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Web applications

Software that works the way you do.

Booking systems, client portals, quoting tools, dashboards, and first product versions. Built on a modern stack, scoped tight, from right here in the Kootenays.

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Why custom beats renting

The market charges platform money. You need a tool that fits.

Custom software has a reputation for big-city invoices. Most small businesses here in the Kootenays do not need a platform. They need one well-built tool that removes the busywork, fits the brand, and pays for itself in saved hours.

$15k-$80k

what Canadian agencies charge for custom web apps

Canadian development shops put typical web application builds between $15,000 and $80,000. I build from $10,000, below the floor of that band, by scoping ruthlessly and skipping agency overhead.

Space-O Technologies web app cost guide, 2026

$80-$150/hr

going rate for reputable Canadian developers

Hourly billing punishes the client for every revision. I quote the project, not the clock, so the price you approve is the price you pay.

Naveck web development cost guide, 2026

40-60%

upfront cost cut by starting with a focused MVP

Starting with the smallest version that solves the real problem cuts upfront investment nearly in half and gets the tool into your hands in weeks, not quarters.

Ideas2IT MVP development cost analysis, 2026

Live now

the Neighbours Lodge runs on this exact stack

The client portal behind kootenaymade.ca, with logins, guides, billing, invoices, and support, is a web application I built and run. The process you would hire is the one that built it.

KMD Neighbours Lodge client platform

Your team is the most expensive software you run.

Every manual workaround costs payroll hours, and every third-party widget costs control. A focused app closes those leaks at the source.

  1. 01

    The business runs on spreadsheets and memory

    Quotes in one file, bookings in another, job status in someone’s head. A focused app puts the workflow in one place, with one source of truth the whole team can see.

  2. 02

    Admin hours leak where software should be working

    Manual scheduling, repeated data entry, chasing forms, and copy-pasting between tools. Hours a week disappear into work an app should be doing silently.

  3. 03

    Customer-facing steps live on tools you do not control

    Bookings, intake, portals, and payments scattered across third-party widgets that look generic and hold your data hostage. A custom app keeps the experience and the data yours.

Two more worth reading before you decide anything: when a spreadsheet stops being enough and whether a custom CRM is actually the answer. Booking is the most common leak I see, and I wrote a guide on that too: why booking friction quietly costs local service businesses money.

Where the hours actually go

Tick what is true. The hours behind each line are deliberately low.

Put a number on it before you decide.

$
How much of it you think this gets back

That is $11,440 a year. At those numbers the $10,000 would take more than a year and a half to come back, which is worth knowing before you spend it.

Hours are the floor of this decision rather than the whole of it. Most tools at this level pay back twice: once on the time nobody spends any more, and again on the work that becomes possible when customers can do things themselves. The first half is the part you can put a number on today, so that is the half on screen.

Five things I have been asked to build.

Nobody wakes up wanting an internal dashboard. They want the Tuesday morning back. These are the shapes that come up most, described by what they replace rather than what they are.

  • A quoting tool for a trade

    Measurements and options in, a priced quote out with your rates, your inclusions and your deposit terms, sent as a PDF and tracked through to accepted or lost. Replaces the spreadsheet you copy every time and the quote you rebuild from the last one.

  • A member portal for a club or association

    Dues and renewals that collect themselves, event signup with a cap and a waitlist, and a private area for the documents members keep emailing you for. Replaces a membership platform that charges per head for features nobody uses.

  • A booking system for a service that does not fit the standard ones

    Multi-day trips, equipment that has to be free at the same time as a guide, deposits, weather cancellations, and group bookings that split across two dates. Replaces the off-the-shelf booking tool you fight every season.

  • Intake and a document portal for a clinic or a firm

    Forms that ask the right questions before the first appointment, secure upload for the documents you currently receive as email attachments, and a status page so clients stop phoning to ask where things are.

  • A job board for a business running several crews

    Who is where today, what got done, photos from site, hours against the job, and the paperwork attached to it rather than in the glovebox of whoever did the job. Replaces the group chat and the whiteboard.

If yours is not on this list that is normal, because none of these existed as a category until somebody described their week to me. Tell me the workflow and I will tell you whether it is worth building.

The build

One focused build. Software the business owns.

Every app is scoped to its own workflow, so pricing starts from a floor instead of a menu. The first conversation establishes scope, price, and timeline before anything is committed.

Custom Web App

Owned, not rented

From $10,000

Focused single-purpose apps often land between $10,000 and $30,000 depending on workflows, integrations, and roles. Product-grade platforms are scoped like the Empire.

A tool that runs the work pairs naturally with the Brain, which holds what the business knows about how that work is meant to go.

Software shaped to the business, owned by the business.

A working application built around one job worth doing well: a booking system, a client portal, a quoting tool, an internal dashboard, or the first version of a product idea. Scoped tight, built on a modern stack, and handed over with everything you need to run it.

