Custom software development services that ship real software, not slide decks
Full Scale is a custom software development company that staffs senior Filipino engineers onto your product as a dedicated team. We build greenfield SaaS platforms, modernize legacy systems, and ship enterprise software for companies that need a real engineering partner instead of a body shop or a fixed-bid consultancy. Discovery call this week, first sprint inside seven days.
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}Custom software shipped for SaaS, fintech, healthcare, and Fortune 500 product teams
Previously founded VinSolutions (~$150M exit) and Stackify
I built and sold custom software companies before I started staffing them
At VinSolutions, I was the CTO. We built custom software for auto dealers and sold it eight years later for around $150M. Every feature we shipped, every database schema we designed, every integration we wired up was custom. There was no shortcut, no off-the-shelf product that did 80% of what dealers actually needed.
Stackify was the same story. We built developer tools from scratch, sold APM and logging to thousands of teams, and ended up selling that company. I have lived the full arc of building custom software twice over: hiring the engineers, scaling the product, navigating the acquisition.
Full Scale exists because most companies hiring offshore custom software development end up with the wrong team entirely. They hire a body shop that runs through junior contractors, or a fixed-bid consultancy that ships whatever's in the statement of work and nothing else. I built Full Scale to be the partner I wish I had when I was the customer.
AI-powered custom software engineers, trained on Product Driven principles
Most software teams adopting AI are shipping more code without shipping better software. The slop volume climbs, the bug count follows, and developers whose only skill is typing faster end up costing more in cleanup than they save in keystrokes.
Full Scale custom software developers are trained on something different: the Product Driven approach from Matt's book, combined with the full modern AI toolkit (GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor). They think first, type second, and use AI for the parts where judgment doesn't add value. That combination is rare, and it is what custom software teams should actually be hiring for in 2026.
Product Driven engineering
Our engineers are trained on the five pillars from Matt's book: Vision, Focus, Clarity, Ownership, and Courage. The result is custom software developers who push back on bad product decisions, ask whether a ticket should exist before writing it, and own the outcome of what ships. They are not order takers.
Read Product Driven, the bookAI as a thinking partner
Every engineer on our bench works with GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Cursor every day. They use AI to explore options, scaffold the boring parts, generate unit and integration tests, and review their own pull requests before a human ever sees them. Judgment stays with the engineer, the grunt work moves to the machine.
The engineers worth hiring in 2026 know how to use AI without losing their judgment in the process. That is exactly the bench we have spent the last several years building.
How Full Scale runs custom software teams for AMC Theatres
Full Scale built and runs a dedicated engineering team that operates as a real extension of AMC's product organization. Same model we run for custom software clients across every stack we staff.
Custom software development services, starting at $35 an hour
That rate covers a senior engineer in the Philippines working full-time on your custom software project, with payroll, benefits, HR, and equipment all handled by Full Scale. The same role hired locally in the US costs $180,000 to $250,000 a year all-in, and that math is what drives most of our clients to call. Custom software development pricing in this model is per engineer, billed monthly, with no fixed-bid statement of work.
- Full-time, dedicated senior software engineer
- Pre-vetted by senior reviewers across the stack
- Works your hours, your tools, your codebase
- Payroll, HR, equipment, benefits handled by us
- US-based account manager you can escalate to
- 30-day replacement guarantee if it isn't a fit
Full Scale has made the Inc. 5000 four years in a row and is Great Place to Work certified. We have been running custom software teams since 2018, and pricing isn't the only reason clients stay with us, it's the easiest reason to call.
The reason offshore custom software development works here
You can hire dedicated developers in the Philippines across every stack we staff, with the same vetting bar, retention numbers, and engagement model that the custom software teams on this page get.
English-fluent by default
The Philippines is the third-largest English-speaking country in the world. Standups, code reviews, and customer calls work the way they do with any US team member.
Real time-zone overlap
Most of our engineers work US business hours with 4-8 hours of real-time overlap with East and West Coast teams, so decisions happen live during shared hours rather than crawling through 24-hour async handoffs.
