the exact number in writing after one call.

  • Launch

    One core journey, production-ready.

    Investment

    From mid four figures USD

    Timeline

    6–8 weeks

    • Discovery and written scope
    • Clickable prototype before build
    • Core journey in production
    • Auth, roles and admin basics
    • Your repos and cloud accounts
    • 30 days post-launch support

    For founders validating a product with real users.

    Start with Launch

  • Most chosen

    Scale

    A full product with the integrations that matter.

    Investment

    From low five figures USD

    Timeline

    10–14 weeks

    • Everything in Launch
    • Two to four external integrations
    • Payments, billing or subscriptions
    • Reporting and analytics
    • Automated tests on critical paths
    • Fortnightly demos and reports

    For teams replacing a manual process or an outgrown tool.

    Start with Scale

  • Platform

    A standing team that keeps shipping.

    Investment

    Retainer or dedicated pod

    Timeline

    Ongoing

    • Everything in Scale
    • Named technical lead
    • Multi-tenant or multi-entity architecture
    • Performance and cost optimisation
    • Monitoring, uptime targets, on-call
    • Roadmap planned quarter by quarter

    For products where the roadmap does not end at launch.

    Start with Platform

Ranges reflect projects delivered in 2025–26 and move with integrations, data migration and compliance scope. Every engagement starts with a written scope listing exactly what is included and what is not.

Our clients · reviews

Teams who trusted QalbIT

Short feedback from clients and products we work on across web, mobile, SaaS and internal tools.

  • Testimonials from long-term custom software development and SaaS product clients.
  • Covers ERP systems, B2B marketplaces, booking platforms, and web & mobile app development projects.
  • Real text and video reviews from founders, CTOs, and product teams who partnered with QalbIT for delivery.

  • Video review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “Working with QalbIT was an absolute pleasure. They understood our brand vision, delivered a WordPress site that is easy to navigate, and kept communication smooth throughout. I would absolutely recommend them to anybody.”
    Imdad Ali KadiwalaFounder, Netzur

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “QalbIT is a fantastic dev partner. They provide quality work, good communication and go above and beyond. Fantastic work delivered by QalbIT and his team. Can’t give enough credits with regards to how they work and at which speed they do it. Top team.”
    Joost HesselberthFounder of Ad Lunam Investments PTY LTD

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “I would recommend QalbIT to everybody. QalbIT has been developing all my front-end & backend systems complete to my requirements. They have excellent technical knowledge and listen very well to the needs of their customers. And above all, they are great people.”
    Wouter SantensExecutive Search Consultant at Bloomford

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “They listened to my ideas and came up with a plan for development then executed that plan to completion. I liked their attention to detail and communication skills. Very responsive.”
    Osmond MwanyikyCTO, Bocsit

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “QalbIT quickly integrated four platforms quickly. Square, Stripe, PayPal, and Coinbase were all successfully used. The vendor provided an active communication process, maintaining timely deadlines despite the research-heavy service. They also offered post-launch support.”
    Roshan SethiaCTO, Contractor Plus, Inc.
View all testimonials

How it runs

From first call to running software in four moves.

The same process on every engagement, whichever package you start from.

  1. Scoping call

    A working call about the outcome and the constraints. Not a pitch.

    Day 1–3

  2. Written scope & price

    Architecture options, timeline and a price range you can take to your board.

    Within 48 hours

  3. Prototype & build

    Clickable prototype, then working software in fortnightly sprints.

    Week 1 onward

  4. Launch & operate

    Deployment to your cloud, monitoring in place, then the next slice.

    Launch week

Proof

Backend development engagements we scoped, built and still support.

Different sectors, same process, and in each case the client owns the code.

How we work

A product engineering culture built on ownership and clarity.

The habits that decide whether software still works in year three. Here is the honest comparison: what most outsourced engagements look like, and what changes when you work with us.

How an engagement with QalbIT compares
The questionThe usual answerAt QalbIT
Who scopes itA salesperson, then a handover docThe founder and the engineer who will build it
Who writes the codeWhoever is on the bench that monthNamed senior engineers, in our office, no subcontractors
What you see weeklyA status deck and a percentageA working demo and the board it came from
When something breaksA ticket queue and an account managerThe engineer who wrote it, in your timezone overlap
If you want to leaveA migration project and a licence conversationThirty days notice · repos and IP were always yours

  • Principle 01

    Ownership over ticket-taking

    Engineers who ask why before they ask which framework. Scope questions come back before code goes out.

  • Principle 02

    Written over remembered

    Scope, estimates and architecture decisions are written down with the trade-off stated. Nobody relies on what was said on a call.

