How much does web app development cost in NZ?

Creative Co's discovery week is a fixed NZD $4,800 and produces a specification the client owns. Builds are fixed-quote from NZD $13,000, scoped against that specification. No hourly billing.

How long does a web app take to build?

A focused internal tool is typically live in 6–8 weeks: discovery, a clickable prototype, then two-week build sprints with a staging demo at the end of each.

Should we build custom software or buy off-the-shelf?

Buy off-the-shelf when a product fits most of the workflow. Build custom when the process is unique, subscriptions have stacked up without integrating, or a shared spreadsheet has become a liability.

        Services/Webapp development
      

05 — Web app development · Auckland

Auckland-built tools that replace the spreadsheet and the inbox

Custom web app development for booking systems, client portals, quoting tools and internal dashboards — the software your business can't buy off the shelf. A discovery week, a clickable prototype, then two-week build sprints on a staging link you can watch.

Enquire about webapp development ↗ From $13,000 · scoped per build

What is Creative Co's web app development service?

Creative Co is an Auckland studio building custom web apps and internal software for New Zealand small businesses — booking systems, client portals, quoting tools and dashboards that replace shared spreadsheets and generic SaaS subscriptions. Every project starts with a fixed-price discovery week ($4,800) producing a written specification you own outright, followed by a clickable prototype and two-week build sprints. Builds are fixed-quote from $13,000, you own all the code, and launch includes 30 days of support.

What's included

Fixed-price discovery first, so the build quote is based on a real specification rather than a hopeful guess.

1wk Discovery, fixed price

2wk Sprint cadence

30 days Support included

✓ Discovery week with a written specification you own outright

✓ Clickable prototype signed off before any code is written

✓ Two-week sprints, each ending in a staging demo

✓ Automated tests on the paths that would hurt if they broke

✓ Integrations with the systems you already run — Xero, Stripe, your CRM, calendars and email

✓ Handover documentation and training for your team

✓ Thirty days of support after launch, then a monthly plan if wanted

How it runs

Nothing gets built before you've clicked through it

Discovery week

Interviews with the people who'd use it, a process map and a written spec with a fixed build price.

Week 1

Prototype

A clickable version of the core flows — cheap to change now, expensive to change later.

Week 2

Build sprints

Two-week cycles with a staging demo at the end of each. You can stop between any two.

Weeks 3–10

Handover

Training, documentation and access to everything. No lock-in, no hostage code.

Final week

Recent example

Parent.nz — nationwide childcare platform

A search platform covering every licensed childcare centre, holiday programme and activity provider in New Zealand, with an AI Smart Match enquiry engine and a dashboard providers manage their own listings from.

Every licensed NZ centre, updated nightly Visit the live site ↗

Should you even build custom software?

Sometimes no. If an off-the-shelf product does 90% of what you need for $50 a month, buy it — custom development can't compete with that, and we'll tell you so in the first call. Custom web apps earn their keep when your process is the business: when you're paying for four subscriptions that don't talk to each other, when staff re-enter the same data twice, or when the spreadsheet has become something everyone's afraid to touch. That's the point where a tool built around your actual workflow — connected to your Xero, your calendar, your customers — costs less over three years than the workarounds do.

Common questions

Specific to webapp development. General questions live on the pricing page.

Discovery is a fixed $4,800 and produces a specification you own — you can take it to any developer. Builds are fixed-quote from $13,000, scoped against that specification, so the price is based on a real spec rather than a hopeful guess. No hourly billing, no surprises mid-build.

Yes, and plenty do. Discovery is $4,800 and the specification is yours to build with anyone.

A focused internal tool is typically live in 6–8 weeks: one week of discovery, a prototype week, then two to three two-week build sprints. Larger portals run longer, but you see a staging demo every fortnight from week three — nothing disappears into a black box.

Buy off-the-shelf when a product already fits most of your workflow. Build custom when the process is unique to your business, when subscriptions have stacked up without talking to each other, or when the spreadsheet holding it together has become a liability. Discovery week exists partly to answer this honestly — occasionally the specification we hand you says "buy X instead."

TypeScript and React on the front end, Postgres behind it. Boring, proven tools your next developer will already know — we deliberately avoid exotic frameworks, and if your team maintains something else we'll match it where sensible.

You do, in your own repository, from the first commit. Full access to code, documentation and accounts at handover — no lock-in, no hostage code.

Sometimes. We start with a paid two-day audit and tell you honestly whether it's worth continuing.

Yes. We're Auckland-based and happy to run discovery in person, but the sprint cadence — staging links, fortnightly demos — works the same anywhere in New Zealand.

Other services

Outgrown the spreadsheet? Let's scope the replacement.

Send the date, the deliverables and a budget range. Fixed quote back within two working days.

Get in touch ↗ Let’s start your project here!