Deep custom software talent pool
Cebu and Manila produce tens of thousands of CS and IT graduates a year. Custom software development has been the core engineering discipline of Philippines CS programs for over two decades, which means deep, ready talent across every layer of the stack.
Cultural alignment with US teams
Filipino engineers grow up on US business norms, US TV, and US tech culture, so agile rituals, direct feedback, and collaborative workflows feel familiar from day one. These teams integrate fast rather than needing constant management.
Writing CRUD endpoints is not the same as building real software
Anyone who finished a bootcamp can ship a form-and-table app. Building custom software that holds up in production at scale requires a different bench entirely. When you outsource custom software development or hire an offshore agency, this is the gap that decides whether the project ships. Here is what we test for, and what most offshore custom software development companies skip. The full picture of why offshore engagements fail more often than they succeed is something I have written about at length.
Architecture skills that go past gluing endpoints together
Junior developers ship endpoints. Senior custom software engineers reason about service boundaries, domain modeling, event flow, and where a microservice is actually justified versus where a clean module inside a monolith would have worked better. We hire for that judgment, because once architecture is wrong, the rest of the project pays for it forever.
Database design that holds up under real load
Real database expertise means normalized schema design when transactions matter, denormalization when read patterns demand it, the right indexes, the right migration strategy, and the kind of query tuning that turns an eight-second report into 200ms. Matt has 20+ years on SQL Server and Postgres personally. He has the scars to prove what bad database design costs once a custom software product is in production with millions of rows.
Backend integration beyond "we added a REST call"
Real backend work on a custom software project covers domain-driven service boundaries, idempotent APIs, async messaging with the right retry and dead-letter handling, observability that actually surfaces production problems, and the kind of integration testing that catches bugs before customers do. Most offshore custom software shops skip half of this and only realize the gap during the first production outage.
Legacy modernization without rewriting from scratch
Rewriting a 10-year-old custom software platform from scratch is how teams burn two years and end up with a worse product. Real modernization is a strangler-fig pattern: stand up the new system alongside the old, route traffic one slice at a time, keep the business running, and only retire the legacy code once the replacement actually works. We have done these modernizations for production systems with millions of users.
Security and compliance done right
Real security work on custom software covers OWASP Top 10, OAuth2 and OIDC flows, role-based access control, SOC 2 audit trails, encryption at rest and in transit, and the kind of secrets management that doesn't leak credentials in a git history. For regulated industries we layer in HIPAA, PCI, or FedRAMP requirements as the project demands. It isn't a checklist exercise.
Production debugging skills
A senior custom software engineer should be able to read a flame graph, correlate logs across distributed services, walk through a database execution plan, and find the actual root cause of a production incident. Most offshore developers have never opened a production observability tool. I have walked into engagements where teams had been guessing at the cause of slow queries for months, and the fix was usually a missing index a senior database engineer would have caught in a code review.
Custom software development solutions for the work that actually matters
Most conversations about hiring a custom software development company skip past the actual project. What kind of bespoke software development do you need done? A greenfield SaaS build, a custom application development project that integrates ten existing systems, an enterprise software development engagement to modernize a 15-year-old codebase, or a custom software development consulting engagement to figure out which one of those you should actually do? We staff for all of it. Here is what we get hired for most often.
Greenfield custom software development
Custom software development from scratch on a modern stack: TypeScript or Go on the backend, React or Next.js on the frontend, Postgres or MySQL in the database, and a real domain model rather than a screen-tree-shaped CRUD scaffold. The codebase survives the first 18 months without a rewrite, and your team can still reason about it on month 19. This is the work we get hired for most often.
Web app development servicesSaaS development and multi-tenant platforms
Bespoke software development for SaaS companies means multi-tenant data isolation done right, tenant provisioning workflows, billing integration with Stripe or Chargebee, usage metering, role-based access control, and the kind of admin console your customer success team actually wants to use. We have shipped SaaS platforms at every stage from MVP to public-company scale.
SaaS development servicesAPI development and systems integration
Custom API development means REST and GraphQL clients with proper authentication, rate limiting, idempotency keys, retry logic, and the kind of contract testing that catches integration breakage in CI rather than in production. Third-party integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Stripe, Twilio, and the dozen other systems your custom software talks to get the same treatment.