  • Discovery and ruthless scoping around the core workflow
  • Built on the same modern stack as every KMD build, not a fragile plugin pile
  • Custom interface matched to your brand, not a generic dashboard template
  • Accounts, roles, and permissions where the workflow needs them
  • Integrations: payments, email, calendars, file storage, existing site
  • Testing, launch, documentation, and owner handoff
  • Lodge access for support, guidance, and next steps

Perfect for

Businesses outgrowing spreadsheets, renting awkward SaaS, drowning in manual admin, or sitting on a product idea that needs a real first version.

Typical delivery: 4 to 8 weeks for a focused first version

Builds this size are not on the Own It Monthly plan. They bill by milestone: you pay as agreed stages go live.

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What I need from you

Software slips for one reason more than any other, and it is not the code. It is a question about how the work really happens that nobody can answer for three weeks. These are the answers I need before anything gets built.

The workflow itself

  • A walk through the job as it happens now, including the awkward parts and the exceptions.
  • The spreadsheet, form or inbox it currently runs on, in whatever state it is in.
  • Who touches it, in what order, and where it stalls.

Decisions before code

  • What the tool must do on day one, and what can wait until version two.
  • Who is allowed to see and change what, since roles are cheaper to decide than to retrofit.
  • Which existing systems it has to talk to, and who can grant that access.

Timelines count from the day I have these. If something takes a while to find, that is normal and it is not a problem, but the finish moves with it and I will tell you the day it slips rather than at the end.

From a messy workflow to a tool that runs it.

  1. 01

    Map the workflow

    I sit with how the work actually happens: who does what, where the hours leak, and which single workflow the app must nail first.

  2. 02

    Scope the smallest useful version

    I cut the wish list down to the version that solves the real problem. Smaller scope means a lower price, a faster launch, and proof before bigger bets.

  3. 03

    Build and show progress

    The app goes up on a live preview link early. You click through real screens while it grows instead of waiting for a big reveal.

  4. 04

    Launch, document, and hand off

    I launch with monitoring and analytics, write plain-language documentation, and hand over the keys. After launch, my care plans keep the tool healthy.

    See ongoing support

The full path, payment terms and all, lives on the process page.

What owners ask before building software.

What counts as a web app, exactly?+

Anything beyond pages that people read: booking and scheduling systems, client portals, quoting and intake tools, member areas, internal dashboards, inventory or job trackers, calculators, and first versions of software products. If your business needs software that works the way you work, that is a web app.

How is this different from the Empire?+

The Empire is the flagship website-plus-platform build: public site, content, SEO, and infrastructure together. A custom web app is a focused tool, with or without a public website attached. An app can bolt onto a site you already love, including sites I did not build.

Do I own the code?+

Yes, completely. The code, the database, the hosting accounts, and the documentation are all in your name at handoff, with no license fees back to me.

What stack do you build on?+

The same modern foundation as every KMD build: Next.js and React for the application, Supabase for the database and logins, and Vercel for hosting. It is the stack this site and the Neighbours Lodge client portal run on, chosen for speed, security, and low running costs.

What does it cost to run after launch?+

Focused apps typically run on hosting and database plans in the tens of dollars per month, not hundreds per seat. I scope running costs with you before the build so there are no surprise bills.

Can it connect to my existing website or tools?+

Yes. Apps can live on your current domain, share your brand, and connect to payments, email, calendars, accounting exports, and most tools with an API. If I built your site, the app drops in natively.

Can you replace or integrate the CRM we already use?+

Both roads exist. Integration works with most mainstream CRMs, and the details are platform-specific because some CRMs only expose part of what they can do to outside tools; I confirm exactly what yours supports before we commit. When the limits chafe, I can build you a custom CRM shaped around how your business actually runs: every feature you want instead of the slice a subscription allows, no per-seat fees, owned outright and under your control forever.

I have a product idea. Is this how I start?+

It is the sensible way to start. A focused first version proves the idea with real users before you spend platform money. If it takes off, the same codebase grows instead of being thrown away.

Why is this cheaper than the agency quotes I have seen?+

Three reasons: one senior builder instead of an agency org chart, ruthless scoping instead of padded feature lists, and a fixed project price instead of hourly billing. Cheaper and faster, without renting you a junior team.

Tell me the workflow. I will scope the tool.

Start with the free 60-second website check-up: an automated scan of your current site that shows me where you are starting from. Then bring the messy version: the spreadsheet, the subscription that almost fits, the hours that vanish every week. The quote is fixed before anything is built.

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Already have one?

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Need the whole platform, public site and all? That build is The Empire.

Rather talk it through first? Email hello@kootenaymade.ca with the messy version and I will map it with you.

Refer a neighbour who signs, and I e-transfer you $200. Anyone can refer, there is no limit, and it pays out when their first payment clears (second payment for Own It Monthly projects).