Frequently asked questions
The answers that
usually only come up in a call.
27 questions I get every week, answered here instead of in a sales call. If yours is not here, just email it; the answer comes the same day.
What I build
All servicesWhat is the difference between a website and an application?
A website shows information: who you are, what you do, how someone gets in touch. An application processes information: people log in, enter something, and the system calculates, stores or sends something. The rule of thumb: if someone can change something that stays changed, it is an application. That difference decides the build time more than the number of pages.
What exactly is a client portal?
A protected part of your site where customers log in and see their own data: quotes, invoices, project status, documents, usage. It exists to prevent the questions that now come in by email and phone. A portal pays off as soon as the same question comes back weekly and the answer sits in a different system every time.
Do you build webshops too?
Yes, but only where custom work adds something: configurators, tiered pricing, B2B accounts with their own price agreements, links to stock or accounting. If you sell twenty standard products with no peculiarities, an existing platform is cheaper and I will say so.
Do you do just an integration or a single piece of work?
Yes. A payment integration, an import from an accounting package or an API between two systems that do not know each other: those are defined jobs of days, not weeks. You do not need to start a whole project for that.
Do you work with a CMS so I can edit copy myself?
Where it is useful, yes. If something changes weekly, a CMS goes in where you manage copy, photos and pages yourself. If something changes twice a year, a CMS is maintenance you never earn back and I make the change for you.
Lead time
How I workHow long does building a website take?
Two to three weeks for a company site or landing page, counted from the moment the copy and imagery exist. That last part is usually the delay, not the building: a site that is technically finished but waiting on product photos stands still.
How long does building a client portal take?
Four to six weeks for a portal with logins, roles, a few screens and a link to a system you already use. The logins and permissions are rarely the work; the link with the existing system is, because that is where the mess nobody sees up front lives.
How long does building a SaaS product take?
Eight to sixteen weeks to a first version that real customers work with and pay for. That is deliberately a first version: subscriptions, invoicing, multiple organisations side by side and an admin screen are already half a product together, and everything that does not need to be in there comes later.
When can you start?
I work on one project at a time, so that depends on what is running. Usually the next start date is two to four weeks out. You hear when in the first email, not after a quote process.
Can it be faster if it is urgent?
Sometimes, by building less rather than working harder. You make a deadline by making the first version smaller, not by squeezing the same scope into half the time. The second always produces work you redo later.
Cost and agreements
What it costsWhy are there no prices on the site?
Because a number without a scope says nothing. The same question produces a two-week project for one person and a two-month one for another, and the difference sits in things that only surface in a conversation. After one call you hear a fixed number, and that call costs you nothing.
Do you work at a fixed price or hourly?
Fixed project price. You know up front what it costs and I carry the risk if something turns out harder. That only works if the scope is clear, which is why bigger tracks start with a paid Discovery that puts that scope on paper.
What is Discovery and why do I pay for it?
Five working days in which I walk through your process, work out the technology and integrations, and produce a document with screens, choices, risks and a fixed price for the build. It is paid because it is real work, and it is yours: you may take it to another builder. If you continue with me, the fee comes off the project price.
What happens if the scope changes during the build?
Then we discuss it before I build it. Small things nobody saw coming are absorbed by the fixed price; those are included. If it is something genuinely new, you hear up front what it costs in time and money, and you decide whether it has to be now or can wait.
Do I have to pay up front?
Partly. On projects I work in instalments: part at the start, part at an interim delivery, the rest on delivery. No instalment is invoiced before the work under it exists.
Technology and ownership
Tech & integrationsWho owns the code you build?
You do, from day one. You get the repository, the hosting sits on your account and the domain name stays yours. If you want to continue with someone else tomorrow, you can without asking me anything. That is not a favour, that is how it should be.
Where does my site or application run?
By default with a European hosting party, with the database in the EU. For most clients that is the simplest answer towards their own customers and their own privacy statement. If you have your own supplier or it has to run somewhere specific, that works too.
What happens to my Google rankings if my site is replaced?
They move along, provided every old address is redirected to the new one. That is the part most often skipped in a migration, and it is exactly the part that costs you rankings. With me the redirect list is part of delivery, not part of the extra work.
Do you use AI when building?
Yes, as a tool. It saves time on work that was predictable anyway. What gets delivered is code I have read and understood myself, because I am the one who has to maintain it afterwards. That difference is exactly why people with a stalled AI project come to me.
AI prototypes and vibecode
Vibecode to productionI built something with Lovable or Bolt. Can you continue with it?
Usually yes. I look at what is there first: if the base is usable, I build on it and only replace the parts that will not hold. If the base cannot be saved, I say so and we use the prototype as a design instead of as code. That still saves weeks.
Is my AI-built app safe enough for real customers?
Often not without work. The two things that are wrong in there by default: keys sent along in the browser, and a database where everyone who logs in can reach every row. Both are invisible as long as you are the only user, and both are the first things I check.
What does making a prototype production-ready cost?
That depends entirely on what is there, and that cannot be estimated without looking at it. Send me a link or access to the repository and within a few days you hear what has to happen, what it costs and whether building on beats starting over.
Do you build with vibecode tools yourself?
No. I build with Next.js, and I use AI as a tool inside that codebase. The service is about taking over projects that started with such tools and now have to make the step to production.
After delivery
Maintenance & supportWhat happens if something breaks?
For the first thirty days after delivery I fix faults at no cost. After that you can take maintenance or call me per occasion. Either way you get me on the line, not a ticket system.
Am I tied to anything?
No. Maintenance can be cancelled monthly, and because the code and hosting are yours, cancelling means actually leaving rather than starting over. I deliver the keys, not a lock.
Can I extend it later?
Yes, and that is accounted for while building. The first version is deliberately small, but the structure underneath is one you can put a second and third piece on without upending everything. In practice almost everyone comes back with a next step.
Do you work with companies outside your region?
Yes. Most of it runs through video calls and shared documents, and that works fine. If you are near Rotterdam or The Hague, I am happy to come by, certainly at the start.
Let's build
Tell me what you
want to build.
A half-hour call. You get an honest answer about what it costs, how long it takes and whether building it is smart at all.