Hire API developersCustom mobile app development
Mobile is part of most custom software engagements now. We build native iOS in Swift, native Android in Kotlin, and cross-platform apps in React Native or Flutter, with the same engineering bar applied to mobile that we apply to the web tier. Push notifications, offline-first sync, biometric auth, and App Store and Play Store delivery are wired in from day one.
Hire mobile app developersLegacy software modernization
We run production modernizations of legacy custom software systems without breaking the business. Strangler-fig migrations, lift-and-reshape moves to the cloud, framework upgrades (Angular 1 to React, .NET Framework to .NET 8, PHP 5 to modern Laravel), and database migrations from on-prem SQL Server to Postgres or managed cloud databases. The goal is always continuity of service while the platform gets younger.
Read our legacy modernization guideAI integrations and AI product development
AI work on custom software today means LLM integrations (OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock), RAG pipelines with vector databases like Pinecone or pgvector, agentic workflows, and the kind of careful prompt and evaluation pipelines that separate AI features that ship from AI demos that don't. Our engineers use AI in their day-to-day work, and they know how to bake AI into customer-facing software responsibly.
Hire AI developersEight specializations, one staffing partner
Every custom software project needs more than one role. Mix full-stack engineers, architects, frontend and backend specialists, database engineers, DevOps, and QA from a single vetted bench. We also staff dedicated UX designers who understand B2B and B2C software conventions, not just landing page polish. When the project needs deep platform expertise, the same bench staffs senior engineers across every major stack. If you already have a tech lead in place and just need capacity, offshore software development is the engagement model worth reading next.
Senior Full-Stack Engineers
Full-stack engineers who own a feature end to end: the database schema, the API contract, the React or Next.js frontend, and the integration tests that prove all three work together. Most custom software projects start with two or three of these, then specialize from there.
Software Architects
Architecture-focused engineers who design service boundaries, data flow, and the integration patterns for custom software projects before code gets written. They set up the patterns the rest of the team builds on, and they know when a microservice is overkill versus when a modular monolith would have worked better.
Backend Engineers
Backend specialists who ship in Node.js, Python, Go, Java, C#, Ruby, or PHP depending on the project. Strong on domain modeling, API design, database query tuning, and the kind of async messaging patterns that don't lose data when a queue backs up.
Frontend Engineers
Frontend engineers who build production React, Next.js, Vue, or Angular UIs with proper component composition, state management, accessibility, and performance. They know the difference between a UI that ships and a UI that demos.
DevOps and Platform Engineers
DevOps work covers CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code with Terraform or Pulumi, Kubernetes and ECS deployments, observability with Datadog or Grafana, and the kind of release automation that makes deploys boring in the good way.
Database Engineers
Database specialists who handle Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, and the kind of query tuning, indexing strategy, and migration work that separates a custom software product that scales from one that grinds to a halt at 10K users.
Mobile Engineers
Mobile specialists across iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), React Native, and Flutter. They ship to App Store and Play Store, handle code signing and release pipelines, and integrate with the same APIs the web team is building on.
QA Automation Engineers
Our QA bench writes real test pyramids: unit tests, integration tests against real databases, end-to-end tests with Playwright or Cypress, and load tests with k6 or JMeter. Most offshore custom software shops skip end-to-end and load testing entirely, which is why their releases regress and their apps fall over at peak load.
Custom software expertise tuned to your industry
As a custom software development company that has been running dedicated teams since 2018, we have placed engineers into nearly every industry that ships software. Domain knowledge cuts onboarding time in half, so we match developers to projects where they have already shipped real code.
SaaS & Scale-ups
B2B SaaS is our home turf. We have built and shipped custom software for SaaS companies at every stage, from seed-stage MVPs to public companies. Multi-tenant data isolation, role-based access control, billing integration, usage metering, customer-facing admin consoles, and the kind of API-first architecture that lets your customers automate against your product are all standard scope.
