Web apps, mobile apps, internal tools, custom databases, back-office systems. When off-the-shelf almost fits but not quite — or when you need something that doesn't exist yet — I design and build it, end to end. One engineer, direct accountability, production-grade code.
Every business has workflows that don't fit standard products. A spreadsheet held together by macros. A legacy Access database nobody touches. A CRM that's 80% right but misses the one thing your operation depends on. A mobile app nobody wants to build because the market is too small for a product.
This is where custom software earns its cost. Done right, it disappears into how you work — nobody thinks about it, it just runs. Done wrong, it becomes the thing everyone complains about. The difference is who builds it and how they work.
I've been doing this for twenty years. Web applications, mobile apps, desktop tools, internal dashboards, custom databases (yes, even Microsoft Access), production APIs, scraping pipelines, integrations between systems that weren't meant to talk to each other. Whatever shape the problem takes, I've probably built something like it before.
Internal tools, customer portals, dashboards, admin panels. PHP, Node.js, Python — chosen for the job, not the fashion.
iOS and Android. Native where it matters, React Native / Flutter where it's the right tradeoff. API backend included.
Yes, including Microsoft Access — or modernizing off it. Custom databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite) designed around your data, not bolted on.
The plumbing nobody sees — order processing, invoicing, reconciliation, document generation, scheduled jobs, queues, webhooks, integrations.
Wire together CRMs, accounting, e-commerce, payment processors, shipping, compliance tools. Make the stack you already have work as one.
Everything you commission is yours from day one. Clean code, deployment runbooks, docs your team (or future contractor) can pick up.
The right stack depends on what you're building, who maintains it after me, and what your team already knows. I optimize for boring, proven tools that won't need rewriting in three years.
Discovery is free. Phase one is always fixed-price — you know what you're paying before any code is written. Later phases are scoped based on what phase one reveals.
Independent senior engineer. 20+ years shipping production software across ERP, automation, web, mobile, and infrastructure.
I work as an independent consultant so you always deal directly with the engineer doing the work — no account manager, no junior dev implementing someone else's spec. My background spans mathematics, platform engineering, and two decades of shipping business software that doesn't break.
Today I help founders, operators, and established businesses solve technical problems that off-the-shelf tools can't. I write code I'd be comfortable handing to a stranger, because often that's what happens — every project ends with documentation and a clean handoff path.
Based in Chicago, working worldwide. US / EU / Asia timezones, English primary. Contracts via direct engagement, US entity, or platform (Upwork) — whichever suits your legal setup.
Every engagement is scoped individually — no fixed packages. Typical ranges: small focused build $8-25k; mid-size multi-module system $25-80k; large multi-phase work $80k+. Every Phase has a fixed price written down before any code is written.
Yes. Cross-platform (React Native / Flutter) when two platforms is the business case and the UI isn't platform-specific. Native (Swift / Kotlin) when performance or deep platform features matter. I've shipped both.
Yes, including MS Access. I've both built in Access and replaced it with modern web-based systems. Whatever fits your team's skills and your data's shape. PostgreSQL first for anything new unless there's a specific reason otherwise.
Yes. Standard mutual NDA before we share anything sensitive. I've worked under NDA across food & beverage, financial, healthcare-adjacent, and internal manufacturing systems.
You do. From day one. Your repo, your servers, your deployment. I write assuming the next engineer to touch it is a stranger — clean code, docs, no proprietary lock-in.
Every project ends with a clean handoff package: architecture docs, deployment runbook, walkthrough of the system. Your team or a new contractor can take over without starting from scratch.
Yes. I've delivered work for clients across North America, Europe, and Asia. Chicago-based, working across all major timezones, contracts adaptable to your jurisdiction.
Discovery call this week. Written scope within 5-10 days. Development start typically 2-4 weeks out depending on current bookings. For urgent work, ask — sometimes there's slack.
If you want me to, yes — either as a retained engineer (fixed monthly hours) or on-demand. Many clients prefer the retained model because it guarantees availability when something breaks.
3D game development, casino / gambling platforms, adult content, adversarial scraping of sites that don't want to be scraped, SEO-manipulation tooling. Everything else is negotiable.
Every phase has a written scope and a fixed price. You know what you're paying before I write any code.
You see working software in staging every week. No waiting four months for a big reveal.
From day one, everything I produce is yours. No lock-in, no black box, no 'proprietary' anything.
Every engagement can be taken over by another engineer. Documentation, deployment runbook, walkthrough included.
If I misestimated a fixed-scope phase, the overrun is on me — not a change order on you.
If something is a bad idea, I say so. If something is harder than it looks, I say so. If something is simpler, same.
Discovery calls are free. We'll talk about your actual system — what's broken, what's missing, what a good outcome would look like.