Hire a Web App Developer
for Web, Mobile, and Real-Time Apps
One developer, one codebase, every screen your users are on — web, iOS, Android, and desktop. Plus the judgment to know when your app needs live updates and when it's cheaper to do without them.
On This Page
1. Website or Web App?
It's worth being sure which one you're hiring for, because it changes the price and the person. A website shows the same thing to every visitor. A web app has accounts, remembers what people did, and behaves differently for each user: bookings, customer portals, dashboards, internal tools, subscriptions.
That difference brings databases, logins, permissions, and years of changes after launch. I've written up how to tell which one you need, and why it changes the price. If it's a website, the small-business hiring guide is the better starting point.
2. Web and Mobile From One Codebase
Most business apps don't need three separate native builds. They need the mobile app to do what the web app does, behave the same way, and stay in sync. I build the web app in Vue.js and ship it to iOS and Android with Ionic and Capacitor, and to Windows and Mac with Electron. You get one product to maintain instead of three that slowly drift apart.
That's not the right call for everything. Games and graphics-heavy apps belong native, and I'll say so. The full reasoning is in Why I Use Ionic.
3. Real-Time Apps and WebSockets
"Real-time" means users see a change the moment it happens, without refreshing: a new chat message, a sensor reading, a score moving up a leaderboard. The usual way to build that is with WebSockets, a connection that stays open so the server can push updates instead of waiting to be asked.
WebSockets are powerful, and they're also the most expensive way to deliver an update. Before hiring a WebSocket developer, it's worth knowing the three options a good one will weigh for you:
| Approach | How it works | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|
| Polling | The app asks the server for changes every few seconds. | Status pages, order tracking, anything where a short delay is fine. Cheapest to build and run. |
| Server-sent events | The server pushes updates down a one-way stream. | Live feeds, notifications, and progress bars, where the server talks and the user mostly listens. |
| WebSockets | A two-way connection stays open in both directions. | Chat, multiplayer and game features, collaborative editing, and device telemetry, where both sides talk constantly. |
Where real-time apps actually go wrong
Getting a message from one browser to another is the easy part. These are the parts that separate a demo from a production system:
Dropped connections
Phones switch networks, laptops sleep, and connections die silently. The app has to notice, reconnect, and catch up on what it missed without showing stale or duplicated data.
Trusting the browser
Anything sent from the client can be faked. Scores, balances, and game moves have to be validated on the server. On VPGame, leaderboards are server-validated so scores can't be forged from the browser.
Authentication on the socket
A WebSocket connection needs the same access checks as a normal page. Otherwise anyone who guesses a channel name can listen in on someone else's data.
Scaling open connections
Every connected user holds a connection open. That changes how servers are sized and load-balanced compared with a normal web app, and it's a cost that should be planned rather than discovered.
The question to ask any real-time developer:
"What happens when a user's connection drops halfway through?" A developer who has run real-time features in production will answer with reconnects, catch-up, and server-side checks. One who hasn't will tell you it doesn't usually happen.
4. Apps I've Built
Web, mobile, and real-time work in production, not in a portfolio mockup:
ALVI Smart
IoT monitoring for commercial air filtration. Real-time sensor telemetry from deployed filter units, delivered to a mobile app, a desktop app, and a web dashboard that share a single Vue.js codebase.
IcePets.com
A virtual pet community with 42K+ registered users, running since 2014. Real-time chat, forums, player-to-player trading, and an in-game economy, all built and operated by me.
VPGame
A multi-tenant platform for running virtual pet communities, with an isolated database per site, an append-only currency ledger, and server-validated mini-game leaderboards.
FlourPower.app
A family recipe app on web, iOS, and Android with shared cookbooks and shopping lists for each household, all from one codebase.
5. Timeline and Cost
A focused internal tool typically takes 4–8 weeks. A full-featured platform usually runs 3–6 months, delivered in milestones you can use along the way rather than one big reveal at the end. Project-based builds from experienced developers in Canada and the US typically range from $5,000 to $50,000+. The hiring guide breaks down hourly, fixed-price, retainer, and milestone pricing.
What pushes an app toward the top of that range: native mobile and desktop apps alongside the web, real-time features, multi-tenant accounts, and integrations with systems that weren't designed to be integrated with. If you're building a subscription product, the guide for SaaS founders goes further.
6. Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a web developer and a web app developer?
A website shows the same thing to every visitor. A web app has accounts, saves what people do, and behaves differently for each user: bookings, dashboards, portals, subscriptions. Web app development involves databases, authentication, permissions, and ongoing changes, so it costs more and needs a developer who has built and maintained applications, not just pages.
How long does it take to build a web app?
It depends on scope. A focused internal tool might take 4–8 weeks. A full-featured platform typically runs 3–6 months. A realistic timeline comes after understanding your requirements, and the work should be delivered in milestones you can use along the way.
Can the same developer build my web app and my mobile app?
Yes, if the mobile app is built with a cross-platform tool like Ionic and Capacitor. The web app and the iOS and Android apps then share one codebase, so you maintain one product instead of three that slowly drift apart. Graphics-heavy apps and games are the exception and are better built native.
Does my app need WebSockets?
Only if users need to see changes the moment they happen: chat, live dashboards, multiplayer features, collaborative editing, or device telemetry. If updates every few seconds or on page refresh are fine, simpler polling or server-sent events cost less to build and run. A good developer will tell you which one your feature actually needs.
What should I ask a developer before hiring them for real-time features?
Ask how they handle dropped connections and reconnects, how socket connections are authenticated, what happens to messages sent while a user was offline, how the system scales as concurrent connections grow, and how they stop users from faking events from the browser.
Have an app in mind?
Book a 60-minute working session. We'll work out what it needs to do, which platforms it needs to be on, and whether any of it really needs to be real-time.
Working session: $100 USD