We build MVPs and SaaS products for startups and founders in the UK. We help you cut the idea down to the smallest product that tests whether people will use it and pay for it, then build it in TypeScript on a stack that can carry the business past launch. You own the code from day one.

We're a UK SaaS development company that also builds and runs its own products, and that shapes what we leave out and what we refuse to cut.

What is an MVP, really?

An MVP is the cheapest honest test of your riskiest assumption. Usually that assumption is "people will pay for this", not "we can build this". So the first job is working out what has to exist for a real user to get real value, and what can wait.

In practice that means one core workflow done properly, with everything around it kept plain. A scheduling product doesn't need team permissions and five integrations on day one. It needs a customer to sign up, book something, get reminded and pay. If that loop works and people come back, the rest is worth building.

We'll push back on scope. Every extra feature is something else to test and maintain before you know if anyone wants the first one.

What goes into a SaaS MVP?

Even a small SaaS product has a baseline users expect. Most of it is invisible, and it's where cheap builds fall apart.

Authentication: email and password, magic links and Google or Microsoft sign-in, with proper sessions, password resets and rate limiting. We use better-auth, which keeps user data in your own database.
Billing: Stripe subscriptions with trials, plan changes, failed payments and the customer portal. The webhook handling matters more than the checkout page, because it keeps your database in step with what customers have actually paid for.
Multi-tenant data: if your customers are businesses, each needs its own workspace, members and roles, with data properly separated. This is far harder to add later than to design in.
Admin: a simple internal area to look up users and fix accounts, so nobody edits the database by hand.
Transactional email: verification, invites and receipts sent from your own domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up, so they land in the inbox.
Analytics: events for sign-up, activation and upgrade so you can see where people drop off, plus error tracking so you hear about bugs before users email you.

None of this is exciting. It should work quietly so your time goes on the part that's actually new.

Will we need to rewrite it later?

Not if the foundation is sensible. Plenty of MVPs get thrown away because the tools were picked for speed with no thought for year two. We use the stack we'd choose for a mature product:

TypeScript across the frontend, backend and shared types
Next.js for the web app, NestJS for the API where the product needs one
PostgreSQL on Neon with Prisma for the database
Redis for queues, caching and background jobs
Hosting on Vercel and DigitalOcean, with separate staging and production environments

It's a mainstream, well-documented stack that any competent TypeScript developer can pick up, which matters when you hire your first engineer. Building properly doesn't mean building more. It means adding the next feature doesn't require undoing the last one.

If you later need a mobile app, the same API and types can be shared with a React Native app, so the backend doesn't have to be rebuilt.

No-code or custom code?

Sometimes no-code is the right answer, and we'll say so. If your MVP is mostly forms, lists and a payment link, tools like Bubble or Softr with Airtable and Stripe behind them can get you to real users quickly. For testing demand, that's often enough.

	No-code	Custom code
Speed to a first version	Usually faster for simple products	Slower to start, faster to change later
Upfront cost	Lower	Higher
Complex logic and integrations	Gets awkward quickly	No platform limits
Performance at scale	Depends on the platform	Under your control
Ownership	You rent the platform	You own the code and data
Raising investment	Can raise questions in technical due diligence	Standard

Custom code makes sense when the product's value is in logic a platform can't express, when you need real multi-tenancy, or when you've validated demand and hit the limits of the no-code version. Rebuilding a validated no-code MVP in code is a perfectly good path.

How we work

Discovery call: the idea, who it's for and what you've already tested.
Written scope and fixed quote: exactly what's in the first version and what isn't, at a fixed price.
Build in short iterations: you get a staging environment early and see working software regularly.
Review: you and your test users try it properly. Scope changes are agreed in writing.
Launch: production, domains, email, monitoring and backups.
Support: we stay on for fixes and new features, or hand over cleanly.

Who owns the code?

You do. The repository lives in your GitHub organisation, the hosting and third-party accounts are in your name, and we work as collaborators on them. If we part ways, there's nothing to transfer because it was always yours.

Handover or ongoing support?

Both are fine. If you're hiring developers, we hand over with an architecture overview, setup instructions that actually work and time with your new team. If you'd rather keep working with us, a monthly arrangement covers updates, monitoring, security patches and new features. Bringing development in-house once you have traction is a normal path, and we build with that in mind.

If your product is less a startup and more an internal system for an existing business, our bespoke web application development page covers that side.

FAQs

How much does an MVP cost?

It depends entirely on scope, so we don't publish a price list. After a discovery call we write a scope document listing what's in and what's out, then quote a fixed price for it. If the quote is more than you want to spend, we'll suggest what to cut rather than quietly building less.

How long does it take to build an MVP?

That depends on scope too. A product with one core workflow, auth and billing is a very different job from one with integrations, multiple user types and a mobile app. We give a realistic delivery estimate alongside the fixed quote, and you'll see progress on a staging environment throughout.

Do you work with non-technical founders?

Yes. We explain technical decisions in plain English and tell you when something is a real trade-off and when it's just a preference. You don't need to write a specification. We'll write the scope with you, and you sign off on what's being built before any code is written.

Can you take over an existing MVP?

Usually. We start by reviewing the code, hosting and data to see what's worth keeping. Sometimes the right call is to fix and extend what's there, sometimes to rebuild parts of it. We'll explain which before quoting, and we won't recommend a rewrite unless it's genuinely cheaper over time.

Do you sign NDAs?

Yes, we're happy to sign a reasonable NDA before you share details of your idea. In practice the code, accounts and intellectual property for anything we build are yours, and that's set out in our agreement whether or not there's a separate NDA.

Can you build a mobile app as part of the MVP?

We can, but we'll often suggest starting with a web app unless the product only makes sense on a phone. A web app is quicker to change and skips app store review. If mobile is core, we build with React Native on the same API.

Got an idea you want to test? Tell us about it and we'll book a call.

MVP & SaaS Development