Web applications
Booking flows, internal tools, client portals and calculators, built in React with a backend in Laravel, CodeIgniter or Node.js and Express.
Custom Web Apps
Hire a React Developer for Custom Web Apps
If you need to hire a React developer for a custom web app, a dashboard or an integration between systems, I build them end to end. I am a freelance full-stack developer in Porto, Portugal: React or Vue on the frontend, PHP (Laravel, CodeIgniter) or Node.js and Express on the backend, with a real database behind it.
What I Do
Custom web app development, built around how you work
Platforms like WordPress and Shopify cover a lot. These are the jobs they do not.
Dashboards
One screen that pulls data from the tools you already use, so the team stops copying numbers between spreadsheets.
API integrations
Connecting systems that do not talk to each other: CRMs, accounting, forms, stores. I built a plugin that sends form submissions to two CRMs, and connected a store to QuickBooks.
Extending an existing app
New features, fixes and performance work on a React or PHP codebase someone else started.
Why Freelance
A React developer for hire, instead of a web app development agency
A custom web application development company will often put a project manager, a designer and two developers on your app. For many projects that is more people than the work needs. With me, the developer you talk to is the developer writing the code, and decisions take one conversation instead of three meetings.
If the job turns out to be simpler than a custom app, I will say so. Sometimes the right answer is a WordPress plugin or a Shopify app, and that is a smaller bill for you.
Who It's For
Custom web app development service for UK and US teams
I work online with businesses and teams in the UK, the US and Europe. Portugal shares the UK time zone, and my afternoons overlap with the US East Coast morning. Businesses in Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia and nearby can meet me in person when it helps.
Stack
The tools I build custom web apps with
On the frontend I mostly use React, and Vue when a project is already on it. On the backend I work with Laravel, CodeIgniter and Node.js, with MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, and I connect to outside services through their APIs: payment providers, CRMs, accounting tools like QuickBooks, and form tools like Gravity Forms. I pick the stack that suits the project and the people who will maintain it, not the newest thing.
Before You Start
What I need to quote a custom web app
A list of the people who will use the app and what each of them needs to do is the most useful thing you can send. Add any tools it has to talk to, and any spreadsheets or manual steps it should replace. From that I can suggest a first version that is small enough to build quickly and useful enough to learn from.
Integration Work
Integrations I have built
Forms to two CRMs
A WordPress plugin built from scratch that maps Gravity Forms fields to Advyzon and Wealthbox and sends every submission to both, after no existing integration could.
Store to accounting
Connected an online coffee store to QuickBooks so the store and the accounting system share the same data.
How This Works
How a custom app project runs
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Call
A free 20-minute call about the problem the app needs to solve.
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Scope
A written scope and fixed quote, broken into stages for bigger builds.
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Build
Working versions you can try as it develops, not one big reveal at the end.
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Launch and support
Deployment, handover and support for fixes and new features.
FAQ
Questions about hiring a React developer
What does a React developer do?
A React developer builds the interactive part of a web application, the screens people click and type into, using the React library. A full-stack developer also builds the backend, database and integrations behind it, which is what I do.
When do I need a custom web app instead of WordPress or Shopify?
When the core of what you need is logic rather than pages: a booking flow, a calculator, a portal, a dashboard or an integration no plugin or app handles. If a platform can do it, I will recommend the platform.
Do you only use React?
Mostly React, and Vue when it suits the project or the existing codebase. On the backend I use PHP with Laravel or CodeIgniter, or Node.js with Express.
How much does a custom web app cost?
It depends on the scope. I send a written fixed quote after a free call, split into stages for larger apps, so you know the cost before work starts.
Can you work on an app another developer started?
Yes. I can review the code first and tell you honestly whether it is worth extending or better rebuilt.
Who owns the code?
You do. The code lives in your repository or on your server, and you get everything needed to run and change it, whether that is with me or another developer later.
Have an app in mind?
Tell me what the app needs to do. I will tell you honestly whether it needs custom code or a simpler tool.