From greenfield web platforms to legacy modernizations
Whether you want to hire a custom software development team for a greenfield SaaS build, modernize a legacy .NET system, ship a mobile companion app, or wire AI into an existing platform, the bench covers every layer of the stack. Pick what you need. We will match engineers fluent in it.
How Full Scale engagements work, two ways
Most clients start with a single dedicated engineer and grow into a full custom software team. Either way, you get full-time engineers who sit on your standups, work your hours, and ship code against your roadmap. Both options are staff augmentation at the core: dedicated, long-term engineers embedded in your team. We do not run fixed-bid statement-of-work projects.
Dedicated developer
Full-time, exclusive, sits on your standups.
- Full-time senior engineer assigned only to your project
- Works your hours, your tools, your codebase
- Joins your standups, reports to your tech lead
- We handle payroll, HR, equipment, retention
- Replace within 30 days if it isn't a fit
How a custom software development engagement actually starts
We skip the 6-week sales cycle, the procurement theater, and the fixed-bid statement-of-work negotiation entirely. Our bench is already built and vetted, and every step below has a named owner on our side.
Discovery call
30 minutes with our team. We learn your product, your stack, the roadmap, and what success on this project actually looks like. We don't pitch on the call, we walk through what you actually need from a custom software development partner.
Team match
We pull pre-vetted engineers from the bench whose skills, seniority, and prior project experience line up with what you described. You see real profiles and real project history, not generic resumes. For larger engagements we propose a full team composition: full-stack, architect, frontend, backend, QA, DevOps as the project demands.
Technical interview
You interview the candidates the way you would interview any senior hire: architecture and system design questions, code reviews, framework fundamentals, and the kind of judgment questions that separate a senior engineer from someone who memorized syntax. Pass anyone you don't believe in.
Contract and onboarding
Sign once. We handle every contract, payroll, equipment, and HR detail in the Philippines so you don't have an offshore entity to manage. Your team gets repo access, joins your standups, and starts ramping on the codebase.
First commit, first sprint
Your custom software team ships code in their first week and runs a real sprint with you by week two. Our delivery managers stay involved to make sure ramp-up doesn't stall. From here it is a long-running engagement, with the same engineers on your project for years, not a project shop that rotates resources after kickoff.
Full Scale vs the other ways to ship custom software
Every path to building custom software has trade-offs. The big consultancy delivers what's in the statement of work and bills a change order for everything else. The offshore project shop is cheap on the rate card, but turnover and quality variance make the real cost much higher. The full case for offshore custom software development is one I have written about elsewhere. Building it all in-house in the US is the dream right up until you spend six months hiring and then your senior engineer leaves. Here is how a Full Scale dedicated team compares against each of those.
| Feature | Full Scale | Big consultancy | Offshore project shop | Build it in-house in the US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-vetted senior engineering bench | ||||
| Time to first sprint | 7 days | 6-12 weeks | 3-6 weeks | 3-6 months |
| Same engineers stay on the project for years | varies | |||
| Founder-led engineering oversight | varies | |||
| Sits on your standups, your tools | ||||
| Long-term retention | 93%+ | rotated | low | varies |
| Replace within 30 days if not a fit | ||||
| Handles payroll, HR, equipment | ||||
| Pricing model | Per engineer, monthly | Fixed bid + change orders | Fixed bid or hourly | Salary + overhead |
| Typical fully-loaded cost vs US | ~40-50% | ~120-180% | ~50-65% | 100% |
When custom software development is the wrong call
Most pages like this would tell you custom software is always the right move. It is not. Below are the cases where we have either passed on a project ourselves or told the client they should not hire a custom software team from anyone, us included. If any of these match what you are doing, we will say so on the discovery call rather than sign you up and hope it works out.
Off-the-shelf software already does what you need
If Salesforce, HubSpot, NetSuite, Shopify, or another off-the-shelf product covers 80% of what you need, custom software development is usually the wrong call. Custom software is expensive to build and even more expensive to maintain. Only commit to a custom software development engagement when the off-the-shelf options genuinely don't fit your workflow, your data model, or the business logic that actually differentiates you. We will tell you on the discovery call if we think SaaS would solve your problem cheaper.
