Web app development for Swiss businesses

When a spreadsheet stops being enough

A Swiss firm often reaches the same point: the spreadsheet or shared mailbox that ran the business for years now loses data, blocks two people from working at once, or cannot show a customer the status of their order. A custom web app replaces that tool with something shaped like your process.

Common examples are a client portal for a fiduciary or consulting firm, a quoting tool for a trade business, a booking and resource system, a dealer or partner portal, and a reporting dashboard that pulls from several sources. If an off-the-shelf product covers 90 percent of the need, we say so and recommend it. We build when the process is the competitive edge.

Before building, we check whether a configurable tool can do the job for less. Many Swiss firms save money by combining a form tool, a database and a workflow tool for a first version, then replacing it with custom code once the process is proven.

Where the data lives

Swiss customers and boards ask where data is stored, and the answer shapes the architecture. The revised Federal Act on Data Protection has applied since 1 September 2023, and the FDPIC supervises it. Not legal advice; your lawyer should confirm which option fits your data.

We document the choice in a short architecture note that you can hand to your lawyer or auditor.

If you are unsure, start with the lower-risk option and keep the code portable, so a later move to another region or provider stays possible.

What we build into every app

• Roles and permissions, so staff, customers and partners see only what they should.
• An audit trail of who changed what and when, which makes questions from customers and reviews easier to answer.
• Sign-in with email and a code, with single sign-on through Microsoft or Google when your team uses it.
• Interface text in language files, so German, French and Italian are real versions and not machine overlays.
• Data export and deletion tools, which help you respond to requests from individuals under data protection law.
• Backups, error monitoring and a release routine with a staging environment.
• Accessible forms and navigation to WCAG 2.2 AA.

Security gets its own review: dependency updates, input checks, rate limits on sign-in and a test of access rules by role. We share the results in plain language.

How a build runs

1. DiscoveryWe map users, tasks and data in one or two short workshops, and agree what is in the first release.
2. PrototypeClickable screens in the browser, tested with two or three of your real users.
3. Build in two-week cyclesEach cycle ends with a working demo on a staging link. You approve before the next cycle starts.
4. Launch and supportData import, training notes, monitoring and a short stabilization period.

We work remotely from India. Switzerland is 3.5 to 4.5 hours behind, so demos sit at 10:00 or 11:00 Swiss time and fall in the Indian afternoon. Between demos we work through the Swiss night, which means feedback sent in the evening is usually dealt with by morning. You get one lead and written notes after each call.

Pricing and ownership

Projects start at $1,500 and the rate is $30 an hour. A first release with a few screens and one user role is a modest project. Many roles, integrations with old systems, complex rules or heavy reporting increase the scope. The web app cost guide lists the factors, and the SaaS MVP cost guide helps if you plan to sell the software to others.

You own the code and the cloud accounts from the first day. For a native companion, see mobile app development, and for the standard offer read our web app development service page.