  • Principle 03

    Small over staffed

    Senior pods that hold the whole system in their heads beat large mixed teams that need a coordinator to function.

Engagement models

Flexible engagement models.

Choose how you want to work with us based on where your product is today. We help you validate, ship and then scale without forcing you into a one-size-fits-all model, and how we price projects follows the model you pick.

  • Best for defined scope

    Fixed-scope projects

    Best when requirements are clear and we can estimate precisely.

    • Clearly defined scope, milestones and deliverables.
    • Predictable budget with upfront estimates.
    • Ideal for MVPs and discrete feature releases.

    Works well with good documentation or a short discovery

  • Most chosen

    Dedicated product squad

    A cross-functional team that behaves like your in-house product team.

    • Stable team for long-term ownership and roadmaps.
    • Capacity planned monthly with clear velocity.
    • Founder involvement on architecture and key decisions.

    When software is core to your business

  • Best for ongoing work

    Time & material / Agile

    Ideal for ongoing iterations, R&D and integrations.

    • Pay for actual engineering and design time used.
    • Flexible backlog and scope, prioritised every sprint.
    • Perfect for experiments and proof-of-concepts.

    When agility matters more than fixed scope

What protects you

Five commitments that make the first engagement low risk.

The objections worth raising before you sign anything, answered up front rather than buried in a contract.

  • Free written scope

    Scope, timeline and price range within 48 hours, yours to keep whether or not you hire us.

  • IP and repos yours, day one

    Code, repositories and cloud accounts in your name under NDA, with commit access from week one.

  • Changes quoted in writing

    Added scope is priced and approved before it is built. The number never moves quietly.

  • Replacement guarantee

    If an engineer is not the right fit we replace them at no recruitment cost, with handover before they leave.

  • 30 days notice

    Monthly engagements end or scale down with 30 days notice. No annual lock-in.

Industries we build this for

Tailored software solutions built for your industry's success.

We bring patterns from multiple domains, but always adapt them to your specific context, constraints and users, never a template dropped on your business.

More services

Software development services at a glance.

From MVPs to long-term platforms, combine our core and specialised services to design, build and grow products that match how your business really works.

FAQs · Backend Development

Frequently asked questions

Cost, timelines, ownership and what happens once real traffic hits.

Ask us directly →
Cost tracks the number of integrations, the auth model and how much of the data layer already exists, not the number of endpoints on a page. Launch starts from mid four figures USD for one core API and its auth built and shipped to production, and Scale starts from low five figures USD for a backend with two to four external integrations behind it. You get the real number in writing within 48 hours of the scoping call.
A production-ready first release usually takes 6 to 8 weeks for one core API with auth and roles working end to end, and 10 to 14 weeks once payments, a CRM or another external system sit behind it. You see a request collection you can call yourself in week one, and a working staging deployment every two weeks after.
Yes, and it is common. We start with a short audit of the existing code, the data model and whatever integrations are already wired in, and tell you plainly what is worth keeping, what should be rewritten, and what each option costs before anything changes.
PostgreSQL or MySQL for the data layer, with AWS and Docker for hosting, chosen so your own team can hire for it and run it later without us. If you already run a different stack we work inside it rather than migrating you onto ours for its own sake, and the written scope names the stack before build starts.
Yes. One API contract, one auth system and one set of data models serving both clients is the usual shape, so a rule enforced on web does not need to be rebuilt for mobile. Where the two genuinely need different behaviour, that is scoped explicitly rather than assumed.
Sign-up, login, tokens and role-based access are built and working end to end by week one or two, because almost everything else in the product depends on knowing who is calling. Rate limiting, input validation and access checks on every endpoint that writes to the database are part of the build, not an add-on after a problem shows up.
We look for the actual bottleneck, caching, queueing, a missing index, a query running once per row instead of once per request, and fix the cause rather than adding servers to mask it. Load-bearing endpoints get automated tests so a fix does not quietly break something else.
Yes. Each integration gets its own auth, its own retry behaviour and a single place that logs what happened, so a failed webhook from a payment provider does not fail silently overnight. We name the specific providers and rate limits in the written scope rather than assuming a generic connector will cover it.
Versioned API documentation and a data model diagram are part of every handover, along with a walkthrough, so your own developers can add an endpoint or debug an integration without calling us first.
Launch is a release, not the end of the relationship. Most clients keep a small standing team for monitoring, fixes and the next slice of integrations, with uptime targets set from the first deployment. It is optional and ends or scales down on 30 days notice, and if you would rather run it yourselves you get the documentation and handover to do that.

Next step

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