Read our build-vs-buy software guideYour work is genuinely on-soil regulated
Certain DoD contracts, ITAR-covered systems, and a narrow slice of regulated workloads require US persons on US soil. If that is you, we will tell you on the call, not after the contract. Offshore custom software development is not the right model for these projects no matter how attractive the rate looks.
The scope is fixed and short
Think a one-time data migration, a four-week refactor of a single service, or a single feature release that ends on a known date. Hire a freelancer or a specialist consultancy for those. Dedicated developers earn their value over months and years, and a short fixed-scope project rarely runs long enough to pay back the ramp-up.
You don't have a real roadmap yet
Very early stage exploration where the spec changes weekly is the wrong fit for a dedicated team. What you need is a co-founder or a freelancer who can absorb the thrash. A long-term hire needs accumulated context to be productive, and that context is exactly what you do not have yet. At VinSolutions we had a real roadmap before we ever started building, and that was the only reason custom software paid off. If you don't know what you're building yet, no engagement model is going to save you.
Working software, written down, deployable on a Friday
A custom software development engagement is more than just the code that gets committed. The artifacts below are what separates a project that survives the team that built it from one that becomes someone else's problem two years later. We treat all of them as part of the deliverable, not as nice-to-haves we get to if there's time at the end.
Working software, every sprint
Real shipped code in your repo at the end of every sprint, not a slide deck or a status report. Every PR goes through your code review process, every feature lands behind a flag where appropriate, and every release goes out through your CI/CD pipeline. The thing you bought is the running software.
Architecture docs and ADRs
Every architectural decision worth keeping gets written down as an Architecture Decision Record so future engineers on your team (and ours) know why the system is the way it is. Domain models, service boundaries, and integration contracts get documented as we go, not at the end as an afterthought.
CI/CD pipelines and deployment automation
By the end of the first month you have CI pipelines for build, test, and lint on every commit, plus deployment automation to staging and production. We do not hand-deploy custom software in 2026. Your engineers can ship a hotfix on a Friday afternoon and go home without holding their breath.
Test coverage that matters
Unit tests for business logic, integration tests against real databases, end-to-end tests for the critical paths customers actually use, and load tests when the product is going to take real traffic. We aim for the test pyramid you wish you had, not the 90% coverage number that catches nothing real.
Observability and runbooks
Logs, metrics, traces, and dashboards in Datadog, Grafana, or whatever observability stack you run. Every meaningful production code path has alerts wired up, and every alert has a runbook so the on-call person knows what to do at 2am. We have written too many runbooks at 2am ourselves to skip this step.
Onboarding docs and clean handoff
If our team ever leaves your codebase, the next engineer should be productive within a week, not a quarter. We write the onboarding docs while we are building so the knowledge transfers naturally. Most clients keep our team for years, but we write for the case where they don't.
The numbers behind a custom software development partner that actually ships
Deeper guides to building custom software with Full Scale
Staff augmentation services
When you have an engineering team already and just need to add senior capacity without the recruiting cycle.
SaaS development services
Multi-tenant SaaS builds from MVP to scale, with billing, RBAC, and the admin tooling B2B customers expect.
Web app development services
Modern web platforms on React, Next.js, and the rest of the production JavaScript stack.
Offshore software development
Why offshoring works when it works, why most engagements fail, and what makes the difference.
Hire developers in the Philippines
The cross-stack hub for hiring dedicated engineers from our Cebu and Manila benches across every framework we staff.
Hire full-stack developers
Senior full-stack engineers who own a feature end to end across database, API, and frontend.
AMC Theatres case study
How a Fortune 500 entertainment company runs custom software with a Full Scale dedicated team.
Everything you wanted to know about custom software development
Hire a custom software development team that has actually shipped software before
Book a 30-minute discovery call with the custom software development company that supplies dedicated engineers and full software teams from the Philippines. We'll learn what you're building, walk you through which engineers are on the bench, and you'll meet candidates within a week. You won't get pressure or a sales pitch on the call.